Approximate
Condition Profile
MARVEL COMICS · 5/87 · DIRECT EDITION
UNIT ECA-007002
THE WEST COAST AVENGERS #20
Vision Quest arc continues as the Avengers West Coast team confronts internal fracture
// Unit specification
| Publisher | Cover date | Era | Variant | Key attribute | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marvel Comics | May 1987 | Copper | Direct Edition | — | AVAILABLE |
// Run position
// Condition analysis
Cover shows strong gloss and sharp corners with no visible creasing or spine stress; the direct-edition Spider-Man head box is present in place of a barcode. There is a small vertical crease/scratch line near the center-right of the cover art and a faint bend near the bottom edge, plus minor waviness suggesting slight handling. The book is in a protective sleeve, which may be masking minor edge wear; interior pages and back cover were not assessed.
// Valuation — market reference
| Bracket | Grade | Est. market value | Marker |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOW_RAW | 0.5 – 1.5 | $1 | |
| MID_RAW | 4.0 – 6.0 | $5 | |
| HIGH_CERT | 9.8 SLAB | $90 |
// Archive commentary
The West Coast Avengers #20 arrived in May 1987 as part of Steve Englehart's extended "Vision Quest" storyline, the multi-issue arc in which the Vision's covert plan to seize global computer networks is exposed, setting up his forcible disassembly by a government task force in the issues that follow. The book features the core West Coast roster including Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Wonder Man, and the Scarlet Witch, and continues Englehart's long-form deconstruction of the Vision and Wanda's marriage that would ripple through Avengers continuity for years. It is a mid-arc chapter rather than a self-contained landmark, valuable primarily to readers following the complete storyline rather than as a stand-alone first appearance or origin issue.
Market data for this issue is thin: certified population sits at only ten Universal copies out of sixteen total graded, with recorded sales limited to the 9.8 tier. That scarcity of graded and sold copies reflects typical demand patterns for mid-series Copper Age Avengers spinoff titles, which see far less certification activity than flagship Avengers or X-Men books of the same period. Pricing at the top of the grade scale remains modest, consistent with a well-produced but non-key direct-market issue from a high-print-run era.
This is a book for West Coast Avengers completists and Englehart-run readers rather than speculative buyers, and it trades accordingly: inexpensive in raw grades, with only a mild premium attached to pristine slabbed copies given the small certified population. Long-box and bulk-lot inclusion is common, and most transactions occur as part of broader run purchases rather than single-issue chase activity.
// Copies in archive
| Unit | Grade | Variant | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECA-007004 | ~9.2 | Direct Edition | AVAILABLE |
| ECA-007006 | ~9.2 | Direct Edition | AVAILABLE |
| ECA-007002 | ~9.0 | Direct Edition | AVAILABLE |
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