Approximate
Condition Profile
MARVEL COMICS · 10/67
UNIT ECA-026362
TALES OF SUSPENSE #94
First appearance of Firebrand, with Iron Man and Captain America co-headlining
// Unit specification
| Publisher | Cover date | Era | Variant | Key attribute | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marvel Comics | October 1967 | Silver | — | First appearance of Firebrand (Rudolf Malecki); Iron Man story by Archie Goodwin and George Tuska; Captain America story by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby | AVAILABLE |
// Copies in archive
| Unit | Grade | Variant | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECA-026362 | ~7.0 | — | AVAILABLE |
// Run position
// Condition analysis
Cover shows strong gloss and vibrant color with sharp corners; minor wear is visible at the top and bottom spine edges with slight whitening, and a faint vertical crease line is visible near the left edge of the cover art. No major creases, tears, or color breaks are apparent, though the book is in a protective sleeve which may obscure fine surface wear. Interior and back cover were not assessed, so grade reflects front cover only.
// Valuation — market reference
| Bracket | Grade | Est. market value | Marker |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOW_RAW | 0.5 – 1.5 | $15 | |
| MID_RAW | 4.0 – 6.0 | $61 | |
| HIGH_CERT | 9.8 SLAB | $11,500 |
// Archive commentary
Tales of Suspense #94 (October 1967) splits its pages between an Iron Man adventure, written by Archie Goodwin with art by George Tuska, and a Captain America feature scripted by Stan Lee with Jack Kirby pencils. The Iron Man half introduces Firebrand, an anarchist-styled adversary whose flame and explosive-powered attacks made him a recurring, if secondary, figure in Tony Stark's rogues' gallery over the following decades. As a split-book issue from the later run of Tales of Suspense, it captures Marvel's late-1960s house style of pairing two headline heroes in a single anthology-format title shortly before both characters graduated to their own eponymous series.
Market activity reflects a well-populated Silver Age title with a large certified population and steady, incremental demand rather than speculative spikes. Pricing rises gradually through the mid grades before climbing sharply at the top of the census, consistent with a book collected primarily by Iron Man and Captain America completists and Silver Age Marvel run-builders rather than by first-appearance speculators chasing a marquee character. The scarcity of true Gem Mint copies, with only a handful of 9.8s ever certified, concentrates value heavily at the top of the grading curve while raw and lower-graded copies remain accessible.
Collecting interest centers on two audiences: those assembling complete Iron Man or Captain America Silver Age runs, and dealers filling out Tales of Suspense sets ahead of the two heroes' solo launches. Lower and mid-grade raw copies trade as affordable pieces of that larger narrative, while true high-grade examples command outsized premiums driven by census scarcity rather than character demand alone. The book functions best as a supporting key within a broader Iron Man or Captain America collection rather than a standalone investment piece.
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