Petition to have JM DeMatteis & Sal Buscema's Spider-Man run collected

[TomSlick]

Why are guys crying about an online petition. Its not like you have to walk up a hill to sign it. Jesus Christ.

I signed days ago.

Holy shit this was funny. Almost literally spit out my drink reading it. Sign it or don't but why complain. Ha ha.

[Judge Dredd]

I did sign the petition also, no disrespect meant to anyone.

[arosenbarger]

Holy shit this was funny. Almost literally spit out my drink reading it. Sign it or don't but why complain. Ha ha.

Because some folks have go 50 miles uphill both ways, in freezing snow, to sign and share an online petition.

Really, though, I'm grateful for the support. Creators, including those listed, have given their support to the effort, the numbers in the petition have increased while our base expands. Thank you!

[arosenbarger]

I got into contact with Sal Buscema's rep. Al, Sal's rep, is checking with Sal to see if he'll sign my custom bind and approve of our mapping.

Does anyone have contacts we could reach to help us by running this story?

Currently signatures for the petition are leveling off - and despite writing letters to Marvel corporate, to Jennifer Gruenwald, Jeff Blomquist, Tom Brevoort, emailing, and Tweeting - we need to reach a greater audience to continue.

I know this is a long shot, but if you could find any way to help us, I would greatly appreciate your help.

Thank you and take care,
Andrew


How Creators were contacted:
JM DeMatteis - East Coast Comic Con, Facebook, & Twitter
Ann Nocenti - ECCC & FB
Jim Salicrup - ECCC
Danny Fingeroth - ECCC & Twitter
Mike Zeck - via email, ECCC
Sal's rep - by email
Gerry Conway - Twitter

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/...bus-collection

[Judge Dredd]

Send emails to comic news sites with info CBR, Newsarama, or Bleeding Cool

[arosenbarger]

I am passionate about this run, wishing for this run to be collected. As another fan privately pointed out – I expressed WHAT content I would love to collect, but I never expressed WHY.

I’d like to take a moment and express my reasoning for collecting this run in the manner that I have presented.
JM DeMatteis is a highly acclaimed Spider-Man writer, with Kraven’s Last Hunt never being out of print. JM DeMatteis wrote several disjointed runs of Spider-Man and contributed the second chapter signature 90s material. Most of DeMatteis’ runs have been collected – in Kraven’s Last Hunt, Maximum Carnage, and the Clone Saga, however the bulk of his single run in Spectacular Spider-Man, largely dealing with the tragic madness of Harry Osborn, remains uncollected.

I would very much like to see a collected edition of Mr. DeMatteis’ Spectacular Spider-Man run, but I believe since the bulk of the material addresses the Harry Osborn Saga – the collection would be hard to organize – both in what fans desire and I believe would be difficult for Marvel to collect – as where is the line drawn? I would imagine my request is on par with an X-Men fan asking “hey, Marvel, are we ever going to get an omnibus that tells Wolverine’s backstory?” There are snippets of story and information throughout the decades…collecting this story, would be a headache.

I wish to communicate what I believe to be my solution for collection such a story and address questions other fans may have organizing such material. I’d like to address as a fan and logistically.

AS A FAN

As a fan – Harry Osborn’s descent into madness is a fantastic read. Events from the Day Gwen Stacy Died had effects ripping through Spider-Man’s life for decades. As a reader – you get to see Green Goblin is a much scarier villain dead, as a legacy, than alive and threatening the world. Much in the way an abusive alcoholic’s immediate actions will effect their family through generations. Norman Osborn’s legacy provided inspiration for years following – including the MC2 universe.

Unfortunately, since One More Day retconned Harry Osborn’s death, I fear this story many never be released.

LOGISTICALLY

Organizing this read will be a pain. Like I said asking for this collection is difficult as the story is on par with Wolverine discovering his identity.

Here is my proposal – collect the material important to the Harry Osborn Saga, not a COMPLETE SPIDER -MAN by JM DEMATTEIS otherwise the collection would be too large, with a large section of the collection only including story fragments – ie Maximum Carnage, Clone Saga, etc., whereas JM DeMatteis wrote only the SECOND chapter of the cross over books. Including his return to Spectacular would be too tacked on.

Here is my Proposed Omnibus Mapping Detail

Table of Contents - List each issue in the collection, IE Amazing Spider-Man #, writer & artist name, then release date. Text is set against Amazing Spider-Man 136 and Spectacular Spider-Man 183 as background images (images chosen were my personal choice.

SUMMARY INSERT – use the PREVIOUSLY insert, summarizing Harry Osborn’s struggle, that was included in Son of the Goblin TBP.

Amazing Spider-Man 136, 137

SUMMARY INSERT – Include a new summary page, “but the past was not finished with Harry Osborn and shadows from his father’s legacy continued to creep into his life. Amoral billionaire fashion designer Roderick Kingsley becomes obsessed with Norman Osborn, the original Green Goblin, after discovering locations of his various hideouts becoming the Hobgoblin. Wanting more of the Green Goblin’s secret, Hobgoblin sought out Harry. Harry drove off Hobgoblin on more than one occasion, but left the Green Goblin in the back of his mind – possibly as a champion of good.” insert material from Amazing Spider-Man 259-261. Panels would be mixed in with summary text, much like the SotG trade summary.

Amazing Spider-Man 316

Web of Spider-Man 66-68

SUMMARY INSERT – Include a new summary page, “When Hell on Earth literally broke out in New York, Harry felt his own demons come back to the surface.” Gerry Conway addressed Harry in various issues of Spectacular Spider-Man, namely during Inferno. These moments are single panels, not full issues. These panels would be mixed in with summary text, much like the SotG trade summary.

Spectacular Spider-Man #178-200

INSERT – BLACK PAGE. Harry Osborn dies on the last page of Spectacular Spider-Man 200. Include a black, blank page allowing the reader for a moment to digest.

SUMMARY INSERT – “Although Harry and Peter reconciled, the Green Goblin is a power beast, and Harry, in his madness set events in motion, that would reach out beyond the grave.” Include summary of Peter’s parents return and ultimate revelation of Harry’s plan. Include shocker ending from Amazing #365, a few panels of Peter & the pair interacting, revelation Peter’s parents are robots from Amazing #388, include a few panels of Pursuit, ending with Spider-Man 389’s last few pages, with the Harry Osborn, GOTCHA, reveal.

Spectacular-Spiderman Annual #14

Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil, written by Kurt Busiek

[arosenbarger]

QUESTIONS

“Okay – that is very detailed, Andrew, why did you choose the map the content in this manner and how did you choose summaries versus full reproduction?”

Good question!

Harry Osborn’s madness began prior to JM DeMatteis taking over Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel even reprinted droplets of the story in SON OF THE GOBLIN. The kick-off, the start of the conflict with Peter began in Amazing Spider-Man #122 with Harry, in the shadows, witnessing the death of Norman Osborn. Gerry Conway followed this struggle several times after this incident, addressing in certain issues.

In Son of the Goblin Marvel did a great job of summarizing this ordeal in their summary, setting up the scene and I would use this pre-existing information.

I decided to use full issues in certain situations as those issues pertained specifically to JM’s Spectacular Spider-Man, with summary pages when Norman Osborn’s legacy effected Harry – but Harry was not the direct antagonist. Because Harry’s madness is always JUST BELOW the surface, I advise summary pages in between the full issues.

Harry Osborn first dawns Green Goblin attire, full issues – Amazing Spider-Man 136, 137. Here you have Harry dipping his toe in the legacy, and should be addressed.

SUMMARY INSERT – Include a new summary page, “but the past was not finished with Harry Osborn and shadows from his father’s legacy continued to creep into his life. Amoral billionaire fashion designer Roderick Kingsley becomes obsessed with Norman Osborn, the original Green Goblin, after discovering locations of his various hideouts becoming the Hobgoblin. Wanting more of the Green Goblin’s secret, Hobgoblin sought out Harry. Harry drove off Hobgoblin on more than one occasion, but left the Green Goblin in the back of his mind – possibly as a champion of good.” insert material from Amazing Spider-Man 259-261. Panels would be mixed in with summary text, much like the SotG trade summary. Here you have my words creating a summary page. You can choose to include Harry’s shrink, prior to mentioning the Hobgoblin. I just forgot.

Harry Osborn using the Green Goblin resources for a champion of good -full issue - Amazing Spider-Man 316.

Harry remembers Spider-Man’s identity – full issue Web of Spider-Man 66-68.

SUMMARY INSERT – Include a new summary page, “When Hell on Earth literally broke out in New York, Harry felt his own demons come back to the surface.” Gerry Conway addressed Harry in various issues of Spectacular Spider-Man, namely during Inferno. These moments are single panels, not full issues. These panels would be mixed in with summary text, much like the SotG trade summary. This is the PUSH Harry received before JM’s run. I believe this is important to include, and unfortunately, I forgot in my custom bind, to show Harry has become much more unstable and still retains Peter’s secret identity.

Now the full bulk of the struggle, full issues - Spectacular Spider-Man #178-200.

INSERT – BLACK PAGE. Harry Osborn dies on the last page of
Spectacular Spider-Man 200. Include a black, blank page allowing the reader for a moment to digest. This was a personal decision, allowing the reader breathing room.

Full issue, continuing the Legacy of the Goblin, showing the reader that the Goblin is a disease - Spectacular-Spiderman Annual #14

Full issue, continuing the Legacy of the Goblin, showing the reader that the Goblin is a disease, showing the Legacy is open - Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil, written by Kurt Busiek

Why does this need to be in an omnibus, not a soft cover?

I believe the page count would be too high for a soft cover. Running a quick page approximation – the page could would be 763, which is more than a softcover, on par with an omnibus. Details as follows:

Page count/info

Content Pages
Table of Contents 2
Summary Insert A 1
Amazing 136 22
Amazing 137 22
Summary Insert B 2
Amazing 316 22
Web 66 22
Web 67 22
Web 68 22
Summary Insert C 1
Spectacular Spider-Ma n 178 22
179 22
180 22
181 22
182 22
183 22
184 22
185 22
186 22
187 22
188 22
189 40
190 22
191 22
192 22
193 22
194 22
195 22
196 22
197 22
198 22
199 22
200 40
Blank Page 1
Summary Insert D 2
Spec Annual 14 40
Legacy of Evil 40
total page count – 763

Why do you NOT include other JM DeMatteis issues?

Because most of the other material is already collected in Kraven’s Last Hunt, the Clone Saga, Maximum Carnage, etc., amount other collections. Adding additional, already available material to this collection would increase size, cost, with little to no benefit, in my opinion.

Why do you include issues PRIOR to DeMatteis’ Spectacular Spider-Man?

Because much like Wolverine’s origin – there are outlying pieces of material that contribute to the overall enjoyment of JM DeMatteis & Sal Buscema’s run.

Why not just include a lot of summary prior to Spectacular Spider-Man 178?

Because that is a LOT of summary. Star Wars has fantastic openings with lots of text, but this is comics and we don’t have John Williams scoring the summaries. Having that much pre-amble would probably go unread. I believe by including full issues with summaries intertwined the collected edition will replicate the feeling that Harry’s madness is just below the surface, festering, much like the audience felt reading the comics as they were released.

Harry was brought back in One More Day, why is this collection important?

The Madness of Harry Osborn, the Harry Osborn Saga, JM DeMatteis’ Spectacular Spider-Man – however you wish to refer to this run, is a fantastic run with great characterization, and decades in the making. This collection would touch upon other stories that are currently still in print. The Death of Vermin, the Vulture three-parter, are continuations from Kraven’s Last Hunt and the Larsen Spider-Man omnibus run, respectively. The biggest selling point is how the Green Goblin, Norma Osborn’s hatred, evilness, etc., is a disease, spreading throughout the lives Norman touched.

Why collect THIS in an omnibus instead of other runs – or even an Amazing Spider-Man omnibus vol 4?

I cannot speak for why other runs – Peter David’s Hulk, Nocenti Daredevil for example, are not collected. I have no doubt the omnibus market is a niche market answering to numbers that I couldn’t comprehend. I don’t know how many books Marvel needs to sell to make a profit. I just spent my own money, making a custom bind, spent my own money getting the custom bind to a friend to have signed by the creators, and would purchase this run again, if an official run would be released. Recently Spider-Man Tangled Web was released in omnibus format. While the collection is nice – I would hope this collection would not be overlooked.

Are you TRYING to irritate Marvel or tell them how to do their job?

Absolutely not. Marvel is a corporation – I would have better luck changing the river’s path than having my little voice be heard. I started the petition to indicate there IS a desire for this run. The petition isn’t the end-all be-all authority on the collection’s demand, but simply a point of reference.

I’m not trying to tell Marvel how to do their job. After wanting to purchase this storyline in a collected edition for decades, I created a custom bind last year. I am simply a fan that created a custom. Given my experience, I wanted to communicate what I learned, what I believe works.

I haven’t heard back from the folks at Marvel, to whom I reached out, one way or the other, which is one of the main reasons I continued to reach out (till Jeph said to cool it). I never heard back. I didn’t know how the process works.

Seriously, do you know how annoying you are?

Being a, ADHD sleep deprived 37-year-old, father of two toddlers – one with special health needs – the other being a regular toddler, and a wife that suffers crippling migraines (note – she recently began being treated by Botox, which is helping!) that puts me into single parent territory with little free time (I typed this over the course of a few days on my lunch break), no. I really don’t. I’m just a nice, but high-strung guy. I figure with everything going on OUT of my control, I would love to reach out to other geeks who also wish to see this collected – which I’m glad is more than just me.

I want to ask another question, but holy crap, guy, will you respond again?

As Jeph pointed out – I am passionate about this run, and that tends to cross over to annoying. I’m sorry for being annoying. This being the internet – we don’t get to personally interact. Had this been real life, you’d see that I’m just a passionate fan that put a lot of thought into this run.

I believe I have answered all the questions I have come across on my journey, but if you have any feel free to ask.

Conclusion

With all of this said does anyone have any thoughts, questions, feedback, memories of this run, or advise how to collect this run that differs from what I outlined? I would sincerely love to hear your perspective!
Thank you and take care - Andrew