THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #121

Cover shows strong gloss and vibrant color with sharp corners visible in this photo; no obvious creases, tears, or color breaks are apparent. A faint vertical press line/scratch is visible near the top left of the logo area, and the book is housed in a protective sleeve which limits full assessment of spine stress and edges. Interior pages and back cover were not assessed, so grade is based solely on the visible front cover surface.

The Spectacular Spider-Man #121 (December 1986) arrived during Peter David's acclaimed run as writer on the title, with Sal Buscema providing his customary steady, kinetic pencils. By this point in the series Spider-Man had settled into the mature, character-driven storytelling David brought to the book following the celebrated "Death of Jean DeWolff" arc a year earlier, and #121 continues that era's tone without itself containing a first appearance, origin, or other landmark event that price guides flag as a key moment.

Market data for this issue reflects a high-print-run, direct-market Copper Age comic: raw copies in low and mid grades see minimal recorded sale activity, and demand concentrates almost entirely at the top of the census. The wide gap between mid-grade FMVs (roughly $30-50 from grade 7.5 through 9.6) and the $150 realized for CGC 9.8 copies is typical of books valued primarily by registry collectors chasing top-census slots rather than by narrative significance, with the population report showing a thin but persistent supply of 9.8s.

This issue suits collectors building a complete Spectacular Spider-Man run or a Peter David/Sal Buscema collection rather than key-issue investors. Raw copies in low and mid grade trade as inexpensive bulk-bin or long-box material, while CGC 9.8 examples command a real premium driven by scarcity at the very top of the grading curve. Expect steady but modest demand across grades, with most transactional activity clustering at the graded extremes rather than the middle of the condition spectrum.