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Cover: Sal Buscema

Web of Spider-Man #81

Name: Web of Spider-Man #81
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Oct 1991 · Marvel · 1.00 USD; 1.25 CAD; 0.65 GBP

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“Living in Fear”

★ 1st appearance — Bloodshed

About this Issue

Web of Spider-Man #81 is the first appearance and complete origin of Bloodshed (Wyndell Dickinson), a chemically augmented mercenary-turned-supervillain who went on to surface in major Marvel event tie-ins including Civil War: War Crimes and Dark Reign: Mr. Negative, and was later flagged as a candidate for Luke Cage's Thunderbolts roster — giving this relatively quiet Copper Age issue a surprisingly long tail in Marvel continuity. The story is also notable for its thematic seriousness: writer Kurt Busiek roots Bloodshed's villainy not in cosmic accident but in fraternal betrayal, crime, and the consequences of a past Spider-Man encounter that neither brother fully processed, a character-driven approach that foreshadowed the humanistic storytelling Busiek would later bring to Marvels and Astro City. For the Web of Spider-Man series specifically — a title that replaced Marvel Team-Up and ran 129 issues as Spider-Man's third concurrent monthly — this issue represents the kind of self-contained, street-level storytelling that distinguished the book from its higher-profile sibling titles.

In "Living in Fear," writer Kurt Busiek and artist Steve Butler deliver a tense, character-driven tale where a super-powered drug runner's personal vendetta collides with Spider-Man's world. When the man manipulates his brother into stealing a million dollars in securities, the past comes roaring back—and fear becomes a weapon. The cover by Sal Buscema captures the weight of that moment, a 1991 issue with a $1.00 price tag that still packs a punch.

writer Kurt Busiek · artist Steve Butler · inker Don Hudson · inker C. Ivy · colorist Bob Sharen · letterer Rick Parker · cover Sal Buscema

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VF) $7

CGC 9.8 · 23 in census $87*

CGC 9.6 · 10 in census $40*

CGC 9.4 · 9 in census $28

CGC 9.2 · 6 in census $27

CGC 9.0 · 2 in census $22*

CGC 8.5 · 2 in census $22*

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CGC 8.0 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 7.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 7.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 6.5 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 6.0 none in existence

CGC 5.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 none in existence

CGC 4.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 · 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

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CGC 9.8 ▾ $65–$300 3 listings

CGC 9.8 $65 CGC 9.8 $69.99 CGC 9.8 $300

CGC ▾ $75–$85 2 listings

CGC $75 CGC $85

PGX 9.8 $65 1 listing Raw — GEM MINT $12.99 1 listing Raw — MINT $2.99 1 listing

Raw — NM ▾ $2.29–$13 5 listings

NM · Newsstand $2.29 NM $2.99 NM $3.75 NM $4.99 NM $13

Raw — VF/NM ▾ $4.99–$8.99 3 listings

VF/NM $4.99 VF/NM $8.5 VF/NM $8.99

Raw — VF+ ▾ $4–$6 2 listings

VF+ $4 VF+ $6

Raw — VF ▾ $2.99–$19.97 8 listings

VF · Direct $2.99 VF $3.8 VF $3.85 VF · Newsstand $3.99 VF $4 VF $5 VF $11.05 VF $19.97

Raw — FN ▾ $3.2–$13.31 4 listings

FN $3.2 FN $5.08 FN $12 FN $13.31

Raw — FINE $4 1 listing Raw — VG $7 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $1.95–$11.95 28 listings

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VF $4 VF/NM · Newsstand $17.99

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History

The issue was written by Kurt Busiek at a moment when he had returned to full-time freelancing in 1990 and was picking up work across diverse Marvel titles; Web of Spider-Man #81 was one of a small handful of issues he contributed to the series that year, well before his career-defining work on Marvels (1994) and Untold Tales of Spider-Man (1995). Interior art was handled by penciler Steve Butler with inks by Don Hudson and Chris Ivy, while veteran Sal Buscema provided the cover; editorial oversight was shared by Tom DeFalco and Danny Fingeroth, two of the key architects of Marvel's Spider-Man line in the early 1990s. The issue carried a cover date of October 1991 with a release date of August 6, 1991, and was reprinted the following year as part of a low-print-run JC Penney department-store catalog exclusive — a second printing identifiable by a Spider-Man Anniversary image in the UPC box.

Trivia · 7 facts

First appearance and full origin of Bloodshed (Wyndell Dickinson, Earth-616), a superhuman mercenary whose powers — enhanced strength and durability — were granted through experiments by American criminals operating in Thailand.
First appearance of Ricky Dickinson, Bloodshed's younger brother and the civilian whose refusal to steal ultimately enables Spider-Man to defeat the villain.
Story title is 'Living in Fear'; written by Kurt Busiek, with interior art by Steve Butler (pencils), Don Hudson, and Chris Ivy (inks), and a cover by Sal Buscema.
Bloodshed's backstory is rooted in a continuity-anchored flashback: his and Ricky's original arrest by Spider-Man is placed — per the Official Index to the Marvel Universe #1 — after the events of Amazing Spider-Man #20.
A second printing was produced in 1992 exclusively for distribution through the JC Penney department-store catalog; it is identifiable by a 30th Anniversary Spider-Man image in the UPC box.
Bloodshed went on to appear in Civil War: War Crimes #1, Heroes for Hire (Vol. 2) #1, the Dark Reign: Mr. Negative miniseries, Nighthawk #2 (2016), and Ravencroft #4 (2020), accumulating roughly nine total Earth-616 appearances.
The issue sits within the original Web of Spider-Man Vol. 1 run (1985–1995, 129 issues), which was Marvel's third concurrent Spider-Man monthly title, having replaced Marvel Team-Up.