Both the gaming and comic world are buzzing over Venom’s cameo in the Spider-Man 2 trailer, and it will have market repercussions for these three issues.

It took decades to pull off, but Insomniac Games conquered the Herculean task of assembling an absolutely great Spider-Man game. After years of trying, it was looking like an open-world superhero game, especially one with web-swinging, wasn’t feasible. Then came 2018’s Spider-Man, and the rules for comic book game adaptations were changed forever.

Not only did the developers create one of - if not the - best superhero games of all time, but they also managed to stoke the fires for the sequel with a legendary tease. In the closing cinematics, we discover that the Venom symbiote exists in the gaming-verse and that it is being bonded not to Eddie Brock, but to Harry Osborn. 

Fast forward to last week when the Spider-Man 2 trailer dropped, and fans lost their collective minds over Venom’s cameo. That excitement will trickle down to the Venom and Harry key issues. Take a look.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #300

The perennial favorite among comic collectors, the first appearance of Venom will always be at the top of many wish lists. This year has been particularly good for the original symbiote. There is the Venom sequel, Let There Be Carnage, less than a month from its release date, and the comics introduced Eddie’s son, Dylan, as the costume’s new host. It has created a year of broken records for those Venom keys, starting with the crème de la crème, ASM #300.

How is the market faring these days? I am glad you asked. The most recent graded sale saw a buyer walk away with a 9.4 for $1,150. A little higher on the ladder, a 9.8 scored $7,100 on September 12, which happened to be the first time that one has cracked $7k in four months.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #136

Insomniac is forging new territory with the Harry/Venom mashup. He has never been the symbiote’s host before, so there are no correlating comics. That is why collectors have rushed to the next best thing, ASM #136. 

Since the Spider-Man 2 announcement, this has been the most popular Harry Osborn key issue. Granted, it has long been a famous Harry comic as it featured his original reveal as the second Green Goblin. Over the years, the issue has been kept in the spotlight due to the numerous New Goblin adaptations between cartoons and the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies from the early 2000s. With the assumption based on both Spider-Man and the teaser trailer that Harry is once again a villain, it has spurred the market for ASM #136 once again.

The big sellers have been the raw copies, which are mostly earning $40-$55 at the moment. The last graded copy to trade hands online was on September 12 when an 8.5 was just $9 shy of matching the $259 record high.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #654 SECOND PRINT

There are a lot of assumptions when it comes to Harry, Venom, and the next Spider-Man game. Let’s take things one step further. Looking at those ending cinematics from the 2018 game, the scene should look familiar. The Venom symbiote is sealed in a chamber with a debilitated potential host. That is reminiscent of ASM #654 when Flash Thompson was a test subject in the Agent Venom experiment. 

While there is no indication that Spider-Man 2 will feature Agent Venom in any form, the scene itself could have a potential impact on prices for the character’s first appearance. That goes double for the second print, which depicts a very similar scene to those Spider-Man cinematics. Could the Insomniac developers have drawn inspiration from ASM #654? It is a likely possibility that could influence the market. We have not seen a graded copy sell online since a 9.6 earned a record $550 on September 5. However, the raw copies are picking up the pace, and one copy described as a higher grade sold for $227.50 on September 11.

THE INTRIGUE BUILDS

Despite being two years away from the target release date, Sony and Insomniac have created a massive amount of buzz for the new game. Could we see a Venom spinoff with more symbiotes? One can hope, and that will only push the market for those Venom keys even higher.