Spawn 9 newstand no ink on back cover 0

[Coolspider]

I have a spawn 9 newstand that appears to have a misprint on the back cover. The direct edition and the newsstand edition both have text on the back cover, but this one does not. Is this considered a manufacturing error? any comments will be highly appreciated

Edited October 17, 2022 by Coolspider

[Qalyar]

I pinged @Lobstrosity to the original thread on this in Ask CCG, and hope he has some input. It's... inconvenient that the discovery copy of this weirdness is a Signature Series slab, because we can't investigate the interior without breaking the chain of custody on the yellow label, which you shouldn't do.

Hopefully, someone else can scare up another copy like this. For everyone else's reference, this is what the back of Spawn 9 normally looks like:

This cannot have been an accidental creation. One, because that's not how printing works; and, two, because the addition of the white speckling in the black border indicates that the back cover was specifically altered between the two versions, in whichever order they were produced.

That leads me to two plausible scenarios here, neither of which is very satisfying:

1. The "no text" back cover was produced as some sort of preview or promotional item and predates the normal print run. Okay, sure, but then why is this a newsstand printing?
2. The "no text" back cover represents a second printing of Spawn #9 newsstand, presumably produced in or after May 1993, so that the "Coming in the May 1993" text was no longer appropriate (nor was the "and every month!" because Shaman's Tears didn't release on anything like a consistent schedule). But the barcode is the same, and should have been changed for an intentional 2nd printing.

EDIT: It occurs to me that the label says "signed & sketch by Ash Gonzalez ... on front & back cover". I'm pretty sure I see the back cover signature at upper left above the red frame. Is there any chance that Gonzalez painted a new white-speckled black frame over the existing border? @Coolspider Can you provide a close-up image of the upper left corner, and perhaps also the lower left?

Edited October 20, 2022 by Qalyar

[Lazyboy]

On 10/20/2022 at 9:49 AM, Qalyar said:

EDIT: It occurs to me that the label says "signed & sketch by Ash Gonzalez ... on front & back cover". I'm pretty sure I see the back cover signature at upper left above the red frame. Is there any chance that Gonzalez painted a new white-speckled black frame over the existing border? @Coolspider Can you provide a close-up image of the upper left corner, and perhaps also the lower left?

I have to assume this is the answer.

[Qalyar]

On 10/20/2022 at 3:29 PM, Lazyboy said:

I have to assume this is the answer.

That really is the most likely answer, and I'm sad I didn't think of it right off the bat. But let's be honest, weird printing shenanigans from Image sound plausible, you know? I mean, CGC doesn't recognize them, but you've got the copies of Spawn 1 with the broken inside-front-cover logo due to a printing problem for part of the run. Weirder things have happened.

[Ryan.]

This is a confusing book. What did Ash sketch on the front cover? And his sketch on the back cover was just a redo of the border? 

[Coolspider]

On 10/20/2022 at 4:56 PM, Qalyar said:

That really is the most likely answer, and I'm sad I didn't think of it right off the bat. But let's be honest, weird printing shenanigans from Image sound plausible, you know? I mean, CGC doesn't recognize them, but you've got the copies of Spawn 1 with the broken inside-front-cover logo due to a printing problem for part of the run. Weirder things have happened.

Yes, this is probably what happened. To be honest, it would've been better if Ash had drawn something else.

[Lobstrosity]

On 10/20/2022 at 9:49 AM, Qalyar said:

I pinged @Lobstrosity to the original thread on this in Ask CCG, and hope he has some input. It's... inconvenient that the discovery copy of this weirdness is a Signature Series slab, because we can't investigate the interior without breaking the chain of custody on the yellow label, which you shouldn't do.

Hopefully, someone else can scare up another copy like this. For everyone else's reference, this is what the back of Spawn 9 normally looks like:

This cannot have been an accidental creation. One, because that's not how printing works; and, two, because the addition of the white speckling in the black border indicates that the back cover was specifically altered between the two versions, in whichever order they were produced.

That leads me to two plausible scenarios here, neither of which is very satisfying:

1. The "no text" back cover was produced as some sort of preview or promotional item and predates the normal print run. Okay, sure, but then why is this a newsstand printing?
2. The "no text" back cover represents a second printing of Spawn #9 newsstand, presumably produced in or after May 1993, so that the "Coming in the May 1993" text was no longer appropriate (nor was the "and every month!" because Shaman's Tears didn't release on anything like a consistent schedule). But the barcode is the same, and should have been changed for an intentional 2nd printing.

EDIT: It occurs to me that the label says "signed & sketch by Ash Gonzalez ... on front & back cover". I'm pretty sure I see the back cover signature at upper left above the red frame. Is there any chance that Gonzalez painted a new white-speckled black frame over the existing border? @Coolspider Can you provide a close-up image of the upper left corner, and perhaps also the lower left?

 

On 10/21/2022 at 9:07 AM, Coolspider said:

Yes, this is probably what happened. To be honest, it would've been better if Ash had drawn something else.

What a strange thing to do as a sketch! Glad it was this and not a printing thing

[Catwomancomics]

@Lobstrosity It's crazy but, it may have been done to cover up something that would keep the book from a 9.8 otherwise. 

[Coolspider]

There's no way that this is a sketch. 

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

Who is Ash Gonzales and what is the connection to this book?

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 11/2/2022 at 8:24 PM, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

Who is Ash Gonzales and what is the connection to this book?

He is someone that works for Disney that does sketches, no direct connection to this book.

[Qalyar]

On 11/2/2022 at 9:03 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

He is someone that works for Disney that does sketches, no direct connection to this book.

This really lends weight, for me, to the idea that this was done to conceal a defect and push for a 9.8 to turn around and launder into the McFarlane signing. It isn't color touch if your witnessed signing celebrity does it, I suppose.

I'll add this to the list of reasons I don't collect yellow label books.

[Catwomancomics]

This is a Spawn 9 book and not a blank that was sketched on.

@QalyarMcFarlane signed this book before Ash touched it.  The sketch/cover up was done after to get a grade bump. I think the “Front” cover notation is a mistake and only the back cover was touched by Ash.

[Qalyar]

On 11/3/2022 at 3:01 PM, Catwomancomics said:

This is a Spawn 9 book and not a blank that was sketched on.

@QalyarMcFarlane signed this book before Ash touched it.  The sketch/cover up was done after to get a grade bump. I think the “Front” cover notation is a mistake and only the back cover was touched by Ash.

Bleh. Reading dates is apparently hard for me. I... don't think that makes this better, at all.

[Yorick]

Yellow Label = Restored? 

[divad]

On 10/17/2022 at 6:13 AM, Coolspider said:

I have a spawn 9 newstand that appears to have a misprint on the back cover. The direct edition and the newsstand edition both have text on the back cover, but this one does not. Is this considered a manufacturing error? any comments will be highly appreciated

I think it's a coolspider . . . 

[JoeBrrr]

Not to derail the thread but I’ve seen some custom yellow labels without the “1st App of Angela etc”

Any idea why this may be? And does this affect value in everyone’s opinion? 
 

 

[Lazyboy]

On 12/17/2022 at 11:15 PM, JoeBrrr said:

Not to derail the thread but I’ve seen some custom yellow labels without the “1st App of Angela etc”

Any idea why this may be? And does this affect value in everyone’s opinion?

Custom labels have the notes on the back.

Any terms I try to use to accurately describe people who value label notes will be censored here.

[JoeBrrr]

On 12/17/2022 at 10:16 PM, Lazyboy said:

Custom labels have the notes on the back.

Any terms I try to use to accurately describe people who value label notes will be censored here.

Hahaha totally get you on the second point.