FANTASTIC FOUR #331

Cover shows strong gloss and sharp corners with no visible creases or spine stress lines. There is a small area of surface scuffing/adhesive residue near the top center of the cover, likely from a sticker or tape remnant, which is the main defect noted. Edges appear clean with no chipping, and the book is preserved in a protective plastic sleeve which limits direct handling but also introduces slight glare. Interior and back cover were not assessed, so grade is based solely on this front cover photo.

Fantastic Four #331 (October 1989) arrived during Roger Stern's run as writer, with art handled by John Buscema, continuing the team's entanglement with Terrax and the Psycho-Man-induced transformation of Sue Richards into Malice. The issue is a mid-arc chapter rather than a landmark installment: no first appearances, deaths, or origin material anchor it, and it is best understood as a solid, well-crafted continuation of a respected but not headline-grabbing run on Marvel's flagship team title.

Market data reflects that positioning. Certified sales cluster almost entirely at the 9.8 tier, where a modest but steady flow of transactions has held in the mid-seventy-dollar range over the past year, with little movement across the 90-day and 30-day windows. The near-total absence of certified sales below 8.5 signals a book that collectors submit selectively, typically only in near-perfect condition, while raw copies circulate largely as bulk-bin or long-box material without meaningful graded-market pull.

This is a book for Fantastic Four run-builders and Copper Age completists rather than key-issue speculators. Raw copies in low and mid grades trade for pocket change and are readily available in dollar bins and online lots; the only segment with any real liquidity is the CGC 9.8 slab, which commands a modest premium purely on condition scarcity rather than content demand. Long-term appreciation prospects are limited absent a broader reappraisal of the Stern/Buscema FF era.