Actually, in this case I don't mind being by myself.

So, it is official... Spawn #9 is a very hot! hot! hot! little comic. Word of Neil Gaiman's move to Marvel Comics, and his decision to take the Angela property with him has sparked a massive interest in Spawn #9, the 1st appearance of the red haired angelic beauty (I love redheads!).Well, it seems there were about half a million copies of this comic printed back in the day. How many have survived I have no clue, but there are a lot of them available. I've visited eBay and there is a long list of available Spawn #9's... one in CGC 9.8 with Neil Gaiman's signature. Asking price $400 - $600. So landing one for your collection is not difficult to obtain.In fact, I received a newsletter from Mile High Comics, who state they are giving away 1 copy of Spawn #9 with every purchase of $50 or more. Check it out: "Marvel revealed yesterday that Neil Gaiman is moving his sexy heroine, ANGELA, into Marvel's new GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY title, effective with issue #5. This has caused not only our pre-sales of GUARDIANS to explode, but also initiated a mad scramble for all the past appearances of ANGELA in the Image Universe. See the complete Image list at the end of today's newsletter... ANGELA'S first appearance was in SPAWN #9, for which demand has absolutely skyrocketed overnight. Blessedly, we have been stashing back issues of SPAWN #9 for many years, so we still have enough copies in stock to offer you one copy completely for free as a reward for placing any $50 order with us over this next weekend. Just place your order, and then ask for your free copy in the "notes" section of our order form. Limit one copy per client, please..."http://www.milehighcomics.com/newsletter/032213email.html However, there is a variant of Spawn #9 which appears to be rare: the Newsstand Edition... which has the Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode box appearing on the cover, and is printed on newsprint paper, and is missing the Jim Lee poster, and is only 36 pages long versus 40 pages for the direct edition. As I understand it, this makes it variant. I double-checked on all my favorite comic book buying sites looking high and low for a variant/newsstand edition of Spawn #9 and could not find one. I also reviewed all the current Spawn collections on the Collectors Society to see who may own a copy and no one seems to have one. Then I went to CGC.com and checked the census... and to my shock, there is only 1 Newsstand Edition... one and only one! Yes... you have guessed it. I am the lucky winner! I have the sole graded Newsstand Edition of Spawn #9. Check it out: http://www.cgccomics.com/census/grades_standard.asp?ComicID=116184I know my celebration will be short lived... for it is only a matter of time before they start popping out of the woodworks, but it is nice to know, that I hold in my possession the very first of its kind. The very first CGC graded variant of Spawn #9. I copy I bought last year in a back issue bin at my local LCS.I have no idea what it is worth. Mile High Comics is selling a copy... a Very Fine copy for $265.60. They had a Near Mint copy listed for $320.00 but it appears to be out of stock. Here's the link if anyone's interested. http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=enlarge&issue=77934967760%209%20NEWSSTAND What's funny is Mile High is also selling a direct edition near mint copy of only $72.50. Check it out: http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=enlarge&issue=77934967760%209On Bleedingcool.com's forum, the Bulletin, I found a thread about the very subject: Speculator Corner: Spawn #9 By Neil Gaiman And Todd McFarlane, The First Appearance Of Angela. The dialogue exchange about Spawn #9 is quite funny. One poster did state: "The newsstand is the only one worth owning, flipping or grading." FYI: This little lady made her "debut" back in my journal I posted on March 4th called "The Irony of Spawn #9": http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=13176 Check her out once again. Thanks for reading and Happy Collecting!SW3DTo see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.