falcon key numbers

Falcon occupies a special place in the history of Marvel: the publisher's first African-American superhero to wear an official costume, historic partner of Captain America for more than a decade of co-title, then heir to the shield itself in 2014. This long and winding trajectory makes the work of identifying key numbers more complex than for a character with a linear history: certain milestones are played out on the cover (the change of title in 1971), others on the costume (the wings of 1974), still others on the internal story (the transfer of the shield in 2014). A collector who simply searches for "first appearance Falcon" misses at least six other structuring numbers for the price.

This article focuses exclusively on the collection aspect: which numbers to own, why they matter, what they are really worth on the current market (when verified data exists) and how to prioritize your purchases according to your budget. For the complete story of Falcon's editorial career - biography of the character, major narrative arcs, evolution of the costume year by year - our articlestory of Falcon in comicscovers this ground in detail; the two contents complement each other without overlapping.

Finally, as with any Silver Age, the difference in dimension between two neighboring CGC grades can multiply the price by five or ten: it is better to understand this mechanism before bidding. We come back to this in the buying guide, with a reference to our comparison dedicated to the grades.

One last point deserves to be made before going into the details of the issues: Falcon remains, compared to other first Silver Age appearances of characters who have become cinema headliners (Winter Soldier, War Machine, Vision), a case where the gap between "cultural interest" and "recognition of the classic comics market" has long been maintained. For decades, #117 traded at modest levels for a first issue of a character so enduringly present in the parent title of Captain America. It is only with the accumulation of cinematographic appearances, then the promotion of the character to the rank of Captain America on screen in 2021, that the rating has caught up with its real editorial importance - a catch-up phenomenon which deserves to be kept in mind when situating the more recent numbers on this list.

Falcon in Marvel editorial history: why these numbers matter

Sam Wilson arrives inCaptain America#117 (cover dated September 1969, released at the end of August of the same year), at a time when Stan Lee was seeking to diversify the cast of Marvel heroes after the racial riots of the late 1960s. Gene Colan drew this first story, with finishing touches from John Romita and input from Jack Kirby to the visual design of the character. Falcon is presented as a Harlem social worker turned vigilante, accompanied by his trained hawk Redwing - a man-animal duo that has no direct equivalent elsewhere at Marvel at that time.

The next number,Captain America#118, completes this introduction: the civilian name of Sam Wilson is officially revealed, Redwing gains presence, and Red Skull appears as the duo's recurring antagonist. This is a tipping point often underestimated by collectors who focus solely on #117: #118 is where the character's identity stabilizes for good.

The real change of status arrived in 1971 withCaptain America#134, the first issue whose cover officially bears the words "Captain America and the Falcon". This co-title will remain in effect until issue #222 in 1978, almost nine years during which Falcon appears at the same level as Captain America on the cover - an extremely rare treatment for a hero partner at Marvel during this period. Then in 1974,Captain America#170 marks a major visual break: Black Panther, during Falcon's stay in Wakanda, completely rebuilt his equipment and offered him the glider wing harness which would become his graphic signature for the following fifty years, even directly inspiring the design of the EXO-7 costume worn by Anthony Mackie in the cinema.

The mid-1970s also brought a significant narrative twist, less known to the general public but frequently discussed by comic collectors of the Englehart run: screenwriter Steve Englehart revealed that Falcon had once been a small-time delinquent nicknamed "Snap Wilson", whose past had been manipulated by the Cosmic Cube and the Red Skull. This rewrite, controversial upon its release, long stuck to the critical reception of the character before being toned down by subsequent reactions. She also explains why the mini-seriesFalcon#1-4 from 1983 explores a different and equally debated narrative path: the screenwriter then suggests that Falcon could be a mutant, endowed with a telepathic link with Redwing capable of alerting Professor Xavier himself - a hypothesis that Marvel will formally abandon in the Avengers Annual 2001. These two episodes shed light on why Falcon #1 from 1983 is also of interest to collectors specializing in the history of editorial treatment African-American characters at Marvel, beyond its sole value as a first solo series.

Falcon then joined the Avengers themselves, a status he did not have despite years of partnership with Captain America: his candidacy is mentioned inAvengers#181 (March 1979, David Michelinie and John Byrne), before its effective membership took place from issue #183 (May 1979), where the team had to reduce its workforce under pressure from a government agent. He remained an active member until issue #194 (April 1980). This passage, although rarely cited as a "collectible" key number in the strict sense, usefully completes the understanding of Falcon's institutional place in the Marvel universe before his accession, more than three decades later, to the rank of Captain America.

The impact of adaptations on the rating

Falcon is one of the rare secondary characters in the Captain America universe to have benefited from a cinematic trajectory as long as it is continuous. Anthony Mackie plays Sam Wilson for the first time inCaptain America: The Winter Soldier(2014), then continuesAvengers: Age of Ultron,Captain America: Civil War,Avengers: Infinity WaretAvengers: Endgame- an almost uninterrupted presence in the MCU for a decade which has maintained a large fan base well beyond the readership of comics.

The clearest commercial turning point comes with the Disney+ seriesThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier(2021), in which Sam Wilson finally agrees to become the new on-screen Captain America - a direct echo of #25 vol. 7 of 2014. This adaptation has mechanically revived interest in the original issues of Falcon, in particular #117, whose highest auction sales are concentrated in the 2021-2022 period. The movieCaptain America: Brave New World, released on February 14, 2025 with Anthony Mackie in the title role alongside Harrison Ford, extended this dynamic: the film crossed the $200 million mark in domestic revenue and accumulated more than $414 million worldwide, ranking it among the biggest Marvel successes of the year of its release.

Concretely, for a collector, this continuous cinematographic exhibition has two practical consequences. Firstly, the original issues (#117, #118, #134, #170) benefit from a structural base of demand which no longer depends solely on the market of Silver/Bronze Age purists: the general public discovering Falcon at the cinema naturally seeks "the first appearance" as a first collectible reflex. Then, the issues of the 2014-2015 transition (#25 vol. 7, All-New Captain America #1, Sam Wilson #1) directly benefit from each new release linked to the character-Captain America on screen, since they literally recount the event adapted to the cinema and in series. It is a correlation mechanism that we find for few Marvel secondary characters, most of the superheroes' partners having never experienced this continuity of adaptation.

Buying guide

• Prioritize #117 before any other numberif the budget is limited to a single purchase: it is the only number on this list whose value in very high grade far exceeds the others ($78,000 for the CGC 9.8 record), and it is the one which historically anchors the character.
• Don't neglect #118if you are aiming for a complete understanding of the origin: the civil name of Sam Wilson does not appear in #117, only in the following issue. A duo #117 + #118 tells the entire origin.
• Systematically check the grade difference before bidding: on a Silver Age like #117, the difference between a CGC 9.4 (around $2,880) and a CGC 9.8 ($78,000) can exceed a factor of 25. Our comparisonCGC grade 9 versus 9.8details precisely what separates these levels and why the price difference is so disproportionate to the visual difference.
• For #170, favor white pages.: this is a 1974 issue on standard newsprint paper, and the yellowing of the paper strongly impacts the grading note from the Fine grade.
• On modern issues (#25 vol. 7, All-New Captain America #1, Sam Wilson #1), the difference in value is primarily based on low ratio variant covers (1:10, 1:25, 1:50) rather than on the grade itself: these issues are too recent and too widely printed in standard coverage to justify a significant grade premium.
• Falcon #1 from 1983 and Falcon #1 from 2017are two different series with the same title: always check the year and publisher before purchasing, as general search engines frequently confuse them.
• Consult the CGC censusrather than relying on a single sales comparable: for issues where few recent sales exist (#134, #170, Falcon 1983), the number of copies noted in each grade provides more information on the real rarity than a single isolated transaction.
• Group your searches by run rather than by isolated number: A collector aiming for the co-title "Captain America and the Falcon" (1971-1978) benefits from planning the purchase of several consecutive issues, the prices of intermediate issues generally being more stable and less subject to speculative peaks than the very first issues.

To methodically organize these purchases, a tracking sheet by number (target grade, maximum budget, observed price range) avoids impulsive decisions during an auction. You can centralize this list and its rating tracking inthe collection management application, and complete your reading with the sheetFalcon characterto view his entire bibliography in one place.

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