Spider-Man
Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: December 10, 1962
Cover: March 1963
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
14 pages
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| Tales of Suspense #39, Story C | Reading order | Amazing Spider-Man #1, Story B |
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I say that Spider-Man must be outlawed! There is no place for such a dangerous creature in our fair city!
Spider-Man is back! He appeared briefly, set to be a recurring star in Amazing Fantasy, a comic which was cancelled immediately after he appeared. Sometime between making that decision and now, we learn the publisher received lots of letters and postcards, so now Spider-Man gets his own comic. Probably good they brought him back, as he’ll go on to become Marvel’s most enduringly popular character.
We are still on December 10, 1962. A day with four major Marvel superhero milestones. The first was the crossover between the Fantastic Four and the Hulk. The second was the debut of Iron Man. The third of these is Spider-Man getting his own series.
- Milestone #1 of December 10, 1962:
Fantastic Four meet the Hulk! - Milestone #2:
Iron Man - Miletone #3:
Amazing Spider-Man #1
The tale begins with a 2-panel recap of his origin from Amazing Fantasy #15. But, strangely, they leave out what most today would consider the most pivotal part, Peter’s culpability in Ben’s murder by letting the burglar run past him. True, it’s only two panels, but they seem to go out of their way to not mention it. He instead uses phrases like, “All because I was too late to save him!” and “…while I was busy showing off…”; so they keep Peter’s feelings of guilt but leave off the reason he feels so guilty. It seems like a rather intentional and conscious decision. But I don’t know why they made it.
Ditko has a way of drawing people; he creates pretty distinctive looks. And a lot of the background characters resemble each other enough that they seem to be the same person. There’s a blonde girl in Peter’s class this issue, who remarks, “We should have known he’d rather study!” She is most likely intended to be the same blonde girl from Amazing Spider-Man #15 who says, “Give our regards to the atom smashers!”
Similarly, Spider-Man’s agent appears to be the same agent from Amazing Fantasy #15, even though he is named in neither issue. And even though the dialogue suggests otherwise. Spider-Man’s thoughts read, “I’ll call a booking agent tonight,” as opposed to my agent or the agent. But the dialogue is being added after the art, and Lee and Ditko won’t always be in perfect sync. So it’s possible Ditko drew his old agent and Lee didn’t notice. Also, he and his old agent seem to have already worked out a payment system. We saw Spider-Man being paid cash in his first appearance. Now, the agent insists on a check, which Spider-Man can’t cash.
While short, this story is a tour de force in terms of laying the groundwork for key recurring motifs of the Spider-Man comics.
First, money problems. Peter is looking for a job, can’t cash a check as Spider-Man, and is thinking about turning to crime. The landlord is hassling Aunt May, who ends up pawning jewelry.
Then there’s J. Jonah Jameson writing editorials and giving lectures on what a menace Spider-Man is. At first, he argues what a bad role model Spider-Man is for kids, especially compared with traditional heroes like his astronaut son John. Then, after Spider-Man saves the day, he blames Spider-Man for staging the accident he stopped as a publicity stunt. J. Jonah Jameson is perhaps the greatest supporting character in the history of superhero comics.
This leads to the next recurring motif, that nothing ever works for Spider-Man. Even when he does everything right, the world won’t cut him a break.
We also get a scene where his classmates invite him out, but he has to turn them down, coming off as standoffish. His double identity interferes with his friendships. And while his friends think Spider-Man is great, they don’t feel the same about Peter Parker.
And this all ties into the overarching theme of balance. He has to stay in school because it’s what Uncle Ben would have wanted. But he also needs a job. And he needs to save the day as Spider-Man, but everything he does turns out wrong. So he can’t perform as Spider-Man to make money, because Jameson has turned everyone against him.
I’m going to argue this is the best action sequence we’ve seen yet in these comics. It’s also the first sequence to really capture the essence of a superhero: it’s not about battling super-villains, but rescuing people in trouble. A malfunctioning rocket with a trapped astronaut who seems doomed, followed by a daring last-minute rescue– a quintessential superhero moment, saving the day.
What’s intriguing is these are the only 2 pages showing any superhero action. The other pages of this 14-page story are entirely character-driven. Quite the contrast to most of the other stories we’ve read.
Then what? Is Jameson grateful to Spider-Man for saving his son? No, he accuses Spider-Man of sabotaging the rocket himself as a publicity stunt and offers a reward for Spider-Man’s capture.
And, ominously, twice in this issue Peter muses about the possibility of using his powers for crime. He thinks the world may leave him no other option.
This story is so different from what we’ve been reading that it’s hard to believe it’s all by the same writer. Look to any Thor, Ant-Man or Human Torch story so far. There’s a threat; our hero beats the threat; the story ends. Compare that to this complex character-driven tale. It’s night and day. The main antagonist is a newspaper publisher writing editorials about how children should not idolize masked men.
Rating: ★★★★½, 85/100
Significance: ★★★★★
I read this story in Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection vol. 1: Great Power.
Characters:
- Peter Parker/Spider-Man
- J. Jonah Jameson
- The Burglar
- Aunt May
- Peter’s blonde classmate
- Spider-Man’s agent
- John Jameson
Story notes:
- Note at beginning: Ongoing series due to great response from letters and postcards.
- Aunt May behind on rent.
- Peter offers to drop out of school and get a job; May notes Ben had dreamed of him becoming a scientist.
- Peter considers crime to pay the bills, but decides against it.
- Peter unable to go out to see Spider-Man with classmates.
- Blonde girl from Amazing Fantasy #15; other two friends less obvious.
- Spider-Man’s agent appears to be same agent from Amazing Fantasy #15, but the dialogue doesn’t acknowledge this. Art and dialogue not always in sync.
- Issue inconsistent between spelling “Spider-Man” vs “Spiderman”.
- J. Jonah Jameson writes first editorial.
- Jameson publisher of Daily Bugle.
- Headline: “Spider-Man: Menace”.
- Jameson says kids should not mistake Spider-Man for a hero and try to imitate. his feats; they should instead look to people like his son John as role models.
- Peter refers to the Fantastic Four and Ant-Man; no earlier comic had any heroes acknowledge the heroes of other titles.
- Component 24-3B from forward guidance package broken on rocket.
- Daily Bugle costs 5 cents.
- Even Aunt May believes Spider-Man is a menace.
- Reward posted for his capture; poster has directions to call FBI.
| Previous | #46 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Tales of Suspense #39, Story C | Reading order | Amazing Spider-Man #1, Story B |
| Amazing Spider-Man | Amazing Spider-Man #1, Story B |
The scene with the space capsule is definitely exciting. It also defies all laws of physics.