SPAWN! A look back at an award-winning collection of graded slabs. 11 11

[pmpknface]

Good stuff! Welcome back!

[newshane]

SPAWN 134 - CGC 9.8 

Again, one of my favorite "eras" of the series. Awesome art and strange stories. 

 

[newshane]

SPAWN 135 - CGC 9.6

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by newshane

[D2]

I can't wait for you to reveal my favourite spawn cover of all, D*ckhead Spawn

[newshane]

On 6/14/2023 at 4:08 PM, D2 said:

I can't wait for you to reveal my favourite spawn cover of all, D*ckhead Spawn

hahahaha! 

I love that cover! 

[newshane]

I just noticed that the 135 was actually a 9.6 instead of a 9.8. 

That was my undercopy/placeholder. Can't find the other scan. Sorry! 

SPAWN 136 - CGC 9.8 

1. I love the Violator. 

2. I love the colors on this one. 

 

[D2]

On 6/14/2023 at 7:20 PM, newshane said:

hahahaha! 

I love that cover! 

Lol! Well then you must be a spawn fan. Well done

[newshane]

On 6/14/2023 at 8:11 PM, Poutine said:

You know what, I thought John Leguizamo did a absolutely fantastic job on the movie as Violator. 

Indeed! Perfect casting IMHO. He looked JUST like Clown. 

[newshane]

SPAWN 137 - CGC 9.8 

I've mentioned my big eBay score of raw Spawn. Here is an issue from that purchase. Many of the issues you see from 110-150 or so were self-submitted by me and pulled from that particular haul. My only regret was not buying more books from the guy. They were pristine and professionally packed. My apologies, but I can't recall the seller. 

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by newshane

[newshane]

SPAWN 138 - CGC 9.8 

 

[newshane]

Since it's a wraparound cover, I'll go ahead and provide the scan of the rest. 

 

 

[pmpknface]

On 6/16/2023 at 7:04 PM, newshane said:

Since it's a wraparound cover, I'll go ahead and provide the scan of the rest. 

 

 

Any reason for the wrap? Just because?

[newshane]

On 6/16/2023 at 11:20 PM, pmpknface said:

Any reason for the wrap? Just because?

Not sure. I guess so? 

I also think the blank stripes at the top and bottom are interesting. 

[newshane]

SPAWN 139 - CGC 9.8 

A tough book in almost every sense of the word! 

Lots of noise in the scan. Sorry, but I was doing the best I could with what I had! 

Capullo had definitely hit a good stride at this point. 

 

[pmpknface]

On 6/17/2023 at 12:13 PM, newshane said:

Not sure. I guess so? 

I also think the blank stripes at the top and bottom are interesting. 

Thinking back, creators were experimenting with "wide-screen " comics, making them more like tv / movies. Could have been an experiment with that. 

[pmpknface]

On 6/17/2023 at 12:16 PM, newshane said:

SPAWN 139 - CGC 9.8 

A tough book in almost every sense of the word! 

Lots of noise in the scan. Sorry, but I was doing the best I could with what I had! 

Capullo had definitely hit a good stride at this point. 

 

The painted looking coloring is interesting.  Did Capullo meet Sam Keith around this time? Reminds me of the coloring on the Maxx.

[captainzombie]

On 6/17/2023 at 11:16 AM, newshane said:

SPAWN 139 - CGC 9.8 

A tough book in almost every sense of the word! 

Lots of noise in the scan. Sorry, but I was doing the best I could with what I had! 

Capullo had definitely hit a good stride at this point. 

 

I just recently picked this up from an LCS off of the wall. I paid a pretty penny for it, but I did press and clean it and submitted it to CGC which came back a 9.8. This is one of those very tough books to find without any spine stress due to the all black cover.

[newshane]

SPAWN 140 - CGC 9.8 

Here is my better copy. 

I also have one of these signed by Nat Jones, who did the interiors. Unfortunately, the CGC didn't see fit to give it a 9.8. 

I've included both scans. I don't recall seeing very many books signed by Nat Jones. 

I remember visiting every single comic convention website in search of people who worked on Spawn. Once I located someone, I'd have to track down the facilitators who would be in attendance. From there, it was a matter of windowing the book, requesting inks, filling out the paperwork, and the proper back and forth through mail delivery channels until it ended up in Sarasota. These books depended upon the careful hands of many people. Honestly, even this "lowly 9.6" is a miracle. 

 

 

 

Edited June 18, 2023 by newshane

[newshane]

SPAWN 141 - CGC 9.8 

She-Spawn cover. Gorgeous. Again, loving these colors. 

 

[zuulioso]

@newshane I am curious about your 9.8 pre-screening approach for determining if a book was worth sending in. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I have the run up to around issue 260 and have 19 of them graded. This thread has inspired me to go in and closely look at each issue to see which ones are 9.8 candidates. It was easier to justify the cost for grading with the key issues since the value was still there if it ended with a 9.6. I did decently with the 19 I submitted with only five coming back lower than 9.8.

My general strategy is any spine tick automatically made it a 9.6 in my mind unless the book was otherwise visibly flawless. That said, I still submitted a few that had a single tick and they ended up with a 9.8. I have seen leeway given on spine corners as well that aren't perfect.

I assume you had a similar approach? With the scarcity for ultra high grade in some of the lower print run issues, did you take risks?

Edited June 21, 2023 by zuulioso