Bigger Silver Age Key: X-Men 1 or ASM 1? 1 1

[bronze johnny]

What’s the bigger Silver Age key in terms of value and historical significance?

X-Men 1

or

Amazing Spider-Man 1

 

[alexgross.com]

its pretty clear that the first appearance of the most popular superhero team of the 80s, 90s and beyond is far more significant than the first appearance of j jonah jameson. 

[bpc3qh]

I think it's clearly X-Men 1, which is, to me, one of the 3-4 most important Marvel keys of the Silver Age (and without hesitation I would only place FF1 and AF15 ahead of it, honestly).

[KirbyJack]

I went with Spidey. I asked myself, if I could only own one, which would I choose?

My AF15 owning days are behind me.

[bc]

1 hour ago, bronze johnny said:

What’s the bigger Silver Age key in terms of value and historical significance?

X-Men 1

or

Amazing Spider-Man 1

 

Historical significance would go to X-Men 1

Value would go to ASM 1

-bc

[peted76]

My two penneth... I believe the X-Men has tackled more (or more significant) political and cultural issues over the years and I believe that 'history' will push those themes to higher importance than that are considered now, ergo... X-Men 1.

 

[Math Teacher]

Since I own an AF #15, I am going to go with X-Men #1. Some of us grew up reading the Chris Claremont / Dave Cockrum / John Byrne run. I can honestly say that I was so anxious for the next issue to come out when Claremont and Bryne were working on the Hellfire Club / Dark Phoenix storyline.

Now, if I didn't own an AF #15, my answer might be different. Although, Amazing Spider-Man #1 was the first Marvel key I ever bought. $300 in May, 1980.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Math Teacher

[DST]

In terms of historical significance X-men 1, no question.  It’s definitely the bigger key, and I’m a Spidey enthusiast.  It has everything going for it including the creation of probably the most popular Marvel team (at least of the 80s, 90s and early 00s), and all those first appearances most notably one of the most iconic villains in Magneto.  IMO it’s a top 3 Marvel SA key.

ASM1 is definitely a big key in its own right launching the most successful title in the Marvel franchise, but it’s not on X-men 1s level.  

That being said, I’d personally rather own ASM1, but only because Spidey is my favorite superhero.  

[KCOComics]

I did vote for X1 simply because Spidey doesn't have a significant first appearance. 

But I don't think it's a slam dunk.  Spiderman was the most transcendent SA character. His solo title launched a ton of great characters and stories.  The launch of Spidey's solo title is a big deal and it's Spiderman over X-Men all day.  

But the wasn't the question. As an individual book, I think X1 is the better key. 

 

[rabidwolf]

I know many will disagree but

 

X-men 1 has spawned most of the marvel universe as we know it today 

I don’t think any other single marvel key including AF15 has been as  influential 

[rexinnih]

If I had a choice of which to own, it would be ASM 1 since I already have X-Men 1 

However in this poll I voted for X-Men 1 for cultural impact. 

[peted76]

6 hours ago, rabidwolf said:

I know many will disagree but

 

X-men 1 has spawned most of the marvel universe as we know it today 

I don’t think any other single marvel key including AF15 has been as  influential 

One might argue FF1 spawned the Marvel universe as we know it today. It brought a more soap opera'esq real life human stories into the world of superhero's. It's almost irrefutable that without FF1 there would have not been X-Men or Spider-Man. 

 

[I Am The Answer!]

I definitely think X-Men 1 gets the nod here.   There are so many first appearances in that book that ASM 1 can't compete.  Now if we were talking AF 15, that would be a different matter entirely. 

[BakerFanOne]

X-Men 1 hands down for me.  We have all seen the explosion in prices for both books and I would expect to see X-Men 1 continue its meteoric rise for a bit.  As previously mentioned, X-Men 1 introduces so many iconic characters.  But also the social issues and questions raised by X-Men 1 will continue to resonate for the foreseeable future with many generations.  

[Straw-Man]

i've owned 3 x-1's, never felt the zing from any of them.   spidey 1 zings me.  so, asm 1 got my vote.

[kimik]

3 minutes ago, Straw-Man said:

i've owned 3 x-1's, never felt the zing from any of them.   spidey 1 zings me.  so, asm 1 got my vote.

I can see that. Up until 2019, X-Men 1 was dirt cheap and considered a lesser book to GSX 1 by a lot of collectors.

It is the opposite for me for one reason - ASM 1 is just the second appearance of Spidey. AF 15 is much more special to hold, and used to be way harder to find. That being said, I sold all of my AF 15s over time as well since I prefer cold hard cash. My X-Men 1s are trending the same way.  

[Old_Man_Adam]

On 3/9/2021 at 9:54 AM, www.alexgross.com said:

its pretty clear that the first appearance of the most popular superhero team of the 80s, 90s and beyond is far more significant than the first appearance of j jonah jameson. 

Unfortunately I can’t “ laugh 😂 at this - but I concur - and spot on 💯 

[KCOComics]

40 minutes ago, Straw-Man said:

i've owned 3 x-1's, never felt the zing from any of them.   spidey 1 zings me.  so, asm 1 got my vote. 

 

34 minutes ago, kimik said:

I can see that. Up until 2019, X-Men 1 was dirt cheap and considered a lesser book to GSX 1 by a lot of collectors.

It is the opposite for me for one reason - ASM 1 is just the second appearance of Spidey. AF 15 is much more special to hold, and used to be way harder to find. That being said, I sold all of my AF 15s over time as well since I prefer cold hard cash. My X-Men 1s are trending the same way.  

 

That's what really makes the recent X1 surge so interesting. When I bought my X1 I didn't feel like I was grabbing a major key. It wasn't like I planned and plotted and waited for the right copy. It was like "oh neat, I'll grab that too".

Given what's happened over the last year, I'm really glad I have it.  But all of this enthusiasm is kind of crazy given where this book stood with collectors for so long. 

Spiderman 1 was a book you planned and plotted for. So this pole being so 1 sided is really a new development. At any point over the last 50 years if you ran this pole, I would wager it would have gone the other way. But Xmen are hot. 

All that said, I voted for X1 because AF15 is the first Spiderman. 

[Chillax23]

For me it is easily X-Men 1 - but for me it’s a top three Marvel silver age book (always has been and this surge has nothing to do with it).

ASM1 is a great book but it easily ranks behind AF15, X-Men 1, IH1, FF1, TOS39, and JIM83

[silverseeker]

I chose X-Men #1 for historical and current cultural significance, but always considered ASM #1 a key you needed to stretch your resources to acquire, while X-Men #1 fell into the realm of more affordable keys like Avengers #1 and Daredevil #1.

I don't have ASM #1 or X-Men #1, so I'm now going to have to stretch my resources if I want to acquire either of them...thanks MCU! 

It would be interesting to see how this poll would have gone if it were posted before Disney acquired Fox...