Due to strong sales on the character’s first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider-Man was given his own ongoing series in March 1963. The initial years of the series, under Lee and Ditko, chronicled Spider-Man’s nascent career with his civilian life as hard-luck yet perpetually good-humored teenager Peter Parker. Peter balanced his career as Spider-Man with his job as a freelance photographer for The Daily Bugle under the bombastic editor-publisher J. Jonah Jameson to support himself and his frail Aunt May. At the same time, Peter dealt with public hostility towards Spider-Man and the antagonism of his classmates Flash Thompson and Liz Allan at Midtown High School, while embarking on a tentative, ill-fated romance with Jameson’s secretary, Betty Brant.
By focusing on Parker’s everyday problems, Lee and Ditko created a groundbreakingly flawed, self-doubting superhero, and the first major teenaged superhero to be a protagonist and not a sidekick. Ditko’s quirky art provided a stark contrast to the more cleanly dynamic stylings of Marvel’s most prominent artist, Jack Kirby, and combined with the humor and pathos of Lee’s writing to lay the foundation for what became an enduring mythos.
Amazing Spider-Man #17 FN+ $525
Amazing Spider-Man #23 VF- $379
Amazing Spider-Man 30 CGC 7.5 Off-White to White Pages $295
Story and art by Everett Peck. He’s been up–he’s been down–he’s fallen asleep with the TV on! New, hot from this previous engagement in Dark Horse Presents, the tough duck private dick, stars in his first feature length special. The story wouldn’t be complete without Cornfed, Fluffy, and Uranus hanging around waiting for the next dose of abuse from their feathered “friend.”
The “Dark Phoenix Saga” in 1980 led to a change in the line-up of the team, with the death of Phoenix (Jean Grey), and Cyclops leaving the team to mourn for her. Comics writers and historians Roy Thomas and Peter Sanderson observed that “‘The Dark Phoenix Saga’ is to Claremont and Byrne what ‘the Galactus Trilogy‘ is to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It is a landmark in Marvel history, showcasing its creators’ work at the height of their abilities.” The storyline also saw the introduction of recurring antagonists the Hellfire Club, and its Inner Circle consisting of Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, Harry Leland, Donald Pierce, along with Mastermind, previously a member of Magneto’s Brotherhood. The new teenage mutant Kitty Pryde was introduced in #129 (Jan. 1980) and joined the X-Men in #139. The Dazzler, a disco-singing, roller-skating mutant, was introduced in #130 (Feb. 1980), but did not join the team, instead headlining her own solo title.
A new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, led by Mystique, was introduced in the “Days of Future Past” storyline (#141-#142, Jan–Feb 1981) in which a time-travelling Kitty Pryde tried to avert a dystopian future caused by the Brotherhood assassinating Presidential candidate Senator Robert Kelly. Byrne plotted the story wanting to depict the Sentinels as a genuine threat to the existence of the mutant race. He then left the series after #143, being replaced by a returning Cockrum, who in turn was succeeded by Paul Smith and John Romita Jr.
“What were we doing out here…? What was the meaning of this trip? Did I actually have a big red convertible out there on the street? Was I just roaming around these Mint Hotel escalators in a drug frenzy of some kind, or had I really come out here to Las Vegas to work on a story?” — Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Aquaman, published by DC Comics was created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger. The character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941). Initially a backup feature in DC’s anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title. During the late 1950s and 1960s superhero-revival period known as the Silver Age, he was a founding member of the Justice League of America. In the 1990s Modern Age, Aquaman’s character became more serious than in most previous interpretations, with storylines depicting the weight of his role as king of Atlantis.
Later accounts reconciled both facets of the character, casting Aquaman as serious and brooding, saddled with an ill reputation, and struggling to find a true role and purpose beyond his public side as a deposed king and a fallen hero.
IT IS WINTER IN AMERICA. For over 70 years, he has stood in stalwart defense of our country and its people. But in the aftermath of Hydra’s takeover of the nation, Captain America is a figure of controversy, carrying a tarnished shield…and a new enemy is rising! Who are the Power Elite? And how do they intend to co-opt and corrupt the symbol that is Captain America?
Captain America V9 #3 1:100 Variant CGC 9.8 White Pages $249
King Spawn further expands the Spawn Universe with a growing presence of Hell, Heaven, and Heroes here on Earth.
A classic villain from Spawn’s past has begun asserting his powers on Earth by corrupting as many souls as possible. And only Spawn knows that he even exists. Continuing the dramatic battles from Spawn’s Universe #1.
Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl, recounts his exploits with The Minutemen during the 1940s, while in the midst of his retirement, he faces opposition to the publication of his tell-all autobiography, Under the Hood in the early 1960s. Although it heavily retconned certain characters’ backstories by suggesting that a large part of Under the Hood was dirty lies and cover ups, it debuted to positive reviews.
Marvels is a four-issue limited series comic book written by Kurt Busiek, painted by Alex Ross and edited by Marcus McLaurin, and published by Marvel Comics in 1994. It was collected into a limited edition hardcover signed by both Busiek and Ross (shown below).
Set from 1939 to 1974, the series examines the Marvel Universe, the collective setting of most of Marvel’s superhero series, from the perspective of an Everyman character: news photographer Phil Sheldon. The street-level series portrayed ordinary life in a world full of costumed supermen, with each issue featuring events well known to readers of Marvel comics as well as a variety of minute details and retelling the most famous events in the Marvel universe.
Marvels – Ltd. Ed. Signed and Numbered Hardcover – Sealed NM $99
Little-known and under-appreciated composer Damon Eddington wants to hatch an Alien egg so he can nurture the Alien in captivity and capture its sounds of hatred and pain for the ultimate concert — sounds of rage made from “a mouthful of spears.”
EHT Comics 