Readcomix

Thank you for stating this — I notice a recent-times trend of so many diminishing this book because no characters make a first appearance, but it is the first appearance of the concept that is the Avengers, a core concept in the Marvel Universe, even before the MCU but certainly even moreso after. There’s an insidious creep to the idea that only first appearances can be keys, and that’s dangerously narrow in a content-based hobby. Sorry for the digression; to tie it back, that’s why I like your choice.

Posting a link to my friend’s auction house; a few lots are mine, several are from other people as well. 32 comics lots, internet-only, at 6 PM EST on March 11. https://hibid.com/catalog/267173/march-11th-comics--rare-books--toys-auction/

That Iger book is not priced too high...only still here because I have one...

Kidding aside, when I first saw the labels presented, in a vacuum, I thought "Oh that's neat." But once I saw them on actual slabbed books, I only see them as a distraction from the book itself. Not for me.

You were a stripper in college??? @lizards2

That’s some high weirdness right there folks, if you’ve never read thrill-o-Rama. It’s different....I recommend it.

I rest my case! Work with me; I'm tryin' to threadkrap here!!!

God's honest truth... one of those last, few still-irrelevant Bronze Age first appearances...this guy, Woodgod, the Shroud, American Eagle....they may be the only bronze dogs left! First appearances that have escaped Key Status are becoming increasingly rare!

Liz! the PM/IF 58! Ya forgot to say "1st El Augila! Wandavision! CGC it! Hot!"

Just send it with the right back cover!

Ever the optimist!

We can do it! Thread Krap Mafia Assemble!!!!

I thought we were talking about breathing...

Bring ‘em home to us!

Thank you! That’s it! Everything’s been a bit blurry since I ate the Damn thing...but it was worth it....even though it’s about the size of a rugby ball.....

I'd happily share it but I don't have it anymore, Jimbo! It's the Memphis Mafia from Voodoo Doughnuts; chocolate, peanut butter and I forget what else

highly caloric drive-by threadkrap

Individually, correct? Not as a lot?

A hammer... a book..... just in case, keep in mind the first serpent crown is Sub-Mariner #9. Do we need a 1st object appearances thread?

hmm.... Mystic #5? (Guessing based on discussion topic)

So, what is the first appearance of chaos? So far we have dated it to the early Bronze Age (not counting the Get Smart villain organization K.A.O.S.). Is there a silver age appearance? Golden age? Diving into the black hole of short boxes.... Send help if I don’t make it back....

Take X-Men 56

I don't know that it ever catches up either, but then again not all today's big guns have been as popular in the past as they now are, so who knows? But I do think TTA 27's place is cemented in the Marvel keys pantheon. It's the first Hank Pym, and he's kind of the Martian Manhunter of the Marvel Universe -- a strong supporting character through all his various incarnations (Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket, Dr. Pym) and a character whose story resulted in other key figures -- the Wasp, Ultron, the Vision, Bill Foster; I'm probably forgetting some. So I think both 27 and 35 have their place as keys, the 1st Hank Pym in 27 and the birth (sort of, halfway -- you have to read it) of his first hero identity in 35. But the Pym thread woven through Marvel history is long and strong enough that 27 deserves its place; its not a situation of a "prototype" and then a full-blown superhero in 35; the 2 are halves of an evolving piece; very cool to read back to back.

Chronologically, its tied with Avengers #1 for second-to-last of the first wave Marvel Silver keys. Both came out in September 1963. (DD#1 - April 1964). We know that collecting/saving of one's comics became more widespread as Marvel caught on in the early 60's. It seems like late '62/early '63 is more or less when more and more began to become collectors, whether or not they thought of themselves that way. This is where we need old-timer collectors/dealers to tell us some more specific stories of the birth of collecting and dealering, Phil Seuling et al. My general sense of that history comes as apocrypha told to me back in the 80's by the late "Iron Vic" Bertini, my local LCS owner when I was in high school in the 80's.