The Amazing Spider-Man

From Free net encyclopedia

The Amazing Spider-Man is a comics series. For other uses see The Amazing Spider-Man (disambiguation).

Image:Firstissue.jpg The Amazing Spider-Man is the title of a comic book published by Marvel Comics, a television program and a daily newspaper comic strip. All three feature the adventures of the superhero Spider-Man.

1 Comic book
- 1.1 Black Issue
2 Television program
3 Newspaper comic strip
4 Video and computer games
5 Trivia
6 External links

[edit]

Comic book

Spider-Man originally appeared in issue #15 of the comic book Amazing Fantasy, its final issue. The series was cancelled with that issue, but response to the character was so positive that the new title, The Amazing Spider-Man was launched, issue #1 appearing in March 1963.

The character was created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/cowriter Steve Ditko, and the pair produced 38 issues of Amazing. A disagreement over a story led to Ditko leaving the title after that point. He was replaced by penciller John Romita who illustrated Lee's stories for several years. Although many fans thought that the writing quality almost instantly plummeted, the series became still more popular. Template:Fact

Many writers and artists have taken over the monthly comic over the years chronicling the adventures of Marvel's most identifiable hero. The title was published continuously until 1998 when Marvel Comics decided to begin anew by renumbering the title with a new issue #1 published in January, 1999. In 2003 this new title reverted to using the numbering of the original series, at issue #500.

[edit]

Black Issue

An issue of Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2, #36) called "The Black Issue" explores how Spider-Man and other heroes would react to the September 11, 2001 attacks written by J. Michael Straczynski and penciled by John Romita, Jr. It starts with a double page spread of the devastation and of Spidey holding his head in pain/anguish/disbelief, his only word "...God..." The issue continues as Spidey swings down to help in the aftermath. Joining with other heroes in the rescue efforts, Spidey explores the wreckage and the broken hearts and his thoughts drive on, thinking through it all. At some point his thoughts become Straczynski's reflections and response. The script journeys from horror, pain and loss to end on strength. The story was notable for spotlighting the firefighters sifting through the wreckage, keeping the heroes assisting them few. The emphasis on "real life" heroes is most apparent one the last page, in a full-page splash wherein the super heroes seen in that issue stood in the background, and New York City firefighters and other city workers involved in helping during the events of 9/11 stood in the foreground. The issue was met with controversy among fandom, as the events of 9/11 would not have been considered a major disaster within the context of the Marvel Universe.

[edit]

Television program

Template:Main Spidey got his shot at live-action TV stardom in April 1977, when he debuted in the "Amazing Spider-Man" TV series. Nicholas Hammond portrayed Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the short-lived series, which had started out as a slew of TV-movies, obviously made to capitalize on the The Incredible Hulk television series. The show was canceled a year after its debut.

[edit]

Newspaper comic strip

The daily newspaper comic strip began on January 3, 1977. It was first written by Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee and illustrated by John Romita. The strip was surprisingly successful in an era with few serialized adventure strips. The strip slowly grew in circulation and as of 2006 is still being published. Lee's brother Larry Lieber illustrated and later wrote the strip for much of its run. While the strip and the comic book feature the same characters, they do not share the same continuity, and the strip has had a decreased emphasis on supervillain enemies. A rare exception was the 1987 wedding of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson which occurred in both the comic book and the comic strip. Guest stars in the newspaper strip include Wolverine and Dr. Strange. Villains include Dr. Doom, Kraven the Hunter, and The Rhino. Stories from the strip have been reprinted in paperback and in Comics Revue magazine.

[edit]

Video and computer games

Template:See details Numerous video and computer games have been released whereby the player controlled Spider-Man and had to do battle with various enemies.

[edit]