Jack Kirby's Spider-Man! WEBHEAD Like You've NEVER Seen Him Before!

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[@timothymarkin4481]

I first read this issue when it was reprinted in the back of Giant Size Spider-Man 1 (1974), which teamed up Spidey and Dracula. Jonah Jameson published Now Magazine in Amazing Spider-Man 2, which was why Peter Parker went looking for a job as a photographer (after Aunt May gave him Uncle Ben’s camera). And Kirby may well have inked the cover; notice that for the most part, Ditko’s inking keeps Jack’s version of Spidey on-model. And the ad for the July 63 dated Sgt Fury 2 along with an ad for Avengers 1 and Spidey’s first monthly issue (ASM 4), both dated Sept 63, puts this publication date around Aug 64; thus, it’s really Spidey’s fifth appearance after AF 15 and ASM 1-3.

[@rodcarpenter6929]

Just looked this up on the Grand Comics Database - it's surprisingly hard to find, even in reprints. Great choice to showcase!

[@donaldpriola1807]

This wasn't Kirby's strength, but his interpretations are always fascinating. He was also producing so much at the time, you can tell in the quality.

[@rtflone]

I haven't watched the video all the way thru and no one seems to have addressed your question about the inker in the first 100 or so comments so pls forgive me if I'm duplicating what someone else has already said. If I still had the original issue bought by me as a 7th grader in 1962/63 I could just open it say authoritatively but I don't thanks to me dear old mum who decided to tidy up my room and my adolescence by throwing out my entire (perfect condition) Marvel comic collection in 1962 to 1967 when I went off to college. This has traumatized me for the past 50+ yrs but I survived a feat I never thought possible. Back to the subject at hand. The best info I found came from Back to The Past Collectibles and goes as follows: "The cover is drawn by Jack “King” Kirby, with the inks likely done by Sol Brodsky. At one time it was thought the inks were either by (Steve) Ditko or possibly (Dick) Ayers, but both gentlemen have denied that it is their work". Spider-Man was never Kirby's best effort (X-Men imho was Kirby's best) or even close to the genius Ditko brought to Spidey. Spidey was Ditko and vice versa. I hated when Ditko left Marvel. Even as a kid I thought Lee was stupid for letting him go. Ditko was by most accounts a bit odd and a very private fellow. He has said he felt under-appreciated and that's why he left. Alas, life is life and business is business so c'est la vie. Sorry for rambling on. Thank you for providing an old Marvel comics git like me a forum in which to do so..

[@ThatJohnKillion1970]

Looks like Peter was bulking up on Aunt May's wheat cakes.

[@raphaelcurley]

Next do the Kirby Spider-Man in FF Annual #1, it continues the fight from Spider-Man #1 you did a few weeks back.

[@burntendzcomics]

Maybe Sol Brodsky on inks?

[@scorpiosteele1230]

Brodsky inked the cover, Ditko inked the interior.

[@dwaynemuth8775]

Strange Tales Torch stories always had lame/silly villains! I have the FF ,A-Z and I can spot these goof balls every time! Great piece of early Marvel! Definitely keep making and reading comics!

[@timcolivet7343]

Such a cool comic!! You're right that a reprint wouldn't cut it the news print gives it a really cool look.

[@alexbraun3595]

I always felt like Kirby could never nail a good Spider-Man, other than the Amazing Fantasy 15 cover. Outside of that, it was a very odd version of Spider-Man.

[@odog3964]

Even with that cover ditko saved it w/ his inks, all hail the king tho

[@cheddarcheese7928]

Great book!.On my top 3 want lists for months!..So early that no spider symbol on his chest on the cover.Classic!

[@MoolbniBrie]

3:30 Awwww. That's sweet. Even though Jim isn't in this one, he's still doing the shills. That's a great way to keep him included. Edit: Also sweet job getting the Amazon mid-roll. I'm proud of all of you.

[@MoonGluedStudios]

Great video... now let's see a Kirby Batman!!

[@russworks2882]

He did draw Batman in the Super Powers series, which Tom revived not too long ago.

[@davidedwards2109]

It was reprinted in Giant Size Spider-man 1 (team up with Dracula was the main story)

[@marcbaker3947]

What a great looking comic! The bit with Johnny’s car brought to mind that awesome Allred Spider-man issue. Feels like he was looking right at this book while was drawing his one.

[@russworks2882]

If they were going to use DC tropes, they could've done a team-up of characters like Doc Ock and the Wizard rather than the lame villain they came up with. Kirby was stretched pretty thin, I guess. Compare this with the epic Fantastic Four Annual on sale at the same time, where the fate of civilization is at stake and New York has an Atlantean invasion. The Strange Tales version of the Torch was indeed pretty weak sauce for such a visually striking character. One of the early scripters for the series was credited as Joe Carter; his real name was Jerry Siegel.

[@shidiwen9329]

GCDB has the cover inker as Brodsky

[@josephthunderhorse6731]

Kirby Spiderman wasn't as wiry as Ditkos ...a bulky Spiderman ...is a bit like an obese ballerina...that being said...Kirby made Thor... Hulk...and the F.F. a pure pleasure...loved you Mr, Kirby...you too Mr. Ditko

[@MtHockey]

I have this book in probably in a 4.0 to a 4.5. I acquired it as a kid in the 60's. I believe that it is the 4th appearance of Spider-Man. The wiry skinny teenager Ditko style of Spider-Man never really fit the Kirby drawing style. I have always wondered if Kirby disrespected the character since Stan Lee turned down his rendition of Spider-Man, or if Kirby was just so busy and did not take the characters that seriously to try to be true to the looks of the character. Even in what I called Kirby's high period in the later 60's, Kirby still would often not bother to draw Spider-Man's web designs correctly on his suit.

[@thequietrevolution3404]

There's actually a Marvel Masterworks featuring the Human Torch that reprints this story. Not certain if it's still available though.

[@kschacherer92]

not the first to point this out but these eps with tom have been a treat. miss jim tho!

[@michaelhughes8057]

I think Kirby also did the Inks on the cover, as well as the pencils. Also, Kirby did the pencils on the inside of the comic, and Steve Ditko, did the inks. I thought Kirby was a good Spider-man artist, but not as good as Ditko, John Romita, Sr. And Gil Kane. Also this story was reprinted at least 2 more times. In the Marvel Essentials Silver Age Human Torch stories, and The Marvel Masterworks Books which reprinted the Silver Age Human Torch Comics.

[@ditkirbo]

The Essential FF Vol 1 has a bad b&w scan of this story from color print.

[@BigBennKlingon]

The entire run of Human Torch Strange Tales had a sort of DC or "off brand" feel to them, IMHO.

[@bunyonsnipe2792]

There at=re lots of fictional characters who don't wear masks who the general public only know by their 'callsign' Invisible Girl/Woman, Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, The Thing and in the case of The Thunderbirds IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4, IR5 and IR6.

[@smokydogy]

Consider me a new fan, ive been really into Jack Kirby lately!!

[@randalwung8715]

Someone’s already brought this up in the comments, but in The Jack Kirby Collector #70 there’s an article called “Spider-Man: The Case for Kirby” by Stan Taylor. It is, no pun intended, “amazing.” Like everyone else, I thought that Jack had submitted his recycled Fly proposal and decades later, due to his sometimes spotty memory and the defensiveness engendered by his Marvel lawsuit, had “exaggerated” his contributions. In lawyer-like fashion, however, Taylor ignored the often conflicting accounts given by Lee, Kirby, and Ditko on who did what, and focused on researching the comics they’d done BEFORE Amazing Fantasy #15, looking for superpowers, character traits, story elements, etc. that were similar to Spider-Man’s. The shocking conclusion he wasn't expecting? The creator whose stories-BY FAR-display the greatest number of similarities to not only the first Spider-Man story but his first SEVERAL stories…is JACK KIRBY. Coincidentally, I ordered the Kirby Monsterbus after reading the article and stumbled across the story “The Bully Boy” from Tales to Astonish #32, which came out two months before the wall-crawler's debut. It stars a puny, picked-on freshman who’s basically a Kirbyfied PETER PARKER, one of the bullies is a blond-haired jock who looks an awful lot like FLASH THOMPSON, and the freshman is whipped into superhero shape by a talking, flying computer suspiciously similar to the LIVING BRAIN. Oh, and after the bullied freshman trounces his tormenters, he becomes a bully himself, refusing to use his newfound power “responsibly.” Hmmmm…

[@reprintranch]

When I first read a reprint of the Kirby-penciled Rawhide Kid issue 17 from 1960 (via Essential Rawhide Kid Vol. 1, which collects all the Kirby issues of the title), I was knocked out by the parallels to the Spider-Man origin story -- a physically unimposing teenage boy is raised by his Uncle Ben, who's shot to death by an intruder, causing the teenage boy to vow he'll use his amazing abilities to pursue justice. By the way, that Essential book is a fun read, containing oodles of rollicking Kirby-penciled fistfights and shoot-outs that clearly demonstrate Jolly Jack's dynamism and ability to make action jump right off the page. The volume also contains stories illustrated by Don Heck (whose Western artwork is somehow more pleasing to me than his super-hero work), Paul Reinman (who's best known for inking some early Kirby super-hero efforts, notably Incredible Hulk issue 1 and Uncanny X-Men issue 1) and Jack Davis, some of his last work in four-color comics before he turned his attention completely to magazine illustrations, movie posters, advertising art and other, more lucrative forms of media.

[@randalwung8715]

@@reprintranch Never really cared for Western comics, but I make an exception with Jack’s stuff because that Rawhide collection is da BOMB! Basically a superhero comic with a dude whose power is crazy gunslinging. And you are so right about the the Kid’s origin mirroring Spider-Man’s. That article I mentioned points out many things like that; Kirby being a guy who constantly recycled ideas that worked, while Stan and Steve did stuff in those early Spider-Mans that, really, were kind of out of the norm for them. And you’re probably right about Heck’s work being better in those Westerns. He admitted superheroes were never his bag, but his forte, if I recall, was romance comics-I think Jack had him and Romita in mind for a line of DC romance comics that never happened. The Jack Davis stuff was a surprise. I know the old EC crew did work here and there for Atlas, but the Rawhide Kid? Wow. Sadly, no one could fill the King’s shoes, and it’s clear that what would become Marvel-style action was not in Davis’s wheelhouse, but it’s cool to see nonetheless. Finally, reading or rereading the late ‘50s, early ‘60s pre-superhero stories has really hit home for me how Kirby was doing the same stories, just with different outfits and monsters instead of supervillains.

[@sonic31century1]

@@randalwung8715 In the 1970's Marvel reprinted in their horror comics a huge amount of 1950's monster comics by Kirby. There were many Reed Richards scientist characters that saved the earth from various alien invasions. Kirby drew Reed Richards as differently named characters over and over for years before Fantastic Four #1.

[@randalwung8715]

@@sonic31century1 Those reprint books were my introduction to comics, and when I reread them in those Kirby Monsterbuses I was amazed at how the early superhero stuff was just a continuation and recycling of those same stories and characters. And forget about Spider-Man-what was Dr. Strange at first except a retooled Dr. Droom with Ditko drawing it?

[@losfeliz3421]

Ayeeeee

[@stevenblack3661]

As an old time comic fan, and an artist myself, I can say with almost certanty the inker was neither Ditko or Chic Stone. If had to put money on it probably was Dick Ayers inking.

[@dsorr4963]

I have the Giant Size Spider-man 1, and the bottom of the first page states it was Inked by Ditko. You can kind of see the credits in the pink boxes at the bottom of the first page in this video.