Wow, this video came out less than an hour ago, and the prices for this comic are already in the 6 or 7 digits... Come on guys, this isn't funny anymore
Alot of kids from the time shared your sentiments, Romita Sr was famously lambasted for a while once he took over the spiderman title after Ditko bounced.
there was a reprint of this and some of the other early Spider-Man stuff in a Marvel comics handbook I had when I was a little kid. Even then, I knew there was something special about Ditko's storytelling and it was like nothing else I had ever seen
Re-reading this comic with you guys, for the first time it struck me that it feels A LOT like an episode of The Twilight Zone, which everybody and their mother were watching back in 1962: the three acts, with the first two ending with in cliffhangers, and separated by ads to build the suspense... the sci-fi horror, the outcast protagonist, the moralistic plot twist, the final depressing revelation... Except that, in 1962 television, there was a limited budget, and obviously the constraints of special effects technology, while in comics you can draw pretty much anything you can imagine. Makes me wonder who else in the Marvel bullpen was watching that show as it came out...
08:42 Panel 2: How common was it back in 1962 for a mother to take their little kid to watch a horror movie? What did they watch? Tower of London? Carnival of Souls?
15:02 Thanks Ed for answering exactly what I was thinking of: what's the deal with those dots that always appear and disappear depending on the edition. If anyone out there wants to have some creepy fun, get an old issue of Spiderman and try drawing these little dots on his eyes, on every panel he appears, and you'll learn an important lesson in character design...
I’m very surprised that you guys didn’t mention the brilliant silhouette on page 1. When I re-read this recently that was the first thing I noticed thanks to your constant discussion of silhouettes in comics! That first page is really comics royalty
Amazing Adult Fantasy started with issue 7 (It was Amazing Adventures 1-6) and designed to be a showcase for Lee/Ditko stories ... but it was a goner sales-wise, so Spider-Man was a last-ditch effort to try and save the book. Martin Goodman allegedly hated the concept of a spider-inspired hero, but once he saw the jump in sales figures for #15, he was sold. The first Amazing Spider-Man issues are both 2-story books, which reflects the planning on Stan Lee's part to continue on with Amazing Fantasy. BTW, the coloring in this particular reprint is atrocious.
If you're ever in Washington DC, the Library of Congress has Ditko's original storyboard art for this issue. Just need to get a LOC library card and make an appointment with the appropriate division (Prints and Photographs)!
I believe it was Will Murray who reconstructed what would've been Amazing Fantasy #16 (and maybe 17?) by following the job numbers that appear in the splash panels of every story and basically tell you the order in which they are meant to appear. The first couple of issues of Spider-Man have short stories and it goes to full-length with #3, also suggesting that during production they assumed the Amazing Fantasy series would continue with the kind of mix of superhero and weird mystery stories they followed in some of their other books. ( For instance, the cover date of Astonish #35 "Return of the Antman" is one month after Amazing Fantasy #15.) It may have been sales that made the title convert to full Spider-Man, which is the Stan version, but that seems kinda quick to get actual figures. I suspect Martin Goodman and Lee saw this as a new trend happening in comics and impulsively decided it was time to go full superhero. Had it not worked out, it was Goodman's modus operandi to just cancel everything and try something else.
This is mostly supposition on my part, but I think it's possible that Amazing Fantasy was scheduled to end with issue 15 (as Stan Lee stated on various occasions), but Stan went ahead and planned/developed another issue or two, in case Martin Goodman changed his mind quickly. Goodman didn't change his mind, but in the ensuing weeks, the sales figures and reader response to AF 15 were strong enough that Stan went to Goodman in late '62 and said, "look, we can make Spider-Man work, we just need somewhere to run the stories." Meantime, the original Incredible Hulk title was not performing as well as hoped, and Goodman waited until it was about to be canceled (last issue was cover-dated March '63) and then green-lighted a Spider-Man solo title, which debuted with a cover date of March '63 as well. The previously developed Spidey material was used in the first couple of issues. Maybe the newly published book "Ditko Shrugged" will shed more light on this pivotal time in Marvel history.
@@reprintranch Makes sense to me. There's also a book out of Ditko essays from Robin Snyder's Comics newsletter. I know he discusses the creation of several issues of Spider-Man but I'm not sure if he addressed this issue.
If you check out numerous Atlas era Marvel indicias, there were several publishing titles, like Zenith and Non-Pareil, which was there for distribution reasons. At the time (1962), Marvel was only allowed to publish eight comics a month from 1958-68, due to a dodgy distribution deal that kept the company from folding. Thus, so Marvel could revive a Kirby western comic, some comic had to be cancelled to make room on the eight books a month schedule. AF was cancelled, and eventually, Linda Carter Student Nurse was cancelled to make room for Amazing Spider-Man, featuring the John Jameson astronaut story that would have appeared in AF 16.
Id love to see you guys cover some of the attempts by Atlas/Marvel's peers to cash in on their successes. Some are so poor they're laughable and yet, they really try their hardest to make it. Namely the silver age mighty crusaders, spyman, jack q frost, tiger boy, etc.
Yeah... I've always thought about what it would have been like to have been the spider up in the corner of Stan's office... hearing this story come together...and knowing the fucker got the idea from you... and you know you ain't never going to get any recognition.... LoL Anyway I pre ordered Red Room... and the complete set of Treasury Edition Hip Hop Family Tree... Biggest chunk of change I've spent on modern comics since I got the first 6 Preacher when they were shiny and new... I've never regretted that purchase... And I'm actually much happier about this purchase... I'm about to shit the bed to be honest... LoL
I better go buy Amazing Fantasy #15 before the kayfabe effect kicks in.
Wow, this video came out less than an hour ago, and the prices for this comic are already in the 6 or 7 digits... Come on guys, this isn't funny anymore
Yes, there is re-coloring here. In the original, the spider on the back of the costume was blue, not red.
I like how he looks like a teen even in the suit.
Alot of kids from the time shared your sentiments, Romita Sr was famously lambasted for a while once he took over the spiderman title after Ditko bounced.
Funny, Parker can't even hang with the middle aged scientists. Haha!!
there was a reprint of this and some of the other early Spider-Man stuff in a Marvel comics handbook I had when I was a little kid. Even then, I knew there was something special about Ditko's storytelling and it was like nothing else I had ever seen
Re-reading this comic with you guys, for the first time it struck me that it feels A LOT like an episode of The Twilight Zone, which everybody and their mother were watching back in 1962: the three acts, with the first two ending with in cliffhangers, and separated by ads to build the suspense... the sci-fi horror, the outcast protagonist, the moralistic plot twist, the final depressing revelation...
Except that, in 1962 television, there was a limited budget, and obviously the constraints of special effects technology, while in comics you can draw pretty much anything you can imagine.
Makes me wonder who else in the Marvel bullpen was watching that show as it came out...
08:42 Panel 2: How common was it back in 1962 for a mother to take their little kid to watch a horror movie? What did they watch? Tower of London? Carnival of Souls?
15:02 Thanks Ed for answering exactly what I was thinking of: what's the deal with those dots that always appear and disappear depending on the edition. If anyone out there wants to have some creepy fun, get an old issue of Spiderman and try drawing these little dots on his eyes, on every panel he appears, and you'll learn an important lesson in character design...
I’m very surprised that you guys didn’t mention the brilliant silhouette on page 1.
When I re-read this recently that was the first thing I noticed thanks to your constant discussion of silhouettes in comics! That first page is really comics royalty
Amazing Adult Fantasy started with issue 7 (It was Amazing Adventures 1-6) and designed to be a showcase for Lee/Ditko stories ... but it was a goner sales-wise, so Spider-Man was a last-ditch effort to try and save the book. Martin Goodman allegedly hated the concept of a spider-inspired hero, but once he saw the jump in sales figures for #15, he was sold. The first Amazing Spider-Man issues are both 2-story books, which reflects the planning on Stan Lee's part to continue on with Amazing Fantasy. BTW, the coloring in this particular reprint is atrocious.
Fun run through of a classic comic, love your chats about these wonderful comics and books. Yes, a great twist ending in nearly the final panel !
Would love to see you guys analyse the first appearance of various big characters like this again in the future!
Historic, man! That costume is something else...
If you're ever in Washington DC, the Library of Congress has Ditko's original storyboard art for this issue. Just need to get a LOC library card and make an appointment with the appropriate division (Prints and Photographs)!
Amazing Fantasy #16 came out in the late 90's with 2 Spider-Man stories.
I got to read an Amazing Fantasy #15 that came into the shop a few years ago. Very cool experience.
I believe it was Will Murray who reconstructed what would've been Amazing Fantasy #16 (and maybe 17?) by following the job numbers that appear in the splash panels of every story and basically tell you the order in which they are meant to appear. The first couple of issues of Spider-Man have short stories and it goes to full-length with #3, also suggesting that during production they assumed the Amazing Fantasy series would continue with the kind of mix of superhero and weird mystery stories they followed in some of their other books. ( For instance, the cover date of Astonish #35 "Return of the Antman" is one month after Amazing Fantasy #15.) It may have been sales that made the title convert to full Spider-Man, which is the Stan version, but that seems kinda quick to get actual figures. I suspect Martin Goodman and Lee saw this as a new trend happening in comics and impulsively decided it was time to go full superhero. Had it not worked out, it was Goodman's modus operandi to just cancel everything and try something else.
This is mostly supposition on my part, but I think it's possible that Amazing Fantasy was scheduled to end with issue 15 (as Stan Lee stated on various occasions), but Stan went ahead and planned/developed another issue or two, in case Martin Goodman changed his mind quickly. Goodman didn't change his mind, but in the ensuing weeks, the sales figures and reader response to AF 15 were strong enough that Stan went to Goodman in late '62 and said, "look, we can make Spider-Man work, we just need somewhere to run the stories." Meantime, the original Incredible Hulk title was not performing as well as hoped, and Goodman waited until it was about to be canceled (last issue was cover-dated March '63) and then green-lighted a Spider-Man solo title, which debuted with a cover date of March '63 as well. The previously developed Spidey material was used in the first couple of issues. Maybe the newly published book "Ditko Shrugged" will shed more light on this pivotal time in Marvel history.
@@reprintranch Makes sense to me. There's also a book out of Ditko essays from Robin Snyder's Comics newsletter. I know he discusses the creation of several issues of Spider-Man but I'm not sure if he addressed this issue.
If you check out numerous Atlas era Marvel indicias, there were several publishing titles, like Zenith and Non-Pareil, which was there for distribution reasons.
At the time (1962), Marvel was only allowed to publish eight comics a month from 1958-68, due to a dodgy distribution deal that kept the company from folding. Thus, so Marvel could revive a Kirby western comic, some comic had to be cancelled to make room on the eight books a month schedule. AF was cancelled, and eventually, Linda Carter Student Nurse was cancelled to make room for Amazing Spider-Man, featuring the John Jameson astronaut story that would have appeared in AF 16.
Id love to see you guys cover some of the attempts by Atlas/Marvel's peers to cash in on their successes. Some are so poor they're laughable and yet, they really try their hardest to make it. Namely the silver age mighty crusaders, spyman, jack q frost, tiger boy, etc.
I don’t know how many times I’ve reread this story it’s such a good read.
Would it be fun to do Byrne’s Chapter 1?
Have you guys had a look at Jaime's Love and Rockets Artist Edition?
this guys have seen everything related to the hermanos Hernandez more than once
It's also been recolored
They should bring back the Spider-Man with eyes very expressive!
Good Review!!
awesome 👌
another great vid
Wraparound sideburns hahahaha
Yeah... I've always thought about what it would have been like to have been the spider up in the corner of Stan's office... hearing this story come together...and knowing the fucker got the idea from you... and you know you ain't never going to get any recognition.... LoL
Anyway I pre ordered Red Room... and the complete set of Treasury Edition Hip Hop Family Tree... Biggest chunk of change I've spent on modern comics since I got the first 6 Preacher when they were shiny and new... I've never regretted that purchase... And I'm actually much happier about this purchase... I'm about to shit the bed to be honest... LoL
Please do Mr. A!