The first appearance of Thanos in Iron Man #55 (February 1973, Jim Starlin) is the character's defining key issue. Our eBay estimator returns a median of €9 across 73 listings: but that figure is dominated by ungraded and low-grade copies; a CGC 9.8 example reached $9,000-$9,600 around the MCU peak of 2019-2021, and the all-time record for that grade stands at $13,025 (ComicLink, 2013). The market has since corrected 40-50% from those highs.
Thanos is a Bronze Age creation: born from the imagination of Jim Starlin, he made his first appearance in Iron Man #55 in February 1973: alongside Drax the Destroyer in that same issue. There are no Silver Age or Golden Age Thanos keys; the character simply did not exist before 1973. The 1990s gave him his most ambitious saga with The Infinity Gauntlet #1-6 (1991, Starlin, Perez, and Lim), the story that directly inspired the two highest-grossing MCU films ever made.
This guide sticks to the verifiable: eBay medians from our estimator (eBay.fr + eBay.com, June 2026) and records documented by specialist sources. One essential warning: the eBay median for Iron Man #55 reflects all listings across all grades combined: creased reading copies, mid-grade, ungraded. It significantly understates the value of high-grade CGC copies, which range from several hundred to several thousand dollars depending on grade.
Thanos key issues: eBay medians and documented records (June 2026)
The table below lists the main issues, with each issue's blended eBay median (source: our estimator) and, where available, high-grade documented records. Reminder: the eBay median reflects the mass market of ungraded and lower-grade copies; it is not representative of a slabbed CGC 9.6 or 9.8 copy.
| Issue | Significance | eBay median (all grades) | High-grade reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Man #55 (Feb. 1973) | 1st appearance of Thanos and Drax the Destroyer: Bronze Age | €9 · 73 listings | CGC 9.8: ~$9,000-$9,600 (2019-2021 peak); all-time record $13,025 (ComicLink, 2013) |
| Silver Surfer #34 (1990) | Thanos returns after years of absence | €19 · 55 listings | Not publicly documented |
| Avengers #125 (1974) | Thanos in a Bronze Age crossover | €9 · 54 listings | Not publicly documented |
| The Infinity Gauntlet #1 (Jul. 1991) | Direct source for the MCU films: Starlin, Perez, Lim | Not covered by our estimator | CGC 9.8: ~$240-$400 (documented sales 2022) |
Record sources: Bleeding Cool, sellmycomicbooks.com (QualityComix), ComicLink. Silver Surfer #44 (12 listings): volume below reliability threshold: median not cited.
Iron Man #55 (1973): the Bronze Age Thanos key
Published in February 1973, Iron Man #55 is the essential starting point for any Thanos collector. Jim Starlin introduces Thanos, Drax the Destroyer, Mentor, Kronos, and the Blood Brothers in a single issue: a density of first appearances with few parallels in the Bronze Age. This is emphatically a Bronze Age book, not Silver Age or Golden Age: there is no earlier era to dig into for this character.
Our estimator returns a median of €9 across 73 listings. That solid volume makes the figure reliable for the entry-level market, but the median is low because it blends every grade together. High-grade CGC copies tell a different story: a CGC 9.8 traded around $9,000-$9,600 at the MCU-driven peak of 2019-2021, based on market data documented by sellmycomicbooks.com. The all-time record for the grade remains the $13,025 achieved at ComicLink in 2013, itself driven by early MCU enthusiasm. Only around forty copies are recorded at CGC 9.8 with none grading higher, making well-centered examples genuinely scarce. The market has since corrected 40-50% from its highs: a reminder of how sharply MCU-driven demand can reverse once the theatrical moment passes.
The MCU effect: 2012, 2018, 2019
Thanos's cameo at the end of The Avengers (2012) gave the first visible jolt to the market for his key issues. Informed collectors began tracing first-appearance chains, and Iron Man #55 started to attract attention it had gone without for decades. Then came Avengers: Infinity War (2018), which grossed $2.052 billion worldwide and placed Thanos at the center of the story as its undisputed main character. That was followed by Avengers: Endgame (2019), which set records with $2.799 billion worldwide: the second-highest-grossing film of all time. This 2018-2019 pairing drove the most documented price peak for both Iron Man #55 and The Infinity Gauntlet.
Quantifying the exact magnitude of the pre-2019 rise is not possible without continuous comparative data. What the sources do document is where the market stood at its peak: CGC 9.8 copies of Iron Man #55 in the $9,000-$9,600 range and unusually active bidding on The Infinity Gauntlet: and the correction that followed. Sellmycomicbooks.com notes explicitly that the book "dropped as fast as Thanos did" after the Endgame cycle, and now sits 40-50% below its pandemic-era highs.
The Infinity Gauntlet #1 (1991): the direct source for the films
Published in July 1991, The Infinity Gauntlet #1 opens a six-issue miniseries written by Jim Starlin and drawn by George Pérez (issues 1-3) and Ron Lim (issues 4-6). The story, Thanos seizes the Infinity Gauntlet and eliminates half the universe with a snap, provided the direct narrative backbone for both 2018 and 2019 films. Unlike Iron Man #55, this is an early 1990s book and exists in quantity: CGC census data showed over 2,000 copies graded at 9.8, with none higher. That relative abundance in high grade explains the far more modest prices: CGC 9.8 copies have traded around $240-$400 in documented sales reported by Bleeding Cool (2022).
Our eBay estimator does not cover The Infinity Gauntlet as a distinct series. The figures above come exclusively from third-party sources. For collectors who want to own the source material without paying premium prices, ungraded copies remain accessible; value concentrates in high-grade CGC examples on this title.
Silver Surfer #34 (1990) and Avengers #125 (1974)
Silver Surfer #34 (1990) marks Thanos's return after years of absence from comics: a key issue for collectors building a complete character timeline. Our estimator returns a median of €19 across 55 listings, a reliable volume. The entry-level market remains accessible. Avengers #125 (1974) places Thanos in a significant Bronze Age crossover; the eBay median is €9 across 54 listings: the same order of magnitude as Iron Man #55 at the blended level, and a book of interest primarily to collectors completing the Bronze Age run.
Own a Thanos comic? Get a free valuation with our tool based on real eBay sales to find its low, median, and high value.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is Iron Man #55 (February 1973), in which Jim Starlin introduces Thanos, Drax the Destroyer, Mentor, Kronos and the Blood Brothers all at once. There is no Silver Age key for the character, so this Bronze Age issue is his starting point.
Because it blends every grade, from the creased copy to the fine example, and ungraded low-grade copies dominate listings. The real value shows in high grade, where scarcity is real, not in the all-grades median.
Thanos's cameo in The Avengers (2012) gave the first visible boost to the market for his keys. Informed collectors then worked back up the chain of first appearances. The exact size of the rise before 2019 cannot be quantified for lack of reliable comparative data.
Published in July 1991, it is the first issue of the six-part miniseries written by Jim Starlin and drawn by George Pérez (issues 1-3) and Ron Lim (issues 4-6). It is the direct source of the MCU films.
Silver Surfer #34 (1990), which marks Thanos's return after years of absence, and Avengers #125 (1974), where he appears in a Bronze Age crossover. They let you cover the character's whole chronology.