In the relatively short history of comic superheroes, I’d wager that more words have been written about Batman and Superman than any other character. Following closely behind in third place would be Spider-Man, I’d bet, which is quite impressive considering the World’s Finest from the Distinguished Competition each have a good twenty-year head start on the young webslinger.
Like I said in a recent review of another Spidey book, though, you cannot overstate or overestimate the popularity and appeal of Spider-Man. Peter Parker is in many ways one of the most relatable characters in the history of the medium, with Stan Lee and Steve Ditko purposefully intending for the audience to be able to see themselves behind the mask. With so much versatility to the character, it’s no wonder that he’s practically become the face of Marvel comics, with one of the richest histories of anyone to ever hit the funny pages.
Putting a new spin on a history of the character, Insight Editions have published Spider-Man: From Amazing to Spectacular. Written by Matt Singer and with a forward from J.M. DeMatteis, the book has a subtitle that’s worth paying attention to: “The Definitive Comic Art Collection.” That’s kind of the thesis of the book right there: this isn’t a look at Spider-Man’s history in popular culture, but the ongoing story of Spider-Man by way of comic art.
Naturally, Singer starts right at the beginning with Amazing Fantasy #15, and from the start you can tell that this book is going to be a treat. It’s quite a large volume, practically the size of a coffee table book, and there is so much great artwork on display that you’d be forgiven for just staring at the images for a while. I know I did, because the oversized format really makes scenes like Peter’s first use of his web shooters or his apprehension of Uncle Ben’s killer just pop off the page.
Singer’s prose is easy to read and relatively comprehensive, without running the risk of being impenetrably esoteric and dense. He makes good use of commentary and interviews from comic creators throughout, which brings interesting perspectives to certain scenes and stories. Even though this is first and foremost a collection of Spider-Man art, the writing complements the visuals well and makes the book worth reading for more context and insight.
Singer takes a pretty set chronological approach to Spidey’s history, beginning with his introduction in the Sixties, going through the high (and low) points of the Seventies and Eighties, and winding up in the zany bombast of the Nineties over the course of the first few chapters. He touches on milestones like the introduction of Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy’s death, Peter discovering the symbiote that would go on to become Venom, and even (especially) the input of legendary creators like John Romita and Todd McFarlane. The Clone Saga gets touched on quite a bit, as you’d expect, as does the wedding of Peter and Mary Jane, and every point is supplemented by gorgeous covers and sequential art in equal measure.
After the Nineties, the book still goes forward in chronological fashion, but with a new element introduced: the Ultimate Marvel universe. This was a new publishing initiative from Marvel, where new takes on familiar characters and stories could take place without the need to tie into the main 616 continuity. Ultimate Spider-Man was far and away the most successful and influential title, with Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley kicking off the entire line in November 2000. An entire chapter is devoted to the USM comic itself, with more information sprinkled throughout the rest of the book. This makes sense, both because the Ultimate title has enough content to fill an entire book on its own, and the time when it came out serves as a pretty clear benchmark in Spider-Man’s history.
For even though the Ultimate line and Universe would eventually come to an end, it saw the introduction of one of the most popular characters to hit the comics page in decades: Miles Morales. So popular was Miles that he was brought into the main Marvel universe, a move itself that tied into one of the biggest changes to ever come in Spider-Man lore: the idea of the Spider-Verse. An infinite number of Spider characters from an infinite number of worlds, the Spider-Verse has led to characters like Spider-Punk, the Gwen Stacy Spider-Woman, Silk, and even older characters like Spider-Ham and Scarlet Spider gaining popularity and exposure.
Singer weaves these elements together with other popular stories of the last few decades in the final few chapters, touching on Peter revealing his identity to the world during Civil War, the incredibly controversial “One More Day” arc that resulted in Peter and MJ’s marriage being wiped away, and the Superior Spider-Man title where Otto Octavius’ mind inhabited Peter Parker’s body.
Given that Spider-Man is still being published, and will continue to be published for the foreseeable future, the book ends without an actual conclusion, which is all for the better. With as rich a history as Spider-Man has, you have to choose to stop somewhere, and there’s no better ending for a book like this than “if he could be you, then you could be him.” Because as we all know, with great power, there must also come great responsibility.
Spider-Man: From Amazing to Spectacular is available now, and retails for $45, though you can usually find it marked down on Amazon and through other retailers.
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