FANTASTIC FOUR #309

Graded at 7.0 (FN/VF) on 2026-11-05, from new photos taken out of the sleeve: front and back. Upper right corner folded with the color broken, about a quarter inch, plain on the back. Two short creases in from the spine at mid-height on the back, about an eighth of an inch each. Pale flecks along the back's spine edge. Light scuffs and tiny white specks on the black back. Thin blue band of front art wrapping onto the back's spine edge, upper half.

Fantastic Four #309 appeared in December 1987 during Steve Englehart's tenure as writer, with art in this stretch of the series handled by the Keith Pollard/Romeo Tanghal art team, continuing the title's long-running saga of Marvel's First Family. The issue falls within a transitional period for the series, following shake-ups to the team's roster and storyline direction that characterized the late Copper Age Fantastic Four, but it does not carry a first appearance, death, or other event typically cited in price guides as a key moment.

Market activity for this issue is thin, reflecting its status as a mid-run chapter rather than a sought-after single. Certified populations are modest, with the bulk of graded copies concentrated at the high end of the scale, and pricing data shows a steep climb only at the top of the grade curve, where scarcity in true Gem Mint condition drives outsized premiums over near-mint copies. Demand is largely driven by Fantastic Four series-run collectors and Englehart-era completists rather than character or event speculation.

This book suits collectors assembling a complete run of the series or the writer's or artist's body of work rather than buyers chasing a specific milestone. Raw copies in lower and mid grades trade for modest sums reflecting bulk long-box supply, while highest-grade certified examples command a real premium due to the difficulty of finding Copper Age comics that have survived in top condition. Across the grade spectrum, this is a book whose value curve is driven almost entirely by condition scarcity rather than any inherent narrative importance.