Daredevil #16 (1966) 1st Romita Sr art on Spider-Man; VG+

Description: This is a single owner book, in my possession since purchased at Sheffield Sheath Market when released in February of 1966 (cover date always being then 3 months ahead of the actual release date to supposedly increase shelf-life). Whoever purchases this book will be only it's second owner in 57 years. Aside from 'Daredevil' #16 being an early issue of Daredevil, and one which first introduced the Masked Marauder, this book's status as a key book stems from it being the very first time that 'Jazzy' John Romita (Sr) drew Spider-Man, pre-dating his taking over as artist on 'Amazing Spider-Man' #39 by 3 months. The first meeting of Daredevil and Spider-Man in DD #16 & 17 gave writer/Editor Stan Lee the chance to assess Romita's potential as a replacement for Ditko. He passed the test with flying colours, as you can see from the pages here, joined Lee on 'Amazing Spider-Man', and the book went on to even greater sales as a result of Romita's ability to illustrate both dynamic action and intense emotion (a skill developed on Marvel's romance titles). This is a much loved and much read copy and unfortunately has the wear to show for it, but it also has many positive features. This is a good solid book, with no pages or pieces missing, cover and pages all held secure by rust-free original staples. Cover colours show little sign of having faded and there remains some reflective lustre - though it should be noted that the covers of Marvel Comics in this period were more matt than glossy. Pages are off-white to cream, and remain crisp and supple, with no tanning. When it comes to defects, the most obvious is the muiltitude of spine-stresses with colour-breaks - one of which, from just below the top staple, stretches almost to Spider-Man's arm. There is also a diagonal crease-line of 11 cm running from a couple inches above bottom-right to Spider-Man's knee. Within this is a very faint colour-break. Likewise, there are two almost parallel fold lines running down from the top of the book - one to DD's outstretched arm, the other all the way to the bottom - and there almost imperceptible hairs of colour-break to be discovered on very close scrutiny. At back of the book, there is a flattened diagonal fold across the top left and three moderate to heavy stresses at bottom-right where the book has perhaps been bent back at some point. In addition, there is moderate to heavy wear with colour-break lines across the tipof the bottom-right corner, and at top and base of the spine. The bottom 6mm of the spine has eroded away. There is a small amount of very faint foxing to be found at the bottom of the front and back covers. On the Marvel checklist, my 7 year old self has ticked in red biro pen 5 of the comics released that month which I had already bought, and at top-left of the back cover, ink-penned my initials - to ensure I got the book back if loaned to a friend to read. I would judge the book to meet or exceed the Overstreet criteria for VG (4.0) but fails to sufficiently satisfy the criteria for VG/Fn, and is therefore best described as being VG+ (4.5), but this is of course simply my judgement in applying the cirtieria, and I hope the number of photos and details of condition will enable you to make your own assessment. This comic will be dispatched backed and bagged, securely packed in a sturdy bookmailer - I do not use car-backed A4 envelopes or bubble-wrap . to see it reaches you in the same condition it leaves me! I use Royal Mail rather than Evri, Yodel, or DHL. I've been collecting comics for over 50 years. In that time I've upgraded much of my collection, resulting in extra copies of many issues. In addition, there are series' I have collected which I don't feel the need to take to the grave! I am therefore seeking to reduce the size of my collection by selling off my duplicates and items no longer of interest. As a continuing collector myself, I really want buyers to be happy with their purchase, whatever condition it is in, and I always try to grade carefully, using Overstreet criteria. I try to provide sufficient descriptive detail and images for you to know what you are buying, but, if you are unhappy, you may return your purchase for a full refund

Price: 134.95 GBP

Location: Sheffield

End Time: 2025-02-03T20:44:25.000Z

Shipping Cost: 37.96 GBP