Why This Set Matters
The success of the first Todd McFarlane Comic Images set prompted a direct follow-up in the same year — a relatively unusual move for a non-sport card manufacturer in 1989. The sequel dug deeper into McFarlane's Amazing Spider-Man run, covering characters from later in his tenure.
Jonathan Caesar — the obsessive billionaire villain who stalked Mary Jane Watson in McFarlane's run — appears at card #8. Caesar was a McFarlane-era creation who generated significant story momentum in 1988–89, and this is one of his only card appearances anywhere.
Killer Shrike appears at card #30 — a mercenary villain whose few appearances include a notable McFarlane-drawn encounter. Like many McFarlane II characters, he has almost no other card appearances in the vintage era.
Deep Dive
Comic Images Todd McFarlane II is the rarest of the three Comic Images artist-specific sets from 1989 — partly because it's a sequel to an already-specialized product, and partly because the characters it covers are deeper cuts from McFarlane's Amazing Spider-Man run than the first set captured.
Where the first McFarlane set focused on the most prominent characters from his run, the sequel went further into the minor-character territory that only dedicated Spider-Man readers of 1988–89 would recognize. Jonathan Caesar is the defining example: a legitimately compelling villain whose obsession with Mary Jane drove a major story arc, but who never achieved the mainstream name recognition of a Venom or Hobgoblin.
For collectors building a complete McFarlane-era Spider-Man card collection, McFarlane II is the essential companion piece — the set that captures the supporting cast and second-tier villains that made the run feel like a complete, lived-in world rather than just a series of big-name confrontations. Its scarcity relative to the first McFarlane set makes it the more challenging find.
| Character | Format | Card |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Caesar First Card | Card | 8 |
| Thermo First Card | Card | 32 |