Approximate
Condition Profile
MARVEL COMICS · 2/78 · NEWSSTAND
UNIT ECA-011502
PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #15
Early Bronze Age Spider-Man team-up featuring the first appearance of Razorback
// Unit specification
| Publisher | Cover date | Era | Variant | Key attribute | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marvel Comics | February 1978 | Bronze | Newsstand | First appearance of Razorback (Buford Hollis), a minor recurring Marvel character introduced by Bill Mantlo | AVAILABLE |
// Copies in archive
| Unit | Grade | Variant | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECA-011502 | ~9.0 | Newsstand | AVAILABLE |
// Run position
// Condition analysis
Cover shows strong gloss and vibrant color with sharp corners and clean edges; a UPC barcode box is present in the lower left confirming the newsstand edition. Minor handling wear is visible at the bottom left corner tip and a faint horizontal crease near the lower edge, but no major creases, tears, or color breaks are apparent. Spine appears tight with no visible stress lines in this frontal view. The book is housed in a protective sleeve; interior pages and back cover were not assessed.
// Valuation — market reference
| Bracket | Grade | Est. market value | Marker |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOW_RAW | 0.5 – 1.5 | $4 | |
| MID_RAW | 4.0 – 6.0 | $9 | |
| HIGH_CERT | 9.8 SLAB | $140 |
// Archive commentary
Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #15 (Marvel, Feb. 1978) is best known to collectors as the first appearance of Razorback, the CB-radio-loving, pig-truck-driving vigilante Buford Hollis, who would go on to make sporadic guest appearances throughout the Marvel Universe over the following decades. Bill Mantlo scripts the issue with art by Sal Buscema and Ernie Chan, pairing Spider-Man with a cast that includes Flash Thompson, Sha Shan, and the villainous Hate-Monger and Man-Beast, reflecting the socially conscious, oddball-character energy typical of Mantlo's run on the title.
Market data shows a well-populated census with nearly 80 universal copies graded, but sales activity is thin outside the top grades, and pricing across the curve stays modest until the 9.6 and 9.8 tiers, where a small pool of high-grade copies commands a clear premium. This pattern is consistent with a minor character key: demand is real but narrow, driven almost entirely by Razorback completists and Spider-Man team-up run collectors rather than broad crossover interest, and raw copies in circulated grades see little independent demand beyond bulk-run assembly.
This is a book for Bronze Age Spider-Man specialists and character-first-appearance completists rather than generalist investors. Expect raw copies in low and mid grades to trade cheaply and mostly as run-fillers, while CGC 9.8 copies carry a real premium reflecting their scarcity relative to the overall census and the reliable, if small, base of Razorback collectors willing to pay up for top-census condition.
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