So It DOES Exist!...But Not Really

 

As I began my (re)comic journey, I always knew that the 1990 Spider-Man number one, by Todd McFarlane, would be on my MUST HAVE list. Though I told myself, "I'm going to get EVERY variant there is of this book," I also realistically didn't think that would ever happen.

It became all the more obvious that the numerous different copies would be all the more elusive to me as I researched just how many there were. Fourteen, to be exact. Sixteen if you count removing the original green cover / purple webs, and silver cover / no printed price, from their original polybags as alternate variants. Which I did.

Obtaining most of these wasn't actually difficult. We are after all talking about a book that printed and sold over two million copies. They're out there to be found, that's for sure. I grabbed what I could, picking up five different variants from various sources between October 11th and 23rd of 2019.

Though I had the basics in my hands, there were still a whole bunch more missing from my collection. Of them, there were six variants that I didn't think I would ever be able to get because of a combination of price and scarcity. One of them was so rare, I had never even heard of it before, let alone see one.

Fate intervened on the night of October 28th, 2019. As I perused ebay, I came across a massive listing which contained several variants of issue number one. Among them were two of the three rare books. These were the Wal-Mart exclusive gold reprint with bar code, and the book I'd wanted since a child, the platinum edition. Though the listing is long since taken down, I want to say there were at least six different covers in the lot. The price was high, but oddly, so much lower than I would have ever expected. To put it in perspective for you, you wouldn't even get the platinum cover these days for what I paid.

My brother would come through as a Christmas gift in 2020 on the third high priced variant, the silver cover blue lizard error. Believe it or not, I actually had this version as a kid, and I paid no more than five dollars for it from a back issue bin. It was actually the ONLY silver cover version I owned.

March 18th of 2021 would fill in two more gaps, when I had and jumped on the opportunity to pick up the two autographed versions red stamped by The Spider's Web, a comic shop which McFarlane had a stake as part owner in.

With that purchase, and the fact that I still had no real confirmation that the last version on my list even existed, I considered my collection complete.

Then June 16th, 2021 happened.

As I sometimes do, I was perusing ebay for "cheap" copies of issue number one to potentially pick up, because for some reason I seem to need all two million copies in print. But, that's a story for another time. For this day was about to bring with it an eye popping double take. As I scrolled through page after page, I saw an auction title which I never thought I would ever see.

Spider-Man #1 | Gold 2nd Print | Ultra Rare Polybagged | Marvel 1990 | McFarlane

Wait, what? Is this for real? Is the polybag legit? Or was it a re-sealed "hand-made" variant? Nobody at Marvel has ever claimed this book to be in existence, and I've only ever seen one other source mention it. All signs were pointing to fake, but I really wanted it.

Within the seconds it took me to do all of this, I nervously fumbled through the "Buy It Now" process, hoping in the back of my mind that this wasn't going to be one of those G.I. Joe Classfied pre-order type scenarios. You know, how you get it in your cart, go to checkout, and by the time you pay it says, "SOLD OUT!"

Fortunately, it was not.

The purchase was completed, and within five short days (thanks to a weekend), the book was delivered to my doorstep. As I scanned it over, taking in every inch of it with wide eyes, I was transported back to my childhood, feeling that giddy excitement of holding a variant copy of Spider-Man issue one.

Though in all likelihood fake, this book is special to me in so many ways. It marks a fantastic end to a journey I started on in 2019. It's the full completion of my collection of covers for this landmark book, and one I never imagined I would ever cross the finish line on.

Will I still buy copies of issue number one? Yes, of course. If the price is right. I have an unhealthy obsession with this particular comic book, and wouldn't bat an eye at an opportunity to own a complete long box full of the various variants. This is the comic that made me a comic book collector all those years ago.

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The Spider's Web

 

Remember back in the day when upcoming writer / artist Todd McFarlane co-owned a comic shop in Puyallup, Washington with co-owner and President, Kim Kolomyjec? No?

That's no surprise. Many people don't.

Though the store has since moved locations, and unfortunately closed down, The Spider's Web was a comic shop located in a small strip mall at  729 River Road. While these days it's an all you can eat sushi location, back in the 80's and early 90's, this location was the place to go not only for comics, but autographs from the soon to be megastar of the comic book industry.

Todd frequently made appearances at the shop, signing books for fans directly or for the store to put on shelves and sell later. Though he signed several books, the ones most notable for being sold by the the shop were the green and silver covers of 1990's Spider-Man number one.

This would lead to the mysterious red stamped issue. The book with its funny looking signature being passed off as Todd McFarlanes. Looking at the old signatures of the artist, many fans immediately write them off as forgeries, and poor ones at that. Little do they know, they are very much legitimate.

Being an age with no internet, this relatively unknown store, and its affiliation to McFarlane was left to the advertisements that were slapped on store windows, printed advertisements across paper fan magazines, and / or word of mouth of his pending appearance. So basically, word didn't spread far. As time went by, these books fell off the radar for many collectors, if they were ever on them to begin with, and have become an urban legend unto themself.

Such is the case of the promotion run by The Spider's Web, where they posted an ad in Comic Buyer's Guide issue 851, which offered one copy of Spider-Man number one, signed by Todd McFarlane. When this all began, Kim thought at best they would receive 8,000 or 9,000 orders. Little did he and McFarlane know, they would soon be diligently at work fulfilling 24,000 requests, as professed by Kolomyjec in a follow-up article in Comic Buyers Guide 859.

McFarlane spent months signing copies of the book, while Kolomyjec took on the one-man job of stamping each issue, boxing them up, and mailing them. As evidence of the signature, he provided a printed certificate of authenticity with each order, noting the stamp backing up the autograph being legit.

Flipping the book over would reveal the stamp in question.

McFarlane signed two different versions of the green cover variants in silver pen and one of the silver cover variants with gold. More on this below.

Comic Buyers Guide would print a follow up story to the promotion in issue number 878.

Comic Buyers Guide Issue 878 Article

The store only web stamped the back of comics they sold through the promotion. Customers who came in with their own book to be signed when McFarlane was present didn't receive this or a COA. Coupled with the relatively unknown signature style, and you can see how many fans would call ones without this fake - even to this day. Meaning if you're going to try and sell this book as an authentic Todd McFarlane signature, you're going to have more luck with the stamp, COA and history of how it came to be in existence.

CGC acknowledges their existence, and there are a few graded copies here and there. Neither the green or silver covers seems more common or rare than the other, and they all sell within the range of fifty to ninety dollars. However, many of these don't have the COA, and this price range is only reflective of raw books, not graded. It's also worth noting that the second print gold cover was not signed / sold during this time, so you won't find ones with the stamp on them - Not legit ones anyway.

Green Cover / Purple Webs

Green Cover / Silver Webs

There are three different versions known to be in existence. Regarding the green covers, McFarlane signed both the purple webs, which he removed the polybag from, as well as the silver webs version. The silver cover he signed was the price printed direct edition, which did not come polybagged. It would, however, be interesting to see if any of the blue, or even rarer, copper lizard error printings were among any of the silver cover versions signed, as this is the print which these errors are known to exist in.

I don't know what it is about Spider-Man number one. I know the book sold over a million copies, yet I always want to pick them all up when I see them. I don't, because they aren't cheap, but I certainly have enough copies of it in various different versions. I would honestly buy a long box of this issue if the price was right.

While everyone knows the fate of Todd, what about co-owner Kim? He was listed as President of Spider's Web, Inc. from 1989 to 2010, which is potentially the full timeline the store was open and operated. In 2011 he transitioned to working for McFarlane Toys, noted as presently still employed with the title of Manager of ECommerce (source).

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