WHAT IF #38

Cover shows strong gloss and vivid color with sharp corners and a tight spine with no visible ticks or stress lines. There is minor surface texture/waviness visible under the plastic sleeve reflection, likely a slight cover crimp or the bag's glare rather than actual damage, and a faint vertical crease line near the upper indicia box. Edges appear clean with no chipping or foxing, though the book is in a protective sleeve which limits full assessment of surface sheen. Interior pages and back cover were not visible and were not assessed.

What If #38 is a double-sized 52-page entry in Marvel's long-running speculative-fiction anthology, published in the spring of 1983 during the title's original volume run. The issue's centerpiece is Alan Kupperberg's "Daredevil: 2013!", a dystopian future tale that finds Kupperberg working across nearly every creative role on the story, supplemented by David Michelinie and Rich Margopoulos scripting companion segments involving a future Avengers lineup and the fate of Sharon Carter. The book carries no first appearances, deaths, or origin stories of lasting consequence, and its characters (Daredevil, Captain America, Black Widow, Nick Fury, the Kingpin, and others) appear here in alternate-timeline, non-canonical roles typical of the What If format.

Market activity is thin and consistent with a mid-tier anthology title from the format's original run: certified sales cluster at the top of the grading scale, with fewer than a dozen slabs recorded across the census and pricing that rises sharply only at 9.6 and 9.8. Demand is driven almost entirely by Kupperberg completists, What If? series runs, and CGC registry collectors chasing high-census gaps rather than by character or creator significance in the broader Marvel canon. Newsstand printings of this era are generally scarcer in high grade than their direct-market counterparts, which supports some of the premium seen at 9.6 and above despite the book's otherwise modest profile.

This is a book for series completists and registry builders rather than character or key-issue investors. Raw copies in low and mid grades trade as inexpensive filler for full What If? runs, while CGC 9.8 copies command a real but narrow premium tied to genuine scarcity at the top of the grading pyramid rather than storyline importance. Expect steady, unspectacular demand: a reliable convention-box seller in lower grades and an occasional registry-driven bidding bump for pristine slabs.