Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962) 1st Appearance of Spider-Man

Amazing Adult Fantasy (1961) #15

by Steve Ditko

This is an authentic 1st Printing of the legendary Amazing Fantasy #15! It certainly deserves its place as a monumental piece of American Pop-Culture Art. For many collectors and enthusiasts, this is the Holy Grail of comic books. Published in August 1962, this book introduced us to Peter Parker, Aunt May, Uncle Ben, Flash Thompson and, of course, Spider-Man! It taught us that "with great power comes great responsibility".

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Spider Man, Comic Book, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Science Fiction

Comic

First published June 5, 1962

About the author

Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko was an American comic book artist and writer best known as the co-creator of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.

He was inducted into the comics industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1990, and into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994.

Reviews

[Cheese]

So I finally got to read the first Spider-Man issue.

It was very ahead of its time in my opinion. Stan Lee writes a forward, saying how this issue almost never got published because the publishers thought the character was not what readers wanted. Spider-Man was a teenager, he wasn't good looking, he still lived at home with his aunt and uncle and so on.

Amazing Fantasy was coming to an end, so Lee and Ditko thought they would try and get it out in the last issue, because what was there to lose? Turns out it was the bestselling issue out of all the Amazing Fantasy comics. From there onwards, fans were lapping it up and Lee's format of writing to fans in the comics asking for feedback was working wonders.

Though the character is very basic in this first issue, you can see how ahead of its time it was. The imagination and the character hit a chord with a lot of fans and people could relate to him. He wasn't your typical comic book hero that was invulnerable.

I also discovered that Ditko left later on because of his relationship with Stan Lee. It seems Ditko created Jonah Jameson as his vision of how he saw Stan Lee and Ditko was Peter Parker.

Lots of mythos and I can't wait to read more.

[Jon Nakapalau]

What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said...not very much. Anyone into comics knows what this book represents: in the hierarchy of comics I would put only Action Comics #1 and Detective Comics #27 above it for purely 'archetypal' reasons. The Mount Rushmore of comics: Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Wonder Woman - who would you leave off?

[Tawfek]

It's terrifying how Spider-man's story never really changed.
All elements that make this the best superhero ever made in comics are right here.
Many characters from issue one are present.
Mainly his school mates who are still in The modern stories.
Good stuff anyway, but I am reading the rest of this issue later today or something and I might reduce the rating because this issue has 2 more stories that has nothing to do with Spider-man.
I read the other 3 extra stories and honestly they felt like folktales or something and were 4 pages each, and I didn't feel like reducing the overall rating more than 1 star.

[Sophia]

These stories were so exciting and good!
I loved reading Peter Parker's origin story (side note: they called him Peter Palmer in the Amazing Spider-Man #1) plus his evolution in becoming Spider-Man.

In issue #1 of Amazing Spider-Man, everyone in the city knows who Spidey is...but they think he's a criminal!
All because of J. Jonah Jameson and his horrible articles about the web-slinger!

We see an appearance of the Fantastic Four and how Spider-Man whopped their butts (basically).
In the end, you just feel sorry for poor Peter because he can't catch a break or help his Aunt May.
I can't wait to read the next comic and see what happens next!

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant]

The one that started it all, this comic book gave birth to one of the most famous superheroes of all-time, it's such a simple yet effective origin story, also one of my favorites, it is almost perfect, I say almost because the creation of the web-shooters made no sense to me whatsoever, web-shooting should have been a natural mutation of the spider bite and not a super invention created by Peter Parker in an afternoon, Sam Raimi fixed that in his live action adaptation, in a very near beat for beat adaptation of this comic book, which I've always loved. God bless Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for this joyful creation.

[lipa✮⋆˙]

3 ⭐️

esta foi a banda desenhada que introduziu o homem-aranha que é um dos meus heróis favoritos de sempre, amo-te peter parker! por isso é que não dou uma avaliação mais baixa, porque para ser honesta sinto que esta introdução foi muito rápida e não sou a maior fã do estilo de banda desenhada dos anos 60/70 mas percebo como esta história foi revolucionária no contexto histórico em que se inseriu e estabeleceu este herói como um dos mais famosos e amados de sempre 🕷
sendo os filmes de spider-man do tobey maguire os meus favoritos consigo ver que tentaram ser fiéis à banda desenhada e gostei das mudanças realizadas no filme.

[Oleksandr Zholud]

I usually review books, but I decided to try a few comics/graphic novels as well. As a kid, grown in the USSR there were no comics there (okay, truth to be told, I had several issues of Soviet Polish comics, which I was unable to read but enjoyed drawings). Therefore, I started reading comics in a quite mature age and bearing in mind that at least initially they aimed at younger readers my desire right now to browse several series which were ongoing for decades to see their connection to mass culture.

I start with Spider-man, as maybe the most popular Marvel hero. With this book I found out that:
1. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy, the final issue, therefore “amazing” in the following spiderman title is from here.
2. Initially the spider, who bite him died immediately, so others, bit by the same spider like Silk, weren’t initially intended.
[image error]
3. His first costume wasn’t spider-like

4. Ditko is a great artist, but his teenagers look much older (but this can be linked to B-movies like Teenagers from Outer Space (1959) where actors are in their 20s)

[Eduard Gafton]

Read as part of Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Great Power

Full of tropes and yet brimming of original ideas, Amazing Fiction #15 is a turning point in comic book history. Its faults such as cramming an origin story in mere a 20 pages (albeit, admittedly, with good reason) are overshadowed by the creation of arguably the most popular super-hero.

The cover is also something to be aware of, as it spurred countless admirers and imitators.



It's not a perfect issue by any means, but Amazing Fantasy #15 is a classic which set the stage for the webhead we all know and love. And that's nothing short of amazing .

[Farjaneh_]

《هو النور》
این شماره که توسط استن لی نوشته شده و جک کربی تصویرسازیش رو انجام داده شامل اولین حضور و ماجرای مردعنکبوتیه.
خوندنش جالب بود اما انتظارم ازش بیشتر بود.

[Bookishrealm]

This was such an interesting read. I’m on this journey to read as many marvel comics as I can. I know this will take me years but right now I’m reading the original Stan Lee Spiderman comics. It was intriguing to even see how comics have changed over time. I was amazed by the art style and the storytelling. It was so different from what I’m used to but I definitely can understand why Spider-Man was such an important character to the Marvel universe. He was a teen and I know during that time is was weird to introduce a teenager as a superhero. I definitely will be doing a month in-depth review and study but I’m glad I’ve started this journey.

[Mica ☆☆☆]

Spider-Man will always remain as the best superhero of all time. I don't make the rules

[Lily]

Really silly but very fun. It reads a bit like if Stephen King wrote either for children or for people with 0 comprehension. Although the King bit is probably just because that’s how they wrote in the 60s.

My favourite lines are:

“It’s the spider! It HAS to be! Somehow — in some miraculous way, his bite has transferred his own power — to ME!”

*picture of smashed pipe* “what’s THIS?? I crushed this steel pipe as though it were PAPER!”

“So, they laughed at me for being a bookworm, eh? Well, only a science major could have created a device like this!”

I appreciate that its target audience is probably much younger than I am, so things have to be spelled out more. I’ve also gotten so used to reading more modern comics (Batman: The Knight, Ultimate Spider-Man, Arkham Asylum etc.) which have a slightly older audience, and allow you to decipher more of the information for yourself.

Regardless, Spider-Man has always been (sorry mum for climbing up the walls as a 4 year old), and always will be my favourite superhero and I’m glad to have FINALLY read the beginning of his legacy.

[Farjaneh_]

《هو النور》
این شماره که توسط استن لی نوشته شده و جک کربی تصویرسازیش رو انجام داده شامل اولین حضور و ماجرای مردعنکبوتیه.
خوندنش جالب بود اما انتظارم ازش بیشتر بود.
پ.ن: این نسخه رو مارول رو چند سال پیش ارائه داد که شامل همون ماجرای قبلی با همون دیالوگ‌هاست اما تصویر سازی‌ و رنگ‌ها کمی ویرایش شدن.

[Dawie]

If you look at the first Toby Spiderman film in relation to Parker’s origins, the film feels like it tried to keep close to the source material at least. Pretty amazing for a comic that came out 1963.

[Stefanie]

OG Spidey really got his powers, a costume, web shooters and a name in a single afternoon. King of speedrunning his own story

[Stephan]

This Kindle edition is not a complete facsimile of the original Amazing Fantasy #15, but instead collects the first spider man story from that volume and combines it with the spider man stories from the first volume of The Amazing Spider-Man. The reproduction of the pages seems to be faithful, and the colours are more vibrant (on an iPad) than they ever were on the cheap paper of the original release. The story is decent, if a bit naive for my modern taste. At EUR 2.29, this seems like a real bargain.

[Isabel Carneiro]

Un peu cours pour mettre vraiment une vraie note mais bien tout de même.
3.5

[Lauren]

so goofy man😭😭😭 such a loser but eternally he’s my loser🫶🫶🫶

[Tesutamento]

Bir antoloji serisi olarak yayınlanan Amazing Fantasy serisinin şüphesiz en büyük başarı getiren sayısı. Spider-Man'in artık herkesçe bilinen hikayesinin ilk kez ele alındığı sayıyı zamanında Gerekli Şeyler tarafından basılmış olan klasik seride siyah beyaz okumuştum. Marmara Çizgi bu fasikül ile renklendirilmiş versiyonunu bizlere ulaştırmış. Renkli olması tabii ki okumayı daha cazip hale getirmiş. Fasikülde klasiklemiş hikayenin yanı sıra Spider-Man'in düşmanlarından oluşan küçük bir galeri ve Spider-Man'in güçlerini tek tek anlatmaya ve açıklamaya ayrılmış bir bölüm bulunuyor. Altmışlı yıllardaki bazı fikirler şimdi biraz gülünç dursa da sunulan fikirleri ve açıklamaları her Spider-Man fanı okumalı. En azından karakterin nereden ve nasıl ortaya çıktığını bilmeli.

[Rachael]

**FYI** Marvel Unlimited has lots of free comics available in May 2020. This is one of them

*Disclaimer* I'm not much of a comic book reader so my review/rating is mainly based on my reading experience not the story.

OK, so this is a pretty important comic. It introduces Peter Parker/Spiderman to the world. Even though this was pretty good, I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not into comics any more. I'm finding it hard to alter my reading style. I need more words than speech bubbles to tell a story. I do like superheroes but I think I'll just watch the movies.
Sorry, Spidey, it's not you, it's me.

[Derek Neveu]

Apparently everyone in the 60s were cruel to nerds, Peter’s learning curve made Rey’s mastering of the force in ten minutes look like drawn out exposition, and Peter was pretty spiteful and not the humble spider-nerd that many think of him at the beginning. Uncle Ben’s death does rectify this, thankfully, because up until his tragic murder Peter was on an ego trip and a half.

[Steven Shinder]

It started it all. What else can I say? I read a version of this that has the very first Spider-Man story as well as issue 1 of Amazing Spider-Man. And I later read a version that had the other non-Spider-Man related stories in Amazing Fantasy #15. The mummy one was cool for nostalgic reasons I guess.

[zach]

This issue being solely focused on the character’s origin was very refreshing especially when compared to the last three issues I’ve read.

To be honest, the Stan Lee Spider-Man stuff ages much, much better than the rest of his work.

[NadiaN99]

اصن نميدونم با چه سيستمي بايد ريتش كنم :///////

[Dina]

As a fan of the cinematic Spider-Man(s) and a first-time comic reader, this was a great start!

[Lo Wayward Tomes]

J Jonah Jameson has been anti-spidey since day 1 gotcha.

[Therese]

Spidermans first appearance. Fun to see where he first was introduced. I have been quite obsessed with spiderman since NWH so I guess I'm diving into the comics now?

[Mika]

finally read the first spidey appearance

[Rachel]

unexpectedly wholesome

[Kory]

Uncle Ben doesn’t even say the line?? I’ve been lied to all this time.