MARK SPEARS MONSTERS #1 3RD PRINT FRIDAY THE 13TH NES VIDEO GAME HOMAGE 1:20
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Variant Type

1:20 Retailer Incentive

videogame_asset

Homage

Friday The 13th · NES 1989

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Print

3rd Printing · #1 Issue

MARK SPEARS MONSTERS #1 3RD PRINT FRIDAY THE 13TH NES VIDEO GAME HOMAGE 1:20

£34.95

Mark Spears Monsters #1 — 3rd Print Friday The 13th NES Homage · 1:20 Variant

A retro-gaming-meets-horror cross-IP homage from the Mark Spears Monsters launch issue. Spears restages LJN's Friday the 13th NES game (1989) — one of the most-recognised entries in the late-80s 8-bit horror licensing wave — through his painted Bad Girl horror style. The cover lifts the NES-era sprite art and box-art aesthetic into a modern indie horror canvas.

This is the third printing of Spears Monsters #1 — already a structural demand signal, indicating the previous two print runs sold through fast enough to justify a new printing. The variant is the 1:20 retailer incentive, with print volume layered against the smaller third-print run rather than the first-print mass-market base.

Brand-new, raw Near Mint, unread, bagged and boarded. UK-insured tracked dispatch from Canterbury, Kent.

Key Details

  • title Title Mark Spears Monsters
  • tag Issue #1
  • info Print Run 3rd Printing
  • info Ratio 1:20 Retailer Incentive
  • info Homage Friday The 13th NES (1989, LJN)
  • storefront Publisher Keenspot
  • brush Cover Artist Mark Spears
  • info Condition Raw NM · Unread

Why It Matters

  • star 3rd-print demand signal. Issue #1 of an indie title reaching a third print run is a structural marker — both prior runs sold through fast enough to justify a new printing. Demand is documented before the variant even hits the market.
  • star 1:20 ratio scarcity. Entry-tier scarce ratio layered on top of an already-smaller third-print order pool. Print volume on this variant is structurally locked at 1/20 of the third-print direct-edition pull.
  • star Retro-gaming homage subject. Friday the 13th NES (1989) is one of the most-recognised entries in the late-80s 8-bit horror licensing wave. The retro-gaming homage cover lane is one of the most active corners of modern indie collecting.
  • star Cross-IP intersection. Friday the 13th film franchise + NES retro-gaming + Spears horror catalogue. Three established collector IPs converging on a single cover.
  • star Issue #1 anchor position. The launch issue of Spears' Monsters line — the foundational issue collectors anchor a Spears full-artist run on. Series-anchor positions trade harder than mid-arc issues.
  • star Mark Spears name. One of the most consistent modern indie horror cover artists with a defined cross-publisher catalogue. Monsters #1 is the foundational issue of his anchor IP.

Friday The 13th NES (1989) — Source Material

Friday the 13th for the Nintendo Entertainment System was published by LJN in February 1989, developed by Atlus. The game licensed the Friday the 13th film franchise's Jason Voorhees and Camp Crystal Lake setting into a top-down/side-scrolling NES horror game — one of the most-recognised entries in the late-80s 8-bit horror licensing wave.

The game's box art and cover composition — Jason Voorhees in front of Camp Crystal Lake on a cyan-and-red palette, with hockey-mask iconography prominent — has become a defining piece of late-80s NES-era horror visual identity. While the gameplay was widely criticised at the time, the cover art has had a long second life across retro-gaming nostalgia channels and homage cover lanes.

Spears' homage lifts the NES-era sprite art, palette and box-art layout into his painted Bad Girl horror style — a defined cross-IP homage that places this variant inside the active retro-gaming + horror cover lane.

Collector Notes

Three structural factors converge here. First, the 3rd-print demand signal — issue #1 reaching a third printing is a documented demand marker before the variant hits the market. Second, the 1:20 ratio — entry-tier scarce ratio layered on the smaller third-print pool. Third, the cross-IP homage subject — Friday the 13th + NES retro-gaming + Spears horror, three established lanes converging.

For collectors building a Spears Monsters run anchored on issue #1: this is the harder-to-source third-print incentive slot. For collectors building a retro-gaming homage cover lane: this fits with the wider Mortal Kombat, Castlevania and 8-bit-era box-art homage cluster. For Friday the 13th franchise collectors: this is one of the cleaner indie horror crossovers into the IP.

Companion piece to other Spears variants on our shelf — sits with the A77 Black Sketch 1:87.5 (Trick-or-Treat campaign), the A83 NOTLD Homage 1:700 chase ratio, the Monsters #7 Metal Cover G Ltd 500, and the wider Vampirella 1:15 ASM #601 homage in the same buy-cycle. The Friday 13 NES homage adds a retro-gaming axis to that artist set.

Shipping

UK insured tracked dispatch from Canterbury, Kent. Bagged, boarded and rigid-mailer protected. Same packaging standard we use on slabs.

UK Dispatch
Within 24 hours
International
Tracked + signed
Protection
Bag + Board + Mailer
What does "1:20 ratio" mean on a 3rd print? add

Retailer incentive ratio against the third-print order pool — comic shops had to order 20 standard 3rd-print editions to qualify for 1 copy of this variant. The variant's print volume is structurally bound to the third-print direct-edition pull at 1/20, not to the first-print mass-market run.

Why does the 3rd-print designation matter? add

A third printing of issue #1 of an indie title is a structural demand signal — both the first and second print runs sold through fast enough to justify a new printing. It also means the third-print order pool is smaller than the first-print pool, which makes any third-print ratio variant scarcer than its first-print equivalent.

What's the Friday the 13th NES game? add

A 1989 Nintendo Entertainment System game published by LJN, developed by Atlus, licensing the Friday the 13th film franchise. One of the most-recognised entries in the late-80s 8-bit horror licensing wave — the box art and cover composition (Jason Voorhees + Camp Crystal Lake + hockey mask) became a defining late-80s NES horror visual identity.

Is the comic licensed by the Friday the 13th franchise? add

No — this is a homage cover, restaging the NES-era visual identity in Spears' painted style. The cover references the recognisable composition and palette of the 1989 NES game without being an officially-licensed Friday the 13th product. The interior is Spears' Monsters #1 story.

Can I have it CGC graded? add

Yes. CGC submission with optional pre-screen handling at checkout. 3rd-print homage variants slab cleanly with the print run, ratio and homage subject typically noted on the label. 9.8 NM/MT slabs sit naturally in modern Mark Spears collection portfolios. Final grade is never guaranteed.

How is it shipped? add

Bag, board, rigid mailer, insured tracked courier. Same packaging standard we use on slabs. Dispatched daily from Canterbury, Kent — UK orders typically arrive next-working-day.

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