Mark Spears is making waves in the comic book industry not only for his eye-popping artwork, but also for his approach to the comic book business. He's drawn some an amazing covers for comic books series such as Spawn, Power Rangers, and for publishers like Darkhorse and DC Comics.
But Mark is really making a splash with his creator-owned project, Monsters, which he launched on Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform that helps artists fund their projects. Based on his trading card series of the same name, Mark is doing all of the writing and artwork for Mark Spears Monsters, a comic book series that consists of eight issues that were released all at the same time. The story focuses on a Van Helsing-like character, a monster slayer, who returns to confront an ancient evil that has returned in the early 1980s.
As Mark stated on one of his Kickstarter pages, he was determined to publish this "passion project" on his own if he couldn't find a publisher. Mark's fans generously supported Mark's projects, including this project for a prequel mini-series to Monsters. Mark had set a goal for $30,000 to pay for a letterer and printing costs; he ended up receiving a whopping $254,959 from 643 backers. (He ended up working with Keenspot as his publisher).
Mark is doing comics his own way and his fans are helping him do it.
And if sales on the secondary market can be seen as a prognosticator of future success, then Mark has a bright future in terms of him continuing to create his own comics. For example, let's take a closer look at recent sales for Mark Spears Monsters #1. This first issue in the series is perhaps most well known for having 45 variants covers many of them serving as tributes to iconic covers of the past. For example, take a look at this beautiful homage to Incredible Hulk #340:
Or this homage to Uncanny X-Men #141:
As for sales prices, there is low supply due to a limited print run and high demand which has resulted in soaring prices. For example, this CGC 9.9 copy of Mark Spears Monsters #1 sold for a whopping $1,750.00 in late January.
The most common grade on the CGC Census (a 9.8) is also surging in value. During the month of January, each sale of a 9.8 has exceeded the previous sales price with the last sale reaching an impressive $700:
A 9.8 yellow label copy Bridezilla variant of Monsters #1 signed by Mark Spears sold for $1,404 on eBay after receiving 50 bids on January 18th. Perhaps even most remarkable is a RAW copy of Cover A that sold for $350 on eBay on January 24th.
Keenspot is currently taking pre-orders for a fourth printing of Monsters #1 which is further evidence that demand continues to be high.
