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Marvel Comics Library: Spider-Man. Vol. 1. 1962–1964
When Stan Lee first pitched the idea of Spider-Man in 1962, his boss was full of objections: People hate spiders. Teenagers aren’t lead characters; they’re sidekicks. He should be glamorous and successful, not a friendless loser. But Stan persisted and Martin Goodman let him give the unlikely hero a tryout in Amazing Fantasy, which was already slated for cancellation. With Spider-Man on the cover, No. 15 shot to the top of Marvel’s best-seller list for the year, and the rest is history.
Amazing Spider-Man, which debuted seven months later, broke the comics mold. Peter Parker lived in uncool Queens, was always broke, continually worried about his Aunt May, was unlucky in love, and was constantly getting yelled at by his boss, Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson. Spider-Man had the quips and confidence that Parker lacked, but learning to use his powers wasn’t always easy. He often seemed on the verge of defeat against the rogue’s gallery of classic foes that debuted in the first couple of years: Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Lizard, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and the Green Goblin. Much of the credit for Spider-Man’s greatness goes to co-creator and artist Steve Ditko, who had a knack for portraying teenagers and their problems. His artwork infused Spider-Man with loose-limbed energy, and, while maybe everyone was scared of spiders, Ditko made swinging through New York seem like the coolest adventure ever.
This XXL-sized collector’s dream, close in size to the original artworks, features the first 21 stories of the world’s favorite web-slinger from 1962–1964. Rather than recolor the original artwork (as has been done in previous decades’ reprints of classic comics), TASCHEN has attempted to create an ideal representation of these books as they were produced at the time of publication. The most pristine pedigreed comics have been cracked open and photographed for reproduction in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company. Each page has been photographed as printed more than half a century ago, then digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing―as if hot off of a world-class 1960s printing press. Three different paper stocks, including an uncoated and woodfree paper, were exclusively developed for this series to simulate the feel of the original comics.
With an in-depth historical essay by Marvel editor Ralph Macchio, an introduction by uber-collector David Mandel, and original art, rare photographs, and other gems, these 698 pages of wall-crawling wonder will make anyone’s spider-sense tingle with anticipation.
Amazing Spider-Man, which debuted seven months later, broke the comics mold. Peter Parker lived in uncool Queens, was always broke, continually worried about his Aunt May, was unlucky in love, and was constantly getting yelled at by his boss, Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson. Spider-Man had the quips and confidence that Parker lacked, but learning to use his powers wasn’t always easy. He often seemed on the verge of defeat against the rogue’s gallery of classic foes that debuted in the first couple of years: Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Lizard, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and the Green Goblin. Much of the credit for Spider-Man’s greatness goes to co-creator and artist Steve Ditko, who had a knack for portraying teenagers and their problems. His artwork infused Spider-Man with loose-limbed energy, and, while maybe everyone was scared of spiders, Ditko made swinging through New York seem like the coolest adventure ever.
This XXL-sized collector’s dream, close in size to the original artworks, features the first 21 stories of the world’s favorite web-slinger from 1962–1964. Rather than recolor the original artwork (as has been done in previous decades’ reprints of classic comics), TASCHEN has attempted to create an ideal representation of these books as they were produced at the time of publication. The most pristine pedigreed comics have been cracked open and photographed for reproduction in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company. Each page has been photographed as printed more than half a century ago, then digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing―as if hot off of a world-class 1960s printing press. Three different paper stocks, including an uncoated and woodfree paper, were exclusively developed for this series to simulate the feel of the original comics.
With an in-depth historical essay by Marvel editor Ralph Macchio, an introduction by uber-collector David Mandel, and original art, rare photographs, and other gems, these 698 pages of wall-crawling wonder will make anyone’s spider-sense tingle with anticipation.
698 pages, Hardcover
First published December 28, 2021
About the author
Ralph Macchio
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For the Karate Kid actor, click here:
Ralph Macchio
Ralph Macchio is an American comic book editor and writer, who has held many positions at Marvel Comics, including executive editor. Macchio is commonly associated with Daredevil, the Spider-Man line of comics and the popular Ultimate Marvel line. In Macchio's words, he "made probably the longest run on Daredevil of anyone."
Macchio is not related to the actor Ralph Macchio, but is nicknamed "Karate Kid" after that actor's famous role.
Ralph Macchio is an American comic book editor and writer, who has held many positions at Marvel Comics, including executive editor. Macchio is commonly associated with Daredevil, the Spider-Man line of comics and the popular Ultimate Marvel line. In Macchio's words, he "made probably the longest run on Daredevil of anyone."
Macchio is not related to the actor Ralph Macchio, but is nicknamed "Karate Kid" after that actor's famous role.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 14, 2026
What a joy! I have been reading Spider-Man for more than fifty years, but this now was the most fun.
I started reading the tales in the early seventies in a very bad German translation in black and white, then a different publisher reprinted the stories in colour but again in a bad translation with terrible lettering (if at all) and on bad paper. Later I read them again when Marvel did reprints.
But this edition by Taschen is a different story. They used exactly the right paper, not too cheap but also not the shiny paper that Marvel used in some of their reprints that is not fitting at all. The edition I read is a bit smaller than the original but still easy to read. And the book does fit on a regular shelf. (Still, I wonder if I should not have bought the XXL version.) So, I have read all of the stories before except for the annual and it is great. (Spidey battles six of his enemies one by one.) I'm sure I'll read this again and again until the day I die.
The quality of the colours is excellent. A very fine job they did. The introduction is very good too.
I will say nothing here about the actual stories. Except that I used to dislike Ditko, but now I think he did a - well, marvelous job. As for Stan Lee. He refers to himself sometimes as the poor man’s Shakespeare. He was too modest.
I started reading the tales in the early seventies in a very bad German translation in black and white, then a different publisher reprinted the stories in colour but again in a bad translation with terrible lettering (if at all) and on bad paper. Later I read them again when Marvel did reprints.
But this edition by Taschen is a different story. They used exactly the right paper, not too cheap but also not the shiny paper that Marvel used in some of their reprints that is not fitting at all. The edition I read is a bit smaller than the original but still easy to read. And the book does fit on a regular shelf. (Still, I wonder if I should not have bought the XXL version.) So, I have read all of the stories before except for the annual and it is great. (Spidey battles six of his enemies one by one.) I'm sure I'll read this again and again until the day I die.
The quality of the colours is excellent. A very fine job they did. The introduction is very good too.
I will say nothing here about the actual stories. Except that I used to dislike Ditko, but now I think he did a - well, marvelous job. As for Stan Lee. He refers to himself sometimes as the poor man’s Shakespeare. He was too modest.
March 29, 2023
This is the most beautiful and lovingly compiled collection of the first twenty issues of The Amazing Spider-Man as well as his first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15. Excellent essays and historical information. Although pricey, it's a massive book (not kidding, it's MASSIVE) well-worth the investment if you are a Spider-Man fan and a Stan Lee / Steve Ditko fan.
Above all, one of my favorite features of this compilation is that the pages from the actual comic books are scanned in all their high-resolution glory including the advertisements. So, unlike Marvel Masterworks compilations of these issues which were recolored and without the ads, you get to read the entire comic books in this compilation as they originally were published with the ads and the color dots and the printing errors and all. They're glorious! The covers are on glossy paper and the interior pages are on a heavy-duty newsprint. I can't say enough about this book. Magnificent job, Taschen!
Above all, one of my favorite features of this compilation is that the pages from the actual comic books are scanned in all their high-resolution glory including the advertisements. So, unlike Marvel Masterworks compilations of these issues which were recolored and without the ads, you get to read the entire comic books in this compilation as they originally were published with the ads and the color dots and the printing errors and all. They're glorious! The covers are on glossy paper and the interior pages are on a heavy-duty newsprint. I can't say enough about this book. Magnificent job, Taschen!
September 2, 2026
10/10
Like most comics of this generation the writing is pretty basic but that doesn't stop this from being so goddamn good.
Getting to read the introduction of Spidey and his iconic rogues (most of which still popular 60 years later) feels so special. Also reading through the early interactions between Spidey and the heroes of the time (The F4, Avengers, Hulk, etc) was pretty cool aswell.
I also found it interesting reading through the Q&A letter style pages they had at the end of each issue as I found it interesting to read what the people of the time felt about good ol Spidey. For its time Ditkos art is also pretty goated, screw all the people calling out his slight mistakes in the letter pages.
You can see the groundwork for what Spider-man has became since, that issue where Peter is retired essentially is basically what happens to Peter all the time now but now its 100 times harsher.
I would also highly recommend getting this collected edition type because its relatively cheap, good quality, acts as a great introduction or reading opportunity for Spider-man and has loads of extra content about the making of Spider-man and other stuff like that.
Like most comics of this generation the writing is pretty basic but that doesn't stop this from being so goddamn good.
Getting to read the introduction of Spidey and his iconic rogues (most of which still popular 60 years later) feels so special. Also reading through the early interactions between Spidey and the heroes of the time (The F4, Avengers, Hulk, etc) was pretty cool aswell.
I also found it interesting reading through the Q&A letter style pages they had at the end of each issue as I found it interesting to read what the people of the time felt about good ol Spidey. For its time Ditkos art is also pretty goated, screw all the people calling out his slight mistakes in the letter pages.
You can see the groundwork for what Spider-man has became since, that issue where Peter is retired essentially is basically what happens to Peter all the time now but now its 100 times harsher.
I would also highly recommend getting this collected edition type because its relatively cheap, good quality, acts as a great introduction or reading opportunity for Spider-man and has loads of extra content about the making of Spider-man and other stuff like that.
February 24, 2024
The first 19 issues of Spider-Man and the First Annual in a giant format, and in a presentation that mimics the original comics with reproductions of some ads and the letter pages/house ads. Maybe not the easiest format to read, and it's not an exact reproduction of the original pages because it is still recolored, but I think this is a much better presentation of the material than the typical marvel trade/omnibus edition. As for the comics-a lot of comics take a while to get their footing, but spider-man is mostly what we think of spider-man nearly from the beginning, the angst, the soap opera, the quips and notable villains are all here. Stan Lee's scripting is a little repetitive so i didn't race through this book, but I still enjoyed my time with it. Read Annual #1 this morning and it's still an absolute banger!
June 2, 2026
Wasn't sure I would enjoy this I as was more into DC than Marvel in my youth but this was wonderful. Think I recognised some of the stories, possibly later reprints, although I do not recall the egotistical newspaper publisher JJ Jameson, however I recognised most of the bad guys. Amazing well laid out and a great read.
February 20, 2026
If you grew up with this, you will have the best time with this book. The essays add insight, the original ads are a riot, but if you are a comic fan, it really holds up.
I’m so glad I bought this.
I’m so glad I bought this.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews