We're in the middle of a week-long look at Marvel's symbolic splash pages which were in limited use during the early 1960s to shortly after the mid-'70s--the cleverly put-together Page One which was styled to let the reader know at a glance what obstacles or dangers were threatening our hero(es) but a representation not directly woven into the story. After starting off with the pages from Fantastic Four, we now move on to a title which was somewhat more prolific in its usage of symbolic splash pages--even beginning with the character's first appearance.
As we know, artist Steve Ditko's work here in Amazing Fantasy marks an appearance which helped to launch Spider-Man into his own series in short order. It's clear from the start (and certainly from writer Stan Lee's narrative) that Spider-Man's ordeals with public rejection and personal ridicule are intended to be the "hook" that sets him apart for those who might be expecting a costumed hero to be cheered and admired in the public arena--a point driven home in the splash page of his new series' first issue.
(Our hero is looking a little spindly here, Mr. Ditko.)
With the bizarre foes that Spider-Man would face from this point on--in addition to the woes of Peter Parker, a character whose popularity with readers appeared to be linked hand-in-hand with that of Spider-Man himself--Ditko seemed to excel in the presentation aspect of a symbolic splash page, a format that served to lay all the cards on the table for the kind of story one could expect to find inside. Grouped together, they form an excellent album of Ditko's unique style, in combination with what could be considered his signature character* for Marvel.
*Though a certain Master of the Mystic Arts might beg to differ!
Ditko's symbolic splash pages would begin to taper off around mid-1965, with his departure from the series taking place a year later. Even so, his creativity in this area continued to tantalize.
And there were of course his pages that opened the 1964-65 annuals.
With Ditko's exit, artists John Romita and Gil Kane unfortunately provided only sparse offerings as the book pivoted to a more dramatic format, a few of which mixed some of the elements of the traditional symbolic splash page though seamlessly leading directly into the story:
And how about this early Spidey effort by Ross Andru which owes its existence to circumstance--leading off a replacement story for a deadline snag involving Romita, but instead shelved and used in an issue of Marvel Super-Heroes from May of 1968 (though some of you may recall its appearance in the first Marvel Treasury Edition from 1974):
(Looks like voodoo from where I'm sitting, Mr. Lee.)
Finally, these nicely-handled efforts from Romita which masqueraded as symbolic splash pages but indulged in some amusing sleight of hand with the reader.
Ver-ry funny, gentlemen. Well played. :)
NEXT:
Those last two opening panels masquerading as symbolic splashes are genius.
ReplyDeleteSpidey was a teen-age geek - he was supposed to look a bit spindly, surely?
ReplyDeleteI like the awkward look of the early issues; Ditko soon modified that of course, but it was Romita who really made him look more like a standard superhero.
Because he became such a familiar character, its easy to forget how odd Spidey looked early on, how strange that costume must have seemed around '63/'64.
-sean
Or, come to think of it, in that Kingpin story, could it be argued that it's a symbolic splash but that the symbolism has flowed over into the first panel on page 2? Does anybody really believe that the Kingpin got someone t9 spend hours building a replica of New York on his desk just so he could bang his fists on it and smash it to pieces?
ReplyDeleteIf he did, who's going to argue with the Kingpin?
ReplyDelete-sean
dangermash, I wouldn't want to be put in the uncomfortable position of explaining or even predicting the Kingpin's mood swings. But I'll lay odds that his city-model suffered the fate that it did because it might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time--i.e., on his desk directly in front of him, around the time when his plan to bring the city's mobs under his control has succeeded. (In tandem with the happy coincidence of Spider-Man's interference in his activities no longer a concern, with the wall-crawler having seemingly disappeared for good--though we know that's because he'd recently abandoned his costumed identity.)
ReplyDeleteWhat's with the guitarist on the ASM 99 splash? I don't recall a guitarist in that issue.
ReplyDeletetsj017, I think your inquiry is tailor-made for that letters page armadillo, but let me take a crack at it: I think Mr. Kane was just setting the mood for not only Peter and Gwen enjoying each other's company again after being apart, but Peter's uplifted spirit in general that issue. How'd I do? :D
ReplyDeleteJust a note to says thanks for all the time and effort you put into this excellent blog. Thanks again and best wishes!
ReplyDeleteAnon, thank you so much, it's appreciated! :)
ReplyDelete