First Appearances in Comics: Cameos, Full Debuts, Values

A first appearance is the first issue in which a character appears. Wikipedia's definition is simply the first issue to feature the character, and collectors pay more for these issues because they combine historical importance with fewer surviving copies from early decades. The same character can have several "firsts", and the price usually follows the one collectors agree is the real debut.

• Cameo: a brief showing, often a single panel or the last page. Wolverine's cameo is the last page of The Incredible Hulk #180 (October 1974).
• First full appearance: the first issue where the character takes part in the story. Wolverine's is The Incredible Hulk #181 (November 1974).
• First cover appearance: the first time the character is on the cover. Harley Quinn's first comic, The Batman Adventures #12 (September 1993), is also her first cover.
• First appearance in other media: some characters start on screen. Harley Quinn debuted in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Joker's Favor" on September 11, 1992, a year before her first comic (Wikipedia).
• Retcons: later stories can change what counts. Wikipedia cites Cable, who seemed new in 1990 and was later revealed to be a time-traveling Nathan Summers.

PriceCharting values on September 25, 2026 show how much the full debut outweighs the cameo for the same character in the same month of 1974:

• The Incredible Hulk #180 (Wolverine cameo): $273.50 ungraded, $1,856.72 in CGC 9.2, $14,400 in CGC 9.8
• The Incredible Hulk #181 (Wolverine's first full appearance): $1,789.36 ungraded, $8,269.17 in CGC 9.2, $55,227.79 in CGC 9.8

Ungraded, #181 is valued at about 6.5 times #180. Both issues were on sale in July 1974 (Comics Beat). When a seller lists a book as a "first appearance", check which kind of first it is before you compare prices.

The date printed on a comic is the cover date, and it is usually later than the day the issue reached newsstands. Price guides and grading labels use the cover date.

• Amazing Fantasy #15: cover-dated August 1962, on sale June 5, 1962 (Wikipedia).
• Tales of Suspense #39 (Iron Man): cover-dated March 1963, released December 1962 (Wikipedia). This is why some lists give Iron Man's debut year as 1962 and others as 1963.
• The Fantastic Four #5 (Doctor Doom): cover-dated July 1962, published April 10, 1962 (Wikipedia).
• Captain America Comics #1: cover-dated March 1941, on sale in December 1940 (Wikipedia).

Low-grade copies show the floor for each era. PriceCharting CGC 2.0 values, September 25, 2026:

• Action Comics #1 (1938, Superman): $37,928
• Detective Comics #27 (1939, Batman): $75,506
• Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962, Spider-Man): $22,000
• The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962, Hulk): $10,997
• Fantastic Four #48 (1966, Silver Surfer): $432
• The Incredible Hulk #181 (1974, Wolverine): $1,399
• The New Mutants #98 (1991, Deadpool): $104
• The Batman Adventures #12 (1993, Harley Quinn): $188

Modern first appearances were printed in far larger numbers, so condition drives their value: Spawn #1 (1992) is listed at $65 even in CGC 9.4. For the reasons prices differ, see what makes a key issue.

• Match the title and number in the indicia, not just the cover. Covers of famous keys are reprinted on facsimile editions, which carry a modern price and barcode.
• Check the printing line. Some modern debuts went back to press: PriceCharting lists separate second and third printings of Batman: Harley Quinn #1 (1999), Harley Quinn's first appearance in DC continuity.
• Know which first the market means. Wolverine collectors want #181, not #180; Galactus has a cameo in Fantastic Four #48 before his full story continues in #49-50.
• Look up the character page. Each page on this site names the issue, date, creators, grade-by-grade values and the reprints that get mistaken for it. See identify printings and variants.

Catwoman came first by almost four decades. She appeared as "the Cat" in Batman #1 (spring 1940), created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Marvel's Black Cat, Felicia Hardy, first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194 (July 1979), created by Marv Wolfman and Dave Cockrum. Wolfman has said he got the idea from the Tex Avery cartoon Bad Luck Blackie and did not have Catwoman in mind (Wikipedia). Batman #1 is also the Joker's first appearance.

Many of the first appearances collectors chase came from Jewish writers and artists, according to their Wikipedia biographies:

• Superman (Action Comics #1, 1938): Jerry Siegel, son of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants, with Joe Shuster.
• Batman (Detective Comics #27, 1939): Bob Kane, born Robert Kahn to parents of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, with Bill Finger.
• Captain America (Captain America Comics #1, 1941): Joe Simon, from a poor Jewish family, and Jack Kirby, born Jacob Kurtzberg to Austrian-Jewish immigrants.
• Spider-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Black Panther, Doctor Strange and Daredevil: co-created by Stan Lee, born Stanley Martin Lieber to Romanian-born Jewish immigrants, mostly with Kirby and Steve Ditko.

• DC: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Catwoman
• Marvel heroes: Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Hulk, Black Panther, Silver Surfer, Blade
• Marvel villains: Doctor Doom, Galactus, Venom, Green Goblin

The full list is on the first appearances index.