It’s crazy to think how far Spider-Man has come as a beloved superhero that is known by everyone. Originally created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, this web slinging hero was originally introduced in 1962 and he quickly went from being an underdog to being an icon among Marvel superheroes. Today we will be looking at the first volume of comics that were published in the Amazing Spider-Man series as part of the Marvel Masterworks series.
Now it would be almost redundant for me to explain all the ten stories shown in the volume but I can give you a summary of what to expect in each story. Peter Parker is your average high school nerd who is constantly bullied by his classmates. While on a field trip, he accidently gets bitten by a radioactive spider and quickly gains superpowers that are related to a spider's abilities. At first he uses his new found abilities to gain attention. However, he quickly learns the hard way when a tragedy strikes that he couldn’t prevent and it leaves Peter to have to live with the consequences. From then one, Peter dedicates his life to fighting crime as Spider-Man as he discovers new villains and tries to balance his superhero life with his regular day life as Peter Parker.
It's amazing that these stories were created in the early to mid 60’s as they still hold up pretty well despite the time period. Sure, it does have a bit of a campiness vibe, but that's all part of what makes Marvel comics at the time unique with just the right amount of silliness and a decent amount of down to earth characterization. With all the evil villains and constant one liners though, the stories never forget to have an element of reliability with its main character. Peter Parker starts out as shy and a push over but as Spider-Man he becomes heroic and overconfident to a fault. It's also neat that the main hero is none other than a teenager who is trying to earn a living and balancing a double life which is hard enough on its own and makes the adventures much more engaging. Superhero comics, especially Spider-Man ones have come a long way since then with much more serious plotlines, but it's great to wind down every once and a while and have stories that are fun, zanny and likable.
Other than Peter Parker there are other memorable characters that get introduced such as the arrogant J Jonah Jameson, Flash Thompson as the biggest bully to Peter Parker at school and the loving and supportive Aunt May. The real stars for me though are the villains and how each of them are presented. All of them are memorable and each have unique abilities to try and take Spider-Man down. Much like Parker, the characters are written a little silly, but they are still all the more effective in their execution and their presentation.
These were the first Spider-Man comics ever produced so it can be expected that those said comic illustrations are definitely of the times and yet still hold up to today's standards. The illustrations leap off the page with its sporadic action set pieces and convincing human caricatures. Spider-Man and the villains that he faces have unique designs and are visually interesting in the poses that they are drawn in. The only thing that I think could have been improved are the text boxes as they sometimes block the storytelling and the action scenes. I understand why they are needed, but I believe it would be better to show scenes more visually than having dialogue that explains things that the reader can already understand.
These stories are just plain fun and enjoyable and a great way to introduce people to how the web slinging hero got his start. The graphics and some of the dialogue may be of times, but I would still recommend this volume of comics to anyone who loves Spider-Man as they are just as fun to read as it is fun to see the origins of Spider-Man's beginnings into becoming the most beloved superhero in history.
(Final Grade: B+)