Approximate
Condition Profile
MARVEL COMICS · 2/91
UNIT ECA-003688
SILVER SURFER #46
Ron Lim cosmic-era Silver Surfer from the pre-Infinity Gauntlet Thanos saga
// Unit specification
| Publisher | Cover date | Era | Variant | Key attribute | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marvel Comics | February 1991 | Copper | — | — | AVAILABLE |
// Copies in archive
| Unit | Grade | Variant | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECA-003688 | ~9.2 | — | AVAILABLE |
// Run position
// Condition analysis
Cover shows sharp corners, strong gloss, and vivid unfaded colors with no visible creases or spine stress lines. The book is protected in a plastic sleeve which slightly obscures fine surface detail and any minor edge wear. No stains, tears, or writing are visible on the front cover; back cover and interior pages were not assessed.
// Valuation — market reference
| Bracket | Grade | Est. market value | Marker |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOW_RAW | 0.5 – 1.5 | $3 | |
| MID_RAW | 4.0 – 6.0 | $6 | |
| HIGH_CERT | 9.8 SLAB | $75 |
// Archive commentary
Silver Surfer #46 (Feb. 1991) arrived during Jim Starlin and Ron Lim's celebrated cosmic run on the title, the storyline that rebuilt Thanos into a credible cosmic threat and set the stage for the Infinity Gauntlet event later that year. Starlin's scripts and Lim's widescreen pencils, typically inked by Keith Williams, gave the book a distinct visual identity that collectors associate with the best of the Silver Surfer's Copper Age adventures, even when a given issue is not itself a first appearance or origin story.
Market data shows this issue trading as a common back-issue rather than a sought-after key: fair market values stay modest through the mid grades and only climb meaningfully at 9.6 and 9.8, where the pool of top-graded copies thins out relative to the roughly 200-book Universal census. Demand is driven less by any single event in the issue and more by ongoing collector interest in the Starlin/Lim Thanos build-up arc as a whole, with buyers often assembling the full #34-50 run rather than chasing #46 in isolation.
This is a book for Silver Surfer and Thanos-saga completists, run-builders, and dealers stocking affordable Copper Age cosmic material rather than speculators chasing a landmark issue. Raw copies in low and mid grade remain inexpensive bulk-bin material, while CGC 9.8 examples carry a real but modest premium reflecting relative scarcity at the top of the grade curve rather than any inherent key status.
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