A rarely seen chapter in Spider-Man’s storied career will soon be returning to print in a gorgeous new collected edition. Marvel’s flagship character, Spider-Man, is a comic book icon, inspiring generations of fans through numerous comics, cartoons and movies. Spider-Man is known the world over, but there are certain parts of his story that remain largely unknown.
Spider-Man has been published in comic book form continuously since his first appearance in the landmark Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962, and beginning in 1977, he branched out into newspaper comic sections as well. According to legend, Stan Lee had tried to get a Spider-Man strip off the ground for years, and he finally realized this dream on January 3, 1977. On that day, The Amazing Spider-Man premiered, written by Lee and drawn by the legendary John Romita Sr. Romita would stick around for four years, and was followed by a rotating roster of artists, before Larry Leiber took over in the 1980s.
The Amazing Spider-Man strip ran until 2019. Stan Lee was still credited for writing the strips, and the comic went into reruns when he passed. Despite the longevity of The Amazing Spider-Man, it is not regularly discussed, and collections are hard to find. Now, Clover Press is launching a Kickstarter campaign to bring these strips to a new generation of readers, and ScreenRant is pleased to bring fans a first look.
Clover Press Is Bringing Spider-Man’s Daily Comic Adventures Back Into Print
Clover’s Edition Reprints a Pivotal Chapter in The Amazing Spider-Man Strip
Clover Press launched a Kickstarter campaign for The Amazing Spider-Man Classic Newspaper Comics: 1981-1984. This volume is a follow-up to last year’s collection, also by Clover Press, which brought together the strip’s first four years. For some Spider-Man fans, this collection was revelatory, throwing up a seemingly lost chapter in the Wall Crawler’s history.
Clover Press has provided ScreenRant with preview pages from the book, shared here. The pages encompass both the black and white daily strips, as well as the full-color ones, which appeared on the weekends. In them, Spider-Man attempts to defuse a bomb and has a bout with amnesia. Classic Spider-Man characters, such as Mary Jane Watson, also put in an appearance.
Spider-Man’s Newspaper Comic Held the Line for Adventure Strips
Once, adventure strips were an integral part of newspapers. Titles such as Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and Dick Tracy fired up the imaginations of readers, and launched pop culture franchises that continue to this day. These adventure strips actually predate the beginning of the Golden Age of Comics. Many early comic books were reprints of strips, and these adventure characters appeared there as well. It is not a stretch to see some of these strips as harbingers of what was around the corner.
Spider-Man’s newspaper comic adventures take place on Earth-77013.
Yet, along the way, these adventure strips faded in popularity. The Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strips bucked this trend, providing good old-fashioned escapism and adventure to readers. What is even more incredible is that The Amazing Spider-Man ran a whooping 42 years, only ending with Stan Lee’s death. While adventure strips still exist, they are nowhere near as popular as they were. The Amazing Spider-Man’s historic run demonstrated there is still a market for them.
Spider-Man’s Adventure Strip Deserves the Red Carpet Treatment
Unfortunately, the early years of The Amazing Spider-Man were extremely hard to find in collected format. This lack of access is perhaps the reason the strips are not discussed in fan circles as much as they should be, and Clover Press is looking to rectify that. Top-tier talent worked on the strip, and it deserves to be remembered as integral to Spider-Man history as any of his movies or cartoons.