Birth of a Legend
The origins of the teenager who broke the super hero mold
When Stan Lee first pitched the idea of Spider-Man in 1962, his boss was full of objections: People hate spiders. Teenagers aren’t lead characters. But Stan persisted and Martin Goodman let him give the unlikely hero a tryout in Amazing Fantasy, which was already slated for cancellation. With Spider-Man on the cover, No. 15 shot to the top of Marvel’s best-seller list, and the rest is history.
Amazing Spider-Man, which debuted seven months later, broke the comics mold. Peter Parker lived in uncool Queens, was always broke, and was unlucky in love. Much of the credit for Spider-Man’s greatness goes to cocreator and artist Steve Ditko, who had a knack for portraying teenagers and their problems. His artwork infused Spider-Man with a loose-limbed energy, and Ditko made swinging through New York seem like the coolest adventure ever.
First available as an XXL-sized collector’s dream, this compact edition features the first 21 stories of the world’s favorite web slinger from 1962–1964. Rather than recolor the original artwork, TASCHEN has attempted to create an ideal representation of these books as they were produced at the time. Each page has been photographed as printed more than half a century ago, then digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques—as if hot off a world-class 1960s printing press.
With an in-depth historical essay by Marvel editor Ralph Macchio, an introduction by uber-collector David Mandel, and original art, rare photographs, and other gems, this robust collection of wall-crawling wonder will make anyone’s spider-sense tingle with anticipation.
© 2024 MARVEL
The artists
Steve Ditko (1927–2018) made his name as the artist and cocreator, with Stan Lee, of Spider-Man and as creator of Doctor Strange, securing his legacy as a consummate storyteller and a key figure of the Marvel Age.
Stan Lee (1922–2018) is known to millions as the man whose super heroes propelled Marvel to its preeminent position. His cocreations include Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and Iron Man.
The author
Ralph Macchio is a longtime Marvel Comics writer and editor. He has written stories for The Avengers, Doctor Strange, and Marvel Two-in-One.
The contributing author
David Mandel is the Emmy-winning showrunner of Veep. He coauthored Star Wars Art: Ralph McQuarrie and collects original comic book art.
