This has to be the oddest announcement of a title's cancellation. As you can see, the cover asks "Is this the end of Spider-Man Comics Magazine?"
Well, nowhere on the inside does it say whether it was or not(it was), so what's the with coyness? What a way to leave a reader hanging!
The final collection of Lee/Romita ASM tales are:
"Beware...The Black Widow!", "Unmasked At Last!", and "The Reprehensible Riddle of the Sorcerer", which was the debut of Ross Andru as the new Spidey artist!
Also included is the Black Widow entry from the Handbook, courtesy Frank Miller.
...and that was it. No announcement, no goodbye, nothin'. Marvel tried the digest experiment with Spidey and a few licensed properties(which we'll talk about tomorrow), and then they, like DC, packed it in.
Quite possibly Flexographic's worst issue--the coloring is all over the place, as if someone kept bumping the machine. Oy. Since this is a special issue, the horrible printing hurts even worse.
This time Marvel chose to reprint the extra-long story from The Spectacular Spider-Man #2, their brief attempt at a Spidey magazine, instead of consecutive ASM issues. Why, who knows, but it was a nice treat since so few people ever saw the original from 1968.
...there's also Green Goblin's listing from The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe. Too bad they couldn't find room for the original cover, which was a painting based on Romita's cover.
Never, but never, have Flexographic try to print a story featuring lots of snowflakes.
The Lee/Romita issues of Amazing Spider-Man included are: "The Schemer!"(featuring one of Romita's best splash pages, where the bad guy incorporates the story title into his speech), "The Kingpin Strikes Back!", and "The Secret of the Schemer"
...the little bonus this issue is the Kingpin listing from The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe, featuring David Mazzucchelli's imposing take.
Flexographic was having a bad day this went to press. Nothing like big pink splotches on Spidey!
The Lee/Romita issues of Amazing Spider-Man included are:"On The Trail of the Chameleon", "The Coming of the Kangaroo!", and "Then Came Electro!"
...and instead of reprinting one of the original ASM covers they occasionally did, Marvel reprints the cover of Marvel Tales #63, which first reprinted the Electro story. Sure, the MT cover by Romita was a new one, but now Marvel is reprinting reprint titles?
What's with that Attention: Retailers blurb? I've seen it before and never understood why it needed to printed right on the comic. Can't they send a separate single piece of paper or something? Hey, Marvel, leave me out of the business--I just want to read my Lee/Romita Spider-Mans in peace!
The Lee/Romita issues of Amazing Spider-Man included are: "In The Blaze of Battle!", "The Night of the Prowler!", and "To Prowl No More!"(gee, that was fast)
I always thought the Prowler was a neat villain--not a bad gimmick and a really cool costume. Too bad he never quite made it to the Hall of Fame of Spidey villains.
More classic Spidey adventures. Flexographic was little more on their game this issue.
The Lee/Romita issues of Amazing Spider-Man included are: "If This Be Bedlam!", "Death Without Warning!". and "The Lizard Lives!"
The Daily Bugle is back for this issue, and an ad for the Rocky & Bullwinkle comic Marvel was starting up. Man, anyone remember that?
More classic Spidey adventures. Somehow the colors are even brighter this issue, requiring sunglasses to read it. Is there something higher than 100% red?
The Lee/Romita issues of ASM included are: "The Speedster and the Spider", "Rocked by The Shocker"(which I believe was a Scorpions album title), and "The Web Closes"
Am I the only one who thinks Arnold Schwarzenegger should play Man Mountain Marko in Spider-Man 4?
More classic Spidey adventures. I'd say on the Flexographic scale, this issue's an 5--I gave a copy of this to my nephew when he was in his Spidey phase, and when I saw him next he complained, "Uncle Bob, I couldn't read it!"
The Lee/Romita issues of Amazing Spider-Man included are: "Crisis on the Campus", "Mission: Crush the Kingpin", and "Spider-Man Wanted."
...love that cover, though. Kingpin has never looked so massive.
More classic Spidey adventures. I'd say on the Flexographic scale, this issue's an 8. Keep reaching for the stars!
The Lee/Romita issues of Amazing Spider-Man included are: "The Impossible Escape"(a classic among classics), "The Madness of Mysterio", and "To Squash a Spider!"
...after getting rid of the Daily Bugle feature last issue, Marvel now eliminates the table of contents page, too. I guess they needed space for more Transformers ads!
More classic Spidey adventures. I'd say on the Flexographic scale, 1 being unreadable and 10 being acceptable(which was the best they could achieve), I give this issue a 6.
The Lee/Romita issues of Amazing Spider-Man included are: "Make Way For Medusa", "Wings in the Night", and "The Vulture's Prey."
...it seems the Daily Bugles are gone for good, replaced by ads. *sigh*
Ok, after one good issue with Flexographic printing, this issue is a classic example of everything that was wrong with the process: splotchy colors, dropped lines, and, as always, the eye-gouging colors. Unfortunately, Marvel would stick with Flexographic printing for the remainder of the series, dooming an entire readership to a future of corrective-lense wearing.
The Lee/Romita issues of Amazing Spider-Man included are: "The Brand of the Brainwasher", "O, Bitter Victory", and "What A Tangled Web We Weave"
...there's not even that Daily Bugle page included, instead we get a Kingpin-up(ha!) that's just a shot of him lifted from a cover. I'm losing faith here, Marvel!
Marvel must have gotten a look at the first issue of SMCM, and was as unhappy with the printing as the readers must have been. So with this issue they went the with the dreaded Flexographic printing process--Good Lord! *Choke!*
Actually, other than the garish colors, the effect isn't too bad--there aren't too many weird glitches and the lines now are much sharper and clearer than the first issue.
The Lee/Romita issues of Amazing Spider-Man included are: "The Tentacles and the Trap", "Doc Ock Wins", and "Disaster"
...after a shaky first issue, Spider-Man Comics Magazine is on track!
Right after DC had given up on the digests, Marvel decided to give it a go. Since Dennis the Menace wasn't quite able to jumpstart a line of digests, Marvel wisely went to their biggest star--Spider-Man!
This first volume reprints three classic Lee/Romita issues of Amazing Spider-Man:
"In the Clutches of the Kingpin" (ASM #51), "To Die A Hero" (ASM #52), and "Enter: Dr.Octopus" (ASM #53)
...I wondered why Marvel was running these sequential stories when they were already doing it in Marvel Tales, then Digest Fan(still gotta work on that) Chris Franklin pointed out this was when MT made the switchover from reprinting the Lee/Romita stories to issues of Marvel Team-Up, so presumably Marvel thought they could just continue them here.
Fine idea, the only problem being the printing in these books is atrocious--the printing is so light in some place its impossible to read the words, and a lot of the coloring is faint and blotched out. And unfortunately, things would only get worse.
This issue also comes with a cute Daily Bugle page, giving you brief rundowns of what's going on in all the Spidey titles.
A shaky start.
