Moon Knight: the undervalued issues worth knowing

Moon Knight was born in 1975, deep in the Bronze Age of American comics: there are no Golden Age entries and no Silver Age keys bearing his name. That temporal reality is worth stating clearly, because it explains both the relative accessibility of his comics and the way collector speculation concentrates on a very small number of issues. The character's origin is straightforward: Doug Moench (script) and Don Perlin (art) introduced him as an antagonist in Werewolf by Night #32 in August 1975. The character's instant popularity prompted Moench and Perlin to begin work on solo adventures almost immediately, published in Marvel Spotlight #28 and #29 (1976). Marc Spector — mercenary, death-and-resurrection survivor, avatar of Khonshu the Egyptian moon god — carries within him multiple identities (cab driver Jake Lockley, millionaire Steven Grant), a fractured psychology that set the character apart in the Marvel landscape of the era.

This guide sticks to the verifiable: records documented by specialist sources (Heritage Auctions, ComicLink, ComicConnect, sellmycomicbooks.com). One important methodological note: our eBay estimator does not cover the Werewolf by Night, Moon Knight, or Marvel Spotlight series — it returns "invalid parameters" for these titles. Every figure in this guide comes exclusively from documented web sources. Where no public record exists, we stay qualitative.

Moon Knight key issue ranking (real documented data)

All records below come from public sources (Heritage Auctions, ComicLink, ComicConnect, sellmycomicbooks.com). Our eBay estimator does not cover these series; all figures are sourced from the web.

Sources: Heritage Auctions, ComicLink, ComicConnect, sellmycomicbooks.com. Our eBay estimator does not cover these series.

Werewolf by Night #32 (1975): the Bronze Age grail

Published in August 1975, Werewolf by Night #32 is the cornerstone of any Moon Knight collection. The midnight blue cover — notoriously unforgiving of handling wear — explains why CGC 9.8 copies are scarce and fiercely contested. According to CGC census data, only 18 copies had reached the 9.8 grade when the record of $50,000 was set at a ComicLink Featured Auction (CVA Exceptional copy), more than doubling the previous record of $19,380. To frame the broader price history: a CGC 9.8 sold for $31,200 at Heritage Auctions in March 2020, and a CGC 9.8 reached $15,000 at ComicConnect in September 2015. At mid-grade, Heritage Auctions sold a CGC 9.2 for $3,000 in June 2023. Sellmycomicbooks.com data records a CGC 9.6 at $25,200 in 2021, and a most recent CGC 9.8 sale at $8,000 in 2024 — reflecting the post-Disney+ market correction. The issue holds a place in Overstreet's Top 10 Bronze Age comics.

Marvel Spotlight #28 and #29 (1976): the forgotten first solos

Just four months after his introduction in Werewolf by Night, Moon Knight returned in Marvel Spotlight #28 (June 1976) as the lead of his own adventure — still written by Doug Moench and drawn by Don Perlin. This issue contains the first mention of his two alter egos (cab driver Jake Lockley and millionaire Steven Grant), as well as the first appearances of Marlene Fontaine and Crawley, recurring figures throughout the character's mythology. Marvel Spotlight #29 continues the story. Both issues are significantly rarer than Werewolf by Night #32 in high grade — which paradoxically makes them underrepresented in collections. Sellmycomicbooks.com documents a 90-day average around $1,678 for a CGC 9.8 of #28, with CGC 9.6 copies selling between $1,299 and $1,500 in 2017. Their qualitative importance is clear: these are the narrative foundations of everything Moon Knight.

Moon Knight #1 (1980): the Sienkiewicz issue and its case as undervalued

Moon Knight's first self-titled series launched in November 1980, with Doug Moench writing and Bill Sienkiewicz on art. While Moench co-created the character, it is Sienkiewicz who defined his visual identity: his covers and interiors across the twenty issues of this series established the iconic Moon Knight — pristine white against black. Moon Knight #1 also contains the first appearance of Bushman (the arc's central antagonist) and the first true appearance of Khonshu. Documented values from sellmycomicbooks.com are modest: $925 for a CGC 9.8 in 2022, compared with $552 in 2021 and $291 in 2020. These figures read as low against the issue's importance in the character's chronology. For collectors who want a high-grade copy of a genuine Marvel Bronze Age solo #1 at a still-accessible price, this is worth attention.

The Ellis/Shalvey revival (2014): an underrated Modern Age key

The Moon Knight series launched in March 2014 by Warren Ellis (script) and Declan Shalvey (art), with colors by Jordie Bellaire, is widely considered one of the best modern revivals of the character. Ellis stripped the book back to fundamentals — Marc Spector investigating strange crimes in New York's darkest corners — while Shalvey brought page compositions of remarkable invention. This eight-issue run was followed by the 2016 Jeff Lemire and Greg Smallwood series, also critically acclaimed. High-grade values on the Modern Age market remain active, but no publicly documented graded sale record is available for either series: their value stays qualitative for collectors of modern runs.

The Disney+ effect (2022) on key issue values

The Disney+ Moon Knight miniseries premiered on March 30, 2022 (six episodes), with Oscar Isaac playing the dual roles of Marc Spector and Steven Grant, Ethan Hawke as the antagonist, and Mohamed Diab directing four of the six episodes. The series was created by Jeremy Slater. Its announcement and broadcast drove a wave of speculative interest in Werewolf by Night #32 — the ComicLink record of $50,000 was set in that context of anticipation. Since then, the market has normalized, as the 2024 sale at $8,000 illustrates. This boom-and-correction cycle is typical for first-appearance books tied to media adaptations.