IRON MAN #126

Cover shows strong gloss and sharp corners with no visible creases or color breaks; spine appears tight with no stress lines visible through the protective sleeve. Minor light reflection glare is present from the plastic bag but no chips, tears, or stains are evident on the cover surface. Back cover and interior pages were not assessed, and slight distortion from the sleeve may be masking minor surface wear.

Iron Man #126 arrived in September 1979 as part of the celebrated David Michelinie and Bob Layton run on the title, with pencils by John Romita Jr., during the storyline that would culminate two issues later in Iron Man #128's landmark treatment of Tony Stark's alcoholism. This issue is a connective chapter in that arc rather than a discrete first appearance or origin story, so its historical weight rides on the acclaim of the surrounding narrative and the creative team's reputation rather than any single introduced character or event.

Market data shows a thin but telling sales history: raw and low-grade copies trade for modest sums, mid-grade examples hover in the low twenties, and the curve accelerates sharply at the top of the census, with CGC 9.8 copies commanding roughly four times the price of a 9.6. This pattern is typical of a Bronze Age newsstand issue that was not preserved in large quantities at the highest grades, making true gem copies scarce relative to demand from Iron Man and Michelinie/Layton-era completists.

The book is best understood as a solid supporting piece for collectors building a complete run of the acclaimed late-1970s Iron Man stories rather than a standalone investment target. Raw copies in low and mid grades remain affordable entry points for readers and set-builders, while high-grade slabs appeal to condition-census chasers and specialists assembling the full