Amazing Spider-Man #46

Marvel - March 1967

Key Issue Notes
First appearance and origin of Shocker (Herman Schultz)

I don't know if you've seen the leaked cast list from the Spider-Man: Homecoming movie, but I decided that I'm going to do a few Amazing Spider-Man key issues from the names that appear on that list. The first issue I'm going to attack is Amazing Spider-Man #46, the first appearance of Shocker.

There was some concern that the leaked list was a fake, but with recent photos from the set of the movie, the list has more credibility. Here you can see what looks like Bokeem Woodbine all decked out in his Shocker costume. It's not exactly like it is in the comics, but it's a lot closer than some others that I've seen. Anyway, we'll see the costume in all of its glory when the movie hits theaters next summer.

The Shocker is another of the long list of characters that was created by Stan Lee, along with John Romita Sr., during the Silver Age. 

Bokeem Woodbine
as Shocker

When I was a kid I thought that Electro and Shocker had very similar powers. I figured that shock had more to do with electricity than what his powers really are. Essentially, The Shocker has a pair of gauntlets that he made that gives him the ability to shake and vibrate objects, not shoot bolts of electricity like I thought all those years ago. He originally made the gauntlets to open up safes and steal his fortune.

Before he became The Shocker, Herman Schultz was a just a two bit thief that landed himself in the big house a few times. While in jail, he came up with the idea to create a machine that could open any safe with vibrations. He used his creation to break out of prison and become the super villain that we know him as now. He also has a device that he used to deflect the punches of anyone that he's fighting, like Spider-Man in this issue.

The Shocker

That's about all there is for key issue worthiness in this issue. Well, I guess there is one other small key issue note to mention. In this issue, Peter Parker moves out of the house he shares with Aunt May, and moves into an apartment with his best bud Harry Osborn. That's it, nothing too important, but definitely a big step in the life of young Pete.

Since the cast list leaked, there has been an increase in demand for this comic. There have been a lot of sales over the past two weeks or so, but prices haven't really shot up as high as some other comics I've seen after a confirmation of a character appearing in a movie. I have noticed a lot more copies coming up for auction on sites like eBay, so maybe the market is getting diluted and it's keeping values down.

Values of Amazing Spider-Man #46
on GoCollect

As far as high grade copies go for this issue, there are a few. According to the CGC census, of the 842 copies already listed, 455 are graded 8.0 VF and higher, with three topping out at a 9.8 NM/M. There are quite a few Signature Series copies as well as a handful of Restored copies too. With the census being that low, you can bet that there are going to be a lot of raw copies out there that you can probably still get a deal on and send in to get graded yourself.

If you'd rather buy already graded, then you can still get this comic for a good deal. The most recent sales for some grades are only slightly higher than they were before the cast list was leaked. There has definitely been an increase, but nothing crazy so far. The most recent sale for an 8.5 VF+ went for $350, which is only up about $100 from sales at the end of last year, and 9.2 NM- have seen a slightly larger increase in value. The last sale of $750 has increased over $250 in about that same time span. There was one lucky SOB that nabbed a sweet 9.6 NM+ for only $195 on the 3rd of this month. Don't be expecting to find deals like that for this book anytime soon.

For all of you variant hunters out there, there is a UK version of this comic too. So far, there have only been 8 copies graded by CGC. How many copies of this variant are out there is beyond me, but I'm sure it's much lower that the US version. There is also a Mexican edition available, but I have even less information on that one that I do the UK version. Either way, these are both hard finds. I could only find one of each for sale on the world wide web.

Find a copy here
eBay - ComicLink - MyComicShop - ComicConnect

Amazing Spider-Man #50 - CBCS 7.0

Marvel - July 1967

Key Issue Notes
First appearance of Kingpin (Wilson Fisk)

I'd like to share another comic from my personal collection with you. I don't only write these posts up to show you what I have, but I also do it to give you an idea of the process that I go through when I decide to buy these comics.

There are a few reasons that I decided on this comic. The first is that I am a big fan of Spider-Man. I've stated that on here before. Ever since I bought that first Spidey comic when I was a kid, I've been hooked on the character. 

The second reason I bought this comic is because of the cover. I really like this cover that was done by the legendary artist John Romita Sr. It's probably not the best cover that he's done, but something about it really catches my eye. John Romita Sr. is very well known for the art that he did on his run on Amazing Spider-Man.

The final reason is that this is a good investment comic. A lot of the earlier ASM comics from the Silver Age introduced new characters that are still quite popular and relevant today. You can't really go wrong if you're looking for one of these to add to your collection.

This comic had been on my radar for a long time, but there are always other comics to be had so I put this one on the back burner for a while. It seems like I do that a lot. It wasn't until news came out that Kingpin was going to be the big baddie in the Netflix Daredevil series that I had to get serious about adding this to my collection.

I did my searches on eBay, like usual, and one day I came across an nice looking raw copy. I don't remember what grade that the seller had it listed at, if he had one listed at all. I don't usually pay attention to what sellers have listed anyway, because there are a lot of sellers that over grade their comics to try to make the most money from the suckers that don't know how to grade a book. I used to be like that, but have since gotten better at determining a grade.

There were a lot of nice high resolution pictures for me to look at, and I thought this copy looked pretty nice. It was a "buy it now" with a "best offer" option. So, I went on over to GoCollect to see what copies in the range of grades that I thought the comic might be in. For example, I thought the comic was probably between the grades of 6.0 F to a 7.0 F/VF. I usually look at the lowest grade and make an offer off of those sale prices.

So I made the seller an offer based off of the recent sales of a 6.0 F. Already graded copies at that grade were selling for the $250 to $300 at that time, so I decided to offer the seller $225. Luckily for me, he accepted my offer.


When I got it in the mail, it thought it looked about as good, if not slightly better than in the photos, and soon after I got it, I sent it in to CBCS with a bunch of other books. I think we can all see the end result. I was honestly expecting it to come back a 6.0 F or, more likely, a 6.5 F+, so I was very happy to see that 7.0 F/VF on the label. I was also lucky enough to snag a copy before it got out of my price range.

Find a copy here
eBay - ComicLink - MyComicShop - ComicConnect