PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #3

Cover shows strong gloss and bright, unfaded color with sharp corners and a square spine with no visible ticks or stress lines. There is slight edge wear along the top and right border and a faint bend near the mid-right edge, along with minor handling wear at the bottom corners. The comic is in a protective sleeve, which limits close inspection of surface sheen; interior pages and back cover were not assessed.

Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #3 arrived early in Marvel's second ongoing Spider-Man title, launched in late 1976 to capitalize on the character's popularity. This issue pits Spider-Man against the light-manipulating villain Lightmaster and the Tarantula, with a supporting cast drawn from the Daily Bugle and Peter Parker's social circle, including Robbie Robertson, Flash Thompson, Glory Grant, and Sha Shan. Sal Buscema's pencils, inked by Mike Esposito, define the visual identity of the early Spectacular run, while Jim Shooter provides the script and Al Milgrom supplies the cover.

The book's market profile reflects a high-print-run Bronze Age title with a large surviving population; census figures show hundreds of certified copies concentrated in the 9.2-9.8 range, and fair market values for mid and lower grades remain close together, indicating limited grade-driven premium below near-mint. Demand is anchored almost entirely at the top of the grade scale, where CGC 9.8 copies command a meaningful premium over 9.6 and below, a pattern typical of common Bronze Age issues where condition census competition, not character or story significance, drives value.

This issue is best understood as a fill-in for Spider-Man Bronze Age runs and supporting-cast completists rather than a standalone key. Raw copies in low and mid grades circulate cheaply and steadily through back-issue bins and online marketplaces, while CGC 9.8 examples attract targeted bidding from registry-set collectors chasing top-census slots. Across the grade spectrum, the book trades as a modest, stable commodity rather than a speculative or headline item.