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Cover: Ross Andru & Frank Giacoia

The Amazing Spider-Man #171

Name: The Amazing Spider-Man #171
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Aug 1977 · Marvel · 0.30 USD

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“Photon Is Another Name For...?”

About this Issue

Amazing Spider-Man #171 completes the first-ever team-up between Spider-Man and Nova (Richard Rider), making it a foundational crossover for Nova's early Marvel career and a genuine bridge between the two Bronze Age titles. The issue wraps a whodunit murder mystery — structurally unusual for the era's superhero fare — in which the two heroes must pool deductive logic as much as physical strength to unmask the villain Photon. Its importance to Nova's mythology was confirmed decades later when Marvel chose it as the sole Amazing Spider-Man issue pulled into the exhaustive Nova: Richard Rider Omnibus, treating it as an inseparable chapter of Rider's origin era rather than a disposable guest appearance. The story also plants a subtle subplot thread involving Harry Osborn and Liz Allan being shadowed by a mysterious figure — a quiet continuation of ongoing Amazing Spider-Man story threads that gives the issue resonance beyond its crossover hook.

In "Photon Is Another Name For...?", Spider-Man teams up with Nova to unravel the mystery behind the identity of the enigmatic villain Photon and uncover the truth behind the murder of Nova's uncle. With Ross Andru's dynamic artwork and Frank Giacoia's sharp inks bringing the action to life, this 1977 issue delivers a gripping mystery that pits two heroes against a dangerous secret.

writer Len Wein · artist Ross Andru · inker Mike Esposito · inker Frank Giacoia · colorist Glynis Wein · letterer Joe Rosen · cover Ross Andru, Frank Giacoia

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $8

CGC 9.8 · 121 in census $269

CGC 9.6 · 168 in census $96

CGC 9.4 · 140 in census $77

CGC 9.2 · 77 in census $46

CGC 9.0 · 54 in census $46

CGC 8.5 · 48 in census $39

Show all 22 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 32 in census $32

CGC 7.5 · 31 in census $28

CGC 7.0 · 28 in census $27

CGC 6.5 · 12 in census $23

CGC 6.0 · 4 in census $21*

CGC 5.5 · 10 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 · 6 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 4 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 3.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 3.0 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 2.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 2.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 1.5 none in existence

CGC 1.0 none in existence

CGC 0.5 · 1 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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Raw — MINT ▾ $29–$50 2 listings

MINT $29 MINT $50

Raw — NM- ▾ $17.95–$24.99 2 listings

NM- $17.95 NM- $24.99

Raw — VF/NM ▾ $22.96–$29.95 3 listings

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Raw — VF ▾ $9.75–$30 8 listings

VF $9.75 VF · Newsstand $9.99 VF · Newsstand $12 VF $15.99 VF $19.95 VF $22.97 VF $30 VF $30

Raw — VERY FINE $15.99 1 listing

Raw — FN/VF ▾ $9.5–$17.94 3 listings

FN/VF $9.5 FN/VF $9.95 FN/VF $17.94

Raw — FN+ $11 1 listing

Raw — FN ▾ $5–$8.25 5 listings

FN $5 FN $7.19 FN $7.25 FN $7.95 FN $8.25

Raw — FINE ▾ $7.99–$15.5 2 listings

FINE $7.99 FINE $15.5

Raw — VG ▾ $18.99–$49.99 3 listings

VG $18.99 VG · Newsstand $25 VG $49.99

Raw — GOOD $7.99 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $3.24–$59.99 48 listings

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History

The two-part story was initiated in Nova #1 vol. 1 #12, written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by Sal Buscema with a cover touch-up by John Romita, then handed off to the Amazing Spider-Man creative team for its conclusion. Writer-editor Len Wein scripted this second chapter, with Ross Andru supplying pencil breakdowns and Mike Esposito finishing the inks — the same Wein-Andru-Esposito collaboration that had been steering the flagship title through the mid-1970s. The cover was pencilled by Andru and inked by Frank Giacoia. The split-creative-team structure, with Wolfman building the mystery and Wein resolving it, was a deliberate Marvel editorial strategy of the period to drive readers to purchase companion titles, reinforcing the connected-universe reading habit that defined Bronze Age Marvel.

Trivia · 8 facts

Published August 1977 by Marvel Comics; cover-titled 'Photon Is Another Name For…?' — Part 2 of 2, continuing directly from Nova vol. 1 #12.
Written by Len Wein (who also served as editor); pencilled by Ross Andru (breakdowns), inked by Mike Esposito (finishes); cover by Ross Andru and Frank Giacoia.
Represents the first completed team-up between Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Nova (Richard Rider), with the two heroes initially fighting before recognizing they are on the same side.
Antagonist Photon (Jason Dean), a Maggia operative who murdered Nova's uncle Dr. Ralph Rider and sought a transistorized nuclear device, is unmasked in this issue; the identity clue is a clever anagram hidden by Dr. Rider at the crime scene.
Features A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) as secondary villains, and includes a death-trap sequence in which both heroes are chained to an anchor and thrown into the harbor — a classic Bronze Age set piece.
Includes a subplot cameo involving Harry Osborn and Liz Allan discussing their coming wedding, with a mysterious figure following them — seeding ongoing Amazing Spider-Man storylines.
Published in three distinct editions: a standard 30-cent newsstand copy, a limited-distribution 35-cent price variant, and a Whitman bagged variant — a practice Marvel used during a brief 1977 pricing experiment.
Reprinted in multiple formats: Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus vol. 5 (2021), Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 17 (2015), and — as the sole ASM issue selected — the Nova: Richard Rider Omnibus (2022/2023).