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Cover: Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger

The Avengers #72

Name: The Avengers #72
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Jan 1970 · Marvel · 0.15 USD

📊 ~58,441 copies sold its debut month

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“Did You Hear the One About Scorpio?”

★ 1st appearance — Gemini

About this Issue

Avengers #72 is the debut of the Zodiac Cartel — a twelve-member criminal syndicate built around the Western astrological signs — one of Marvel's most durable and structurally inventive supervillain ensembles. The issue simultaneously resolves the long-dangling Scorpio mystery seeded across Nick Fury's own canceled series, revealing that the Scorpio the Avengers faced was actually Nick Fury himself in deep-cover disguise, with his brother Jake Fury established retroactively as the original villain. As the opening chapter of the Bronze Age for the title, it also anchors the issue in the expanding interconnectedness that would come to define Marvel's shared universe storytelling across the 1970s.

In "Did You Hear the One About Scorpio?", the Avengers face off against the enigmatic Scorpio and the full force of the Zodiac criminal syndicate, with Nick Fury lending his expertise to the battle. Written by Roy Thomas and brought to life by Sal Buscema’s dynamic art and Sam Grainger’s inks, this 1970 issue delivers a tense showdown that pits the heroes against a coordinated threat from a shadowy international network. The cover by Sal Buscema and Sam Grainger captures the intensity of the confrontation, setting the stage for a classic clash of wits and wills.

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

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $23

CGC 9.8 · 19 in census $967

CGC 9.6 · 46 in census $225*

CGC 9.4 · 65 in census $225

CGC 9.2 · 42 in census $143

CGC 9.0 · 40 in census $109

CGC 8.5 · 26 in census $78

Show all 19 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 30 in census $63

CGC 7.5 · 20 in census $63

CGC 7.0 · 20 in census $52

CGC 6.5 · 10 in census $52*

CGC 6.0 · 12 in census $46

CGC 5.5 · 12 in census $42*

CGC 5.0 · 7 in census $40

CGC 4.5 · 3 in census $36*

CGC 4.0 · 3 in census $34*

CGC 3.5 · 2 in census $28*

CGC 3.0 · 2 in census $25*

CGC 2.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 2.0 none in existence

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

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

This exact issue on ebay

CGC 9.4 $250 1 listing Raw — FN/VF $42.24 1 listing

Raw — FN ▾ $31.99–$32 2 listings

FN $31.99 FN $32

Raw — VG $54.99 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $32.29–$45 3 listings

Raw / ungraded $32.29 Raw / ungraded $36.45 Raw / ungraded $45

Verified matches for The Avengers #72 · eBay asking prices, seen 22 days ago

More listings for this title

VG $14.99 VG $19.95 VF $25 FN $30 Avengers #72 (Marvel, 1970) 1st App Zodiac Cartel - Low Grade Reader $14 Marvel Comics The Avengers #72 (Jan 1970) Did you hear about Scorpio $20 Avengers # 72 - 🗝️ 1st Appearance of the Zodiac Cartel Marvel Comics $31.5

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History

Writer Roy Thomas crafted the issue as a deliberate payoff to plot threads left hanging when Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. was canceled, weaving that spy-thriller continuity directly into the Avengers' world. Sal Buscema handled pencils with Sam Grainger providing both inks and colors — the Grand Comics Database notes, citing Roy Thomas himself, that Grainger colored many of the Avengers stories he inked during this period. Stan Lee served as editor, and the issue shipped to retailers on January 10, 1970, carrying a 15-cent cover price.

Trivia · 8 facts

First team appearance of the Zodiac Cartel — all twelve members, each representing a sign of the Western zodiac — created by writer Roy Thomas and penciler Sal Buscema (January 1970).
First appearances of Aquarius, Aries (Marcus Lassiter), Cancer, Capricorn, Cornelius Van Lunt (as Taurus), Elaine McLaughlin, Gemini (Joshua Link), Leo, Libra, Pisces, Sagittarius, Virgo, and numerous named Zodiac operatives including Daniel Radford, Harlan Vargas, Jack Kleveno, Noah Perricone, and Willard Weir.
The Scorpio mystery is resolved: Nick Fury, presumed dead after events in Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #15, is revealed to have faked his death using a Life Model Decoy and infiltrated the Zodiac disguised as Scorpio in order to expose the cartel — with Jake Fury established as the original Scorpio.
Rick Jones appears in the Avengers title for the first time since issue #17; the Rick Jones–Captain Marvel body-swap dynamic is woven into the plot, with Marvel chasing Scorpio after Rick triggers the switch.
Story title is 'Did You Hear the One About Scorpio?' — credited to Roy Thomas (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Sam Grainger (inks and colors), Sam Rosen (letters), Stan Lee (editor); cover art also by Buscema and Grainger.
The issue is widely noted as the first Bronze Age issue of the title, reflecting both its January 1970 publication date and the tonal shift toward more elaborate, multi-character ensemble villainy.
The letters column contains a letter from future Marvel artist Keith Pollard.
Reprinted in Marvel Super Action #33 (1981), Essential Avengers vol. 4 (2004), Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers vol. 8 (2008), Avengers Epic Collection #4 – Behold… the Vision (2015), S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Complete Collection Omnibus (2015), and The Avengers Omnibus vol. 3 (2018); an early black-and-white reprint also appeared in the UK's Creepy Worlds #125 (circa 1971–72). A physical copy of the issue is briefly visible in a 1974 episode of M*A*S*H, held by the sleeping Radar O'Reilly.