Amazing Spider-Man #10, Marvel Comics, March 1964.
This week I wanted to find a nice combination of quality and value, I was looking for something stable, on firm ground, but that still had room for appreciation. I’m pretty sure I found it in this week’s Undervalued Spotlight, Amazing Spider-Man #10.
I didn’t realize this until I checked against my master list but this is only the second Amazing Spider-Man (ASM) issue under #30 that has been featured over all these years on the Spotlight, ASM #3 is the other I did a few years back.
Amazing Spider-Man #10 features the first appearance of Big Man and the Enforcers. I think the Enforcers are beyond cool and underused in the Marvel U. I wish my pals in high school were named Fancy Dan, Ox and Montana! These 3 bad boys are assassins for hire working for crime boss The Big Man to gain territory for the Big Man’s crime empire, of course, they forgot to factor in the amazing Spider-Man.
I like the cover to Amazing Spider-Man #10 and I like the notoriety that comes with it. On the cover, Enforcers are drawn and inked by Steve Ditko. The Spider-Man figure though is pencilled by the great Jack Kirby, with inking by Dick Ayers. The original, rejected cover to Amazing Spider-Man # 10, by Steve Ditko, is included for your perusal. Kirby didn’t draw Spidey very much in the early days, Amazing Fantasy #15, Strange Tales Annual #2, Tales to Astonish #57 are the only ones I can think of pre-1965.
In the Overstreet Guide, Amazing Spider-Man #10 is the second cheapest Spidey in the #1-10 run, only $50 ahead of the lowly ASM #8 and if you factor in ASM #10’s stronger cover and the obvious bonus of being a first appearance issue you get the sense of value. It’s a good time to remind you that Amazing Spider-Man is the most collected run in the hobby with the #1-10 run being the uber sub-run within the run.
Most recent sales across the high grades all seem soft, a CGC 8.0 last sold for $780, a CGC 9.2 last sold for $2,100, a CGC 9.4 last sold for $2,730 while the last CGC 9.6 fetched a disappointing $4,320.
Grab yourself a copy that is crisp and tight, well centred with high gloss!
The 48th Overstreet price breaks for this book are $294/$784/$1767/$2750 in the 6.0/8.0/9.0/9.2 grade splits.
Strengths that make this comic a good long-term investment are:
- First appearance of Big Man and the Enforcers
- Embedded in the coveted #1-10 Amazing Spider-Man run
Great Spotlight Walt. I have always liked this cover myself and do have a copy although not high grade but at least a VG ( is that a 4.0 in todays standards?) and can boast I purchased back in the day for less than a buck! If Marvel did use the Enforcers again I imagine each of them would get their own variant cover these days!
Owen McCarron, artist and writer of many 1960s Halifax local comic advertising flyers and of several Marvel comics series, once showed me the original art for an alternate unused cover to ASM #10, which Steve Ditko, personally, gave him. He had it framed and displayed on the wall of his art studio. It was beautiful in its own right and was the better cover, in my opinion. It was very detailed and displayed a more action-filled scene than the published cover.
Excellent column, Walt. I particularly enjoyed the alternate cover version, and agree with Tony that Ditko’s version was the better cover.
Actually…Id never seen Spidey better displayed up to this time,then Kirby,with spiderman swinging in the foreground. Ditkos cover is a little busy, but I love Ditkos Noir like atmosphere. Wasnt Spiderman 1 all or mostly Kirby? inked by Ditko. Not Curt Swanned like they did for Kirbys Superman face. Amazing Fantasy 15 and Spiderman # 1 have a distinct spiderman logo on Spidermans chest with the web design of the suit weaved into this logo. Ditkos Spiderman has a spider logo like stamp on his chest and the web design is always outside of this logo.
Methinks Spiderman 1 or # 6 are my favorite Spiderman covers in the first dozen. Bit the more I look, the more I change my mind. 🙂
The reason I like the Ditko cover is that it matches the type of action that you saw between Spidey and the Enforcers as you read the issue.
But I agree with David – the cover to ASM #6 has always been my favorite among the early covers, with the Electro cover of #9 following closely behind.
I kind of like Ditko’s cover better.