STAR TREK #4

The cover shows a faint diagonal scratch/crease running across the green background from the mid-left to the upper-right, along with light surface wear at the top edge and mild corner softening at the top corners. Spine appears mostly tight with only minor stress visible, and there is some slight discoloration/foxing near the top left near the price box. The comic is protected in a plastic sleeve, which may obscure additional minor defects; the back cover and interior pages were not assessed.

Star Trek #4 arrived from Gold Key in March 1969, part of the publisher's original run adapting the Original Series to comics ahead of any direct television tie-in scripting oversight from Paramount or Desilu. Alberto Giolitti provided interior art in this era of the title, working from photo reference to render likenesses of Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise crew, while George Wilson's painted cover work gave the early Gold Key issues their distinctive photorealistic look on newsstands. The issue carries no major first appearances or origin content; its interest lies in being an early, transitional entry in the licensed comic's history rather than a landmark single issue.

Market data shows a typical Silver Age licensed-property curve: raw and low-grade copies trade for modest sums reflecting the title's large surviving population (well over 200 census copies), while values climb steeply only in the near-mint range, where population thins sharply and demand from Star Trek and Gold Key completists concentrates. The 9.8 tier, with just seven certified copies and matching sales, commands a substantial premium over 9.6 and below, reflecting the difficulty of finding this pulp-paper title in top preservation rather than any inherent scarcity of the issue itself.

This is a collecting-category book rather than an investment key: appeal centers on Star Trek franchise completists, Gold Key specialists, and Silver Age licensed-comic runs rather than speculative buyers chasing a first appearance. Lower and mid-grade copies move steadily but cheaply as reading or run-filler copies, while high-grade submissions see disproportionate value driven by census scarcity at 9.6 and 9.8. Long-term demand tracks the broader health of the Star Trek collecting community more than any standalone significance of issue #4.