SPAWN! A look back at an award-winning collection of graded slabs. 10 10

[newshane]

SPAWN 149 - CGC 9.8 

Try finding a minty fresh copy of this one at your local comic shop! 

One of the many, many TOUGH and unforgiving black covers in the run. Image burned through millions when it came to black ink for Spawn! 

 

 

 

 

[Lobstrosity]

On 6/28/2023 at 7:24 PM, newshane said:

I'm surprised to say this, but I've never seen or heard of that before. Too bad! It's got a wicked cool little cover! 

Not sure about it's desirability. Like I said, I've never seen it before. 

@Lobstrosity is probably aware of it. That's a sure bet. Got anything to add here, Trent? 

Sure thing - you can find it listed on SpawnWorld here:
https://www.spawnworld.com/books/covers/cvr_musings_2.htm

It's a relatively obscure Spawn appearance, not very well known and not very sought after. It's a neat book to pick up for the ultra-fan though. To be clear though, it's not a comic - it's an interview with McFarlane, as well as an art gallery from McFarlane and Capullo.

[newshane]

SPAWN 150 - CGC 9.9 - SKETCH COVER

This was the highest graded back in the day. 

Pardon the reflections. This was an oversized issue and the CGC had to use the thick slabs for these.  They always seemed to suffer more easily in my old setup. 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by newshane

[newshane]

SPAWN 150 - CGC 9.8 

Again, sorry for the horrible scan. Trust me, I was doing my best. 

Todd McFarlane art on this cover. 

 

[newshane]

SPAWN 150 - CGC 9.8 - Philip Tan variant. 

Ready yourselves for the era of Philip Tan - arguably the most underrated Spawn artist! 

I am a huge fan of this guy's work on the series. It's one of my favorite runs, along with the Kudranski era. We are a long way off from that, however. 

 

[newshane]

My apologies - I can't find a copy of the scan for the Jim Lee variant, which is a crying shame, for it's the best of the four variants for issue 150. It's simply a beautiful book. I'll do some more digital digging to see if I can find it. I will post it if I ever come across it, but it will obviously be out of order. 

I think I put it in a different folder and it's gotten lost somewhere in the archives. This could have been because the CGC never made a registry slot for all four variants and the census (at least at the time) only distinguished between the color variants (no special label) and the black and white (specially noted as a sketch cover). That was very frustrating for someone obsessed with details. They noted there were four different versions on the label, but according to the census, each book was either the "regular" version of 150 or the "sketch cover." 

The CGC made similar bumbles here and there with the details of specific books. I'll try to address those as they come. In fact, they did the same thing here with 151! There is a cover by Philip Tan and another by Greg Capullo. I had both of them, but I can't find the Capullo. I promise to keep looking for these. 

In the meantime, let's get on with the Philip Tan era! Another full spread cover here, so I'm including both scans. 

SPAWN 151 - CGC 9.8 - PHILIP TAN 

 

 

[newshane]

SPAWN 152 - CGC 9.8 

Extremely difficult book for reasons that should be immediately apparent. I think this was one of the last books I found. 

[Otter1775]

Newshane,

Good afternoon, I wanted to complement you on your past endeavor. What an accomplishment! I was 21, when Spawn was introduced to the world and I actually picked up two direct editions of #1, which I read one and eventually bagged/boarded both of them, until I submitted them to last years Todd McFarlane in house private signing with CGC and they both came back 9.6s. I never truly got into Spawn, but reading this entire thread of yours makes me think I missed out on great artwork and storyline. Lastly, I too was overwhelmed with the amount of variants in regards to ASM; e.g., Volume 1. Once again, great thread and good luck on your collecting!

[oldmilwaukee6er]

On 6/27/2023 at 8:30 PM, Pixx_L said:

Just out of curiosity, there was a book called Musings. Issue #2 had spawn on the cover and featured an interview with McFarlane. I always wondered how well known it is, desirable, etc among Spawn diehard collectors - and whether it is worth getting graded.

I have not seen this book before this thread and I'm kind of surprised. When I pushed to finish my run I hit every store between Milwaukee and Chicago and more than a few shows asking after 'any oddball Spawn?' Thanks for sharing 

[oldmilwaukee6er]

On 7/3/2023 at 2:29 PM, newshane said:

 

This is such a great cover - Spawn's rogues gallery!!

[newshane]

SPAWN 153 - CGC 9.8 

Definitely a top ten Spawn cover for me! 

I had a tough time finding this one, but she was a beauty! Self-subbed. I'll definitely go looking to replace her one day. 

 

Edited July 6, 2023 by newshane

[newshane]

SPAWN 154 - CGC 9.8 

Just a super sexy cover in everyway. I remember having a hard time with the entire 150-160 run. Anything done by the team of Philip Tan and David Hine was pretty tough, and these books have definitely taken on an air of mysticism and intrigue for me. Definitely some of my very favorite books from the series! 

 

[newshane]

SPAWN 155 - CGC 9.8 

Philip was absolutely on fire coming out of the gates! Don't you agree? 

 

[pmpknface]

On 7/7/2023 at 3:05 PM, newshane said:

SPAWN 155 - CGC 9.8 

Philip was absolutely on fire coming out of the gates! Don't you agree? 

 

Nice one. The green logo really pops too.

[newshane]

SPAWN 156 - MISSING 

This is THE hardest Spawn book, folks. End stop.

Yes, that includes all the variants. 

I'm going to go ahead and call this one nearly impossible. A 9.8 is surely out there, somewhere. But I certainly have no idea where! I spent years looking. I spent years having other people look. 

Someone got cocky about finding one several years ago (I know you're reading this, and you know who you are), but he has yet to come through. STILL WAITING! 

I really hope that if someone finds one, they contact me first. This was the unicorn. This was the white whale that forever eluded me. This was the ONLY issue that prevented me from having a 100% run at 9.8 or above. 

I checked the census just the other day. STILL NO 9.8s OF THIS ISSUE! Not even a 9.6! 

Why? Well, for one, the paper stock on this book feels markedly different. If you look at it sideways, you'll cause a finger bend. 

For another, there is a lot of black ink here. 

Finally, print runs around this time hit a new low. There just aren't as many of the Tan/Hine books as there are others. The mainstream had forgotten about Spawn by this time. Honestly, I think Todd McFarlane himself had forgotten about Spawn by this time, and perhaps that's the main problem. The title had lost a solid stream of continuity as various teams took over the project. 

I offered an absurd bounty for this one. But as one big name dealer told me, "I can't find you a copy if it doesn't exist." 

Here is a stock photo of the cover art without the title or publication/price banners. 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2023 by newshane

[Kevin76]

On 6/28/2023 at 8:29 PM, newshane said:

SPAWN 149 - CGC 9.8 

Try finding a minty fresh copy of this one at your local comic shop! 

One of the many, many TOUGH and unforgiving black covers in the run. Image burned through millions when it came to black ink for Spawn! 

 

 

 

 

 

I know it's a joke, but ink is actually cheap, printer's sell it by the pound, it's the paper that's expensive 

[waynemel]

On 7/8/2023 at 3:54 PM, newshane said:

SPAWN 156 - MISSING 

This is THE hardest Spawn book, folks. End stop.

Yes, that includes all the variants. 

I'm going to go ahead and call this one nearly impossible. A 9.8 is surely out there, somewhere. But I certainly have no idea where! I spent years looking. I spent years having other people look. 

Someone got cocky about finding one several years ago (I know you're reading this, and you know who you are), but he has yet to come through. STILL WAITING! 

I really hope that if someone finds one, they contact me first. This was the unicorn. This was the white whale that forever eluded me. This was the ONLY issue that prevented me from having a 100% run at 9.8 or above. 

I checked the census just the other day. STILL NO 9.8s OF THIS ISSUE! Not even a 9.6! 

Why? Well, for one, the paper stock on this book feels markedly different. If you look at it sideways, you'll cause a finger bend. 

For another, there is a lot of black ink here. 

Finally, print runs around this time hit a new low. There just aren't as many of the Tan/Hine books as there are others. The mainstream had forgotten about Spawn by this time. Honestly, I think Todd McFarlane himself had forgotten about Spawn by this time, and perhaps that's the main problem. The title had lost a solid stream of continuity as various teams took over the project. 

I offered an absurd bounty for this one. But as one big name dealer told me, "I can't find you a copy if it doesn't exist." 

Here is a stock photo of the cover art without the title or publication/price banners. 

 

 

Was waiting to see your comment on this issue. Feel your pain.  Shocking not to see a 9.8/9.6.  The paper quality was not ideal.  When one (9.8...even a 9.6) does come out of the wild....the asking price will be high.  I am hoping for the best for my copy when I send in after clean/press.    Beautiful cover by Tan. 

[newshane]

On 7/9/2023 at 8:02 AM, waynemel said:

Was waiting to see your comment on this issue. Feel your pain.  Shocking not to see a 9.8/9.6.  The paper quality was not ideal.  When one (9.8...even a 9.6) does come out of the wild....the asking price will be high.  I am hoping for the best for my copy when I send in after clean/press.    Beautiful cover by Tan. 

I wish you the very best of luck! 

The best I did was the 9.4 you see on the census. I knew it wouldn't be a 9.8, but I sent it in anyway. I mean, you never REALLY know.  

[newshane]

SPAWN 157 - CGC 9.8 

More from the "forgotten era." 

 

[Mewie]

On 7/8/2023 at 12:54 PM, newshane said:

SPAWN 156 - MISSING 

This is THE hardest Spawn book, folks. End stop.

Yes, that includes all the variants. 

I'm going to go ahead and call this one nearly impossible. A 9.8 is surely out there, somewhere. But I certainly have no idea where! I spent years looking. I spent years having other people look. 

Someone got cocky about finding one several years ago (I know you're reading this, and you know who you are), but he has yet to come through. STILL WAITING! 

I really hope that if someone finds one, they contact me first. This was the unicorn. This was the white whale that forever eluded me. This was the ONLY issue that prevented me from having a 100% run at 9.8 or above. 

I checked the census just the other day. STILL NO 9.8s OF THIS ISSUE! Not even a 9.6! 

Why? Well, for one, the paper stock on this book feels markedly different. If you look at it sideways, you'll cause a finger bend. 

For another, there is a lot of black ink here. 

Finally, print runs around this time hit a new low. There just aren't as many of the Tan/Hine books as there are others. The mainstream had forgotten about Spawn by this time. Honestly, I think Todd McFarlane himself had forgotten about Spawn by this time, and perhaps that's the main problem. The title had lost a solid stream of continuity as various teams took over the project. 

I offered an absurd bounty for this one. But as one big name dealer told me, "I can't find you a copy if it doesn't exist." 

Here is a stock photo of the cover art without the title or publication/price banners. 

 

 

I'm learning so much from this thread. Thank you!

I've been searching for Spawn 156 for a while too.. finally settled with getting a 9.0 grade (got it for $82.50 - including the Buyer's Premium from MyComicShop)... If I ever see a higher quality grade, I'll be tempted to buy it too haha