The landmark Amazing Spider-Man #800 is going to a third printing, despite there being plenty of copies of the first and second printings still available.
Not many publishers have used the art of multiple printings to their advantage like Marvel Comics.
Marvel will often announce a second printing for a big event book well before said book even goes on sale. This way they can turn the hype machine up to 11 and convince both retailers and readers they need to get a copy before they are all gone.
This was the case with Amazing Spider-Man #800, which arrived in stores this past Wednesday. Marvel announced a second printing for the 80-page anniversary issue weeks before it went on sale. With the title having multiple sell outs in the lead up to the first official appearance of the Red Goblin, a second printing seemed like a safe bet. First prints were going for big money on sites like eBay and despite the ridiculous $10 price tag, a sell out seemed all but certain.
Now, Bleeding Cool is reporting that a third printing of Amazing Spider-Man #800 has just been announced and will arrive in stores later in June.
Which would be great if the first and second printing had sold out already.
But they haven’t.
According to Bleeding Cool, not only are second printings plentiful and easy to order for stores, but a first printing can still be had as well.
In fact, Diamond seems to be swimming in first prints, to say nothing of the second prints which don’t arrive in stores until June 13.
Could this be a case of Marvel trying to build hype where there is none?
Because while Amazing Spider-Man reaching the #800 mark is a big reason to celebrate, the reviews for the issue have been decidedly unspectacular. Plus many people have brought up the $10 price point and the fact that Action Comics #1000, which had better writers and artists working on it, was $2 less.
Readers have gotten used to Marvel gouging prices on books, but hitting the $10 mark for a single issue of a comic might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
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In any event, if your comic shop happens to be sold out of Amazing Spider-Man #800 and all the second printings are also already spoken for, you can relax and know that a third printing is on the way.
Whether it is needed or not.
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