The Avengers #4

A hero who had been put on ice

Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Captain America Comics #1, published by Timely on December 20, 1940. Built as an explicitly anti-Nazi figure, he became Timely's most popular and commercially successful creation of the wartime era.

Peace was harder on him than the war. As superhero comics slumped, Timely tried him against gangsters, made Steve Rogers a high school teacher, and put him on a team, the All-Winners Squad. Sales kept falling, and Captain America Comics ended with its 75th issue in February 1950; its last two issues ran as Captain America's Weird Tales, chasing the horror boom.

Timely's successor, Atlas, tried again in 1953 in Young Men #24, then revived the title in 1954 with art mostly by John Romita, billing the hero as "Captain America, Commie Smasher." It lasted three issues. Romita blamed the political climate and recalled that "for a while, 'Captain America' was a dirty word." The character fell out of active publication for nearly a decade.

A test, then a thaw

Marvel tested the waters first. In Strange Tales #114 (November 1963), an 18-page story by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought Captain America back, only to unmask him as an impostor beaten by the Human Torch. A caption in the final panel said the story was a test of whether readers wanted the real thing back. The response was enthusiastic.

The real return came in The Avengers, a team book Lee and Kirby had launched with a September 1963 first issue that gathered Ant-Man, the Wasp, Iron Man, the Hulk and Thor. The lineup shifted at once: in the second issue Ant-Man became Giant-Man and the Hulk quit. Issue #4 brought the series its first major milestone. The title was bimonthly at the time, and stayed so through issue #6 (July 1964) before going monthly.

The story retroactively established that Captain America had fallen into the Atlantic Ocean in the final days of World War II and spent the intervening decades frozen in suspended animation. That explanation quietly skipped over his postwar adventures; those stories were later reassigned to other men wearing the costume, and the 1950s Commie Smasher was eventually recast as the villain William Burnside in the 1970s.

Inside the issue

The 23-page lead story opens with Namor the Sub-Mariner attacking a group of Inuit and hurling the frozen figure they worship into the sea. As the ice melts, the figure turns out to be Captain America, still alive. The Avengers bring him back to New York, where an alien turns the team to stone; Cap and Rick Jones track the alien down and strike a bargain to restore the heroes in exchange for help recovering his broken spaceship. Namor and his people attack, and the repaired ship drives them off. Bucky Barnes and the Hulk appear in flashback.

Lee scripted and co-plotted with Kirby, who penciled the story and the cover; George Roussos inked and Artie Simek lettered. The cover carries the line "Captain America Lives Again!" with an inset of Namor. Inside are a house ad for Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos and a promo for Spider-Man among the usual mail-order pages. The story received the 1964 Alley Award for best novel.

The story has been reprinted more than 60 times, including in a 1966 book-and-record set, so a reader holding a copy should check for the original's 12-cent cover price and March 1964 cover date. Grading labels matter as much as the cover: the census tracks restored copies separately from untouched ones, and this entry's copy carries a Conserved label, noting that its cover was cleaned.

January 1964

The issue reached newsstands on January 3, 1964, the same day Senator Barry Goldwater announced he would seek the Republican nomination for president. Five days later, Lyndon Johnson used his first State of the Union address to declare a War on Poverty, and on January 11 the Surgeon General reported that smoking may be hazardous to health, the first such statement from the federal government.

Within weeks the Beatles reached No. 1 on the American singles chart with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (February 1) and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show before an estimated 73 million viewers (February 9). On February 25, Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston for the heavyweight title. A 1940s hero waking up in a world he did not recognize had plenty of company on the newsstand.

The copies and the prices

Avengers #4 is not rare as a comic: the grading census showed 5,809 certified copies when checked in October 2026, with 4,767 in universal (unrestored) grades. High grade is another matter. In May 2017 the census held four copies at 9.8 and none higher; by April 2022 there were five; by August 2026 there were seven, still with none higher.

A CGC 9.8 sold at auction in New York on May 18, 2017, for $143,400, still the highest price at its auction house for the issue. In April 2022 another 9.8 was offered at a fixed asking price of $475,000, with lower offers considered; whether it sold at that price is not reported. A further 9.8 sold in September 2026, but its price was not published publicly.

The grade this entry tracks, 9.0, is the most crowded of the high grades: 110 copies, 85 of them universal and 22 restored, including two with Conserved labels. A CGC 9.0 Conserved copy with cream to off-white pages and a cleaned cover sold in an online auction on October 19, 2024, for a winning bid of $3,171. At the other end of the range, a restored copy graded Apparent 3.0 sold for $640.50 in September 2026.

One widely circulated price list credits the issue with sales of $288,000 for a 9.6 in 2021 and $186,000 for a 9.4 in 2020. The auction house it names gives $143,400 as its own record for the issue, so those figures are not used here.

The Sentinel of Liberty, back for good

Captain America stayed. Solo stories by Lee and Kirby began running in Tales of Suspense in November 1964, alongside Iron Man, and Cap appeared in a World War II issue of Sgt. Fury that December. Those runs introduced or retroactively added Nick Fury, Peggy Carter and Sharon Carter to his world.

In 1966 Joe Simon sued Marvel, claiming the right to renew the character's copyright; the parties settled, with Simon agreeing the character was work for hire. Captain America's own series relaunched in April 1968 with Lee writing and Kirby penciling, and Jim Steranko's three-issue run in 1969 reshaped how he was drawn.

The Avengers' first volume ran to issue #402 in September 1996. Its fourth issue remains the point where Marvel's 1960s universe gained a living link to the 1940s, a premise later expanded in the 2011 series Captain America: Man Out of Time.

The numbers

Print run

No figure verified; not stated by the sources used

CGC census, October 2026

5,809 copies graded: 4,767 universal, 425 signature series, 617 restored

Highest grade

9.8: 7 copies, none higher (census August 2026 and October 2026)

Earlier high-grade counts

4 at 9.8 (May 2017); 5 at 9.8 (April 2022)

Copies at 9.0, October 2026

110: 85 universal, 3 signature series, 22 restored (2 of them Conserved)

Cover price

12 cents, 36 pages

Job number

X-587

Timeline

1. Dec 20, 1940

   Captain America Comics #1, by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, is published by Timely.

2. Feb 1950

   Captain America Comics ends with issue #75.

3. 1953

   Atlas revives the character in Young Men #24.

4. 1954

   A revived Captain America series, billed as "Commie Smasher," is canceled after three issues.

5. Sep 1963

   The Avengers #1 launches the team book.

6. Nov 1963

   Strange Tales #114 tests reader interest with an impostor Captain America.

7. Jan 3, 1964

   The Avengers #4 goes on sale, cover-dated March 1964.

8. 1964

   The story receives the Alley Award for best novel.

9. Nov 1964

   Captain America solo stories begin in Tales of Suspense.

10. 1966

    The story is reprinted in a book-and-record set.

11. 1966

    Joe Simon sues Marvel over the copyright; the case settles out of court.

12. Apr 1968

    Captain America's own series relaunches.

13. May 18, 2017

    A CGC 9.8 sells at auction in New York for $143,400; the census shows four at 9.8.

14. Apr 22, 2022

    A CGC 9.8, one of five at the grade, is offered at a $475,000 asking price.

15. Oct 19, 2024

    A CGC 9.0 Conserved copy sells for a winning bid of $3,171.

16. Aug 2026

    The census shows seven copies at 9.8, none higher.

17. Sep 24, 2026

    Another CGC 9.8 sells at auction; the price is not published.

The world in 1964

• Jan 3, 1964

  Senator Barry Goldwater announces his run for the Republican presidential nomination.

• Jan 8, 1964

  Lyndon Johnson declares a War on Poverty in his first State of the Union address.

• Jan 11, 1964

  The Surgeon General reports that smoking may be hazardous to health.

• Jan 18, 1964

  Plans for the World Trade Center in New York are announced.

• Feb 1, 1964

  The Beatles reach No. 1 in the U.S. with "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

• Feb 9, 1964

  The Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show before an estimated 73 million viewers.

• Feb 25, 1964

  Cassius Clay beats Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, The Avengers #4 is number 58 of 100 in the comics entries of the FLOAT 100. 92 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (58 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Before bringing back the real Captain America, Marvel ran an impostor version in Strange Tales #114 and asked readers in a caption whether they wanted the genuine article.
• Jack Kirby co-created Captain America in 1940 and penciled his return 23 years later.
• The story won the 1964 Alley Award for best novel.
• The 1950s "Commie Smasher" Captain America was later written out as a different man, William Burnside, who became a villain.
• John Romita, who drew the failed 1954 revival, recalled that for a while "'Captain America' was a dirty word."
• Nearly 6,000 copies have been graded, but only seven have reached 9.8 and none has scored higher.