The Avengers #68

Name: The Avengers #68
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Sep 1969 · Marvel · 0.15 USD

📊 ~57,690 copies sold its debut month

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“...And We Battle for the Earth!”

★ 1st appearance — Taku

About this Issue

Avengers #68 closes the three-part Ultron-6 arc (Avengers #66–68) that introduced adamantium to the Marvel Universe and established Ultron as one of the Avengers' defining villains. The issue's resolution — in which Hank Pym, disguised as scientist Myron MacLain through self-hypnosis, defeats the seemingly indestructible adamantium-bodied Ultron-6 by feeding him the single phrase 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' — is among the more inventive villain defeats of the Silver Age, blending sci-fi thriller plotting with a pointed moral. Equally notable as a production landmark: this was Sal Buscema's debut as an interior penciller at Marvel, marking the start of one of the publisher's most prolific artistic careers of the 1970s. The arc as a whole deepened the Vision's backstory and the Vibranium/Wakanda mythology, and Ultron-6's adamantium body set the template for every subsequent Ultron incarnation.

In "...And We Battle for the Earth!", the Avengers face a chilling threat as Ultron 6, after a failed nuclear strike, turns to kidnapping S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist Dr. MacLain—whose mind holds a surprising resistance to violence. With Sal Buscema’s dynamic art and Sam Grainger’s tight inks anchoring the action, Roy Thomas crafts a tense, high-stakes showdown that tests the team’s resolve. The cover by Buscema and Grainger captures the moment with bold, dramatic flair.

writer Roy Thomas · artist Sal Buscema · inker, colorist Sam Grainger · letterer Sam Rosen · cover Sal Buscema, Sam Grainger

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (VG) $9

CGC 9.8 · 24 in census $1,119

CGC 9.6 · 52 in census $336

CGC 9.4 · 54 in census $209

CGC 9.2 · 53 in census $122

CGC 9.0 · 45 in census $92

CGC 8.5 · 53 in census $75

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CGC 8.0 · 41 in census $46*

CGC 7.5 · 22 in census $46

CGC 7.0 · 29 in census $29*

CGC 6.5 · 23 in census $29

CGC 6.0 · 21 in census $29

CGC 5.5 · 12 in census $21*

CGC 5.0 · 7 in census $21

CGC 4.5 · 12 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 · 7 in census $20

CGC 3.5 · 5 in census $20*

CGC 3.0 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 2.5 · 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 — VF/NM $175 1 listing Raw — FINE $39.95 1 listing

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More listings for this title

VG $11.95 VG $22 CGC $120 The Mighty Avengers 68 Ultron Silver Age Marvel Comics $15.99 AVENGERS #68 : …And We Battle for the Earth! 1969, VERSUS ULTRON, Marvel Comics $19.99

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History

Writer Roy Thomas scripted all three chapters of this arc, but the art team shifted between parts: Barry Windsor-Smith penciled the interiors of the first two issues (#66–67), while Sal Buscema — whose cover for #67 had been his Marvel penciling debut — stepped in to handle the interior art on the concluding chapter. According to Roy Thomas's own account in his introduction to Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Vol. 7, he sent Buscema a 1950s issue of the ME title The Avenger as visual reference for the 'Ultimate Ultron' full-body design that appears in this issue. Sam Grainger inked and, per Thomas's note in the X-Men #61 letters page, also colored many of the Avengers stories he inked during this run. Stan Lee served as editor-in-chief over the entire arc.

Trivia · 7 facts

Title: '...And We Battle for the Earth!' — Part 3 of 3, cover-dated September 1969, on-sale July 8, 1969 (Marvel, 15¢ cover price).
Creative team: Script by Roy Thomas; pencils by Sal Buscema; inks by Sam Grainger; letters by Sam Rosen; editor-in-chief Stan Lee.
This issue represents Sal Buscema's first published interior penciling work at Marvel Comics, a milestone confirmed by the artist's own contemporaneous output.
The concluding chapter of the first Adamantium/Ultron-6 story arc, which began in Avengers #66 (July 1969, the issue where both Adamantium and Myron MacLain made their first appearances).
Ultron-6 is apparently destroyed in this issue after being trapped in a Vibranium dome; the character next returns (rebuilt as Ultron-7 by Maximus) in Avengers #127.
Roy Thomas drew on a 1950s ME comic book (The Avenger) as the visual reference for Buscema's 'Ultimate Ultron' full-body design in this issue, as Thomas recounted in his Marvel Masterworks introduction.
Reprinted in Marvel Super Action #29 (March 1981), Essential Avengers Vol. 3 (2001), Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Vol. 8 (2008), Avengers Epic Collection Vol. 4: Behold... The Vision (2015), and The Avengers Omnibus Vol. 3 (2018).