Amazing Spider-Man #2

Duel to the death with the Vulture!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: February 12, 1963
Cover: May 1963
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
14 pages

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Strange Tales #108, Story CReading orderAmazing Spider-Man #2, Story B
Amazing Spider-Man #1, Story BAmazing Spider-ManAmazing Spider-Man #2, Story B

He thinks I’m just a typical teen-age kid! Good! That’s the way I like it!

So I am going to try something new with this blog. I have mostly been stealing pictures I could find on the internet, but I now have a large nifty scanner working and want to try to make my own scans. Now, for various reasons related to my lack of independent wealth, I don’t own Amazing Spider-Man #2, but I have many reprints.

I’ve largely been reading comics in thick collections, which can be hard to scan with my flatbed scanner. But I have smaller reprints from this story. It was reprinted in Amazing Spider-Man Annual 7, but that is still a bit thick for optimal scanning, and the binding isn’t entirely perfect. I also have it reprinted in Marvel Tales #139. Let me try a few scans for comparison.

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Amazing Spider-Man #1, Story B

Spider-Man vs. The Chameleon
Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: December 10, 1962
Cover: March 1963
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
10 pages

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Amazing Spider-Man #1Reading orderStrange Tales #106
Amazing Spider-Man #1Amazing Spider-ManAmazing Spider-Man #2

How much does the job pay? I figure I’m worth your top salary!

We come now to the fourth and final Marvel superhero milestone of December 10, 1962

  • Milestone #1 of December 10, 1962:
    Fantastic Four meet the Hulk!
  • Milestone #2:
    Iron Man
  • Miletone #3:
    Amazing Spider-Man #1
  • Milestone #4:
    Fantastic Four meet Spider-Man!

A pretty exciting day in the history of Marvel superheroes indeed.

While the first story of Amazing Spider-Man #1 was largely a character-focused tale, this one gets more into the superhero action.

There are two main thrusts. The first is the meeting between Spider-Man and the FF! And of course, when they meet, they fight. The FF were understandably unhappy about Spider-Man breaking into their headquarters, and Spider-Man saw taking them on as a way of proving his worth to them.

In fairness, the FF get into fights with everybody, including each other.

He thought joining the Fantastic Four would be the secret to solving his money woes, but he learned they are a non-profit organization that pays no salary.

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Amazing Spider-Man #1

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 CReading orderAmazing Spider-Man #1, Story B
Amazing Spider-ManAmazing Spider-Man #1, Story B

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.

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