Collectors love the phrase first appearance. On a printed rack it means a character’s debut pamphlet. On a Spider-Man Marvel NFT shelf it sometimes means the first time that costume is posed on a digital cover, even when the interiors retell a fight you already finished on paper.
Before you treat a file as a debut, open the splash and the last page. If the new face is only in the trade dress, file the moment as a cover event. If the lettering introduces a name in a caption box, file it as a story event. Those two cards should not share a hook.
Our desk writes both labels when someone asks for a map. We still do not own the characters. We are only trying to stop a cover pose from rewriting your memory of the alley.