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Characters & first appearances

What is the first appearance of Mephisto?

Published Sep 14, 2026 · Updated Sep 14, 2026 · 1 min read

Short answerMephisto first appeared in Silver Surfer #3, cover-dated December 1968, by Stan Lee and John Buscema, tempting the exiled Surfer with a return to Zenn-La and his beloved Shalla-Bal. The issue is the most valuable in the 1968 Silver Surfer run after #1, and demand grew sharply in the early 2020s on speculation about the character's screen debut.

The issue

Lee wrote Mephisto as a devil figure with the name of Faust's tempter; Buscema's design — red, horned, robed — has barely changed since. The 39-page story is the Surfer's first meeting with him, and the two became recurring antagonists through the run.

Collecting

Silver Surfer #3 was a modest book until the character's appearances in comics tied to major storylines and talk of a film role turned it into a Silver Age key. High grades are scarce because the 25-cent square-bound format of the early issues chips and stresses easily at the spine. Two copies are in the store: CGC 8.0 and CGC 8.5.

Other Mephisto appearances of note

  • Silver Surfer #8–9 (1969) — his return.
  • Amazing Spider-Man #545 (January 2008) — "One More Day", the deal that erased the Parker marriage.

See the Mephisto character page and Silver Surfer (1968): collecting the run.

Written by the Rare Comics Collectors grading team. Spotted an error or have a question this guide does not answer? Tell us.

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