IRON MAN #164

Cover shows strong gloss and sharp corners with no visible creasing or color breaks. Spine appears tight with no stress lines visible in this photo. Book is in a protective sleeve with some glare obscuring fine detail; interior and back cover were not assessed. Minor handling wear cannot be ruled out due to plastic sleeve reflections.

Iron Man #164 (Marvel, November 1982) closes out a two-part confrontation with Doctor Spectrum, the Power Prism-wielding villain on loan from the Squadron Supreme corner of Marvel's cosmology, and introduces Rokk as the Prism's new bearer. Scripted by Denny O'Neil with art by Luke McDonnell, the issue falls within the well-regarded but seldom-singled-out stretch of O'Neil's run that leaned into Tony Stark's personal struggles alongside standard armored-hero action. It is a plot-connective issue rather than a debut of lasting consequence, and it has not accrued key-issue status in price guides or collector consensus.

Market data reflects that status: certified sales are thin and pricing is flat across most of the grade spectrum, with only a modest lift at the top of the census. A CGC 9.8 has traded in the low-to-mid forties, a level more typical of a common short-print run than a book with any speculative first-appearance premium tied to Rokk, who has not developed independent collector demand. Mid- and low-grade raw copies track well below that ceiling, priced as generic bronze-age filler rather than run-defining issues.

This is a book acquired to complete an Iron Man or O'Neil-era run rather than sought on its own merits. Grader activity and census growth suggest steady but unspectacular submission volume, and high-grade copies will likely continue to command a proportionally larger premium simply due to relative scarcity in 9.6 and above. Buyers are chiefly series completists and Bronze Age Marvel collectors; investment-grade speculation is unwarranted absent any shift in how Doctor Spectrum or Rokk are treated in future Marvel continuity.