FANTASTIC FOUR #38

Graded at 6.0 (FN) on 2026-10-30, from new photos taken out of the sleeve: front, back, spine and interior page. Bright, flat cover. A few color-breaking stress ticks on the lower spine with short creases near the bottom spine corner. Light toning on the pale gray background. Small chip on the outer edge of the back. Cream pages.

Fantastic Four #38 (May 1965) continues the Frightful Four saga begun a few issues earlier, pitting the team against the returning quartet of Sandman, Wizard, Medusa, and Paste-Pot Pete — the last of whom is rechristened the Trapster within these pages, a small but often-cited naming milestone in the villain's history. Written by Stan Lee with pencils by Jack Kirby and inks by Chic Stone, the issue arrives at the height of the Lee-Kirby FF run, sandwiched between the introduction of Medusa and the celebrated Daredevil crossover that follows shortly after. It is representative of the title's mid-1960s creative peak: dense plotting, escalating villain team dynamics, and Kirby's increasingly kinetic layouts.

Market data shows a broad, actively traded population with 746 Universal census copies, reflecting steady collector demand typical of core Lee-Kirby Fantastic Four issues rather than a scarce or speculative book. Pricing climbs sharply at the top of the grade scale — value roughly triples between 9.0 and 9.4 and again nearly doubles into 9.6 — indicating that gem-quality survivors command outsized premiums even though the issue itself is not a headline first appearance. Demand is driven primarily by Kirby/Lee-run completists and Frightful Four story-arc collectors rather than by first-appearance speculators.

This is a strong mid-tier Silver Age Fantastic Four book: desirable for run-builders and Kirby enthusiasts, with low- and mid-grade copies trading as affordable entry points into the era, while high-grade and unslabbed 9.8-caliber examples are scarce enough to draw premium bidding whenever they surface. It is not a marquee key, so pricing tracks general Silver Age Marvel demand and Kirby-art appreciation more than any single landmark event within the issue.