As fans of the site will know, I'm a big fan of the Essential Marvel line. Yes, they're black and white, the paper is cheap and they're pretty bare-bones compilations but given each includes about 500 pages of hard-to-find reprints for a very reasonable sub-$20 price, you can see why I like them so much.
Today it's the turn of Volume One of the Essential Peter Parker - The Spectacular Spider-Man.
Launched in 1976, PP:TSSM was one of three on-going Spider-Man comicbooks Marvel produced concurrently (the others being The Amazing Spider-Man and Marvel Team-Up.) As a side note, I actually owned Issue #1 as a child and it was the cover art and memories of Spidey battling The Tarantula that caught my attention...
The stories within - although self-contained - did reference the events of the other Spider-Man publications and although it wasn't vital you read the other titles, it did sometimes leave you with a nagging sense of missing out on something cool, a very smart marketing move on the part of the writers...
What's It All About?
Spider-Man is probably one of the most well-known characters in comicbook history and although I'm sure even non-comic fans are aware of his origins, I'm adopting Stan Lee's advice and writing as if this is your first encounter with the character - so I apologise in advance is this is retreading old ground, but I'll be quick...
When science student Peter Parker is bitten by an irradiated spider, he soon discovers he's inherited a host of spider-based powers: he can cling to walls, has enhanced strength, endurance and agility and now possesses a ''Spider-Sense'' that warns him of impending danger. Initially attempting to use his newfound abilities for his own personal gain, his attitude changes when his refusal to stop a fleeing criminal results in the death of his Uncle Ben. Realising that with his powers come responsibilities, Spider-Man channels his energies into combating the various colourful villains of New York, whilst also attempting to hold-down a job, complete college and maintain a personal life.
Writing
The tone and mood of this collection is a definite product of its times. Unlike the Golden Age heroes, who seemed to exist in their own world, this series deals with issues of racial tensions, prejudice and other political issue. It's much more socially aware than something like, Essential Marvel: The Avengers Volume One and reflects a more underground/''hip'' side of comicdom.
With a writing pool that includes Bill Mantlo, Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, Jim Shooter and Chris Claremont, you know pretty much what to expect: well-told stories, semi-believable dialogue (after all, this is a strip about a guy who has spider-powers) and a few good twists along the way. The plots are pretty standard comic fare - a villain is causing trouble, so it's up to Spidey to step-in. It's all told in the Merry Marvel Manner with plenty of scope for splash pages and great cliff-hangers.
One unfortunate downside is that some of the ''realism'' tends to date the comicbook. The Hypno-Hustler, for example - a villainous disco king who uses his music to mesmerise people and has spiked platform boots - is just one of those ideas that even at the time was probably bad. And some of the ethnic characterisation - whilst never descending to Me So Solly-levels of racism is probably a little off by today's standards. But at the same time, Kudos to the comic for not being a whites-only club.
Characterisation is pretty well established by the time of these comics. Peter's quite and socially awkward, continually worrying about something (be it his Aunt May, his grades or girlfriend Mary Jane) and Spidey's a blabber-mouth (apparently it's all a front to enrage his opponents and throw them off-guard...) The villains are suitably villainous and there's a neat rogue's gallery of bad guys here including The Vulture, The Tarantula, Kraven the Hunter, Lightmaster and more, plus guest appearances from the White Tiger, Moon Knight and Morbius the Living Vampire (even if many are only really token appearances) so if you're a fan of vintage Spider-Man, there's a lot of fun to be had here.
Artwork
The majority of the collection features the work of Sal Buscema. His stuff is very much of the Marvel Mold. That's not to say there's anything wrong with it, but it's not as distinctive as some more modern artists. I personally love his work here, though, as it's Classic Marvel and that's a good thing in my book.
There's also work by Jim Mooney, Mike Zeck, Frank Springer and Frank Miller, all of whom do an admirable job retaining a good ''house'' style for the comic.
The layouts are good and there are - as mentioned - some superb ''So says (insert villain's name)'' splash-pages and cliff-hangers. Yes, it's all done in a fairly standard Marvel way but that's fine, because the Marvel style is pretty neat for stories like this and it all works well.
Final Thoughts
Essential Marvel: Peter Parker - The Spectacular Spider-Man is a blast of a read. If you're looking for something a little more complex than the Commie-bashing Biff Pow of early Iron Man and Avengers comics but don't want the angsty-gloom of Watchmen then this is a great balance between the two. There's enough drama to make it interesting but we still get plenty of battle scenes with interesting villains and Spider-Man frippery to keep it light. Stories are relatively self-contained but - and this is the beauty of the collection - the on-going stories are all here together in one place, so you can be sure to get some sense of resolution at the end. Although it's also so much fun you will be left wanting more.
A highly recommended collection for fans of Spider-Man.
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