MEPHISTO VS. #2

Cover shows strong gloss and sharp corners with no visible creases or spine stress lines. There is a small area of glare/reflection near the mid-right edge from the protective sleeve, and slight bend/softness at the top left corner. No color breaking, staining, or tears are visible. Interior and back cover were not assessed, so grade is based solely on this front cover photo.

Cover-dated May 1987, this is the second installment of Marvel's four-part Mephisto Vs. limited series, in which the ruler of Hell works his way through the company's marquee teams one book at a time. Following the opening Fantastic Four chapter, the story turns to X-Factor, the reunited original five X-Men then operating under a mutant-hunter cover story, giving Mephisto a fresh set of souls to bargain for. Al Milgrom scripted the series with pencils and covers by John Buscema, whose late-career Marvel work gives the chapter a heavier, more classical look than most 1987 mutant-line titles.

Market demand for the issue is modest and driven almost entirely by completists. The series was printed in quantity at the height of Marvel's mid-eighties expansion and survives in abundance in high grade, so raw copies circulate freely at nominal prices with little separation between well-worn and presentable examples. Certified interest is limited to a thin census, and what graded activity exists tracks the general pattern for low-population Copper Age mini-series rather than any book-specific catalyst; the brief spike in Mephisto attention tied to the character's screen profile lifted the run's visibility without establishing durable price support.

Buyers are X-Factor and X-Men run collectors filling the crossover slot, Buscema followers, and the small group assembling Mephisto appearances across the Marvel line. Across grades the practical spread is narrow: mid-grade and low-grade raw copies trade as inexpensive reading and filler stock, while the only meaningful premium attaches to certified top-of-census copies, where scarcity of submissions rather than scarcity of the book itself sets the price. Complete four-issue sets tend to sell more readily than single issues, and dealers generally do better presenting the series as a set than breaking it down.