CGC 2026 Spooky Awards: Walking Dead, Mark Spears, Hobgoblin Win
CGC has named the three winners of its 2026 Spooky Awards, and the prize is better than a badge: a signed comic, a $500 grading credit and swag for each winning horror-themed set in the CGC Comics Registry.
The awards honor collectors of horror-themed comic sets in the CGC Comics Registry. How the winners were chosen and how many sets entered are not given in the announcement.
Spooky Awards Prize Package
Each winning set receives:
- a signed CGC Signature Series copy of Poison Ivy #39, with the signature from artist Kyu Yong Eom
- a $500 grading credit
- additional swag from CGC Comics, exclusive to the program
2026 Spooky Awards Winners
LivingfortheDead: Walking Dead Deluxe
The win for LivingfortheDead came from Walking Dead Deluxe, a collection of covers gathered in high grades and in Signature Series.
The Walking Dead ran for 193 issues after Robert Kirkman started it in the fall of 2002, in black and white. For the first time in full color, Walking Dead Deluxe offers the story that spent 17 years in black and white.
Also part of the line are "The Cutting Room Floor" installments, which uncover storylines that were dropped and plot elements nobody had seen before, along with brand-new covers by a big roster of artists.
Tha_Nature_Boy: Mark Spears Monsters Kickstarter Editions
Tha_Nature_Boy took the prize with Mark Spears Monsters Kickstarter Editions, a set built entirely from high-grade Signature Series books.
Mark Spears Monsters follows classic monsters and the Slayer, a monster hunter pursuing Dracula nearly 100 years after sending him to darkness in London. Its covers, which pay homage to classic films and comics, are what the title is best known for.
pmpknface: Hobgoblin Custom Set
The Hobgoblin Custom Set earned pmpknface the win; it is a high-grade run of Hobgoblin covers spanning the Copper Age through the modern day.
Roger Stern and John Romita Jr. created Hobgoblin, who made his debut in Amazing Spider-Man #238. His identity stayed secret for 14 years under new creative teams after Stern left.
The set's highlights are all graded CGC 9.8:
- Ghost Rider v2 #17, featuring Hobgoblin and his pumpkin bombs
- Amazing Spider-Man #2 from 2022
- Amazing Spider-Man #238
Why it matters for collectors
TCGKing's take: the three winners span a full-color relaunch, a Kickstarter-era indie and a Copper Age villain run, so the awards reward curation more than a single big book. The prize package leans on CGC's own services, from Signature Series to grading credit.
Comics have been graded by CGC since 2000, and the company today certifies TCGs, sports cards, magazines, video games and home media as well. Its CGC Signature Series and JSA Authentic Autograph services are also available.
CGC's recent run of show-submission announcements, such as the Rhode Island Comic Con listing, shows the same autograph side of the business.
What is still unknown
- How winners were selected
- How many entries there were
- When the prizes are delivered
TCGKing updates this article as soon as PSA, Beckett, CGC, SGC, TAG, PCA, CCC announces these details. Follow all Grading news or get it in our newsletter.
A brief is the essentials in a few lines, with the source. Find every brief of the day in the daily recap. Briefs for October 31, 2026 →
Written with the help of AI from the sources listed below, then checked automatically for accuracy and originality under TCGKing's editorial responsibility. Methodology →
TCGKing never reproduces source text. Every fact links to its origin.