The Avengers #4

Mar 1964 · Marvel · 0.12 USD

📊 ~87,333 copies sold its debut month

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“Captain America Joins... The Avengers!”

★ Key event — Captain America is revived and joins the Avengers

About this Issue

Avengers #4 (March 1964) is one of the most consequential single issues in Marvel history because it marks the first Silver Age appearance of Captain America, returning the Golden Age hero to an entirely new generation of readers almost two decades after his Timely Comics adventures ended. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby accomplished something rarely managed so efficiently in superhero comics: within just the first six pages they defrosted Cap, dramatized Bucky's death in flashback, and immediately planted the defining 'man out of time' emotional framework that has shaped Steve Rogers's character ever since. The issue also established the third Avengers lineup — Captain America joining Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, and Wasp — and Cap was later retroactively elevated to 'founding member' status, cementing his centrality to the franchise. Its narrative DNA — a soldier suspended in ice, waking to survivor's guilt and a changed world — proved so durable that the Marvel Cinematic Universe adapted it almost intact, from Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) through Avengers: Endgame (2019).

In "Captain America Joins... The Avengers!", the legendary hero awakens from decades of suspended animation after being trapped in melting ice, only to be thrust into a new battle when the Avengers face an alien threat that turns them to stone. With Jack Kirby’s dynamic art and Stan Lee’s sharp storytelling, the team must unite to recover a broken spaceship—leading to a clash with Namor and his forces—while Captain America steps into his new role among Earth’s mightiest heroes. Cover by Jack Kirby and George Roussos.

writer Stan Lee · artist, writer Jack Kirby · inker George Roussos · colorist Stan Goldberg · letterer Art Simek · cover Jack Kirby, George Roussos

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VG) $742

CGC 9.8 · 7 in census $120,124

CGC 9.6 · 29 in census $30,926

CGC 9.4 · 38 in census $18,664

CGC 9.2 · 71 in census $10,345

CGC 9.0 · 84 in census $8,812

CGC 8.5 · 110 in census $5,351

Show all 22 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 169 in census $4,713

CGC 7.5 · 230 in census $2,651

CGC 7.0 · 257 in census $2,651

CGC 6.5 · 300 in census $2,158

CGC 6.0 · 305 in census $1,760

CGC 5.5 · 305 in census $1,517

CGC 5.0 · 409 in census $1,412

CGC 4.5 · 405 in census $1,388

CGC 4.0 · 461 in census $973

CGC 3.5 · 383 in census $801

CGC 3.0 · 423 in census $801

CGC 2.5 · 296 in census $702

CGC 2.0 · 159 in census $667

CGC 1.5 · 76 in census $411

CGC 1.0 · 74 in census $411

CGC 0.5 · 123 in census $411

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

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

More listings for this title

VF $1.49 FN $3.97 VF/NM $3.99 NM- $3.99 NM $3.99 2nd print $5 NM $8.03 CGC 0.5 $445

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History

The issue went on sale January 3, 1964, under a March 1964 cover date, written and plotted by Stan Lee with pencils by Jack Kirby — the same team that co-created the Marvel Age beginning with Fantastic Four #1 in 1961. Kirby had personal history with the character: he and Joe Simon originally created Captain America for Timely Comics back in 1940, making his return to the character a genuine homecoming. Marvel had quietly tested reader appetite for Cap's revival one issue earlier in Strange Tales #114 (November 1963), where the Human Torch tangled with a Captain America impersonator — that story was designed to gauge fan interest before committing to the real thing. Inker George Roussos, colorist Stan Goldberg, and letterer Artie Simek rounded out the production; editor and publisher credit went to Stan Lee and Martin Goodman respectively.

Trivia · 7 facts

First Silver Age appearance of Captain America (Steve Rogers), who joins the Avengers at the issue's close; he is later granted retroactive 'founding member' status replacing the Hulk on the roster.
Written and plotted by Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby — who co-created Captain America with Joe Simon in 1940 — with inks by George Roussos, colors by Stan Goldberg, and letters by Artie Simek.
First (unnamed, unseen) appearance of Baron Heinrich Zemo, glimpsed only in flashback as the Nazi saboteur responsible for Bucky's apparent death and Cap's plunge into the freezing ocean; the character is not identified by name until Avengers #6 (July 1964).
First Silver Age appearance of James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes — also only in flashback — establishing the canonical account of his fate at the end of World War II, which seeded decades of storytelling including the Winter Soldier arc.
First appearance of the D'bari alien Vuk, the issue's secondary antagonist, whose race would later become significant in Uncanny X-Men continuity when their home planet is destroyed by Dark Phoenix.
The revival was preceded by a deliberate market test in Strange Tales #114 (November 1963), in which the Human Torch fought a Captain America impostor (the Acrobat), designed to measure fan appetite for Cap's return.
The issue has been reprinted extensively, including Avengers Annual #4 (1971), Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Vol. 1, Avengers Epic Collection: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Captain America Epic Collection: Captain America Lives Again, and a True Believers reprint for Jack Kirby's 100th birthday (October 2017).