Iron Man First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #39 Value

Iron Man first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 (cover date March 1963), published by Marvel, by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko. The source puts it this way: "This comic features the first appearance of Iron Man by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.".

PriceCharting values for Tales of Suspense #39 (1963) by CGC grade, based on recorded sales and updated September 25, 2026:

• CGC 2.0: $5,002
• CGC 3.0: $5,931
• CGC 4.0: $7,744
• CGC 5.0: $12,006
• CGC 6.0: $13,420
• CGC 7.0: $19,215
• CGC 8.0: $49,976
• CGC 9.0: $75,000
• CGC 9.2: $107,761
• CGC 9.4: $118,950

The spread from CGC 2.0 ($5,002) to CGC 9.4 ($118,950) shows how much condition matters on a key issue. Restored, trimmed or incomplete copies sell far below these figures, and reprints and facsimiles (see below) are worth a small fraction. Grade and restoration are confirmed by a grading service such as CGC or CBCS; prices move with the market and the character's popularity.

• Cover date vs. on-sale date: Iron Man's first appearance, "Iron Man Is Born!", appeared in Tales of Suspense #39, which was released in December 1962 but carries a March 1963 cover date.
• Interior story detail (Tony Stark origin): in the story, weapons manufacturer Tony Stark is injured and captured in Vietnam, then secretly builds an iron suit to escape and become Iron Man.

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

Shoot the front cover flat, straight on, in even light, then the indicia page and the back cover. Include the top edge and staples in one frame. The app reads the title, issue number and cover and matches it against the checks above; the indicia photo settles most reprint questions.

In "Iron Man Is Born!" in Tales of Suspense #39 the armor is gray; Marvel changed it to gold because of printing problems (Wikipedia). The issue was released in December 1962 with a March 1963 cover date, which is why lists disagree on 1962 or 1963.

CGC reported on December 7, 2022 that there were 2,673 copies of Tales of Suspense #39 in its census, but only 66 in grade 9.0 or higher. A CGC 9.6 sold for $276,000 in 2017, and a CGC 9.0 sold for $52,800 in 2019 (CGC). PriceCharting's CGC 9.0 value was $75,000 on September 25, 2026.

Iron Man's own series began in 1968, written by Archie Goodwin, and was preceded by the one-shot Iron Man and Sub-Mariner (Wikipedia). PriceCharting values for Iron Man #1 (1968), September 25, 2026:

• Ungraded: $363.50
• CGC 4.0: $501.07
• CGC 6.0: $703.38
• CGC 8.0: $1,446.58
• CGC 9.2: $2,555.70
• CGC 9.8: $22,962.05

In CGC 6.0 his first appearance is worth about 19 times his first solo #1.

Robert Downey Jr. played Tony Stark in Iron Man (2008), the first film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and through Avengers: Endgame (2019) (Wikipedia). He now plays Doctor Doom, whose own comics include a run as Iron Man in Infamous Iron Man (2016-2018).