Amazing Spider-Man #300

A costume that came back to bite

Venom began as a reader's idea. In 1982 Randy Schueller, a reader from Norridge, Illinois, sold Marvel the idea of a black costume for Spider-Man; editor-in-chief Jim Shooter bought it for $220. Artists Mike Zeck and Rick Leonardi designed the black-and-white suit, and it arrived in The Amazing Spider-Man #252, cover-dated May 1984, after the hero came back from the Secret Wars.

Writer Tom DeFalco and artist Ron Frenz established that the costume was a living alien symbiote, vulnerable to fire and sound. Spider-Man eventually rejected it. Four years later, David Michelinie found a use for the castoff: a villain who, because the symbiote had been part of Spider-Man, could slip past his spider-sense.

Michelinie built up to the reveal over three issues. Venom appeared in shadow in #298 (March 1988) and in a last-page cameo in #299 (April 1988), frightening Mary Jane. In #300 the host is revealed as Eddie Brock, a reporter whose career collapsed after he misidentified the killer known as the Sin-Eater and who blames Spider-Man.

By the end of the 40-page story, at Mary Jane's request, Spider-Man goes back to his red-and-blue suit because she now finds the black one too creepy. The issue is the last appearance of the black costume.

Michelinie and McFarlane

David Michelinie, born May 6, 1948, was already known for his Iron Man run with Bob Layton in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which introduced Tony Stark's alcoholism. He wrote The Amazing Spider-Man from 1987 to 1994, the second-longest writing run on the title after Stan Lee's, and later co-created Carnage, who debuted in #361 in April 1992. He had planned to bring Venom in earlier, with a tease in Web of Spider-Man #18 in which an unseen Venom pushes Peter Parker into the path of an oncoming train.

Todd McFarlane, born March 16, 1961, in Calgary, drew The Amazing Spider-Man #298 to #323, #325 and #328 between 1988 and 1990. His Spider-Man swung in more dynamic poses, had larger eyes on the mask and was covered in densely detailed webbing that fans called 'spaghetti webbing.' McFarlane recalled that Michelinie's pitch was simply 'a big guy in the black costume'; he turned that into the monstrous figure collectors now recognize.

His success at Marvel set up his exit. A new Spider-Man #1 in 1990 sold 2.5 million copies. In 1992 he left Marvel after disputes over creative control and co-founded Image Comics with six other artists; his Spawn #1 sold 1.7 million copies, still a record for an independent comic as of 2007. He founded McFarlane Toys in 1994 and later paid $2.6 million for Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball.

Winter 1988

Comic-shop copies went on sale January 12, 1988, two weeks before Ronald Reagan's final State of the Union address. Newsstand copies followed on February 6, a week before the Winter Olympics opened in McFarlane's hometown of Calgary.

That February Anthony Kennedy was appointed to the Supreme Court, and on February 24 the Court sided with Hustler magazine against Jerry Falwell. On March 16 Oliver North and John Poindexter were indicted in the Iran-Contra affair. In May, the month on the cover, the Surgeon General reported that nicotine was as addictive as heroin and cocaine.

The comic itself carried a $1.50 cover price for 52 pages. Like Marvel's other books of the period, it was distributed in two editions, one for comic shops and one for newsstands, and that split is why two otherwise identical copies can sell for very different amounts today.

The most-graded comic book

Venom grew from a Spider-Man villain into a lead character. Topher Grace played Eddie Brock in the 2007 film Spider-Man 3, and Sony began developing a spin-off the same year. It finally arrived as Venom on October 5, 2018, directed by Ruben Fleischer and starring Tom Hardy, and grossed $856.1 million worldwide.

Each wave of attention sent more copies to the grading companies. One count in 2018 put more than 12,000 copies on the CGC census, 767 of them at 9.8. By November 2021 the census held 27,021, which made #300 the most-submitted comic book to CGC. A 2022 report gave 27,900 with more than 1,200 at 9.8, and a 2024 report nearly 30,000 with about 1,500 at 9.8.

That supply caps prices for ordinary copies. A dealer's market reports tracked CGC 9.8 sales at about $2,000 in 2018 and 2019, $4,800 in 2021 and $5,300 in 2022, then said the last 9.8 sale in 2023 was under $4,000. Signed and newsstand copies sit apart: a newsstand CGC 9.8 Signature Series copy sold at auction on July 28, 2022, for $31,200.

This entry's edition and grade, the newsstand copy in CGC 9.6, sold at auction on December 2, 2025, for $1,080, within its $1,000 to $1,500 estimate. The listing reported 4,655 copies at 9.6 and 1,774 graded higher.

Newsstand or direct: how to tell

Marvel printed #300 in two editions with identical contents. The direct edition went to comic shops, which bought copies on a non-returnable basis; the newsstand edition went to drugstores, supermarkets and magazine racks, which could return unsold copies.

Check the box in the lower left of the cover. The newsstand edition carries a scannable UPC barcode (indexed as 071486024576 05). The direct edition shows a drawing of Spider-Man's head in that box instead of a working barcode.

The cover is penciled and inked by McFarlane and signed 'McFarlane.' Inside, the story credits Michelinie, McFarlane, colorist Bob Sharen and letterer Rick Parker, with Jim Salicrup editing, Glenn Herdling as assistant editor and Tom DeFalco as editor-in-chief. The story's first line is "Her name is Mary Jane Watson-Parker."

Newsstand copies are generally scarcer in high grade, which is why sellers list them separately. The sources do not agree on how many newsstand copies exist at each grade, so this page gives no figure.

The numbers

Cover price

$1.50 US, $2.00 Canada

Pages

52; the story runs 40

Print run

No verified figure found; published figures are estimates

Census, 2018

More than 12,000 graded; 767 at CGC 9.8

Census, November 2021

27,021 graded, the most of any comic book

Census, 2022

27,900 graded; more than 1,200 at CGC 9.8

Census, 2024

Nearly 30,000 graded; about 1,500 at CGC 9.8

Census at CGC 9.6, December 2025

4,655 at 9.6 and 1,774 higher (per a newsstand sale listing; edition breakdown not stated)

Timeline

1. 1982

   Jim Shooter buys reader Randy Schueller's black-costume idea for $220.

2. May 1984

   The black costume debuts in The Amazing Spider-Man #252.

3. Jan 12, 1988

   The Amazing Spider-Man #300 goes on sale in comic shops, cover-dated May 1988.

4. Feb 6, 1988

   The newsstand edition goes on sale.

5. Mar 1988

   Cover date of #298, where Venom first appears in shadow; #299 (April) has his last-page cameo.

6. 1990

   McFarlane's Spider-Man #1 sells 2.5 million copies.

7. 1992

   McFarlane leaves Marvel to co-found Image Comics; Carnage debuts in #361 in April.

8. 2007

   Topher Grace plays Eddie Brock in Spider-Man 3.

9. 2018

   More than 12,000 copies are on the CGC census, 767 at 9.8.

10. Oct 5, 2018

    Venom, starring Tom Hardy, opens in the United States.

11. Nov 2021

    The CGC census reaches 27,021 copies, the most of any comic book.

12. Jul 28, 2022

    A newsstand CGC 9.8 Signature Series copy sells at auction for $31,200.

13. Dec 2, 2025

    A newsstand CGC 9.6 copy sells at auction for $1,080.

The world in 1988

• Jan 25, 1988

  Ronald Reagan gives his final State of the Union address.

• Feb 12, 1988

  Anthony Kennedy is appointed to the Supreme Court.

• Feb 14, 1988

  Speed skater Dan Jansen falls twice at the Calgary Winter Olympics after learning of his sister's death.

• Feb 24, 1988

  The Supreme Court rules for Hustler magazine against Jerry Falwell.

• Mar 16, 1988

  Oliver North and John Poindexter are indicted in the Iran-Contra affair.

• Apr 11, 1988

  The Last Emperor wins all nine of its Academy Award nominations.

• May 16, 1988

  The Surgeon General reports nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Amazing Spider-Man #300 is number 69 of 100 in the comics entries of the FLOAT 100. 92 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (20 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Spider-Man's black costume began as a reader's suggestion that Marvel bought for $220.
• Venom's powers start from a gap in Spider-Man's own: the symbiote had been part of him, so his spider-sense could not detect it.
• This is the last issue in which Spider-Man wears the black costume. Mary Jane asks him to stop.
• By late 2021 more copies of this issue had been graded by CGC than any other comic book.
• Todd McFarlane, who drew it, later paid $2.6 million for Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball.
• Newsstand copies went on sale a week before the Winter Olympics opened in McFarlane's hometown, Calgary.