Spider-Man Magazine #1

Spider-man Magazine #1

Back in 2008 I saw this magazine on the magazine rack in town. Flipped through it and saw that it reprinted 4 comics,plus had a poster and some pin ups. Well the cover price was $5.99. And with comics at the time costing at least $3 an issue figured this was a good deal. Well all four stories are reprints.But I had never read three of them before.

The first story is from Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #1.Written by Kitty Ross and pencils by Patrick Scherbeger. It is another retelling of Spideys origin. The artwork is nicely done. And the story ,while being something I have read before,is decent.

The second story is from Amazing Fantasy #15. Which is of course the first appearance and origin of Spider-Man. Written by Stan Lee and artwork by the amazing comic legend Steve Ditko. Kind of surprises me that they put two tellings of the origin story in the same issue. But it is great to see this story again. Plus since it is magazine sized the artwork is bigger than I have ever seen it before. Near the end of the story where for the only time that I know of you can see Spidey's pupils through his mask is still shocking after all this years.

The third story is reprinted from Spider-Man and Power Pack #1. Written by Marc Sumerak and art by Gurihiru. We start off with the Power Pack kids having just moved to New York City. And while out on patrol they run into Spidey. Together they fight off Sandman. Well before he leaves,Jack Power gives Spidey his business card. A few pages later Spidey is fighting the Vulture in some cosmetic factory. And Spidey gets knocked into some vat of chemicals. This causes Spidey to become a 10 year old  kid. So at the end of the story we see Spidey going to meet up with the Power Pack kids. Fun story,I have always enjoyed Power Pack. And adding Spidey to the mix makes it even better.

The final story is reprinted from Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #1. Written by Jeff Parker with pencils by Mike Wieringo. We start off with Spidey running into who he thinks it the Silver Surfer. But it turns out to be The Impossible Man. It seems Impossible Man has come to Earth to warn the Fantastic Four about a alien invasion. Well Reed and Sue of the FF are off on a vacation with their two kids. So it is up to Spidey, Human Torch and the Thing to handle this invasion. The invading aliens want to take over human kind. Kind of like how the Borg works in Star Trek. Nice story that really just gets going before it ends.

Besides the four stories you get a hand full of pinups. Plus a poster and some games. Overall for the price it is a great bargain. Spider-Man Magazine #1 gets a A.

Comics that are magazines/Magazines that are comics

Starting back in the 60's Warren publishing came up with a great idea. Thanks to the Comic code authority it was next to impossible to publish horror comics. But magazines weren't under the CCA so a comic that was magazine sized would work. So they started out with Eerie and Creepy. Both of these were huge hits so they added more. Vampirella is one that most comic fans remember. But Warren also did the sci fi based 1984/1994. And The Rook,which was about a time traveller. Well in the 70's Marvel jumped on board. And published stuff like Savage Sword of Conan,Deadly Hands of Kung Fu,Haunt of Terror,Dracula Lives,and Vampire tales. One thing all these mags had in common was they all had amazing black and white artwork. Now I was a little kid when the hey day of all these b/w comic mags were coming out. So besides a few issues of Creepy,Eerie and Savage Sword of Conan,I didn't read any of them. But a few years back I got interested in them and started collecting them. Sadly most comic shops don't have any. I bet it cause of the odd size. And when you do find them online they can be pricey. But over the next week or so I will be reviewing the ones I have. Plus talking about the color ones Marvel started doing back in 2008.