IRON MAN #187

Cover shows strong gloss and sharp corners with no visible creases or spine stress lines. The direct market edition indicator box replaces the barcode, consistent with a well-preserved copy. Minor handling wear may be present but is not visible in this photo; the book is in a protective sleeve which obscures fine edge detail. Interior and back cover were not assessed.

Iron Man #187 (October 1984) arrived during one of the title's most character-driven stretches, the Denny O'Neil-scripted run in which James Rhodes carries the armor while Tony Stark battles alcoholism, a storyline that stretched from issue #170 through the landmark #200. Pencils in this period were handled by Luke McDonnell, whose grittier, shadow-heavy style suited the darker tone of the Rhodes-as-Iron-Man arc. The issue is a solid installment of that acclaimed narrative but does not itself introduce a character, origin, or other event that price guides single out as a first or landmark moment.

Market data reflects that status: certified sales cluster almost entirely at the high end of the grade spectrum, with a thin but persistent base of 9.6-9.8 copies trading in the modest double digits and virtually no recorded activity in mid or low grades. The 72-copy census is small for a mid-1980s direct-market book, consistent with an issue collected mainly as part of a run rather than pursued individually. Demand is steady rather than dynamic, tracking general interest in the Rhodes/Stark storyline and completism among Iron Man run collectors.

This is a book bought primarily by readers assembling the full O'Neil-McDonnell arc or a complete Iron Man volume 1 set rather than speculators chasing a key. Raw copies in low and mid grade move cheaply and infrequently, largely through bulk lots or bargain bins, while high-grade CGC 9.8 copies command a modest but real premium reflecting genuine scarcity at the top of the census. Long-term value is likely to stay tied to nostalgia for the storyline and general Copper Age Iron Man collecting rather than any breakout key-issue demand.