The Amazing Spider-Man #31 - First Appearance of Gwen Stacy, Printings and Contents

Identification plate

Series: The Amazing Spider-Man (Marvel, 1963 series)
Issue: #31
Publication date: December 1965
Key date: December 1965
On-sale date: September 9, 1965
Indicia publisher: Non-Pareil Publishing Corp.
Price: $0.12
Pages: 36
Rating: Approved by the Comics Code Authority

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

From the editorial file First appearances of Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn, December 1965. Two characters who would define the book's next decade arrive in the same college-set issue.

First appearance of Gwen Stacy - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Harry Osborn - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Miles Warren - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Nicholas Bromwell - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	If This Be My Destiny...	cover	1	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Steve Ditko; inks: Steve Ditko; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Sam Rosen	Peter Parker, Spider-Man
2	If This Be My Destiny...!	comic story	20	script: Steve Ditko, Stan Lee; pencils: Steve Ditko; inks: Steve Ditko; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Sam Rosen, Artie Simek	Betty Brant, Nicholas Bromwell First, Frederick Foswell, J. Jonah Jameson, Ned Leeds, Master Planner, Otto Octavius, Harry Osborn First, May Parker, Peter Parker, Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy First, Flash Thompson, Miles Warren First
3	-	promo (ad from the publisher)	1	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Joe Sinnott, Wally Wood; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Artie Simek, Sam Rosen
4	-	promo (ad from the publisher)	1	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Dick Ayers; inks: Mike Esposito, Dick Ayers, Steve Ditko; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Sam Rosen
5	-	in-house column	1	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Steve Ditko, Marie Severin; inks: Steve Ditko, Marie Severin; colors: Marie Severin	Green Goblin; Spider-Man [Peter Parker]; Thing
6	-	letters page	2	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Steve Ditko; inks: Steve Ditko; colors: Marie Severin	Spider-Man [Peter Parker]

Plus 3 pages of advertisements and other matter across 3 sequences, as published.

Printings and variants

Edition	How to tell
British	price 10d [0-0-10 GBP]

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Marvel Tales #24	1970	On eBay ›
Marvel Tales #170	1984	On eBay ›
Marvel Masterworks #16 ISBN 0-87135-730-5	1991	On eBay ›
The Essential Spider-Man #2	1997	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Check spine ticks and cover gloss in the photos; silver-age Marvels chip at the edges easily.
Look for tanning at the page edges and transfer stains on the inside covers.
Confirm the cover price against the plate; higher prices can mean a later or foreign printing.

Series context

‹ #3031 of 443#32 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Wikidata, Q111838220 (Nicholas Bromwell), first-appearance property (CC0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com