The Amazing Spider-Man #252

May 1984 · Marvel

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ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VF) $118

CGC 9.8 $1,272

CGC 9.6 $427

CGC 9.4 $264

CGC 9.2 $228

CGC 9.0 $210

CGC 8.5 $194

Show all 22 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 $168

CGC 7.5 $162

CGC 7.0 $136

CGC 6.5 $124

CGC 6.0 $117

CGC 5.5 $106

CGC 5.0 $85

CGC 4.5 $81

CGC 4.0 $74

CGC 3.5 $52

CGC 3.0 $30*

CGC 2.5 none in existence

CGC 2.0 $20*

CGC 1.5 $20*

CGC 1.0 none in existence

CGC 0.5 $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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Trivia · 7 facts

First published appearance of Spider-Man's black symbiote costume, which would later become the alien Venom symbiote (cover-dated May 1984; on-sale date January 31, 1984).
The issue went on sale approximately seven months before Secret Wars #8 (cover-dated December 1984), the issue that chronologically depicts Spider-Man acquiring the costume on Battleworld — meaning readers saw the new suit without any in-story explanation for several months.
Written by Tom DeFalco (script) from a plot by Roger Stern — Stern's final contribution to the series — with pencils by Ron Frenz and inks by Brett Breeding; edited by Danny Fingeroth with Jim Shooter as editor-in-chief.
The cover is a deliberate homage to Amazing Fantasy #15's iconic Jack Kirby / Steve Ditko cover pose, redrawn by Ron Frenz with Spider-Man in the black costume.
Roger Stern later credited himself with the suggestion that the costume should be a living alien organism — the detail that transformed a cosmetic redesign into the seed of the entire Venom mythology.
The issue launched the 'Alien Costume Saga,' which ran across Amazing Spider-Man #252–263, Spectacular Spider-Man #90–100, Marvel Team-Up #141–150, and Web of Spider-Man #1 through April 1985.
The issue has been reprinted numerous times, including a 1988 graphic novel (The Amazing Spider-Man: The Saga of the Alien Costume), multiple trade paperback collections, a 2019 Marvel Facsimile Edition, and the 2024 Spider-Man: The Complete Black Costume Saga Omnibus; the Alien Costume Saga was also loosely adapted in the animated Spider-Man series and in the film Spider-Man 3 (2007).