In the late ’80s and early ’90s, Todd McFarlane’s run on Amazing Spider-Man and the subsequent adjective-less Spider-Man made him the definitive artist for a generation of Spidey fans. Unsurprisingly, McFarlane’s artwork from this era is highly valued among collectors. Now, a page from McFarlane’s classic run from Amazing Spider-Man is up for auction at a very premium price. And it’s a page that features both Peter Parker and Spider-Man.
The page in question was put up for sale by ebay user mannca5, and it comes from Amazing Spider-Man #315. This issue was published in 1989 near the middle of McFarlane’s run on Marvel’s flagship title. While this isn’t an action page, the first panel features a dynamic image of Peter in costume as Spider-Man as he swings away from the scene of a crime.
For context, Peter’s wall-crawling alter ego intervened on behalf of Nathan Lubensky, a disabled man who was a border at his Aunt May’s house as well as her love interest at the time. Nathan had a gambling addiction that led local loan sharks to threaten his safety. Spider-Man was able to save Nathan from a beating, but it’s Peter Parker who saves him from additional threats by blackmailing the criminals into leaving the old man alone.
This issue is also notable as one of the early appearances of Eddie Brock aka Venom when he was still Spider-Man’s No. 1 foe. One of the subplots of the issue follows Venom’s escape from prison and his insatiable desire to get his revenge on Spider-Man. If Venom had been on this page, it could have commanded a very high price.
The seller has listed it $60,000 in Canadian dollars, which comes out to approximately $43,111 in American dollars. That’s not unusual for McFarlane’s pages, several of which have commanded six-figure or five-figure sums on Heritage Auctions. This particular page may not be considered one of McFarlane’s top-tier pages, but it’s become increasingly rare to see a page of this caliber appear on eBay.
Following McFarlane’s departure from Marvel in 1992, he co-founded Image Comics and launched his signature creation, Spawn. His toy company, McFarlane Toys, is currently one of the rights holders for DC’s action figures. McFarlane Toys has also collaborated with Marvel on comic cover statues.
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