The Avengers #1 for Sale - First Appearance of Bill Bishop - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: The Avengers (Marvel, 1963 series)
Issue: #1
Publication date: September 1963
Key date: 1963-09-00
On-sale date: 1963-07-02
Indicia publisher: Vista Publications Inc.
Price: $0.12
Pages: 36
Rating: Approved by the Comics Code Authority

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of Bill Bishop - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character. An independent public reference records the same first appearance.

First appearance of Charlie Gaston - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	-	cover	1	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Dick Ayers; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Artie Simek, Sol Brodsky, Sam Rosen	Ant-Man, Bruce Banner, Hulk, Iron Man, Loki, Thor Odinson, Hank Pym, Tony Stark, Thor, Janet Van Dyne, Wasp
2	Indicia	credits, title page	0.1	letters: typeset
3	The Coming of the Avengers!	comic story	22	script: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Dick Ayers; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: S. Rosen	Ant-Man, Bruce Banner, Thor Odinson, Jane Foster, Ben Grimm, Hulk, Human Torch, Invisible Girl, Iron Man, Rick Jones, Loki, Mister Fantastic, Odin, Hank Pym
4	Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #3	promo (ad from the publisher)	1	script: Stan Lee
11	Strange Tales Annual #2	promo (ad from the publisher)	1	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Sol Brodsky; colors: Stan Goldberg	Human Torch, Peter Parker, Spider-Man, Johnny Storm
14	Fantastic Four Annual #1	promo (ad from the publisher)	1	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Dick Ayers; colors: Stan Goldberg	Ben Grimm, Human Torch, Invisible Girl, Mister Fantastic, Namor, Peter Parker, Reed Richards, Spider-Man, Susan Storm Richards, Johnny Storm, Sub-Mariner, The Thing

Plus 9.9 pages of advertisements and other matter across 14 sequences, as published.

Printings and variants

Edition	How to tell
British	price 9d [0-0-9 GBP]

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Marvel Tales Annual #2	1965	On eBay ›
The Avengers Annual #4	1971	On eBay ›
Son of Origins of Marvel Comics #[nn] ISBN 0671221663	1975	On eBay ›
Marvel Masterworks #4 ISBN 0-87135-479-9	1988	On eBay ›
The Avengers #350	1992	On eBay ›
The Avengers Log #1	1994	On eBay ›
Essential Avengers #1 ISBN 0-7851-0701-0	1999	On eBay ›
The Marvel Saga the Official History of the Marvel Universe #10	1986	On eBay ›
The 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time #2	2001	On eBay ›
Avengers Masterworks #1 ISBN 0-87135-983-9	1993	On eBay ›
Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers #1 ISBN 0-7851-0883-1	2003	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Check spine ticks and cover gloss in the photos; silver-age Marvels chip at the edges easily.
Look for tanning at the page edges and transfer stains on the inside covers.
Confirm the cover price against the plate; higher prices can mean a later or foreign printing.

Series context

1 of 402#2 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Wikidata, Q115466818 (Bill Bishop), first-appearance property (CC0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com