SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #153

Cover shows moderate wear consistent with a mid-grade copy: a diagonal crease at the top edge, some corner softness at the top right, and visible surface wear along the spine area. Colors remain bright with no fading, but there is a small crease/bend across the upper portion of the cover. The book is in a protective sleeve with some crinkling of the plastic visible, not the comic itself. Interior and back cover were not assessed.

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #153 (DC Comics, October 1972) arrived in the wake of Jack Kirby's celebrated 1970-1971 run on the title (issues #133-148), which had grafted his Fourth World mythology – Darkseid, the DNAliens, and a revamped Guardian and Newsboy Legion – onto DC's mild-mannered photojournalist book. By #153 the series was being carried forward by other creative hands, maintaining the Kirby-seeded supporting cast and Metropolis setting rather than introducing new concepts, as the larger Fourth World project wound down elsewhere in DC's line.

The certified population for this issue is thin across every grade, with only a handful of CGC submissions recorded and a pronounced value cliff between the 9.8 tier and everything below it: 9.6 and 9.4 copies trade in the twenties to thirties of dollars, while the small run of 9.8s command a clear multiple of that figure. This pattern is typical of a common-run Bronze Age back issue that draws interest mainly from series completists and Kirby-adjacent collectors rather than from broad key-issue demand.

Demand for this title centers on Superman family and Kirby Fourth World runs builders who need it to fill a gap rather than as a standalone target. Lower and mid-grade raw copies move in the secondary market for token sums as reading or run-filling copies, while pristine 9.8 slabs, scarce on census despite modest sales volume, carry a real premium reflecting rarity at the top of the grade curve rather than any intrinsic content-driven scarcity.