SPIDER-MAN
NEWSPAPER STRIPS VOL. 1
(Marvel, First Printing, 2014;
Softcover)
Collects
the Spider-Man
newspaper strips from January 3, 1977- January 28, 1979
Writer:
Stan Lee
Artist:
John Romita, Sr.
The
road to this book has been long and bumpy. First we had the old
Ballantine Books The Best Of Spider-Man from 1986, which
cherry picked arcs. I had a copy of it but dumped it on eBay when
there were rumblings of a Marvel hardcover collection several years
ago. I didn't end up buying those for two reasons: One, they were
presented in standard trim size and you had to flip it sideways to
read it, and Two because the Sunday strips were presented in black
and white. While the latter was not a deal breaker in and of itself
it pushed the needle to pass. So I gladly picked this up once initial
online reports were favorable. Of course Marvel has since partnered
with IDW's Library of American Comics imprint to rerelease this in a
properly formatted hardcover, which I bought a few weeks ago for
reasons that science has yet to come up with a term for.
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This
strip is set in separate continuity from the main comics, although
the characterizations ring true while some scenarios are altered for
the late 1970s instead of the 1960s. Cultural reference points of the
day abound (Star Wars, John Travolta, Disco, etc.), adding to
the fun factor. Eventually comic book continuity is thrown out the
window entirely.
Things
start out with this playing out like a straight up superhero strip,
with Spider-Man battling Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, a new villain,
the Rattler, and the Kingpin before breaking for a retelling of
Spider-Man's origin. From there the continuity relating to the comic
is completely disregarded with Kraven The Hunter and Mysterio. Stan
Lee begins inserting more and more of Peter Parker's personal life
into the strip, as the soap opera element works well for a daily
strip. This leads us into a “ripped from today's headlines!” type
tale where Peter falls in love with the daughter of a terrorist.
Another real world flavored strip deals with some local street hoods.
Then Spider-Man has to deal with a blackmailer who discovers his
secret identity. There are lots of great moments here, as Lee's
writing is at it's melodramatic best while Romita's artwork is as
rock solid as ever. A great pair of creators who, for my money, have
done work that few have matched.
As
mad as I am at myself for purchasing this material again in
hardcover, at least I bought great material again as opposed to crap.
You might ask yourself why I am reviewing this softcover when I have
the hardcover. I started reading this before the hardcover came out
because I wanted to be sure that it was worth another dip, and it is.
Plus I cannot dump unread books on eBay. I tend to prune my
collection several times a year, keeping it at a svelte 1100 books,
and I refuse to dump something that I haven't read yet...even if it
is a double dip.
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 4.75 out of 5.
The
OCD zone-
This is the most unique Marvel trade paperback in terms of
dimensions. It is shorter and wider than their standard books, being
presented in landscape format to better accommodate the material.
Linework
and Color restoration: The Sunday strips have full blown
restoration and look great. Many of these strips are sourced from
original art and film which is in good shape. A handful of these
strips are from visibly inferior sources, likely scanned from
newspapers. The drop in quality when those strips pop in is painfully
apparent. Fortunately there are few of them. I did a side by side
comparison with this and the IDW book, and while IDW used Marvel's
Sunday restoration they also found better sources for a handful of
the effected strips. Not all of them, but many of them are superior
to this book.
Paper
stock:
Matte coated stock of sufficient thickness and weight. This is the
same stock found in the softcover Marvel
Masterworks
and Epic
line books.
Binding:
Perfect bound trade paperback.
Cardstock
cover notes:
Laminated cardstock cover.
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