THE UNCANNY X-MEN #289

Cover shows strong gloss and sharp corners with no visible chipping or color breaks at the edges. A faint horizontal press/handling line is visible near the top of the X-Men logo, and there appears to be a slight bend or crease running across the upper portion of the cover just below the top edge. Spine appears tight with no visible stress ticks. Interior and back cover were not assessed, so grade is based solely on this front cover image.

The Uncanny X-Men #289 arrived in June 1992 during the transitional period between the Jim Lee/Whilce Portacio era and the build-up to "X-Cutioner's Song," with Andy Kubert on art and Fabian Nicieza contributing to the scripting duties that defined the title's early-90s direction. The issue is a standard team adventure rather than a landmark chapter, featuring the mainline roster of Wolverine, Cyclops, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Psylocke, and Beast as the X-Men navigated the plot threads Marvel was threading toward the following year's crossover event.

Market activity reflects a book produced in enormous quantity during the direct-market boom of the early 1990s: census figures exceed 300 certified copies, and sales cluster almost entirely at the top of the grading scale, where 9.6 and 9.8 slabs see steady turnover in the $20-$55 range. Lower and mid grades generate essentially no recorded sales, a pattern typical of a common Modern Age issue where collector demand is concentrated on pristine, investment-grade copies rather than reading copies or mid-grade examples.

This is a book bought almost exclusively in top-tier certified form by X-Men completists building long runs or chasing full 9.8 sets from the Kubert/Nicieza period; raw copies in low or mid grade hold little more than nominal value and typically move in bulk lots rather than as individual sales. Collecting interest tracks the broader early-90s X-Men speculator market rather than any specific first appearance or creative milestone, so pricing stability depends on continued demand for high-census Modern Age runs rather than scarcity.