COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Spawn 9 Modern
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Grade:
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9.6
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Page Quality:
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WHITE
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Certification #:
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1126780017
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Owner:
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SW3D
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
Mislabeled: The CGC Universal Blue Label failed to denote this copy as a Newsstand Edition and has been erroneously included in the CGC Census Population as a Direct Edition.
Variant: Newsstand Edition (NE) versus the Direct Edition (DE): NE's have a Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode box on the cover (whereas the DE's do not); NE's are printed on traditional comic book newsprint paper, whereas the DE's are printed on glossy paper; the NE's are published without the Jim Lee poster insert whereas the DE's include the poster; the NE's are shorter in page lenght at 36 pages versus the DE's at 40 pages (due to the Jim Lee poster).
Rarity: Newsstand Editions are very rare. Currently, if we include my mislabeled example, there are only 14 CGC graded Newsstand Editions versus 945 graded Direct Editions (the census reflects 946 but my copy has been mislabeled as a DE. This represents a CGC Census population equivalent to less than 1% (0.1481%) compared to the DE's, making it pretty rare indeed.
Key Notes: 1st Appearance of Angela (now a Marvel Comics property; aka Aldrif Odinsdotter); 1st Appearance of Medieval Spawn; 1st Appearance of Cogliostro.
Controversial History: Although now having been settled in a court of law, this comic has a unique history as it sparked a litigious and controverisial battle between two comic book heavyweights: Spawn creator and Image Co-Founder Todd McFarlane and writer Neil Gaiman. Back in 1992, Todd McFarlane's Spawn made its debut under publisher Image Comics. Formed that same year by some of the biggest creators in the industry, Image Comics was unique for it was the champion of the hot issue of the 90's: creator-owned properties. Eight of the biggest names in the industry: Todd McFarlane, Rob Leifeld, Jim Lee, Marc Silvestri, Erik Larsen, Jim Valentino, Whilce Portacio, and Chris Claremont, left Marvel Comics in a dispute over ownership and creative control over their works. Sometime in 1993, in an effort to promote Spawn, Todd McFarlane Productions, the studio owned and run by Todd McFarlane, hired Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Dave Sim, and Neil Gaiman, to write a single issue for the new title. Neil Gaiman's contribution was published in Spawn #9 and introduced the characters Angela, Cogliostro, and Medieval Spawn, who were also illustrated and designed by Todd McFarlane. The new trio of characters would continually reappear throughout the course of the decade in Spawn and various Spawn related titles and Image published titles, and were subsequently republished in various Spawn volumes and reprint formats, and also appeared in other Spawn-related media: the 1997 Spawn film, and the HBO animated series Todd McFarlane's Spawn. Flash-forward to 2002, and Neil Gaiman files suit against Todd McFarlane, claiming he co-owned the aforementioned trio of characters and was entitled to royalty payments and creative control. McFarlane's legal defense stood on the grounds of "work-for-hire" which claimed Gaiman was not entitled to co-ownership. Eventually the courts ruled in favor of Gaiman, and granted joint ownership to Gaiman and McFarlane. In March 2013, the character Angela, became the legal property of Marvel Comics.
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