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Cover: Alex Saviuk & Keith Williams

Web of Spider-Man #36

Name: Web of Spider-Man #36
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

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

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“Phreak-Out!”

★ 1st appearance — Tombstone

About this Issue

Web of Spider-Man #36 is the debut of Tombstone (Lonnie Thompson Lincoln), one of the most enduring street-level villains in Spider-Man's rogues' gallery and a character who went on to achieve significant presence across animation, video games, and film. More than a simple first appearance, the issue planted the seed for one of the most emotionally layered supporting-character arcs in Copper Age Marvel: the decades-old, guilt-soaked relationship between Tombstone and Daily Bugle editor Robbie Robertson, which would grow into a multi-title saga across both Web of Spider-Man and The Spectacular Spider-Man. That Tombstone arrived without superhuman powers—a hulking, whispering albino enforcer whose menace was purely human and psychological—was a deliberate creative choice that grounded him in gritty crime-fiction realism at a moment when Spider-Man's other titles were leaning into spectacle. The issue also introduces Phreak (Steve Petty) and establishes the second Tarantula (Luis Alvarez), making it a notably dense chapter of Gerry Conway's interconnected late-'80s Spider-Man run.

In "Phreak-Out!", a lab experiment spirals out of control, transforming Steve Petty into the bizarre, unpredictable Phreak. Meanwhile, El Arana takes up the mantle of the second Tarantula, and as New York City buzzes with tension, Robbie Robertson uncovers the shocking return of the notorious Tombstone. Written by Gerry Conway and illustrated by Alex Saviuk, with inks by Keith Williams, colors by Janet Jackson, and letters by Rick Parker, this 1988 issue delivers a pulse-pounding mix of science gone wrong and street-level stakes, all wrapped in a cover by Alex Saviuk and Keith Williams.

writer Gerry Conway · artist Alex Saviuk · inker Keith Williams · colorist Janet Jackson · letterer Rick Parker · cover Alex Saviuk, Keith Williams

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VF) $26

CGC 9.8 · 169 in census $257

CGC 9.6 · 323 in census $61*

CGC 9.4 · 221 in census $61

CGC 9.2 · 123 in census $61

CGC 9.0 · 98 in census $53

CGC 8.5 · 83 in census $53*

Show all 17 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 43 in census $53

CGC 7.5 · 32 in census $53*

CGC 7.0 · 19 in census $52*

CGC 6.5 · 9 in census $51*

CGC 6.0 · 4 in census $44*

CGC 5.5 · 2 in census $40*

CGC 5.0 · 1 in census $33*

CGC 4.5 · 1 in census $25*

CGC 4.0 none in existence

CGC 3.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 3.0 · 2 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 ▾ $288–$1,700 3 listings

CGC 9.8 $288 CGC 9.8 $319.99 CGC 9.8 · Newsstand $1700

CGC 9.6 ▾ $109–$120 2 listings

CGC 9.6 $109 CGC 9.6 $119.99

CGC 9.4 ▾ $99–$145 3 listings

CGC 9.4 $99 CGC 9.4 $129.99 CGC 9.4 · Newsstand $144.89

CGC 9.2 ▾ $71.18–$145 4 listings

CGC 9.2 $71.18 CGC 9.2 · Newsstand $119.99 CGC 9.2 · Newsstand $125 CGC 9.2 · Newsstand $144.99

CGC 9 $100 1 listing CGC 8.5 $89.99 1 listing CGC 8 $40 1 listing CGC $135 1 listing

Raw — NM ▾ $29.99–$55 2 listings

NM $29.99 NM $55

Raw — VF/NM ▾ $34.85–$39 2 listings

VF/NM $34.85 VF/NM $39

Raw — VF+ ▾ $19.99–$33 2 listings

VF+ $19.99 VF+ $33

Raw — VF ▾ $39.99 2 listings

VF · Newsstand $39.99 VF · Newsstand $39.99

Raw — FN $55.98 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $9–$40 12 listings

Raw / ungraded $9 Raw / ungraded $22.5 Newsstand $25 Raw / ungraded $27.99 Raw / ungraded $29.99 Newsstand $30 Newsstand $32 Newsstand $34.99 Raw / ungraded $37.5 Raw / ungraded $38 Raw / ungraded $38.54 Raw / ungraded $40

Verified matches for Web of Spider-Man #36 · eBay asking prices, seen 33 days ago

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VF+ $49 CGC 9.2 $96 CGC 9.6 $130 CGC 9.6 · Signed $531.91

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 4 total · seen 33 days ago

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History

Gerry Conway had just returned to Marvel after more than a decade primarily at DC, and Web of Spider-Man #36 was only his second issue back on the Spider-Man titles. Conway explained his creative motivation plainly: working on a secondary title meant he could not rely on the major Amazing Spider-Man characters, so he focused on 'second- or even third-tier supporting characters'—specifically Robbie Robertson—and wanted to give Robertson a foil in the mold of the ruthless gangster archetype he associated with Hammerhead, but as a fresh creation. Artist Alex Saviuk, who both penciled and provided the cover, worked from Conway's concept of a durable, imposing albino crime enforcer, and the character debuted in the issue as a one-page cameo. Tom DeFalco, Glenn Herdling, and Jim Salicrup are credited as editors, reflecting the layered editorial oversight of Marvel's Spider-Man line at the time. Tombstone was immediately migrated into Conway's concurrent run on The Spectacular Spider-Man beginning with issue #137, where the Robertson backstory was fully excavated.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Tombstone (Lonnie Thompson Lincoln), created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Alex Saviuk; Tombstone appears as a one-page cameo, glimpsed by a terrified Robbie Robertson from a limousine.
Also contains the first appearance of Phreak (Steve Petty) and establishes Luis Alvarez as the second Tarantula, making it a triple debut issue.
The story is titled 'Phreak-Out in Times Square!' and features Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson-Parker (referred to as husband and wife, though that marriage was later retroactively erased by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545).
Tombstone was designed from the outset with a pre-existing, decades-long history with Robbie Robertson—the two shared a high school in Harlem, where a young Robertson spiked a newspaper story about Lincoln's extortion racket after being intimidated—a backstory fully revealed in Spectacular Spider-Man #139.
Conway created Tombstone as a powersless human enforcer; the character did not gain superhuman abilities until Web of Spider-Man #66 (1990), when exposure to the experimental chemical Diox-3 gave him enhanced strength and near-invulnerability.
The Tombstone/Robertson storyline generated an unusually intense reader response: editor Jim Salicrup recalled that even veteran Marvel production staff became emotionally invested in Robbie's fate, asking whether Robertson would go to jail.
The issue's content was reprinted in Spider-Man: Tombstone (Marvel, 2016) and in the Spanish-language collection Marvel Héroes #124 – Spiderman de Gerry Conway 1: Lápida (Panini España, October 2024).
Tombstone has since appeared across numerous adaptations: voiced by Dorian Harewood in Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994), by Kevin Michael Richardson in The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series (2008), and making his theatrical debut in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) voiced by Marvin 'Krondon' Jones III, who is also cast in the live-action MCU film Spider-Man: Brand New Day.