CGC Featured Comic of the Month: Amazing Spider-Man #149
Posted on 6/1/2023
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Name of comic: Amazing Spider-Man #149
Comic publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: October 1975
Variants: In 1994, to coincide with the return of the Clone Saga, Marvel released a Marvel Milestone reprint.
What makes it special? In this issue, Spider-Man comes face-to-face with a clone of himself, made by the evil Jackal. The clone has all of Peter Parker’s memories and powers, and though he appears to die at the end of the story, he returns nearly 20 years later to raise the question: Is Peter Parker a clone? The story ends with the clone — now known as Ben Reilly (aka The Scarlet Spider) — taking over as the primary web-slinger in NYC, until Peter eventually returns to reclaim the role.
Why is it interesting now? A famous storyline in Spider-Man’s history, the idea of multiple Spider-Men was further examined in the Spider-Verse stories, which explore Spider-Man variants throughout the multiverse. One could reasonably argue that the Clone Saga is the original Spider-Verse. The Spider-Verse story inspired an animated movie, and the clone is voiced by Andy Samberg in the film’s sequel “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (with a June 2, 2023, release date).
Did you know? Ben Reilly has been a recurring character in the Spider-Man comics since his return in 1994. He’s always been a friend and partner to Peter, until Amazing Spider-Man #93 in 2022, when Ben begins to blame Peter for stealing the life that should have been his, and he becomes a new villain named Chasm.
Total graded by CGC: As of May 22, 2023, there are a total of 1,916 copies of Amazing Spider-Man #149 in the CGC Census.
CGC highest graded: There are 41 copies of Amazing Spider-Man #149 graded CGC 9.8.
Sales highlights: A CGC 9.8 copy was sold by Heritage Auctions in April 2022 for $5,280.
CGC Comics Registry Champion: Registry user jibjheartman’s Amazing Spider-man 101 through 200 set contains a CGC 9.8 copy of Amazing Spider-Man #149, which helped win the collection the Best in Set Type Award 2014-2022 and the Achievement in Collecting Comics Award in 2020. Explore this and other great collections in the CGC Comics Registry.
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