We all know that there are people out there willing to fork over an eyewatering amount of money for classic comic books - that's old news. But now, this obsession with collecting has reached its natural conclusion: single pages being sold for millions.
As reported by Sky News, an auction house in Texas has sold a page from a 1984 issue of Spider-Man for $3.36 million. The page - which is admittedly the original drawing from artist Mike Zeck - depicts the first instance of Spidey donning his iconic black suit.
My fellow 2000s kids will probably recognize this as "the venom suit", following its infamous use in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3. However, the panel actually pre-dates Venom's 1988 debut, with the black suit being a precursor to the symbiote becoming a fully flegged character in the comics.
The "lucky" winner isn't named in the report, but the vice president of the auction house that sold the page, Joe Maddalena, doesn't think this is the last time we'll see this happen. "Collectors are buying their nostalgia so instead of buying their piece of contemporary art, this is it", Maddalena said. "They'd rather have this because this speaks to them more than a piece of contemporary art would."
"It just was one of those moments in the lore of Spider-Man's fame that told this important part of this story that subsequently this character would turn into Venom. It's pretty amazing".
While the price is a little absurd, the impact of this single panel cannot be understated. Venom may have had a rough introduction to the big screen, but his two spin-offs have amassed an impressive - if slightly ironic - fanbase. There are also rumours that Andrew Garfield will be donning the black suit in a new film, as many fans have been calling for.
However, if you're looking to bag iconic moments from comic book history, recent news indicates that you should be careful getting into this big-money collectors game. Logan Paul learned this the hard way, when he purchased $3.5 million worth of Pokemon cards - only for them to turn out to actually be G.I. Joe cards. Hey, maybe Paul will just make that his new thing now, and leave Pokemon cards alone, finally.