Updated for current market trends (December 2025).
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” With the opening scroll of Star Wars, 1977 changed forever. That movie would be the breakout blockbuster of 1977, dwarfing second place by a large margin. Sorry, Smokey and the Bandit. In 1977, comics weren’t just competing with movies, TV, and rock music—they were starting to plug directly into them.
Nearly a quarter of the most valuable books from 1977 are pure pop-culture crossovers: Star Wars brings the film to newsstands, KISS gets immortalized in Marvel Comics Super Special #1, Scooby and the Mystery Machine roll into the Marvel Universe, the Wonder Twins leap from Saturday mornings into Super Friends #7, and Godzilla stomps his way across Marvel’s New York. Even Kirby’s 2001: A Space Odyssey quietly sneaks Machine Man into continuity under the banner of a movie license. This is the year where licensed properties stop feeling like side projects and start taking center stage.
At the same time, the superhero core is mutating into something bigger and stranger. Six of the Top 25 come from the Claremont X-Men run, as Phoenix, Lilandra, the Starjammers, and the Imperial Guard drag the team into full-blown space opera. Claremont’s X-Men run is absolutely legendary. Sabretooth debuts over in Iron Fist #14 as a rough mercenary with claws and a bad attitude. The X-books are no longer just “mutant superhero” titles; they’re becoming Marvel’s answer to the kind of scale and drama you’d expect from a double-album rock opera.
And in Gotham, a different kind of reinvention is underway. Englehart and Rogers turn Detective Comics into a moody, modern noir where Hugo Strange returns from a 37-year absence and Deadshot gets redesigned into the lethal marksman we recognize today. Aparo’s Batman #291 kicks off the “Where Were You on the Night Batman Was Killed?” arc with a rogues’ gallery cover that feels as bold and graphic as any arena-rock poster. Between those Bat-books, British imports like Judge Dredd’s debut in 2000 A.D. #2, and indie breakthroughs like Cerebus #1 and Fast Willie Jackson #7, all jostle for space on the same spinner rack.
1. 2000 A.D. #2 – $7500 for 9.4 CGC
1st appearance of Judge Dredd. Raw and graded copies are rare because it was printed on cheap British newsprint, with the “cover” just being the front page. It isn’t an especially attractive image—odd colors and fairly crude early art—but it’s an incredibly important book, launching one of the great anti-heroes of British comics. It originally came bagged with Biotronic Man stickers so you could pretend to be the British Six Million Dollar Man.
2. Cerebus the Aardvark #1 – $1200 for 9.4 raw
1st appearance of Cerebus. Self-published by Dave Sim under Aardvark-Vanaheim, this odd little black-and-white parody of sword-and-sorcery epics quietly became one of the most important creator-owned projects in comics history. With its tiny print run, $1 cover price, and the 300-issue epic it eventually launched, Cerebus #1 is a cornerstone of the late Bronze Age indie movement.
3. Iron Fist #14– $660 for 9.4 raw
1st appearance of Sabretooth. Three years after the introduction of Wolverine, we get a villain named Sabretooth, who’s in Canada, has claws, and calls people “bub.” Sound vaguely familiar? Yet here he’s just a brutal mercenary, not Wolverine’s most sadistic enemy. It would take almost a decade—and events like Mutant Massacre—for Sabretooth to expand into the X-Men universe as Logan’s dark mirror. Chris Claremont wrote this issue and later elevated Sabretooth’s role and abilities, turning this Iron Fist villain into a major Marvel heavy.
4. Star Wars #1 – $420 for 9.4 raw
1st appearance of Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Darth Vader in comics. The film dominated theaters in 1977 and created a full-blown cultural movement, with this comic adaptation helping keep Marvel afloat financially. The franchise became a marketing blueprint with its toy line and tie-ins. Howard Chaykin’s glowing Death Star cover frames the main cast in an instantly recognizable image. One lingering question: why is Darth Vader’s helmet green? Collectors need to be mindful of reprints, cover price variants, and Whitman editions, all of which carry different values.
5. Marvel Comics Super Special #1 – $350 for 9.4 raw
1st appearance of KISS. The hard-driving music, wild hair, kabuki-inspired makeup, hairy chest–revealing costumes, and Gene Simmons’ tongue are all uniquely KISS and uniquely late ’70s. This is the first comic devoted to the rock legends, and it famously used a small amount of the band’s own blood in the red ink at the printing plant. Sure, it was only a few drops, but that story has become part of the myth. KISS fans and comic collectors both chase this issue, helping keep values high.
6. X-Men #107 – $180 for 9.4 raw
“Where No X-Man Has Gone Before” blows the doors open on the team’s cosmic era. This issue debuts the Starjammers, the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, and Corsair—who will later be revealed as Cyclops’ father—while pushing the Phoenix saga deeper into space opera territory. It’s a major turning point where the X-Men stop being just mutants on Earth and become players on a galactic stage.
7. Fast Willie Jackson #7 – $170 for 9.4 raw
Fast Willie Jackson was an Archie-style teen humor series centered on a Black cast, published by Fitzgerald Periodicals in the mid-’70s. Issue #7 comes near the end of the short run, with low distribution and very few high-grade survivors. As collectors have started to seek out early Black-led comics and under-the-radar representation keys, this book has quietly become one of the tougher and more desirable Bronze oddities to track down in 9.4.
8. X-Men #105 – $150 for 9.4 raw
“Phoenix Unleashed!” is one of the first issues where Jean Grey truly lives up to the Phoenix name. Manipulated by Eric the Red, former Herald of Galactus Firelord attacks the team, forcing Phoenix to cut loose and show just how far beyond standard superhero power levels she really is. It also pushes the Lilandra/Starjammers plot closer to center stage, making it a key stepping stone in the build toward the Dark Phoenix era.
9. X-Men #104 – $146 for 9.4 raw
Magneto’s Bronze Age revival kicks into gear here. Eric the Red restores Magneto from infancy back to full, terrifying adulthood, and the X-Men’s trip to Muir Island puts them right in his path. The issue plants important seeds with the “Mutant X” tease and helps redefine Magneto as a more complex, truly dangerous antagonist rather than the somewhat one-note Silver Age villain.
10. Star Wars #2 – $140 for 9.4 raw
1st appearance of Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Chewbacca in comics. Considering this book introduces at least three of the franchise’s most beloved characters, it’s still something of a bargain compared to #1. Second issues often get overlooked, even when they contain major firsts, which is part of why Star Wars #2 feels undervalued for what it delivers.
11. Marvel Spotlight #32 – $140 for 9.4 raw
1st appearance and origin of Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew). Gil Kane’s dynamic cover has Spider-Woman bursting through a glass window to ambush Nick Fury, instantly selling her as a serious player. In her early 1977 appearances, the costume design makes her look bald, but when she graduates to her own title in 1978, her long hair is freed, and the visual impact of the costume is elevated.
12. X-Men #108 – $134 for 9.4 raw
This issue wraps up the M’Kraan Crystal saga and marks John Byrne’s first regular penciling job on the title, cementing the classic Claremont/Byrne pairing. The X-Men and Starjammers struggle to prevent D’Ken from triggering a universe-ending catastrophe, while Cyclops’ connection to Corsair deepens in the background. It works both as a cosmic climax and as the true starting line for what many fans consider the definitive X-Men run.
13. X-Men #103 – $130 for 9.4 raw
The X-Men’s Irish adventure continues as they storm Cassidy Keep to rescue Banshee from Black Tom Cassidy and the Juggernaut. It’s a mix of gothic castle traps, leprechaun-guides, and Cockrum-era charm, expanding Banshee’s backstory and family ties. It also shows the “all-new, all-different” team still settling into their roles, with Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Storm being shaped page by page.
14. Ms. Marvel #1 – $120 for 9.4 raw
1st appearance of Carol Danvers as Ms. Marvel. Spinning out of her earlier supporting role in Captain Marvel, Carol takes on a new superhero identity inspired by Mar-Vell but with a distinctly ’70s feminist angle. The series leans into the idea of a modern woman balancing a demanding career with superheroics, long before Carol would evolve into Captain Marvel and become one of Marvel’s flagship heroes.
15. Scooby-Doo #1 – $100 for 9.4 raw
After earlier runs at Gold Key and Charlton, Scooby-Doo finally joined the Marvel bullpen in 1977, and this first issue marks the gang’s Marvel debut. Bronze Age Scooby books across all publishers have quietly become some of the most desirable cartoon comics, and high-grade copies of this issue are especially tough thanks to kid readership and newsstand distribution. Part of the appeal is how universal the cast feels: Scooby and Shaggy are pure instinct—snacks, friendship, and staying as far from danger as possible. While Fred, Velma, and Daphne bring curiosity, planning, and problem-solving to every “mystery.” Scooby-Doo #1 is Saturday-morning TV distilled into a 30-cent comic with fog-shrouded mansions, weirdly colored phantoms, and the bright Mystery Machine cutting through the gloom.
16. Batman #291 – $100 for 9.4 raw
Batman #291 kicks off the four-part ‘Where Were You on the Night Batman Was Killed?’ storyline and does it with one of the great Jim Aparo rogues’ gallery covers. Joker, Catwoman, Riddler, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and Lex Luthor all gather around Batman’s grave. They take turns lying to one another about how they “killed” Batman. It isn’t a first appearance key, but between the classic villain lineup, the memorable premise, and the striking cover, it consistently outperforms most of the surrounding Batman issues from 1977.
17. Super Friends #7 – $100 for 9.4 raw
1st appearance of the Wonder Twins (Zan and Jayna) and their space-monkey Gleek. Introduced on the Super Friends cartoon and folded into the comic, the Wonder Twins embody the late ’70s blend of superheroics and kid-friendly Saturday-morning energy. “Wonder Twin powers activate! – Shape of a key issue.”
18. Detective Comics #474– $90 for 9.4 raw
2nd appearance (and Bronze Age revival) of Deadshot. Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers bring Floyd Lawton back from a 1950 one-off and completely overhaul his look, swapping the old tux-and-top-hat design for the sleek red-and-silver costume and wrist-mounted guns. Rogers’ anatomy and layouts are razor sharp here, and this issue effectively reboots Deadshot into the version that becomes canon.
19. X-Men #106 – $90 for 9.4 raw
“Dark Shroud of the Past” dives into Professor X’s fractured psyche as his nightmares manifest astral versions of the original X-Men to battle the new team. Built around earlier inventory material, it’s technically a fill-in, but Claremont threads it into the ongoing Lilandra/Erik the Red storyline and Xavier’s mounting mental strain. For Phoenix-era completists, it’s an essential, if slightly off-beat, chapter.
20. Black Panther #1 – $83 for 9.4 raw
After headlining Jungle Action, T’Challa returns in his own solo title, this time written and drawn by Jack Kirby in full late-’70s, big-idea mode. “King Solomon’s Frog!” throws the Panther into a bizarre time-travel caper involving a brass frog-shaped time machine and treasure-hunting partner Abner Little. The result feels more like a cosmic adventure strip than a traditional superhero book, giving Kirby’s Black Panther run a very distinct tone in the Bronze Age.
21. Superman #317 – $83 for 9.4 raw
A classic Neal Adams Superman cover that proves how much drama you can wring out of the Man of Steel in peril. The interiors are solid Bronze Age Superman, but it’s the cover that really drives collector interest—Adams’ sense of anatomy, perspective, and staging made even mid-run issues like this feel like events. For many fans, this is exactly what “1970s Superman” looks like in their memory.
22. Godzilla #1 – $80 for 9.4 raw
1st appearance of Godzilla in the Marvel Universe and the launch of his first ongoing American comic series. Godzilla had been a Japanese film icon since 1954, but this series finally drops him into the Marvel sandbox. There was a lull in Godzilla films between 1975 and 1984, so this 1977 comic helped keep the King of the Monsters alive for a new generation of U.S. fans.
23. Detective Comics #469 – $70 for 9.4 raw
1st appearance of Dr. Phosphorus. He may not be a household name, but his glowing, constantly burning skeletal body makes him visually unforgettable. As one of the early villains in the celebrated Englehart/Rogers run and a future member of the Creature Commandos, he’s getting more attention from modern readers. With potential media exposure on the horizon, this issue has room to grow as more people discover his particular brand of murderous insanity.
24. Detective Comics #471 – $70 for 9.4 raw
1st Bronze Age appearance of Hugo Strange. The character hadn’t appeared since Detective Comics #46 in 1940, making this his first appearance in almost four decades and his reintroduction for modern readers. Englehart and Rogers reframe Strange as a psychologically intense, genuinely unsettling foe for Batman. As an added bonus, you get the underrated greatness of Marshall Rogers’ first Detective cover, kicking off one of the most beloved Batman runs of the era.
25. 2001: A Space Odyssey #8 -$66 for 9.4 raw
1st appearance of Machine Man (X-51). Jack Kirby uses the 2001 license as a backdoor pilot, telling the story of a sentient robot who breaks free of his programming and struggles with what it means to be alive. The character soon spins off into his own Machine Man series, but this issue is where it all starts. It’s a wonderfully strange Bronze Age key that bridges Kirby’s cosmic obsessions with a more introspective, sci-fi superhero concept.
When you lay the 1977 list out, the pattern is hard to miss. A full quarter of the Top 25 are pop-culture bridges—Star Wars, KISS, Scooby-Doo, Super Friends, Godzilla, and 2001—books that don’t just live in the comic aisle, but connect directly to movie theaters, record stores, and Saturday-morning TV.
At the same time, the superhero core is quietly leveling up. The X-Men entries from this year aren’t random issues; they’re the foundation stones of a long-form epic that turns a “revived” title into Marvel’s flagship. Over at DC, Englehart, Rogers, and Aparo are doing something similar with Batman—sharpening old villains, resurrecting forgotten ones, and wrapping it all in moody, modern artwork that feels years ahead of the Silver Age.
And then there are the outliers that point to where comics are going next. Judge Dredd’s debut in 2000 A.D. #2, the scrappy self-published Cerebus #1, and a scarce Archie-style book like Fast Willie Jackson #7 all hint at a future where British weeklies, indie publishers, and Black-led casts matter just as much as capes and cowls. Taken together, the top comics of 1977 show an industry in transition—plugged into the wider culture, experimenting at the edges, and quietly building the stories and characters that would define the next decade of the Bronze Age and beyond.
by Ron Cloer
For a year-by-year list of the most expensive Bronze Age comic books and Bronze Age Creator Spotlights, see my archive page. Bronze Age Comic Book Archive
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