The Red Goblin watch is over; this character has finally appeared in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #798. Red-Gobie’s first intro is a lesson in ferocity which would give Sabertooth a run for his money. This was a huge grandstanding entrance for Big Red. Peter Parker (Spidey) was maimed during his first confrontation with this demonic disaster. While the original Norman Osborn was either killed, subsumed, inhabited or maybe just plain swallowed, by the symbiote. From that point on, Red-Gobie’s reign of terror on poor Peter Parker began. The creative team of Dan Slott (writer), Stuart Immonen (artist), and the incomparable Alex Ross created this mega-amalgamated monster. (Check out the Red-Gobie cover on ASM #799 if you get a chance.)

Print Run Gamble

Red alert! This bad boy is blowing up like a bouncy house. Amazing Spider-Man #798 recently sold on eBay for a shocking $99.99 slabbed (9.8) grade (GoCollect). By way of comparison, ASM #797 is just a typical print run. Marvel produced 139K copies of ASM #797 (precursor to #798) during March; this leads me to believe that Marvel will produce roughly similar print runs (Comich). Let’s use some deductive logic, if ASM #797 accrued $76 in value over two months; then reasonably one could assume that ASM #798 could increase in value at a similar pace. Therefore, the same percentage increase in Amazing Spider-Man #798 could produce a price range of $175-$192, in two months time.

Tyson Knockouts in ASM #799

During the late 1980’s Mike Tyson was knocking heavyweights out cold. It floored us back in the day. Nobody had ever taken apart the various heavyweights so quickly and destroyed them like Tyson. This new superbeing Red Goblin has that same sledgehammer effect on superheroes. Realistically, I think this character makes a better villain than most I have seen from Marvel. He has a particular evil, almost maniacal mustache twirling aspect to how they write him. Along with a power level that floors bunches of heroes at once.

In ASM #799 he took out: Anti-Venom, Clash, Silk, Spider-Man (Miles Morales) and Torch all KO’ed, or worse in one swift battle. This team of Spidey’s Heroes tried to rustle this monster to justice, and unfortunately it was nothing short of a debacle. Red Goblin’s power level was untouchable. Shoot, he could probably challenge the entire Avengers team.

We seem to be in a superpowered arms race in Marvel. The villains and heroes keep getting stronger. Now Marvel is amalgamating powers to create an ultra-being and bolster storylines. It is almost like a DC take over. This trend is too bad because great storytelling always comes from the team dynamics, or personal sacrifice. Imaginative writing will allow our heroes to overcome teflon plated super-villains. More power is needed; more brain power.

Take One Red-Gobie and Call in the Morning

Red-Gobie takes the cake as a mega-power villain that knocks Spider-Man off his game. Unfortunately, this character knows Spider-Man’s secret identity and all the people around him that he loves. I mean this sicko, names family members in his threats. Red-Gobie warns Spider-Man to stop being a hero, or he will kill family members. This fanged fiery fiend is like taking on the Taliban when you live in Afghanistan. Who knows where, or when, Red-Gobie will strike?

Across the board, this is interesting, stressful, and seemingly unstoppable. You thought I was talking about Red-Gobie, wrong. I was ruminating on ASM #798 as a speculative play, and it has all those elements. Even now you can still purchase them at most stores at the cover price. Jump into this speculative play; this guy could potentially be bigger than Carnage in the long run. What is not to like? This issue has already shown positive returns, low entry costs, and posible future price increases. Spin your web and trap a copy at the cover price; while you still can.