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Posted June 24, 2012 by Mikael Angelo Francisco in Comics
 
 

MARVEL Celebrates 50 Years of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!

Nearly fifty years ago, on August 10, 1962*, no one, not even Stan Lee himself, could have known that a newly-introduced character in the last issue of a low-selling Marvel title would eventually become one of the world’s greatest and most recognizable fictional characters.

The story of shy young Peter Parker, given amazing powers by the bite of a radioactive spider, has resonated with fans young and old for half a century, and the timeless lesson “with great power comes great responsibility” has been immortalized and passed on from one generation of comic book fans to another. To this day, Spider-Man remains the most grounded and relatable among all the colorful superheroes in comicdom, and stands as a shining role model for anyone who aspires to do the right thing, no matter what the cost.

It thus comes as no surprise to us that Marvel Comics plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Amazing, Spectacular, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man in a big way.

In addition to the re-invigoration of the movie franchise in the form of the upcoming superhero blockbuster The Amazing Spider-Man (watch the four-minute trailer here!), Marvel will also release a ton of comics, revisiting the past, celebrating the present, and laying the groundwork for the future of everyone’s favorite wisecracking, wall-crawling wonder.

June brings us Spider-Men, written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Sarah Pichelli. This 5-issue miniseries focuses on the Spider-heroes of the Marvel main universe – Peter Parker – and the Ultimate universe – Miles Morales – meeting for the first time. The first issue has already hit the stands – expect reviews from us here at FlipGeeks very soon!

 

August brings us Amazing Spider-Man #692, the comic that Marvel is calling “the one, true 50th Anniversary issue of the Amazing Spider-Man”. This special issue by Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos poses the mysterious question, “Who is Alpha?”

In addition to the “official” anniversary issue, we’ll also be getting Point One (and Point Two) issues, continuing previously ongoing Spider-Man books: Peter Parker, Spider-Man #156.1 by Roger Stern and Roberto De LaTorre,  Sensational Spider-Man #33.1 and 33.2 by Tom DeFalco and Carlo Barberi, and Web of Spider-Man #129.1 and 129.2 by Stuart Moore and Damion Scott.

Finally, Avenging Spider-Man #11 features the greatest Spider-Man team-up of all – Spider-Man and…Aunt May?!

It’s also worth noting that the solicitation for Avengers vs X-Men #9 (by Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert) promises that “in the end, it all comes down to Spider-Man!” (Not necessarily related to the 50th anniversary thing, but…Heh.)

It’s a great year to be a Spider-fan.

Here’s to 50 more years of wall-crawling, web-slinging, and wisecracks!

As a bonus, here, take a look at Steve Ditko’s original cover for Amazing Fantasy #15, which Stan Lee chose to replace with Jack Kirby’s now-iconic version:

*Amazing Fantasy #15 was published on August 10, 1962 and released on August 15, 1962. 


Mikael Angelo Francisco