Approximate
Condition Profile
MARVEL COMICS · 6/76
UNIT ECA-006093
MARVEL PREMIERE #30
First appearance of Woodgod, Marvel's Bronze Age try-out title showcase
// Unit specification
| Publisher | Cover date | Era | Variant | Key attribute | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marvel Comics | June 1976 | Bronze | — | First appearance of Woodgod, created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema | AVAILABLE |
// Run position
// Condition analysis
Cover shows strong gloss and vibrant colors with sharp corners and no visible creases or color breaks. There is minor edge wear along the top and right border and a slight bend at the lower right corner. Spine appears tight with no visible stress lines in this view. Book is in a protective sleeve which limits full assessment; back cover and interior were not evaluated.
// Valuation — market reference
| Bracket | Grade | Est. market value | Marker |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOW_RAW | 0.5 – 1.5 | $3 | |
| MID_RAW | 4.0 – 6.0 | $8 | |
| HIGH_CERT | 9.8 SLAB | $150 |
// Archive commentary
Marvel Premiere #30 (June 1976) belongs to Marvel's long-running try-out anthology, the title that gave early exposure to characters ranging from Iron Fist to Alice Cooper before they earned (or failed to earn) their own series. This issue introduces Woodgod, a hybrid god-being created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Sal Buscema, part of Marvel's mid-1970s push to expand its roster of oddball, high-concept super-beings beyond the core Avengers and X-Men stable. The character would go on to minor appearances in the Marvel Two-in-One Annual line and later a stand-alone graphic novel, giving this issue a clear place in Bronze Age character-origin collecting.
The certified market reflects a book with steady submission volume but modest collector demand: census totals run into the high eighties across Universal grades, yet sales activity thins sharply above 9.4 and essentially disappears below 9.0. Pricing across the upper grades sits in a narrow band, with 9.6 commanding roughly the same territory as 9.4 and 9.0, indicating a flat demand curve rather than a steep grade premium — typical for a try-out issue whose lead character never became a marquee name. The absence of any recorded 9.8 sale, despite a handful of copies at that grade, suggests thin liquidity at the very top rather than genuine scarcity.
This is a book for Marvel Premiere run-completists and Bronze Age first-appearance specialists rather than speculative buyers. Raw copies in lower grades circulate cheaply as bulk-bin or dollar-box material, while mid-grade raw copies see only incidental demand tied to character-origin checklists. Certified 9.6-9.8 examples carry a modest premium reflecting rarity at the top of the census more than active bidding competition, making this a stable, low-volatility addition to a Bronze Age Marvel collection rather than a growth asset.
// Copies in archive
| Unit | Grade | Variant | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECA-006093 | ~8.0 | — | AVAILABLE |
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