THE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER #9

Cover shows good gloss overall with bright, well-preserved colors. Minor spine stress lines are visible near the top and middle of the spine, with slight whitening at a couple of points but no significant color break. A small vertical crease/scratch is visible on the right edge running through the artwork. Corners appear reasonably sharp with only minor blunting. The book is in a protective sleeve which obscures fine edge detail; interior and back cover were not assessed.

The Frankenstein Monster #9 arrived from Marvel in March 1974 as part of the publisher's brief but distinctive run adapting Mary Shelley's creature into an ongoing horror-adventure serial, one of several titles the company launched to capitalize on the era's relaxed Comics Code and renewed appetite for monster fiction. By this point in the eighteen-issue series, writer Doug Moench had taken over scripting duties, steering the Monster through a string of gothic and pulp-adventure plots that distinguished the book from Marvel's more traditional superhero output of the period. The issue carries no first appearance, death, or landmark creative milestone, and its significance rests on its place within a modestly collected, tightly bounded Bronze Age series rather than any singular historic event.

Market data reflects a typical mid-tier Bronze Age curve: values stay thin through the mid and low grades, where sales are sparse to nonexistent, before climbing sharply at the top of the census. The 9.8 tier commands a real premium relative to 9.6 and below, driven by a small but active pool of high-grade buyers rather than broad crossover demand. With no major key status attached, pricing is shaped almost entirely by condition scarcity at the top of the pyramid and general Bronze Age horror-genre collecting rather than character-driven demand spikes.

This is a book collected primarily by Frankenstein Monster series completists and Bronze Age horror specialists rather than mainstream superhero buyers. Lower and mid-grade raw copies move slowly and inexpensively as reading or run-filling copies, while CGC 9.8 examples draw a narrower but committed audience willing to pay a steep multiple for top-census condition. Overall trading activity is light across all grades, making the book a niche but steady presence in dealer inventory rather than an actively speculated title.