Blind bags are hot and Mark Spears is the king of the blind bags. According to publisher Keenspot, MARK SPEARS MONSTERS #8 Winter Horrorland R.I.P. Blind Bag has 362,000 copies pre-ordered by retailers. This smashes the previous blind bag sales record set just last month by the first Mark Spears blind bag.
This makes it “among the highest selling independent comics in history and arguably the biggest comic blind bag ever.” In addition to the thrill of tearing open a plastic bag to see what monster you get, some fans/readers will get the “25 Days of Krampus Tickets”— twenty-five randomly hidden Golden Ticket redeemable for a unique 1-of-1 signed and remarked comic.
The issue goes on sale in stores December 17th, and while the story seems secondary to the excitement of opening bags, it is the conclusion to its first story arc “All That Remains.”
In this issue, a shocking twist emerges that will make you question everything you thought you knew. As a dramatic cliffhanger unfolds and all the monsters unite, who will live, and who will die?
Mark Spears and his blind bagged comics have become the hottest topic in the comics collecting world of late – and retailers seem to be going along for the ride. Every issue has 75-80 variant covers – all created by Spears – featuring gaudy monsters of the kind that every Gen Xer seems genetically drawn to.
A previous blind bagged comic, MARK SPEARS MONSTERS: THE MONSTER & THE WOLF #1 TRICK OR TREAT BLIND BAG had orders of more than 350,000 copies and sold out at the distributor level within days of going on sale on October 15th. With 90 variant covers by Spears this issue currently has 9 of the top 10 spots on COVRPRICE.COM’s Top 10 Weekly Trending Comics.
Spears career includes 20 years in the licensing business making trading cards and so on. His comics output only goes back a few years, and includes covers for Spawn, Power Rangers, and for publishers like Dark Horse and DC Comics. The Monsters comic began as a trading card series which was kickstarted. None of this seems like preparation for the current Mark Spears blind bag boom.
The meteoric rise and astonishing productivity of Spears and his monster covers has not gone unnoticed outside of collecting circles. Some on social media have alleged that the covers are AI generated. In a process post on his Instagram, Spears noted that he creates 3D models to aid in his process.
For what it’s worth, we ran a few Spears covers though AI detectors and they came back 98-100% human. Maybe the guy is just fast.
Keenspot is releasing future Spears bland bagged items, including a Christmas-themed issue. While the blind bag fad might burn out pretty quickly, it seems that readers and retailers are enjoying the ride thus far – there are more than 1.3 million copies of MARK SPEARS MONSTERS issues in print.
Do you understand the Mark Spears Phenomenon? Have you bought any of his comics? What is this all about? Let us know in the comments!
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