From1964, this is the 5th issue of the very first series of 'X-Men' (which eventually had 'The Uncanny' added to the title), from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and featuring Professor X and the original team of Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Beast and Angel. It is the 3rd appearance of Magneto, and 2nd for Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver - who were then members of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, along with Mastermind and the Toad!
This is a book notoriously hard to find in high grade because of it's dark blue background, white book title, and white central area, combined with the fact of it being around 60 years old! If you have been looking at affordable low to mid-grade copies, you will have seen copies worse than this one! I reckon this book has been in my collection since around 1967, when, as child, I would have picked it out from the piles of second hand comics at Sheffield's Castle Market.
To begin with the positives...
This is a good solid book with no holes, tears or splits in the spine, and b oth the cover and pages all secure to the book's original, rust-free, staples. Pages are off-white with no tanning, centrefold is secure, and nothing has been cut out. Nor is there any writing inside the book. The colours of the cover remain rich, and there is minimal loss of reflectivity - in fact it is notably shiny! (Marvel books of that period not being as glossy as DC). There is no writing or any sign of colour-touch on the cover (something to look out for on dark covers, and 'bleed-through on the inside of the cover is a give-away) - nothing to detract from the impact of the cover image. The white areas, although more cream than snow white, remain clean. The back cover is certainly more cream than white.
The main defects consist of....
* off-spine stapling (a printing defect), the staples being a couple mm right of the spine, camouflaged amid the deep pink & blue
* at back, pages protrude up to 3mm beyond the cover, partly because of the above, and perhaps also a slight spine-roll
* multiple heavy stresses down the spine, with varying degrees of colour-break, together with vertical hairlines of colour-break
parallel to the spine
* along the bottom edge and at lower-right, further hairline colour-breaks
* aside from the above, light surface wear from handling
* abrasions/blunting at all 4 corners
* inside the back cover, and on the edges of the rear pages, there is some very faint foxing, easily missed (this has not progressed
in decades because stored in a cool (not damp) room, properly bagged, backed and boxed upright in a Lever Arch file.
If you consult Overstreet grading criteria, I think you would agree that this copy comfortably meets that for VG and has the small accumulation of virtues that improve the book's appearance from that grade, to merit VG+. I would not feel confident calling it VG/Fn. While VG+ (4.5) is my own subjective assessment, you are of course welcome to arrive at youre own assessment based on these notes and the images, and are welcome to ask questions about any aspect.
This comic will be dispatched backed and bagged, securely packed in a sturdy bookmailer (not bubble-wrap or A4 envelope!) to see it reaches you in the same condition it leaves me! I use Royal Mail rather than Evri, Yodel, UPS, 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.