MARVEL TALES #126

Cover shows strong gloss and sharp corners with no visible creasing or spine stress lines. Slight edge wear is visible at the bottom left corner and a faint press mark near the barcode box, but colors remain vibrant with no fading. Book is in a protective sleeve which limits full surface inspection; interior and back cover were not assessed.

Marvel Tales #126 is a Bronze Age reprint title that recycled Amazing Spider-Man #149, delivering the climactic confrontation of the original Clone Saga to a new newsstand readership in 1981. The issue restages Gerry Conway's script and Ross Andru and Mike Esposito's art, including the Jackal's unmasking and the death of the Spider-Man clone, alongside a back-feature drawing on Thor's supporting cast of Balder, Loki, Hela, and Karnilla. As with most entries in the long-running Marvel Tales line, the book's value rests entirely on reproducing a landmark story rather than presenting it for the first time.

Market data reflects this secondary status: certified population is small and thinly traded, with only a handful of 9.8 sales anchoring the top of the curve, while raw copies in low and mid grades see little dedicated attention and price close to typical reprint-comic norms. Demand is driven almost exclusively by Spider-Man clone-saga completists and collectors assembling full runs of the Marvel Tales reprint series, rather than by any first-appearance or milestone status of its own.

This is a book bought for completeness rather than investment. Low- and mid-grade raw copies remain readily available and inexpensive, appealing mainly to readers or Spider-Man cover-run collectors filling reprint gaps, while pristine CGC 9.8 slabs draw modest premiums from registry-focused buyers chasing top-census copies of an otherwise minor title. Across grades, the book trades as a stable, low-cost supporting piece rather than a market driver.