Well, it’s all been leading up to this.

Really, the only reason to discuss Marvel Value Stamps is because of Shanna the She-Devil.

No, not because of this fetching cover:

I love a good jungle pulp as much as the next guy … but, no, we’re not really talking about Shanna as her own character here.

We’re actually interested in her appearance on the lower-right side of the image below, as the fifty-fourth entry in Marvel’s diabolical Value Stamp series:

Yes, we care about Marvel Value Stamps — and arguably, we care about poor Shanna the She-Devil — because that stamp was sourced from this comic …

… which marks probably the most significant Marvel Comics character introduction of my lifetime.

If you’ve read the article that kicked off Halloween Month here at Longbox Graveyard — First Cut — then you’ll understand the significance of that dreadful stamp in my own personal comic book history.

There’s not much more I can say!

Let’s total up the butcher’s bill …

• #41 Gladiator: Amazing Spider-Man #138 – $25
• #42 Man-Wolf: Amazing Spider-Man #139 – $25 (1st app of Grizzly)
• #43 Enchantress: Jungle Action #11 – $14
• #44 Absorbing Man: Defenders #16 – $16
• #48 Kraven: Ghost Rider #38 – $6
• #51 Bucky: Werewolf by Night #22 – $14
• #52 Quicksilver: Captain America #179 – $9
• #54 Shanna the She-Devil: Incredible Hulk #181 – $2100 (1st full Wolverine story)
• #56 The Rawhide Kid: Marvel Team-Up #26 – $8

That Hulk #181 balloons the replacement cost of my cut-up Marvel Value Stamp comics to $2592. Which would have been quite a shock to twelve-year-old me, who bought these books at a news stand for a quarter each. Comics cost a quarter! Why not cut them up? Isn’t that what kids were supposed to do?

I mean, it all seemed so … innocent.

TOMORROW: Afterlife With Archie!