Falcon First Appearance: Captain America #117 (1969)

The Falcon, Sam Wilson, first appeared in Captain America #117, cover-dated September 1969, created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan (Wikipedia). PriceCharting lists the issue as both his first appearance and his origin. His falcon companion, Redwing, shares a telepathic link with him. He became so central to the book that it was retitled Captain America and the Falcon from issue #134 (February 1971).

Yes. Sam Wilson has been Black since his first issue in 1969, and Wikipedia describes him as the first African-American superhero in mainstream comic books. He was not the first Black superhero: Black Panther came earlier, in 1966, but T'Challa is from the fictional African nation of Wakanda (Wikipedia). See our Black Panther first appearance page.

One later story tried to rewrite his past. In Captain America #186, Steve Englehart revealed a criminal past as "Snap" Wilson, which the story says was false memories implanted by the Red Skull; Wikipedia calls it a controversial retcon.

PriceCharting values, retrieved September 25, 2026:

• Ungraded: $122.25 (about three sales a week)
• 4.0: $179.99
• 6.0: $254.79
• 8.0: $477.72
• 9.2: $1,421.71 (about one sale a year)
• 9.8: $12,564.82 (about one sale a year)

The jump from 9.2 to 9.8 is almost ninefold. Copies from 1969 in 9.8 are scarce, and a single sale can change the figure, so check the dated sales before pricing one.

• Avengers #181 to #184 (1979): the Falcon joins the Avengers after government liaison Henry Peter Gyrich cuts the roster to seven and insists on including him under affirmative action rules, which pushes Hawkeye out for a time (Wikipedia, Avengers).
• 2014: Sam Wilson takes over as Captain America, announced July 16, 2014, and headlines All-New Captain America #1 (January 2015) (Wikipedia).

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), with Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson. Mackie continued in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) and Captain America: Brave New World (2025) (Wikipedia).

In the comics the team was founded in The Avengers #1 (September 1963) by Iron Man, Ant-Man, the Hulk, Thor and the Wasp, who named the group after they defeated Loki. Captain America joined in issue #4 (March 1964), after being found frozen in ice, and was later given the status of a founding member (Wikipedia, Avengers). The Falcon joined in 1979.

Northstar is the answer usually given. He first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #120 (April 1979), but an editorial policy against openly gay characters kept his orientation implied for years; in Alpha Flight #106 (1992) he said on the page that he is gay, making him the first openly gay character to come out in a Marvel comic. He married Kyle Jinadu in Astonishing X-Men #51 (June 2012), the first same-sex wedding in mainstream comics (Wikipedia, Northstar).

• 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 can detect them. See spot a fake or restored comic.

Shoot the front cover flat and straight on in even light, then the indicia and the back cover. For Captain America #117, the indicia should read Captain America, issue 117, dated September 1969. ComicLens reads the title, issue number and cover art from the photo and shows a reference price range that moves with the grade you pick; 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.