Amazing Spider-Man 73 CGC 9.2 NM- 1st Silvermane Man-Mountain Marko 1969 For Sale

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #73, CGC 9.2 NM-, FIRST APPEARANCE OF SILVERMANE and MAN MOUNTAIN MARKO. Marvel Comics, June 1969, Silver Age.

Details
Title: The Amazing Spider-Man #73
Story: \"The Web Closes!\"
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: June 1969
CGC Grade: 9.2 (Near Mint Minus)
Label: Universal (Blue)
Page Quality: Off-White
Certification Number: 0603687004
Writer: Stan Lee
Cover: John Romita Sr.
Interior Art: John Romita Sr., John Buscema and Jim Mooney
Label Notes: First appearance Silvermane. Lizard cameo.

Two First Appearances In One Issue

Silvermane. Silvio Manfredi, born in Corleone, Sicily, the Maggia crime boss who gave the Spider-Man books their first real organized crime antagonist. In this story he is chasing the Stone Tablet and the formula he believes will give him back his youth, and what happens to him when he finally drinks it is one of the most memorable sequences Stan Lee and John Romita ever staged. Silvermane came back repeatedly over the following decades, eventually as a cyborg, and remains a fixture of Marvel\'s criminal underworld.

Man Mountain Marko. The enforcer on the cover, and this is his first appearance too. CGC noted Silvermane on the label but not Marko, which is common on older slabs. Marko\'s debut is documented and he has been a recurring Marvel heavy ever since.

The label also records a Lizard cameo.

The Cover
Romita at his most direct. Man Mountain Marko, in black, has Spider-Man down on the ground by a fistful of costume with his other fist cocked, and Spidey\'s mask is torn. No background, no clutter, just a man about to hit another man. \"The Web Closes!\" in a yellow banner at the bottom, \"Featuring: Man-Mountain Marko!\" in the corner. Romita signed it at lower left.

The Stone Tablet Saga
This issue sits inside the Stone Tablet storyline that runs through Amazing Spider-Man #68 to #75, one of the most tightly built long arcs of the Silver Age. Caesar Cicero, the Kingpin, Silvermane and Marko all circle the same artifact while Peter Parker\'s life comes apart around the edges. Collectors assembling that run need #73 and it is the one with the first appearances in it.

Characters
Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Silvermane (first appearance), Man Mountain Marko (first appearance), the Lizard (cameo), Gwen Stacy, Captain George Stacy, Joe Robertson, J. Jonah Jameson

Why This One
Near Mint Minus on a 1969 Marvel is a genuinely strong grade. These were 12 cent books sold off spinner racks and read into the ground, and the number that survived at this level is small. The cover here is mostly flat white and black, which is the hardest combination to keep clean, and a 9.2 on it means the copy is sharp rather than generously graded.

Certified and sealed by CGC, with the first appearance recorded on the label itself rather than claimed by a seller. A real Silver Age key, in the grade where key collectors actually buy.

Shipping & Handling
Ships fully protected in a purpose built graded comic mailer with additional interior bracing, then boxed. Fully insured and tracked. I combine shipping on multiple wins, so buy as many as you like and pay one shipping charge.

Please review all photos carefully. They are of the exact slab you will receive and form part of the description.