Spider-Man in 1963
The Flash gets a consistent amount of credit for his rogues gallery, but I may prefer Spider-Man’s. Spider-Man’s evil stable may even give Batman’s crew a run for their money, but it’s a tight contest either way. In the first year of Amazing Spider-Man, we’re introduced to Chameleon, the Vulture, Doc Ock, Sandman, and The Lizard. It’s very episodic, but there’s a strong thread of character development throughout. The cast is also quickly growing, with several classmates, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, etc.
Effectively, it feels as if the series dropped into the market relatively fully formed. Character dynamics are already structured in ways that I didn’t see in early Iron Man or X-Men, for example.
I am not a giant acolyte of Steve Ditko’s art here, but it’s effective and it fits well enough. One of the common statements I’ve read is that Kirby would have been terrible for this book. I suppose I can agree. Ditko can draw mundane quite effectively, which is the angle here. It’s drawn like a teen book at this stage. Parker is homely and weak, and Kirby would not have gone that route in an effective manner. But then again, has Peter Parker been that way in the last several decades?
I recognize that not bowing to the altar of Ditko is sacrilege among comics readers, but it is what it is.
Anyway, the first year of Spider-Man was a rousing success. I can absolutely believe that this series overtook Fantastic Four as Marvel’s flagship series. Check out this summary of comic sales for the early 70s, with SM and FF as a solid 1/2 combo. But is Spider-Man better than Fantastic Four, year by year? Thinking ahead, I don’t know that any single issue of Spider-man rivaled those Galactus/ Silver Surfer issues, specifically looking at the 1960s issues.
Ah well, what else is there to say here about Spider-Man’s launch that hasn’t been said better by others, and decades earlier? We have a social outcast, a high school student, as the new comics standard bearer. Peter Parker is certainly no Superman, or even Clark Kent.
