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Mark Spears' Monsters #3 Gets 239% Orders Of Mark Spears' Monsters #2

Mark Spears' Monsters #3, published by Keenspot, gets 239% of the comic shop orders that Mark Spears' Monsters #2 got.

Published Fri, 20 Dec 2024 10:57:08 -0600

Article Summary

Mark Spears' Monsters #3 sees a massive 239% preorder increase from #2.
Issue #3 set to release January 29th with 42,000 copies printed.
First two issues sold out, prompting multiple reprints due to high demand.
Plans underway for film and TV adaptations of Mark Spears' Monsters.

Bleeding Cool learns that comic book publisher Keenspot has received pre-orders from Diamond Comic Distributors for Mark Spears Monsters #3 of 37,572 copies, an unheard-of 239% increase from pre-orders of #2, which itself increased 29% from #1. Mark Spears Monsters #3 is scheduled for release on January 29th, with a cover price of $5.99 and a total print run of 42,000 copies. "Based on publicly available sales figures, it took The Walking Dead something like eight years and eighty issues to have orders of 30,000 copies or more of a single issue," said Chris Crosby, CEO of Keenspot. "It took Invincible a hundred issues. Mark Spears Monsters did it in a few months! And at a significantly smaller publisher than Image, too! This is a truly spectacular success story, a testament to Mark's wonderfully fun storytelling style and beautifully unique artwork."

Mark Spears Monsters is one of the most popular and fastest-growing creator-owned indie comic books this century. It comprised eight of the Top 8 Diamond Advance Reorders placed between the 3rd and the 9th of December, and has dominated Covrprice's charts over the past two months, taking up 10 of the Top 20 slots last week, something no title had ever done before.

Issue #1 first hit stores on September 18th, immediately selling out of its 13,000-copy print run. The first issue then went to a second printing of 4,500 copies, and a third printing of 11,000 copies, for a total of 28,500 copies combined. The third printing is scheduled to hit stores on January 1st but has already sold out at the distributor level, so a fourth printing is planned for February. Additionally, a second printing of #2 with a 12,600-copy print run will hit stores on January 22nd, after November's 16,000-copy first printing instantly sold out, with some copies fetching hundreds of dollars on eBay.

Mark Spears Monsters is a bimonthly series from Keenspot, created, written, and illustrated by award-winning cover artist Mark Spears (who is also writing and illustrating the Todd McFarlane comic series Spawn '77 this spring). Based on his hit trading card series of the same name, Spears brings classic monsters to life with a modern twist. Set in the 1980s, it follows a retired monster slayer who comes out of hiding to confront an ancient evil, as every iconic creature of legend—vampires, werewolves, mummies, and more—emerge from the shadows, drawing two detectives and a group of adventurous kids into a sprawling battle against the forces of darkness.

Keenspot and Spears are currently making plans for the film and television rights to Mark Spears' Monsters, and have signed what they see as exciting licensing deals for other ancillary rights to be announced soon.