Spider-Man #1 (1990, McFarlane)

Marvel's hottest artist gets his own book

Todd McFarlane was born on March 16, 1961, in Calgary, Alberta. He drew The Amazing Spider-Man from issue #298 in 1988 through #328 in 1990, and in that run he drew the first full appearance of Eddie Brock, the original Venom.

By 1990 McFarlane was one of the most popular artists in comics, and Marvel launched a new, adjectiveless Spider-Man title with him handling the story, the art and the cover. Spider-Man #1 carries an August 1990 cover date and a $1.75 cover price.

The first issue opens Torment, a five-part story in which the Lizard carves a path of death and destruction through New York while Spider-Man tries to identify the force driving him.

One comic, many covers

Marvel released Spider-Man #1 in multiple versions designed to get collectors to buy more than one, and the book sold 2.5 million copies. The direct market, meaning comic shops, received a green cover and a silver cover, each reported at over 1,000,000 copies, plus polybagged green and silver editions of 125,000 each; the bagged silver carried no cover price.

A gold second printing followed, reported at 400,000 to 450,000 copies for the direct market. A gold version with a UPC barcode, about 10,000 copies, went entirely to one national retail chain under an exclusive deal. A platinum edition of about 10,000 copies, with a cardstock cover and no price, was mailed to comic shops as a thank-you to retailers, accompanied by a letter from Marvel.

Copies of the green cover show webbing in either gray or purple, a detail sellers often call out.

How to spot the newsstand copy

This entry is the green-cover newsstand edition in CGC 9.8. Newsstand copies are identified by a UPC barcode in the price box, where direct-edition copies sold through comic shops carry a logo instead.

In 1990 newsstand copies are estimated to have made up about 15 percent of comics distribution, against 85 percent for the direct market. High grades are harder to reach on the newsstand side: one count of a rival grading service's census found that only 13.5 percent of newsstand polybagged copies graded 9.6 or higher.

The census reflects the crowd of versions. In early 2021, CGC had recorded 6,458 regular copies with no variant name on the label, 9,415 Silver Editions, 3,980 Gold Editions, 1,727 Platinum Editions, 1,136 Poly-Bagged Silver Editions, 922 Poly-Bagged Editions and 571 UPC Gold Editions.

What a 9.8 newsstand sells for

Collectors pay a premium for the newsstand version. In 2021, CGC 9.8 green direct-edition copies were selling for about $75 to $85, while green newsstand polybagged copies in 9.8 brought $300 or more, and the scarce gold UPC and platinum editions sold for more than $1,000 and $2,000.

In 2026 the green newsstand edition in CGC 9.8 sold online steadily at around $145 to $225, while 9.8 copies listed without a newsstand designation mostly sold for about $88 to $134 in the same weeks.

Image, Spawn and beyond

Spider-Man #1 showed how many copies a star artist and a stack of variant covers could sell, and McFarlane soon took that leverage elsewhere. He left Marvel in 1992 to co-found Image Comics, and his creator-owned Spawn #1, released in May 1992, sold 1.7 million copies, which as of 2007 was still a record for an independent comic.

He founded McFarlane Toys in 1994, and in 1998 he paid $2.6 million at auction for Mark McGwire's 70th home run baseball.

The numbers

Total sales

2.5 million copies

Green direct edition

Over 1,000,000 copies

Silver direct edition

Over 1,000,000 copies

Polybagged green and silver

125,000 each

Gold second printing (direct)

400,000 to 450,000

Gold UPC (retail exclusive) and platinum

About 10,000 each

CGC census, March 2021

6,458 regular; 9,415 Silver; 3,980 Gold; 1,727 Platinum; 1,136 Poly-Bagged Silver; 922 Poly-Bagged; 571 UPC Gold

Timeline

1. Mar 16, 1961

   Todd McFarlane is born in Calgary, Alberta.

2. 1988

   McFarlane begins drawing The Amazing Spider-Man with issue #298.

3. 1990

   McFarlane's Amazing Spider-Man run ends with #328.

4. Aug 1990

   Spider-Man #1 is published, opening the five-part Torment story.

5. 1990

   A gold second printing follows, including about 10,000 UPC copies sold only through one retail chain.

6. 1992

   McFarlane leaves Marvel to co-found Image Comics.

7. May 1992

   Spawn #1 is released and sells 1.7 million copies.

8. 1994

   McFarlane Toys is established.

9. 1998

   McFarlane pays $2.6 million at auction for Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball.

10. Mar 23, 2021

    A census count shows 6,458 regular copies and 9,415 Silver Editions on CGC's records.

The world in 1990

• Feb 11, 1990

  James "Buster" Douglas knocks out Mike Tyson for the heavyweight title.

• Mar 18, 1990

  Twelve paintings are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

• Apr 20, 1990

  The Hubble Space Telescope is launched aboard the space shuttle Discovery.

• Jul 26, 1990

  President George H. W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act.

• Aug 2, 1990

  Iraq invades Kuwait.

• Aug 12, 1990

  Sue, the Tyrannosaurus rex specimen, is discovered in South Dakota.

• Sep 10, 1990

  The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air premieres on NBC.

• Sep 12, 1990

  The two German states and the Four Powers sign the treaty clearing the way for reunification.

Price record

A realized private sale is a completed transaction outside an auction room. The amount is what changed hands on the date shown. Private sales are reported less consistently than auction results, so a single comparable carries less weight than a run of them.

By reference price, Spider-Man #1 (1990, McFarlane) is number 91 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 (80 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• A single retail chain took the entire run of the gold UPC edition, about 10,000 copies, as an exclusive.
• The platinum edition was mailed to comic shops as a thank-you, with a letter from Marvel.
• The polybagged silver edition has no cover price.
• The webbing on the green cover can be gray or purple.
• McFarlane later paid $2.6 million for Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball.
• Two years after Spider-Man #1, McFarlane's Spawn #1 sold 1.7 million copies for a brand-new independent publisher.