IRON MAN #223

Cover shows strong gloss and vibrant color with sharp, unblunted corners and no visible spine stress lines or ticks. Edges appear clean with no chipping, creases, or color breaks visible in this photo; the book is in a protective sleeve which slightly obscures fine surface detail. No stains, tears, or writing are apparent on the front cover. Interior pages and back cover were not assessed, so the grade reflects front-cover appearance only.

Iron Man #223 arrived in October 1987 during a stable period of David Michelinie and Bob Layton's long collaborative run on the title, with José Luis García-López and Bob Layton contributing art in this stretch of the series. The issue falls within Marvel's mid-run Copper Age output for Tony Stark's book, prior to the high-profile "Armor Wars" storyline that would soon follow and reinvigorate collector interest in the surrounding issues. No first appearance, death, or origin story is associated with this specific issue, and it is not cited in standard price guides as a notable cover or landmark chapter.

Market data reflects a book with limited transactional volume: the CGC census lists just 41 total graded copies, with sales activity concentrated in the 9.0 and 9.8 tiers and only a handful of transactions recorded at each grade. The 9.8 FMV of $70 indicates modest but real demand at the top of the census, while the thin sales history at every other grade points to a book that circulates mostly as bulk-run filler for Iron Man collectors rather than as an actively pursued key. Pricing across raw grades is necessarily conservative, tracking the broader pattern of common late-1980s direct-market issues that saw high print runs and correspondingly deep surviving populations.

This issue suits collectors assembling a complete run of Michelinie/Layton-era Iron Man or filling gaps ahead of the "Armor Wars" arc, rather than speculative buyers chasing a marquee key. Low-grade raw copies trade for token sums as reading copies or bulk-lot filler, mid-grade raw copies see modest interest from run-builders, and CGC 9.8 examples command a real but not dramatic premium reflecting genuine scarcity in top census grade rather than broad demand. Expect this book to move steadily but slowly, with value concentrated almost entirely in the certified high-grade tier.