Today is Todd McFarlane´s 59th birthday so what better time to write a post about his seminal run on AMAZING SPIDER - MAN which I wanted to do months ago ? I just hope it doesn´t take as long as my HULKspotlights.
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But I feel there are a few things I have to address before we come to the usual pages of original art selected by Yours Truly. The first thing I want to mention is David Micheline who was the writer on Todd McFarlane´s issues of AMAZING SPIDER - Man, who is very underrated and underappreciated.
I know that I sound like a broken record but I always try to use my posts to spotlight overlooked comic creators as well as take those that are overrated to task. And it´s true that David Micheline gets a lot of credit for his other comicbook writing like on INVINCIBLE IRON MAN where he was part of the legendary team of John Romita Jr and Bob Layton that saved the title from cancelation and had such groundbreaking stories like DEMON IN A BOTTLE. But he never gets a lot of acknowledgement for AMAZING SPIDER - MAN which he wrote from 1987 to 1994 which is the second longest run second only to Stan Lee. Besides this he wrote dozens of Spidertitles and co - created Venom, Carnage, War Machine and Ant Man Scott Lang. During his writing stint on AMAZING SPIDER - MAN such comic artists like Ron Frenz, Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen and Mark Bagley became known so I think it´s time to give credit where credit is due.
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Because going back and re - reading some of those issues ( as I had just gotten the AMAZING SPIDER - MAN : ASSASSIN NATION Epic Collection ) I had completely forgotten how much fun it was to read AMAZING SPIDER - MAN back in those days. Yes, a lot of the dialogue and fashion is very dated from Today´s point of view but at the time those issues came out it was very up to date. And combined with Todd McFarlane´s innovative art - not only in panel layouts - that had a completely new approach to drawing Spider - Man that made AMAZING SPIDER - MAN a must read title again.
Todd McFarlane also was one of the first artists who really drew Mary Jane like a supermodel and having her in skimpy clothing and bikinis surely helped garner more interest in teenaged comic readers around the globe.
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But Mary Jane was more than just window dressing ( although she made the number two position in my COMICBABE BATTLE : SULTRYSPIDER - BABEScountdown) she was an integral part of the book not only with her support of Peter´s work but there was a big emphasis on her work and her problems and she even had her own storyline with an obsessive admirer.
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One last thing I have to mention are the german covers for these issues. I have written about the german covers from Condor Comics before and with DIE SPINNE they also changed a few things. Sometimes - like with AMAZING SPIDER - MAN 303 they just changed the background color.
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I guess they thought the original background at night would be too creepy for the german readers and changed it to a much brighter daylight scene.
![]()
spaghetti webbing
But I feel there are a few things I have to address before we come to the usual pages of original art selected by Yours Truly. The first thing I want to mention is David Micheline who was the writer on Todd McFarlane´s issues of AMAZING SPIDER - Man, who is very underrated and underappreciated.
I know that I sound like a broken record but I always try to use my posts to spotlight overlooked comic creators as well as take those that are overrated to task. And it´s true that David Micheline gets a lot of credit for his other comicbook writing like on INVINCIBLE IRON MAN where he was part of the legendary team of John Romita Jr and Bob Layton that saved the title from cancelation and had such groundbreaking stories like DEMON IN A BOTTLE. But he never gets a lot of acknowledgement for AMAZING SPIDER - MAN which he wrote from 1987 to 1994 which is the second longest run second only to Stan Lee. Besides this he wrote dozens of Spidertitles and co - created Venom, Carnage, War Machine and Ant Man Scott Lang. During his writing stint on AMAZING SPIDER - MAN such comic artists like Ron Frenz, Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen and Mark Bagley became known so I think it´s time to give credit where credit is due.
Because going back and re - reading some of those issues ( as I had just gotten the AMAZING SPIDER - MAN : ASSASSIN NATION Epic Collection ) I had completely forgotten how much fun it was to read AMAZING SPIDER - MAN back in those days. Yes, a lot of the dialogue and fashion is very dated from Today´s point of view but at the time those issues came out it was very up to date. And combined with Todd McFarlane´s innovative art - not only in panel layouts - that had a completely new approach to drawing Spider - Man that made AMAZING SPIDER - MAN a must read title again.
Todd McFarlane also was one of the first artists who really drew Mary Jane like a supermodel and having her in skimpy clothing and bikinis surely helped garner more interest in teenaged comic readers around the globe.
But Mary Jane was more than just window dressing ( although she made the number two position in my COMICBABE BATTLE : SULTRYSPIDER - BABEScountdown) she was an integral part of the book not only with her support of Peter´s work but there was a big emphasis on her work and her problems and she even had her own storyline with an obsessive admirer.
One last thing I have to mention are the german covers for these issues. I have written about the german covers from Condor Comics before and with DIE SPINNE they also changed a few things. Sometimes - like with AMAZING SPIDER - MAN 303 they just changed the background color.
I guess they thought the original background at night would be too creepy for the german readers and changed it to a much brighter daylight scene.
spaghetti webbing