Approximate
Condition Profile
DC COMICS · 8/81 · DIRECT EDITION
UNIT ECA-001868
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #193
Bronze Age Justice League of America team adventure, Gerry Conway era
// Unit specification
| Publisher | Cover date | Era | Variant | Key attribute | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DC Comics | August 1981 | Bronze | Direct Edition | — | AVAILABLE |
// Run position
// Condition analysis
Cover shows strong gloss and vibrant colors with sharp corners and no visible creases or spine stress. There is minor surface glare from the protective sleeve obscuring fine detail, and a slight bend near the upper right corner tip is possibly present. No barcode is present, replaced by promotional text, consistent with a direct edition; overall the book presents as high-grade with only minor handling wear noted. Interior and back cover were not assessed.
// Valuation — market reference
| Bracket | Grade | Est. market value | Marker |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOW_RAW | 0.5 – 1.5 | $2 | |
| MID_RAW | 4.0 – 6.0 | $5 | |
| HIGH_CERT | 9.8 SLAB | $140 |
// Archive commentary
Justice League of America #193 arrived in August 1981 during Gerry Conway's run scripting DC's flagship team title, a period defined by a large recurring roster and frequent crossovers with the Justice Society of America and other DC properties. The issue is a representative Bronze Age team book rather than a landmark: it does not carry a recognized first appearance, origin story, or major character death, and its cover, while typical of the era's dynamic group compositions, has not entered the ranks of covers cited by major price guides as a classic. Its interest lies chiefly in completism for JLA and Bronze Age DC team-book collectors.
Market data shows a book that is plentiful in high grade, with 147 Universal copies on census out of 164 total graded and a strong concentration in the 9.6-9.8 range, reflecting a title that was well preserved by speculators and completists even at the time of release. Pricing follows the typical curve for a common, high-print-run Bronze Age comic: values stay modest through the mid grades and only become meaningful at the very top of the census, where the 9.8 tier commands a real premium over 9.6 and below due to the difficulty of finding truly pristine surviving copies. There is no evidence of outsized demand spikes; the book trades as a steady, low-volatility commodity rather than a speculative vehicle.
This is a book for JLA run-builders and Bronze Age DC completists rather than character-first-appearance or key-issue speculators. Low- and mid-grade raw copies move cheaply and are readily available in dollar bins and bulk lots, while graded 9.8 copies attract a narrow but consistent pool of grade-chasing collectors willing to pay a premium purely for census-topping condition. Expect the issue to remain a stable, unglamorous long-term holding whose value is driven almost entirely by grade rather than by content or historical importance.
// Copies in archive
| Unit | Grade | Variant | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECA-001868 | ~9.0 | Direct Edition | AVAILABLE |
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