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Cover: Todd McFarlane

The Amazing Spider-Man #298

Name: The Amazing Spider-Man #298
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Mar 1988 · Marvel · 0.75 USD; 0.95 CAD; 0.40 GBP

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“Chance Encounter!”

★ 1st appearance — Carlton Drake

About this Issue

Amazing Spider-Man #298 is the opening chapter of one of the most consequential artistic runs in Spider-Man history — the moment Todd McFarlane arrived on the title and began reshaping how the character moved, looked, and felt on the page. His dynamic poses, oversized mask lenses, and elaborately stranded webbing redefined the visual grammar of Spider-Man for an entire generation of readers. Beyond the art, the issue plants the first seed of Venom: a shadowy, almost wordless final-page cameo of Eddie Brock — shown mostly in silhouette as the symbiote creeps over his hand — that kicked off a three-issue slow burn culminating in Venom's full debut at #300. The same issue also marks the first appearance of Carlton Drake and his survivalist organization the Life Foundation, antagonists whose obsession with symbiotes would drive major Spider-Man and Venom storylines for years and eventually reach the 2018 Venom film.

In "Chance Encounter!", Spider-Man intercepts a high-stakes arms shipment orchestrated by the Life Foundation, only to find himself outmaneuvered by the elusive mercenary Chance. With Todd McFarlane’s dynamic art bringing every tense moment to life and Janet Jackson’s bold colors heightening the drama, this 1988 issue delivers a sharp, pulse-pounding clash of wills.

writer David Michelinie · artist Todd McFarlane · inker Bob McLeod · colorist Janet Jackson · letterer Rick Parker · letterer Ken Lopez · cover Todd McFarlane

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VF) $50

CGC 9.8 · 1122 in census $544

CGC 9.6 · 2282 in census $181

CGC 9.4 · 2067 in census $107

CGC 9.2 · 1479 in census $107

CGC 9.0 · 1104 in census $97

CGC 8.5 · 913 in census $78

Show all 19 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 545 in census $78

CGC 7.5 · 356 in census $63

CGC 7.0 · 280 in census $60

CGC 6.5 · 159 in census $54

CGC 6.0 · 105 in census $51

CGC 5.5 · 79 in census $44

CGC 5.0 · 42 in census $40

CGC 4.5 · 24 in census $29*

CGC 4.0 · 18 in census $26*

CGC 3.5 · 13 in census $22*

CGC 3.0 · 11 in census $20*

CGC 2.5 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 2.0 · 1 in census $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

This exact issue on ebay

CGC 9.8 ▾ $640–$3,495 5 listings

CGC 9.8 $640 CGC 9.8 $675 CGC 9.8 $750 CGC 9.8 · Signed $1650 CGC 9.8 · Newsstand $3495

CGC 9.6 ▾ $189–$399 14 listings

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CGC 9.4 ▾ $154–$200 6 listings

CGC 9.4 $153.9 CGC 9.4 · Newsstand $174 CGC 9.4 · Newsstand $174.99 CGC 9.4 $178.99 CGC 9.4 · Newsstand $199 CGC 9.4 $200

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CGC 9.2 $120 CGC 9.2 $130 CGC 9.2 $177 CGC 9.2 · Newsstand $179.99

CGC 9 ▾ $125–$147 2 listings

CGC 9 $125 CGC 9 $147

CGC 8.5 ▾ $129–$130 2 listings

CGC 8.5 $129 CGC 8.5 · Newsstand $129.99

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CGC 8 $99 CGC 8 $125.1 CGC 8 · Signed $225

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CGC ▾ $100–$275 2 listings

CGC $100 CGC · Signed $274.99

CBCS 9.8 ▾ $545–$549 2 listings

CBCS 9.8 $545 CBCS 9.8 $549

CBCS 9.6 $250 1 listing CBCS 8.5 $235 1 listing CBCS 7.5 $420 1 listing PGX 9.2 $99 1 listing

Raw — NM ▾ $110–$199 5 listings

NM $109.99 NM $120 NM $149 NM $150 NM · Newsstand $199

Raw — VF/NM ▾ $89.69–$101 3 listings

VF/NM · Newsstand $89.69 VF/NM $100 VF/NM $100.99

Raw — VF+ ▾ $100–$124 2 listings

VF+ · Newsstand $100 VF+ $124

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VF · Newsstand $69.99 VF $79.99 VF $80 VF $89.99

Raw — FN/VF $199 1 listing Raw — FN $120 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $56.99–$175 25 listings

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History

McFarlane transitioned to Amazing Spider-Man directly from his run on The Incredible Hulk, and reportedly sketched the preliminary cover design for #298 on the reverse of a photocopy from one of his Hulk pages — a piece of production history McFarlane later shared publicly. Inker Bob McLeod was brought in for McFarlane's first two issues as a steadying hand, lending the early pages a slightly cleaner, more traditional look than McFarlane's later self-inked work. Writer David Michelinie, who had already been building toward Venom, needed Marvel editorial approval to construct a villain that could naturally bypass Spider-Man's spider-sense; the decision to use the alien symbiote — already established in continuity — as the vector was the creative key that unlocked the concept. Editor Jim Salicrup oversaw the issue, and even contributed a new ongoing letters-column feature, 'Salicrup's Section,' that debuted within its pages.

Trivia · 8 facts

First issue of Todd McFarlane's penciling run on Amazing Spider-Man, which would last approximately 28 issues through #325/#328; his first cover on the title as well.
First cameo appearance of Eddie Brock as Venom — depicted in shadow on the final page, with only a partial glimpse of his eye and the symbiote covering his hand; dialogue establishes his grievance against Spider-Man.
First appearance of Carlton Drake, founder of the Life Foundation — a Cold War–paranoid survivalist organization that would become a recurring antagonist across Spider-Man and Venom titles and was adapted as the primary villain in the 2018 Sony film Venom (portrayed by Riz Ahmed).
First team appearance of the Life Foundation itself, created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane.
First appearance of Sandy Kintzler, Mary Jane Watson-Parker's close friend and make-up artist, who recurs in the Michelinie run.
Story titled 'Chance Encounter!' (Part 1 of 2); the surface plot follows the mercenary Chance (Nicholas Powell), hired by the Life Foundation to steal a European arms shipment, clashing with Spider-Man at the New York docks.
The cover of this issue appears in the comic gallery of the Sega CD version of the video game The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin; a physical copy of the issue is destroyed on-screen in the 1988 film Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
The issue was later collected in the Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection Vol. 18: Venom (2018) and is part of the broader Michelinie/McFarlane run collected in the David Michelinie & Todd McFarlane Omnibus.