Adam Warlock First Appearance: Fantastic Four #66-67 Value

Adam Warlock first appeared as "Him" in Fantastic Four #66-67 (September-October 1967), created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. He was renamed and rebuilt as Adam Warlock in Marvel Premiere #1 (April 1972) by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, and Jim Starlin took him in a cosmic direction in Strange Tales #178-181 (February-August 1975), the start of the "Magus Saga" (Wikipedia).

Collectors disagree on which issue to call the first appearance. Sellers in PriceCharting's sales log describe #66 as the origin of Him and label #67 both as "First Appearance of HIM" and "1st Cameo Adam Warlock". If you want the issue with the name Adam Warlock, it is Marvel Premiere #1.

PriceCharting values, based on recorded sales, retrieved September 25, 2026:

• Fantastic Four #66 (1967), origin of Him: $27.40 ungraded, $175.00 in CGC 8.0, $774.50 in CGC 9.2, $2,386.43 in CGC 9.8.
• Fantastic Four #67 (1967), Him appears: $42.99 ungraded, $233.82 in CGC 8.0, $598.88 in CGC 9.2, $3,756.23 in CGC 9.8.
• Marvel Premiere #1 (1972), first as Adam Warlock: $34.69 ungraded, $139.38 in CGC 8.0, $343.92 in CGC 9.2, $3,499.99 in CGC 9.8.

High grades carry most of the value. PriceCharting records a CGC 9.6 of #67 at $7,800 (Heritage, February 7, 2022) and another at $2,999 (March 19, 2024), so the same grade has sold for very different amounts in different years.

Scientists called the Enclave created him as an artificially perfect being, and he rebelled against them. He heals and returns from death by forming a cocoon. He carries the Soul Gem, which Wikipedia describes as having a consciousness of its own and a hunger for the life energy of living beings. The Magus, a dark version of Warlock (his future self or an evil side of him), leads the Universal Church of Truth.

Warlock and Thanos meet again and again across Marvel's cosmic stories, and during The Infinity Gauntlet they form an uneasy alliance (Wikipedia). The sources we checked do not say Thanos fears Warlock; they describe a long rivalry between two characters tied to the Infinity Gems. See the Thanos first appearance page for his debut issue.

Will Poulter played Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, released in the United States on May 5, 2023. In the film he is an artificial being made by the Sovereign to destroy the Guardians, newly out of his cocoon; he ends up helping them and joins the new team (Wikipedia).

• Indicia: the small print on the first page or inside cover gives the title, issue number, date and publisher; reprints and facsimiles say so there.
• Cover price and barcode: a price or barcode that did not exist in the cover year means a later edition.
• Paper: decades-old newsprint tans at the edges; bright white pages on an old date are a warning sign.
• Restoration: color touch, trimmed edges and replaced covers are common on expensive keys; a grading service such as CGC or CBCS can detect them.

Shoot the front cover flat and straight on in even light, then the indicia and the back cover. Fantastic Four #66 and #67 have similar trade dress, so the issue number must be readable in the photo; Marvel Premiere #1 is a different title altogether. ComicLens reads the title, issue number and cover art from the photo, and there are free scans every day.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed on this page. Prices are the figures shown by the named source on the date given; they change with the market.