Captain America and Nick Fury Went Head to Head at a Recent Marvel Auction

September 15, 2026, 4:20pm

There are some Marvel heroes that captured the imagination of audiences the moment they first appeared in the pages of comic books over half a century ago. Among those to have endured over the year are Steve Rogers aka Captain America and Nick Fury, and their popularity was enhanced when Chris Evans and Samuel L. Jackson respectively took on the roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Recently, it was a couple of “first” appearances of these two icons that led the way in Ewbank’s’ comics auction, as Strange Tales #135 and Tales of Suspense #58, from 1965 and 1964 respectively, delivered a strong showing from bidders to blast past initial estimates and prove that one of these characters has just a slight edge over the other when it comes to how much people are willing to pay to own those legendary issues.

Videos by ComicBook.com

In the MCU, Nick Fury became a lynchpin of the Avengers throughout the first two phases of the movie saga, yet he never became a lead character until the Disney+ series Secret Invasion in 2024. Captain America debuted in 2011 as the final movie before the Avengers assembled for the first time on screen, and appeared in a total of three solo movies and four Avengers movies before hanging up his shield in Avengers: Endgame (at least for a little while). In auction terms, though, it was Fury’s first appearance as a Cold War spy in a graded CBCS 9.2 copy of Strange Tales #135 that scored the biggest win, selling for £1,820 ($2,458) after originally being estimated to make between £1,200 and £1,600. That comic was not just notable as Fury’s first appearance in his most famous guise, but also that of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and its evil counterpart, Hydra, which makes it a pretty significant issue in Marvel Comics history and one that rightfully attracted plenty of attention.

Captain America Put In a Valiant Fight

Of course, there is no shame in coming second, and a graded CBCS 9.0 version of Tales of Suspense #58 also managed to beat expectations even though it fell a long way behind the Strange Tales lot. Originally expecting to fetch up to £700, the issue ended on a hammer price of £845 ($1140), not bad for a Silver Age comic in very good quality. The issue was notable for being Captain America’s first appearance in the title, with Steve Rogers clashing with Tony Stark’s Iron Man for the first time. The same issue featured the second appearance of Kraven the Hunter, and appearances by Giant-Man and the Wasp. While this may not be able to attract the kind of money attached to early appearances of Iron Man and Spider-Man, it is certainly still a decent return on a few pieces of paper that cost very little when bought in Marvel Comics’ infancy.

Naturally, every auction sales relies on a number of things that are not always down to the items themselves. Ewbank’s Auctions is based in the U.K. and does not maybe attract the attention of similar auctions through Heritage or Prop Store, and that can mean some items selling for less than they would with more exposure. Even then, it only takes two people desperate to add a particular issue to their collection and the price can soon jump up. In the case of those of these comics, the estimates ended up being beaten, but in terms of huge sales, the high grading could not come close to matching even the most tatty example of Amazing Fantasy #15 – the coveted debut of Spider-Man – can soar to. Maybe in the end, two buyers managed to get themselves a very reasonable bargain that could become a good investment for the future.