Amazing Spider-Man #161 features the 1st Nightcrawler crossover!

What you’re looking at here is a highly undervalued historical KEY issue! With that said, let’s delve right into it!

In the Summer of 1975, the new X-Men made their 1st appearance in Giant-Size X-Men #1, which consisted of Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, & Thunderbird! After a powerful debut, they made their 2nd appearance in X-Men #94 in August of 1975, which relaunched the title after 4+ years of bi-monthly reprint issues that span from #67-#93!

Carrying on with the bi-monthly publishing format, the new X-Men would continue to make appearances every two months until X-Men #113, when Marvel decided to start publishing the title monthly. Considering this background information, both Amazing Spider-Man #161 and X-Men #101 were published in October of 1976, which ties for Nightcrawler’s 9th appearance in the history of comics!

More importantly, ASM #161 features the 1st time Nightcrawler crossed over into another title, which is also the 1st time his name was written on a cover and the 1st time in which a story was dedicated to him: “...And the Nightcrawler Came Prowling, Prowling!”

Furthermore, even though CGC did not include this important historical information on the CGC label, rest assured that ASM #161 has the potential to SPIKE in value, as it appeals to both Amazing Spider-Man & X-Men collectors—two of the most collected titles in the hobby! With an awesome Gil Kane & John Romita Spider-Man vs. Nightcrawler battle cover to boot, I predict that it’s only a matter of time until we see high-grade copies appreciate exponentially!

Overstreet 2021 NM- 9.2 value = $65.

According to the CGC Census Report as of Tuesday, August 17, 2021, out of a total of 722 Universal copies graded, only 105 copies were graded in 9.8 with 0 copies graded higher! With these statistics in mind, this represents an impressive rarity factor of only 14.54% of the total population!

This stunning copy is WORLD CLASS in every way! It’s PERFECTLY WRAPPED and CENTERED and contains PERFECT WHITE PAGES! I have honestly not seen a nicer looking copy! This blazer has a super tight spine with no visible stresses or color breaks, deep color saturation that looks like it was printed yesterday and perfectly inserted staples! This copy truly looks MINT!

In closing, I won this pristine beauty during a Heritage Sunday & Monday Comic Books Weekly Select Auction in June of 2021! I was ecstatic when I was notified as the winning bidder and I’m proud to showcase this immaculate copy in Arachnophobia!

Happy Collecting & Enjoy the Hunt!

-Professor Pecora

ASM #161 CGC 9.8 WP is featured in Professor Pecora's ASM CGC Registry Set entitled "Arachnophobia!"

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