Marvel Price Variants: Fantastic Four #172

Before the mega-movie blockbusters and purchase by Disney, Marvel was a rather humble company, frequently teetering on the brink insolvency.  As I mentioned in an earlier post...the number of comics being published in the early Golden Age was absolutely staggering...somewhere around 70-90 million a month depending on the source.  By the mid 1970's, there were fewer than 5 million comics being printed a month.  By this time, comic books had gotten smaller, had fewer pages and were more expensive then they had been in the early days.  Most of the Golden Age saw 10¢ a book.  By the early 1960's that went to 12¢ a book.  In the late 60's and early 70's, a rapid progression to 15¢, then 20¢ and then 25¢ per book.

By the time Fantastic Four #172 was published, comics cost 25¢ (like the book on the left), but the book on the right was a tester in certain markets to see the response to a 30¢ book.  "Price variants" are the same book, but just with a different price...and a lot scarcer than their "regular" priced counterparts. heir scarcity makes them rather collectible.

In case you were wondering, this is a Jack Kirby cover (actually it screams Kirby...after a while, it is hard not to recognize his style).  And it features "The Destroyer",  a great Marvel villain who was also featured in the 2011 movie, Thor.

Until next time...