Author Glen Weldon is worried about America's jones for the Spider-Man/President Obama combo that can only be satisfied by countless copies of Amazing Spider-Man#583.

Weldon is so concerned that he's staging an intervention, on NPR's website. He may be too late, though, as the ASM#583 "Obama variant" is heading into its fifth printing:

We know you're buying up multiple copies. We know you're squirreling some away while you go on buying and selling other copies on Ebay for 10 times the cover price, or more.

America? Can we tell you something? You need to stop.

You're only hurting yourself. And comic books too, eventually.

Oh, sure, it seems fun now. Yes, your local comics shop is making money off this whole thing. Marvel's making money, too, and your Ebay store is in the black for the first time since you discovered Webkinz.

But here's the thing: You're taking advantage of people.

People who assume — mistakenly — that because they can't find a copy of this comic on store shelves rightnowthisminute, they will never be able to find one.

His plea, of course, is made with tongue in cheek. Still, Weldon makes a few points about the speculator-driven boom of the early '90s (points largely already known by regular comics readers).