The Invaders #14

Name: The Invaders #14
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Mar 1977 · Marvel · 0.30 USD

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“Calling...the Crusaders!”

★ 1st appearance — Thunderfist★ 1st appearance — Captain Wings

About this Issue

The Invaders #14 delivers the first appearance of the entire Crusaders team — Spirit of '76 (William Naslund), Captain Wings (Roger Dicken), Ghost Girl (Wendy Hunt), Thunderfist (Patrick Mason), Tommy Lightning (Thomas Lovejoy), and Dyna-Mite (Roger Aubrey) — making it one of the most character-dense debut issues in the Bronze Age Invaders run. Spirit of '76 is the issue's most far-reaching introduction: Thomas created Naslund with the explicit downstream purpose of plugging a gap in Marvel's Captain America continuity, and just five months later Naslund became the second Captain America in What If? #4, the only issue of that series set in the mainstream 616 universe. Beyond individual characters, the issue is a landmark of inter-company creative collaboration — a coordinated, unofficial Marvel/DC crossover in which both publishers simultaneously ran stories pitting their respective WWII teams against a rival group called 'the Crusaders,' each side modeled on the other company's heroes. That kind of good-faith, wink-at-the-reader rivalry across the spinner rack was rare in 1977 and remains a notable episode in comics industry history.

writer Roy Thomas · artist Frank Robbins · inker Frank Springer · colorist M. Severin · letterer Joe Rosen · cover Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $5

CGC 9.8 · 24 in census $181

CGC 9.6 · 24 in census $66*

CGC 9.4 · 15 in census $41

CGC 9.2 · 12 in census $29

CGC 9.0 · 13 in census $26

CGC 8.5 · 3 in census $20*

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CGC 8.0 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 7.5 · 2 in census $20

CGC 7.0 · 3 in census $20

CGC 6.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 6.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 5.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 none in existence

CGC 3.5 none in existence

CGC 3.0 none in existence

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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CGC 9 $84.49 1 listing Raw — VF $11.99 1 listing Raw — FN+ $10.5 1 listing

Raw — FN ▾ $8.7–$9.95 2 listings

FN $8.7 FN $9.95

Raw — VG $4.99 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $7.89–$33 5 listings

Raw / ungraded $7.89 Raw / ungraded $12 Raw / ungraded $25 Raw / ungraded $29.99 Raw / ungraded $33

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VG+ $3.95 FN $4.49 VG · Newsstand $4.99 VG $4.99 VG $5.99 VG+ $7.99 VERY FINE $10 VF $10

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History

Writer Roy Thomas crafted the story as part of an informal arrangement with DC — brokered through editor Tony Isabella and Freedom Fighters writer Bob Rozakis — in which both publishers would publish a 'Crusaders' arc simultaneously, each team of Crusaders being a pastiche of the rival company's characters. Thomas scripted the interior story over pencils by Frank Robbins inked by Frank Springer, while a Jack Kirby cover was used as a high-profile visual draw — a combination one contemporary reviewer described as 'cover stunt-casting' since Kirby's style bore little resemblance to the Robbins interior art. The issue carried a cover date of March 1977 (on-sale November 30, 1976) and editor-in-chief Archie Goodwin oversaw the series at this point in its run.

Trivia · 8 facts

First team appearance of the Crusaders: Spirit of '76 (William Naslund), Captain Wings (Roger Dicken), Ghost Girl (Wendy Hunt), Thunderfist (Patrick Mason), Tommy Lightning (Thomas Lovejoy), and Dyna-Mite (Roger Aubrey).
Spirit of '76 is the issue's most significant debut: Naslund later became the second Captain America in What If? #4 (August 1977), the only What If? chapter set in the mainstream Marvel (Earth-616) continuity rather than an alternate timeline.
Each Crusader was designed as a deliberate counterpart to a member of DC's Freedom Fighters: Spirit of '76 / Uncle Sam, Captain Wings / Black Condor, Ghost Girl / Phantom Lady, Thunderfist / Human Bomb, Dyna-Mite / Doll Man, Tommy Lightning / The Ray.
The issue was part of an unofficial, coordinated Marvel/DC crossover: simultaneously, DC's Freedom Fighters #7–9 featured a rival Crusaders team modeled on the Invaders, with four of those DC Crusaders visually caricaturing Marvel editors Roy Thomas, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and Archie Goodwin.
Written by Roy Thomas; interior art by penciler Frank Robbins and inker Frank Springer; cover by Jack Kirby; titled 'Calling…The Crusaders!'
The story's villain, the cab driver 'Alfie,' is revealed to be a Nazi agent whose technological power-belt secretly controls all of the Crusaders' abilities — making them unwitting dupes in a plot to assassinate King George VI.
The issue was reprinted in Invaders Classic #2 (2007 series) and Invaders Classic: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 (2014).
The letters page of this issue includes a published letter from Greg Gallant, later celebrated as the award-winning independent cartoonist known as Seth.