The 25th Anniversary of Spider-Man #1

[Mister Mets]

Comics Alliance has an interesting piece on the impact of Spider-Man #1, ahead of the issue's 25th anniversary.

And Spider-Man #1 also marks the moment when a whole new crop of investors (ahem, speculators) seriously made their presence felt in comics, having already wreaked havoc on the baseball card industry. Suddenly, people who weren’t fans saw comics as a license to print money. Dealers began driving up prices, creating absurd demand based on assumptions of desirability, and convincing unsuspecting schmoes that didn’t know Peter Parker from Planet Terry that they should purchase multiple copies of books at a substantial mark-up. Collectors and readers were no longer one and the same.

Spider-Man #1 sold over two million copies upon its release, yet only a few weeks later, people were paying $20 (or more) for copies, and putting them away for a rainy day.

This launch also led to a new level of comic-artist-as-rock-star insanity. Sure, there had been fan-favorite creators in comics for decades — Jim Steranko, Neal Adams, Bill Sienkiewicz, Frank Miller, John Byrne, and so on — but Todd’s Spider-Man elevated the hype above and beyond what anyone had seen before. It created a whole new style of creator-focused marketing that would lead to Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee being given their own X-books. In demonstrating how much of a title’s success could depend on the art alone, Spider-Man #1 paved the way for the high-flash/low-substance “extreme” era of comics that would follow.

It's one of the first Spider-Man comics I ever bought (although I picked it up a few years later) and it introduced me to my favorite Spider-Man villain (the Lizard.)

[Aruran.]

The only positive of that comic was McFarlane's cover.

[Vortex85]

It's been a while since I've read this, but from what I remember, I liked the opening arc for the most part. The aesthetics and mood were interesting, it was kinda dark and dirty, though I remember that the story wasn't particularly strong. But there were some good Peter and MJ dynamics put into it which is always a plus.

[Metamorphosis]

Tread lightly, this is one of Mets' favorite stories.

Interesting article. I remember when this issue came out. I had been following McFarlane's run on ASM, and eagerly anticipated this first issue. I got only one copy of the silver bagged edition (taken out of the bag of course but I still own the issue). I never got sucked up into the speculator side of comics too much.

I didn't and still don't think much of the story (even to the point where I didn't mind a lot when I missed an issue). There were some interesting story beats here, though, that I think got developed better in later arcs like the Hobgoblin / Ghost Rider and Morbius stories that came later in the series.

[Turlast]

This is still by far the worst Spider-Man story I've ever read. I feel dizzy just looking at it.

[Vortex85]

Tread lightly, this is one of Mets' favorite stories.

This is still by far the worst Spider-Man story I've ever read. I feel dizzy just looking at it.

Got out your rainboots... stomped and splashed muddy puddles all over Mets.

[Turlast]

When I finally finished Torment, I told myself that I'd never forgive Mets.

[oldschool]

I thought the story was pretty weak (though not flat-out awful as some do), especially when stretched out over 5 parts as it was. The plot was bad enough but Todd's attempt at narration/dialogue ("His webbing….advantageous!!") was often cringe-worthy.

All in all, this was the epicenter of the 1990's speculator movement as pointed out in the OP; taken with "Bane Breaks Batman's Back", "X-Men #1" and "Death of Superman", this lit the fuse for the bubble growing and then bursting in the comics biz at that time. Unlike those other titles, though, this was a case of Marvel simply caving in to one of the first superstar artists and giving him his way to keep him on board temporarily. In hindsight, Marvel had no other move and it worked out for both parties: Marvel sold a boatload of product and Todd fluffed up his resume with some pretty cool-looking books (remember the "read it sideways" issue?).

[ishikabe]

RIP Mary Jane

[cyberhubbs]

Has it been 25 years already? I don't remember much of the story, but I do recall the crazy demand for the alternate covers. The 90s were wild like that.

[Ozymandias]

I thought the story was pretty weak (though not flat-out awful as some do), especially when stretched out over 5 parts as it was. The plot was bad enough but Todd's attempt at narration/dialogue ("His webbing….advantageous!!") was often cringe-worthy.

"Bad Writing" is subjective.

As you can see, not calling bad writing by its name, becomes an unavoidable temptation. Sooner or later, you'll give into it, rendering you previous aphorism ineffective.

[Darthfury78]

When I finally finished Torment, I told myself that I'd never forgive Mets.

I remember reading McFarlane's initial solo run on Spider-Man. Great artwork; but the story dialog could have been handled by another writer like Chris Claremont...

[Tigereyes]

Terrible story, but it made me perceive Calypso as a formidable villainess. I do miss her.

[Mister Mets]

I thought the story was pretty weak (though not flat-out awful as some do), especially when stretched out over 5 parts as it was. The plot was bad enough but Todd's attempt at narration/dialogue ("His webbing….advantageous!!") was often cringe-worthy.

All in all, this was the epicenter of the 1990's speculator movement as pointed out in the OP; taken with "Bane Breaks Batman's Back", "X-Men #1" and "Death of Superman", this lit the fuse for the bubble growing and then bursting in the comics biz at that time. Unlike those other titles, though, this was a case of Marvel simply caving in to one of the first superstar artists and giving him his way to keep him on board temporarily. In hindsight, Marvel had no other move and it worked out for both parties: Marvel sold a boatload of product and Todd fluffed up his resume with some pretty cool-looking books (remember the "read it sideways" issue?).

The overall story's in my top 50, although not much higher.

It's probably one of the most desperate situations Spider-Man has ever been. The narrative allowed Mcfarlane to cover up some of his shortcomings as a writer, since the story involved a confused and disoriented Spider-Man. The pacing was ahead of its time coming nearly a decade before Ultimate Spider-Man. The art was also excellent.

[JGC]

I still own my 5 copies of this issue:

Regular cover unbagged
Silver cover unbagged
Regular cover bagged
Silver cover bagged
Gold cover

And none are worth the $1000 the comic store owner promised they would be. Oh well...