The Amazing Spider-Man #298 · 1988
Caught in the line of fire.
Chance opens fire on a black-suited Spider-Man in Todd McFarlane’s first Amazing Spider-Man cover. Follow the diagonal confrontation through its Spawn and Venom homages.
The origin pointThe Amazing Spider-Man #298 · Todd McFarlane
The original cover
The Amazing Spider-Man #298
Chance opens fire on a black-suited Spider-Man in Todd McFarlane’s first Amazing Spider-Man cover. Follow the diagonal confrontation through its Spawn and Venom homages.
This catalog follows the original cover’s composition across published comics and announced editions. Trade dress, virgin, foil and sketch treatments are described in edition notes. Connecting sets identify their participating issues and panels.
Verified records have source support for the exact cover and target. Partial records retain attribution or edition gaps. Reprints, interior-scene homages, different targets and unresolved references are listed separately below.
March 1988 cover date; actual on-sale date 1987-11-10. Cover pencils and inks by Todd McFarlane; Bob McLeod’s issue interior inks must not be misassigned to the cover. Clean archival digital reproduction at native 1073×1650, original 75-cent cover dress and bright white paper; official Marvel page unavailable during retrieval. No exterior background or yellowed paper. Chance fires at black-suited Spider-Man in a sweeping diagonal clash; this is the first McFarlane Amazing Spider-Man cover.
The Amazing Spider-Man #298 collection
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- Homage entries
- 2
- Verified
- 2
- Qualified
- 0
Search by title, artist, publisher, character or edition. Entries may represent an individual panel or a documented connecting set; the count is not a count of unique complete panoramas.
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Research & releases · Reviewed October 20, 2026
New editions and open questions
Researched October 20, 2026: no additional unique published or upcoming exact-target homage to Amazing Spider-Man #298 was confirmed. Publisher, exclusive retailer, bibliography and recent/upcoming keyword searches were reviewed; the original newsstand editions and alternate printings are not additional homage artworks.
Undisclosed print quantities, ambiguous credits and conflicting edition dates remain identified as unknown. This catalog can grow as publishers, artists and collectors provide new evidence.
Research changes and source notes
- CL-ASM298-0001: Cover homage
One homage artwork counted. Standard, virgin, sketch and second printing reuse the composition and remain grouped. The issue is published, despite old retailer preorder wording. Supplied second printing date retained as edition information: 2019-07-24. Blue-and-gold winged opponent and background figures are not assigned unsupported individual identities. Overseas edition lead: Editorial Kamite currently lists a Mexican Spanish metalizado edition with A/B cover choices. Same McFarlane art remains grouped here; exact overseas date and edition quantity are unconfirmed.
- CL-ASM298-0002: Cover homage
Exclusive retailer confirms July 15, 2020 release and edition quantities, replacing the former resale-only attribution. Retailer promotional text inconsistently refers to Virus and Codex; the image shows Venom confronted by a fiery armored antagonist. Do not treat the retailer’s character label as resolved. Classic trade dress limited to the two-pack; same artwork counted once.
- Spawn standard, virgin, sketch and second printing editions: Not added
Same McFarlane composition already grouped in the supplied record; no additional artwork counted.
- Amazing Spider-Man #300 and #301 circular-pose homages: Not added
Different cover target; excluded from #298/#299 catalogs.
- Venom #26 classic trade dress: Not added
Second logo treatment shares Philip Tan artwork and is already grouped; not a newly found homage.
- Spawn #298 Kamite metalizado Mexican edition: Not added
Publisher catalog confirms title and metalizado edition with A/B cover choices. Overseas reuse is grouped under the existing Spawn artwork rather than counted anew; exact release date and print quantity not confirmed.
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