Amazing Spider-Man Primer

Jan 20

Jan 20 Amazing Spider-Man Primer

Amazing Fantasy was merely one of many sci-fi anthology titles that was being published by Marvel Comics in the early 60s. With the resurgence of superhero comic books, Marvel decided to use the book as the launching pad for a new superhero. History was made when Amazing Fantasy #15 was released as it introduced Spider-Man to the world. The wall-crawler was a smash hit and quickly became one of the most recognizable characters in popular culture. The Spider-Man story in Amazing Fantasy #15 was such a hit, Marvel took a rare risk of scrapping the anthology title outright and replacing it with one of its flagship titles, Amazing Spider-Man.

Co-created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the pair worked together on the title for the first 38 issues. The pair created some of the most iconic characters in comic book history. Villains like the Chameleon, the Vulture, Doctor Octopus, the Sandman, the Lizard, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and the Green Goblin. That said, part of Spider-Man’s mystique was not just his super-heroics but also the trials and tribulations of Spider-Man’s alter-ego, a young teen named Peter Parker. The character’s on going life story was complimented with an iron clad supporting cast from Peter’s frail Aunt May, newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson, to Peter’s high school tormentor Flash Thompson, and his many love interests which included Liz Allan, Betty Brant, Gwen Stacy, and of course, Mary Jane Watson.

Not all of the stories within the pages of Amazing Spider-Man were winners, later on in the run there were some less than inspiring (yet somehow still important) foes such as the Looter, Mendel Stromm, and the Molten Man. Despite this run of Amazing Spider-Man has some of the most iconic Spider-Man stories that are considered seminal to the character. For example, while the Green Goblin’s first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #14 was just downright stupid, the villain became a formidable foe as seen in issues #17, 23, and 26. The Goblin’s true identity was also one of the largest mysteries swirling around the world of Spider-Man. The most iconic tale of Lee and Ditko’s run on Amazing Spider-Man is the “Final Chapter” saga which ran from Amazing Spider-Man #31-33 which saw Spider-Man fighting the mysterious Master Planner in order to obtain an important chemical which could save the life of his ailing Aunt May. Throughout Stan and Steve’s run, was the looming potential romance with the mysterious Mary Jane Watson. MJ was the niece of Aunt May’s neighbour Anna Watson. Anna and May had been trying to set Peter up with Mary Jane and the pair would avoid meeting. Mary Jane was teased at in Amazing Spider-Man #25

Eventually, a rift between Lee and Ditko led to the end of their collaboration. Ditko’s final issue on the series, Amazing Spider-Man #38, is probably one of the most underwhelming tales of the whole run, with Spider-Man going up against “just a guy named Joe”, a stunt actor that was temporarily went mad after being exposed to chemicals.

With Ditko gone, the title went through its second most iconic run with the legendary John Romita, Sr. taking over as the primary artist. The pair started off their run by not only revealing that the Green Goblin was actually Norman Osborn, the father to Peter’s best friend Harry Osborn, but also had Peter’s identity compromised by the villain. Although the Green Goblin was stricken with selective amnesia at the end of this two issue epic (issues #39-40), his memory would return and Norman’s knowledge of Peter’s secret identity would be the source of regular tragedy in the life of Peter Parker. Also, issue #42 finally ended the mystery surrounding Mary Jane Watson. The iconic ending to the story featured Peter answering the door fearing the worst but being struck speechless after seeing the beautiful redhead. “Face it Tiger, you hit the jackpot!” proclaims Mary Jane in her first full appearance, so did Marvel. Mary Jane would become an integral part of the life of Peter Parker for years to come. Lee and Romita reintroduced readers to the Lizard, Kraven the Hunter, Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, but also introduced new foes like the Rhino, a new Vulture, the Shocker, and the Kingpin of Crime. Iconic tales during this period included “Spider-Man No More” from Amazing Spider-Man #50 when Peter briefly quits being Spider-Man. Issues #53-56 featured another epic clash with Doctor Octopus which was near perfect if not for the hacky Spider-Man-Gets-Amnesia-and-Helps-the-Villain trope that is trotted out. Issues #68-75 was a sprawling tale where Spider-Man tries to stop the Maggia leader known as Silvermane from stealing a Table of Life. The story mixed in politics with superheroics with the student protests at Empire State University acting as a backdrop for all the action.

As the decade came to a close, Spider-Man’s world started becoming more inclusive with the introduction of a number of African-American characters such as Joe Robertson, editor at the Daily Bugle, his son and fellow ESU student Randy, and the reluctant criminal calling himself the Prowler. However, by issue #76, Romita only produced the covers to Amazing Spider-Man, with John Buscema taking over as penciler for the last few issues of the decade.