JOHN CARTER, WARLORD OF MARS #3

Cover shows strong gloss and vibrant color with sharp corners visible in this photo; a faint diagonal crease/scratch line runs through the upper-left black title area near the Marvel logo. Spine appears mostly flat with no visible major stress lines or ticks in this view, though slight glare from the protective sleeve limits full assessment. No major creases, tears, or color breaks are visible on the front cover. Interior pages and back cover were not assessed, so grade is based solely on this front-cover photo.

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #3 continues Marvel's mid-1970s adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs's Barsoom novels, scripted by Marv Wolfman with pencils by Gil Kane and inks by Rudy Nebres. This installment of the "Air-Pirates of Mars" arc finds Stara Kan working to turn Dejah Thoris against John Carter, with Tars Tarkas rounding out the principal cast. The series arrived as part of Marvel's broader push into licensed and public-domain adventure properties during the Bronze Age, pairing Kane's dynamic figure work with Burroughs's established pulp mythology.

The certified market for this issue is thin and largely flat: FMV holds near $42 across grades from 7.0 through 9.2, with only the 9.6 tier showing any real separation, averaging around $60 over both the trailing year and the most recent quarter. That flatness across five grade points indicates a book collected in bulk runs rather than chased individually, with demand concentrated among Burroughs completists and Gil Kane cover collectors rather than a broad speculative base. No 9.8 or 10 has been certified despite a healthy submission pool, pointing to a print or handling quality that makes true gem-mint survivors scarce even though raw supply is not.

This is a book for series-run collectors and Barsoom/ERB specialists rather than investment-driven buyers, and it trades accordingly: inexpensive in low and mid raw grades, with most of the value concentrated at the unproven top of the certified population. A CGC 9.8, if one surfaces, would likely command a real premium over the $60 9.6 average given the total absence of higher grades on census, but day-to-day demand for this issue remains modest and unlikely to see sharp appreciation absent a broader revival of interest in the Marvel Burroughs licensed line.