Bonus Features: Spider-Annuals, 1964-1999

 

Aside from rogues' galleries, pin-ups, and, in all too many cases, reprinted material, a staple of Marvel "king-size" annuals has been the informative bonus features that came in the form of exploring a character's abilities, being provided with a tour of their headquarters, a rundown of their supporting cast, or a supplemental tale consisting of only three or four pages, on the occasion that the main story didn't fulfill the expected page count. You'll find many of these bonus features given their due throughout the PPC over the years--but for a little variety on the subject, we'll begin digging through and dusting off some of the more under the radar material where a little extra creative effort went into these features.

In this inaugural post on the subject, we turn our focus to one of Marvel's inaugural characters, the amazing Spider-Man--and as long as we're going that far back, it seems fitting to include a few of the bonus features from the character's first annual from 1964, itself packed with additional material to no doubt titillate Spidey's growing fan base and including a number of pages which spotlight the work of the book's artist, Steve Ditko.

Also in that annual were various pages describing the "secrets" of Spider-Man's abilities and features of his costume--and with that in mind, we leap ahead thirty-five years to the 1999 Spider-Girl Annual and a bonus feature by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Pat Olliffe which compares the abilities of Spider-Man and his daughter, May, who comes up short just about across the board. (Shortcomings which DeFalco glosses over in several respects, none of which pass muster.)

Of course if May weren't the product of an alternate future, she could take comfort in the many embarrassing moments of her father in our timeline, compiled in the 1992 Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual by writers Tom Brevoort and Mike Kanterovich with artist Aaron Lopresti.

More rogues gallery entries can be found in the 1981 Peter Parker annual where J. Jonah Jameson's son, John, is finally cured of his lycanthropy thanks to writer David Kraft; but Roger Stern also pitches in with a number of backup features, including a splendid photo album by Peter's Aunt May with art by Marie Severin and John Romita. (With captions, of course, courtesy of Mr. Stern May Parker.)

Not to be left out of the mix is artist/humorist Fred Hembeck, who in 1989's ASM annual catalogs the many times that Spider-Man has been the target of Jameson's ire, either through the publisher's own initiative or by subsidizing others. Hembeck cleverly notes, however, that in the end, Peter always has the last laugh.

Hembeck's second contribution to that annual is his own compilation of the top 30 Spider-Man villains, in countdown form. (Number One being a two-way tie, divided by five--only Mr. Hembeck could do that math. ;) )

Finally, from the 1991 Spectacular Spider-Man Annual, even yours truly didn't fully grasp the extent of Mr. Hembeck's humor when I came across a gem of a bonus feature that I'll leave you the joy of discovering for yourself, spotlighting a preteen Peter Parker and, believe it or not, one of the New Warriors--and "responsibility" becomes a matter of perspective.

Moral: Never underestimate the motivational power of a free banana split. *snicker*