Recently in Spider-Man Category

The New York Times Magazine featured this Spider-Man editorial comment on April 16, 1972, about the Presidential election campaign that year.

In 1972, the United States was still in the Vietnam War.  Nixon was running for re-election, but a clear Democrat opponent hadn't yet emerged.  Stan ran down the candidate list: Ed Muskie, Hubert Humphrey, Ted Kennedy, and New York City Mayor John Lindsay.  McGovern hadn't quite emerged as the leader at that point.

Spidey doesn't back any of these guys and only makes one real political comment before disappearing into the pages of his comic: that Richard Nixon isn't really the best that the United States can do!  You gotta love John Romita's depiction of Tricky Dick.  Nuff Said!

You might also like these appearances by Richard Nixon in the Marvel Universe:

Thing Tuesdays: Ben Grimm and Richard Nixon

Nick Fury, Nixon, and Femme Force One!

LBJ Loves the Hulk, but Nixon hates Greenskin!

Monster Mondays: Giant-Size Man-Thing #1, the Glob, and Richard Nixon

FOOM #18 (an acronym for Friends Of Ol’ Marvel) featured this nifty cover by John Romita (Sr.) of the Spider-Man cast, standing in front of the Coffee Bean.

This illustration captures the classic era of late 60s / early 70s Spider-Man, the era where I first started reading about old web-head.  You have Peter Parker on his tiny little motorcycle, but what really makes him cool are the girls standing next to him.  Mary Jane, wearing a party skirt with those hip little cowboy boots, and Gwen Stacy, looking blonde and 70s chic in her pants suit.  Flash Thompson is dressed up in an Army uniform, having survived the Vietnam War, and Harry Osborne has that swanky little bow-tie.

This issue of FOOM featured an article about Romita’s career up to that point—who knew he would stay on at Marvel for 2 more decades?  Included was the famous self-portrait of Romita sitting at his drawing table, surrounded by Marvel Comics characters.  This image was originally done for a Marvelmania self-portrait portfolio, in color, but I thought this black and white version was interesting as well.

The article also included these photographs of Romita working in the Bullpen (very professionally in a nice shirt and tie) and relaxing at home with his guitar.  These images reminded me of various times meeting Romita at conventions, one of the friendliest and nicest artists that I’ve ever had a conversation with.

You might also like these articles featuring John Romita:

Why Amazing Spider-Man 121 is the single most important comic in my life.

Marvel Treasury Edition #1: A Super Giant-Sized Smorgasbord of Spider-Man Delight.

Giant-Size Avengers #1: John Romita Sr. Cover Evolution

Cap, She-Hulk, Spider-Man pinup by John Romita Sr

Some of Michael Golden's best work appeared in Marvel Fanfare, such as this gem from 1989.

Issue #47 contained a unbelievable Marvel Team-Up (and perhaps this story was originally meant for that title) between Spider-Man and the Hulk with a guest appearance by Nick Fury. 

Written by Golden's Micronauts partner, Bill Mantlo, the Hulk went berserk in a mind-controlled frenzy.  Golden's artwork in this story is top-notch as usual, the above two panels being a great example.  You can probably get this issue very cheap at a convention!  Nuff Said!

Ever wonder what would happen if there was a Marvel-DC crossover event that was more on the romantic side?  Fred Hembeck did, back in 1981 for this cover to The Comic Reader 188.

I think it's very funny--especially with Hembeck's design which makes the couples mirror images of each other.  You have to wonder what other Marvel-DC swaps would work.  A Hawkeye/Black Canary and Green Arrow/Mockingbird pairing might be interesting.

Check out Hembeck's website for more lovable cartoons.  Nuff Said!

I don't talk about modern comics very much--there's tons of other blogs that do everyday much better than I can.  But I do get a box every month from Discount Comic Book Service, and Amazing Spider-Man is always in there.  I think one of the most talented artists working at Marvel these days is Marcos Martin. 

Marcos Martin brings a crazy, kinetic style of energy on Spider-Man that hasn't been seen since the days of Steve Ditko.  Coupled with Dan Slott's high-energy mania, this is a creator marriage made in comic-book heaven.

I was particularly bowled over by the above splash page, where Spidey is standing over a craps table.  The story title and credits are cleverly laid out along the table grid.  A very clever idea!

I really find Martin's innovative use of logos (such as the blood dripping off Spidey's masthead on issue 619) to be very much in the vein of Will Eisner.  Eisner did all kinds of things with the Spirit's logo (or logo-forms as Alan Moore called them) by shooting them with bullet holes and having all kinds of liquids dripping from them.

The cover to the forthcoming Amazing Spider-Man Annual #37 does another twist on the logo, by turning it into a neon sign.  Again, this cover seems very Eisner-like to me, with Spidey and Cap standing on different levels of a building.

You have to dig the old-fashioned shout-out to "Collector's Item Classic" here as well!

Marcos Martin has also done outstanding work on Dr Strange (The Oath mini-series with Brian K. Vaughan) and the Captain America 70th Anniversary special.  Here's the black and white version of a page where Cap addresses the troops on a WW2 aircraft carrier.

There's a cool interview with Martin over at The Beat by Michel Fiffe.  Like his fellow countryman, Carlos Pacheco, Marcos Martin appears to have respect for the creators who made these characters great.  Nuff Said!

Every comics company loves to give their heroes a new look from time to time.  During the Shooter-era of the 1980s, the Marvel heroes were re-designed with new looks and costumes.

Spider-Man: Black costume from Secret Wars, sans the symbiote.

Iron Man: Tony Stark designed this red and silver armor in Iron Man #200.

Hulk: Grey Hulk from Peter David’s tenure on the series.

Thor: Walt Simonson designed this new battle armor and let the Thunder God grow a beard.

Captain America: Steve Rogers put on this costume and became a free agent for a while.  Later on, US Agent wore this costume whenever a team needed a third-rate Captain America—like the current Mighty Avengers series.

Were these Marvel makeovers as bad as shoulder pads and mullets?  I liked the Grey Hulk the best out of this lineup.  Nuff Said!

In 1974 Marvel introduced us to something a heck of lot larger than good old Giant-Size comics: Marvel Treasury Sized Editions. 10” x 13” suckers that were so big, they fell over on the newsstand.  And while they mostly contained reprints, Marvel put in a few special features in the early editions.

100 Pages of Spider-Man were wrapped around a John Romita (Sr) cover featuring the web-slinger in a classic pose.  I say thee nay—classic is too weak a word. It’s archetypal!  How could a kid not want to buy this comic if they were a Spidey fan?  If I were Disney, I’d take this image and slap it on mugs, T-shirts, and all kinds of merchandise.

The inside front cover featured an editorial by Stan the Man—can you dig his mad mod haircut and full beard?  Crazy, man.

There was also a double page mockup of the Daily Bugle, with Marie Severin providing the “photographs”.

The second page of the Bugle shows the Bullpen hard at work and also announces Ross Andru joining Gerry Conway on Amazing.

The table of contents page featured a gallery of headshots by Romita, comprised of Spider-Man’s friends and foes.

The back cover was another Romita headshot, accompanied by the possibly the most famous quote from any comic book.

I was thrilled to get this in 1974, and I still get one when I pull out my beat up copy.  The Treasury Editions that followed in the first year were pretty good as well—most notably the Fantastic Four (with the Galactus Trilogy) and Conan (with Barry Smith’s Red Nails) editions.  Nuff said!

Last Sunday, I wrote about the amazing Silver Surfer #1 poster from Asgard Press.  Asgard Press also makes the perfect gift for any classic Marvel fan, their Vintage Marvel Comics 2010 Calendar.  I must confess that I was given this as a gift by someone at the company, but that doesn’t sway my recommendation at all.  I had been eyeing this calendar for weeks at Flying Colors Comics (in Concord, CA, my favorite LCS close to home).  Please note that all images shown here and in my previous post are scans taken from other sources than the actual calendar.

The calendar (around $19) features 16 Giant-Sized Marvel covers ready for framing at an 11"x14" size.  Even if you don’t need a calendar or buy this mid-year, it’s a great gift.  Asgard Press has designed this calendar so that you can separate the cover image from the calendar through perforations on the top or bottom, and it’s in perfect condition (no holes from thumb-tacks or nails). 

The inside front cover features Steve Ditko’s cover to Amazing Spider-Man #33—one of the defining moments in Peter Parker’s life, with the hero pinned under a giant piece of machinery.  The Ditko cover isn’t displayed on the back or even on Asgard’s website, and it’s a great bonus print.

Amazing Spider-Man #68, by John Romita Sr., is also included.  The famous cover blurb Crisis on Campus! reflects the anti-war and civil rights protests in 1968.  Marvel Comics were popular among college students, and Stan Lee decided to put Spidey smack dab in the middle of current events.  This cover was previously made into a poster by Marvel a couple of years after it came out.  I had that on my wall as a kid, so I’m glad to get this again.  BTW, the paper used for these reproductions are on good, thick, sturdy paper stock.

Giant-Size Marvel readers who also share my love for The Vision will be pleased by the inclusion of Avengers #57 in the calendar.  Note that the scan above shows this cover with colors that are extremely vibrant (probably taken from a Masterworks collection).  The Asgard Press covers are reproduced in a way that mimics the feeling of the original comic book.  At any rate, I certainly plan on framing up this one in my comic-vault garage.

You can find the Vintage Marvel 2010 calendar on Asgard Press Marvel site, along with their line of Marvel posters.  On my previous Silver Surfer post, you can see the Surfer covers that are also in this calendar.  Nuff said!