Machine Man #19

Marvel - Feb. 1981

Key Issue Notes
First appearance of Jack O' Lantern
Last issue to series

Happy Halloween everyone. I decided to leave the horror comics behind for this last post of the month and move back over to a superhero title.

I was mulling over what to write about for this last post of October, and as I was riding around my neighborhood, I noticed all of those carved pumpkins lining the steps and walkways of many of the houses. That got me to thinking of reading Spider-Man comics when I was a kid and seeing the character Jack O' Lantern. I thought that was a good enough character to write about, and still keeping wiht the Halloween theme for the month.

To me, Jack O' Lantern is more of a Spidey villain than he is anyone else's in the Marvel Universe, but he makes his first appearance in this comic, doing battle with Aaron Stack, otherwise known as X-51 and Machine Man.

There have been a few people to take up the name of Jack O' Lantern, but I'm only going to talk about the original in this post. I'll probably get to the others at some point, but I have no idea when that might be, but for now, on with the show.

Before he became Jack O' Lantern, he was CIA agent Jason Macendale. His superiors found his tactics to be too brutal, and he was let go from the agency. He eventually became a freelance mercenary and became the villain that appears in this issue.

Jack O' Lantern

When we meet Jack O' Lantern, he is with this gang of thugs making plans to hijack and take over a prototype, state of the art security compound. His idea is to sell the plans to the highest bidder. However, Machine Man just happens to be there and ends up saving the day, but not without consequences. His co-workers learn that the man they knew as Aaron Stack is really a crime fighting robot. Stack leaves his job, and basically walks the Earth like David Carridine in Kung Fu.

Jason Macendale would eventually become Hobgoblin and is responisible for the death of Ned Leeds. He is the man that hires the Foreigner to track down and kill Leeds. So, even though Jack O' Lantern isn't an very popular villain, the man that originally took up the mantle plays a pretty big role in the life of Spider-Man and the people around him.

This issue would also mark the end of Vol. 1 Machine Man series. What the actual reason is, I'm not sure, but I can only assume that it was from poor sales. He would get another series of his own only a few years later in 1984.

If that wasn't enough for you, it's also got a great Frank Miller cover and Steve Ditko art all throughout the interior. That's two legendary comic artists for the price of one.

Since Jack O' Lantern isn't a very popular character, CGC census numbers are quite low. But don't get the idea that this is a rare book. I'm sure there are a ton of copies stuffed into long boxes all over the country. This is definitely not a hard comic to find. You can find a multitude of raw copies almost anywhere you look on the internet.

Values of Machine Man #19 on GoCollect

Since I brought up the CGC census, let's look and see what's on there. To date, there have only been 89 copies graded. Like I already said, don't let that fool you. The CGC census can create a false scarcity for key issue comics that aren't on everyone's radar. That only means that no one is sending in there copies to be graded. Anyway, a lot of the copies that have been graded are nice high grade copies. There are 57 copies graded between 9.4 NM and 9.8 NM/M. So, if you're looking for an already graded copy, there are a few out there to choose from. You may even find a CBCS or PGX copy too.

If you do decide to go already graded, don't expect to break the bank either. The latest eBay sale for a 9.8 NM/M dropped for only $134.48. The listings that I saw were grossly overpriced if you compare it to these sold listings. There are a couple of auctions at that grade on eBay right now that have Buy it Now options for well over that last sale.

If you've got a good grading eye, you may want to take a chance on one of the many raw copies that are out there, or you can wait till you find one that is in your price range. Either way, this is a very affordable key issue you can add to your collection.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween everyone.

Find a copy here
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Amazing Spider-Man #238

Marvel - March 1983

Key Issue Notes
First appearance of Hobgoblin

This is the last of the Amazing Spider-Man key issues that I'm going to do from the leaked cast list that I've mentioned on here before. Don't worry, there will definitely be more key issues from this series, since it's loaded with them.

This comic holds the first appearance of the Hobgoblin. Since Ned Leeds is going to make an appearance in the new Spider-Man movie coming out next summer, I thought I'd tell you a little about this key.

Before this comic came out, fans were clamoring and writing into Marvel to bring back the Green Goblin. Marvel decided against bringing back the iconic Spider-Man villain, and opted instead to create a whole new goblin character, so they came up with Hobgoblin.

Why am I mentioning this comic you ask? Well, when the Hobgoblin is first unmasked in Amazing Spider-Man #289, it is Ned Leeds that is under that goblin mask. After some controversy over at Marvel, resulting in people getting fired, they changed the identity of Hobgoblin to Roderick Kingsley instead.

Hobgoblin

It seems that it was never intended for Ned Leeds to become the Hobgoblin in the first place. It was always Roger Stern's idea for Hobgoblin to be Kingsley instead of Leeds, but when he left writing for Amazing Spider-Man after issue #150, the creative team that took over had different plans for the character. If you're interested in learning more about the history of Hobgoblin, there is a great article on it right here.

In this issue, while Aunt May is converting her home into a "boarding house for senior citizens", Spider-Man chases down some bank robbers that sped by and almost ran them all over. One of the robbers is able to get away through the sewers and stumbles upon Norman Osborn's secret lair where he kept all of his Green Goblin gear. The robber, that goes by the name of Georgie, shows a mysterious, shadowed figure the lair, and that's pretty much how the Hobgoblin came to be. Obviously we never see this mysterious figures face or hear his name in this issue.

Look Out!!

I don't have any print run numbers, but looking at the CGC census, I'd say that it was fairly high. As of this writing, there have been 3,790 copied graded by them so far. Many of these are high grade copies with the most being 9.6 NM+ with  809 copies. There are 327 9.8 NM/M copies listed along with two graded a whopping 9.9 M, that being the highest grade for this comic. There are some low grade copies out there too. There's one that got graded a 0.5 Poor, which makes me wonder why anyone would want to submit that copy in to be graded. It's not like it's going to sell like the 0.5 copy of The Walking Dead #1.

Tatooz insert

This comic came with a Tatooz insert. Copies that still have this insert still intact sell for much more than the copies that have had it removed. This really isn't a problem if you're buying an already graded copy, since it will be stated on the label, but if you're buying a raw copy, look to make sure that the Tatooz are still in there.

Now, this isn't a speculation comic by any mean. It's a well known key issue, but I am speculating that Hobgoblin may show up in a future Spider-Man movie. It may also be that Ned Leeds is just going to be playing a love interest of Betty Brant's too, but you never know what those Hollywood types will do. It seems like they never follow what happens in the comics anyway.

Values for Amazing Spider-Man #238
on GoCollect

There have been a lot of eBay sales over the last few years. Most of the sales have been for 9.6 NM+ copies, which makes sense since they are the most abundant of all the grades. Sales for this grade have been hovering around the $200-$250 mark for the last few years, with a few sales going a little higher or lower than that. It seems like the lower grades have seen a nice little rise in value over the last few months. Could it be that people are scooping up cheaper copies hoping to cash in on the Hobgoblin appearing on the big screen some day? Possibly.

This is still an affordable key issue comic of a popular Spidey villain, and you're not going to break the bank for a nice high grade copy. Whether Hobgoblin shows up in a future Marvel movie or not, this is a pretty good comic to snag, especially if you're a fan of Spider-Man.


Find a copy here
eBay - ComicLink - MyComicShop - ComicConnect