IRON MAN #247

Cover displayed in a protective sleeve shows bright, glossy color with no visible spine stress, ticks, or creasing. Corners appear sharp and edges clean with no chipping or wear evident through the sleeve. Slight glare from the protective covering makes it difficult to fully rule out minor surface defects, and the interior/back cover were not assessed. Overall the cover presents as high-grade Near Mint condition based solely on this photo.

Iron Man #247 arrived in October 1989 during the character's long Copper Age run at Marvel, a period when Tony Stark's adventures continued without a specific storyline anchor tied to this particular issue. The book carries no first appearance, origin, or death of lasting significance, and its cover does not rank among the artwork widely cited in price guides or collector polls. It exists as a working installment in a well-regarded but crowded ongoing series, valuable primarily to those assembling a complete run rather than to speculators chasing a landmark.

Market data reflects that positioning. The certified population is modest, with only 40 of 43 graded copies recorded in census and just a handful of recent sales across the top grades. Value is concentrated almost entirely at the CGC 9.8 tier, where scarcity of pristine survivors supports a low-triple-digit price, while 9.6 and 9.4 copies trade for a fraction of that figure. Demand thins out quickly below near-mint, consistent with a book that collectors pursue mainly to complete a title run rather than for standalone appeal.

This is a run-filler for Iron Man and Copper Age Marvel collectors, not a book that draws investment interest or crossover demand from outside its core readership. Raw copies in low and mid grades move cheaply through back-issue bins and online dealer stock, priced more by condition and shipping economics than by any scarcity premium. High-grade CGC slabs, particularly 9.8, see occasional stronger bidding when they surface, since the small certified population limits supply at the top of the grade scale, but the book is unlikely to see meaningful appreciation absent a new tie-in or reappraisal of its creative team's era.