Spider-Variant

One of my favorite all-time ASM covers.  I'll go 9.2 but could see 9.4.

7.0 for me as well.  Nice book.   

Hey Steve, is this pic back?  @Get Marwood & I

On 10/3/2023 at 3:55 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

The pictures have gone awol Reggie 

 

Weird

Bumping on Ramona Fradon's 97th Bday!

Wow, lot's of great Bronze Age Iron Man.  I had many of these.  Spider-Man was my man, but Iron Man ran a close second.  

On 9/26/2023 at 10:01 AM, Spider-Variant said:

Ken Landgraf posted a few photo copies of Ross Andru's pencils he got back in the day when he worked for Marvel. He posted these over on the Comic Book Historian Facebook group. He shared that Marie Severin made the copies for him to study . He also added that "When I was starting out on my comic book art career photo copies like this were invaluable. I had no idea how a professional comic book page would look like. Marie went out of her way to help me improve."

Who can spot the inking error in that bottom Punisher and Spider-Man panel?  Never noticed it before.  

Here's another.

On 9/26/2023 at 2:29 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

He did, yes. Is it too late to punish him for his punishing Punisher punishment?

Seeing as he has been gone for 15 years, yes, it's too late. 

I liked Mooney's inks over Ross's pencils.

On 9/26/2023 at 1:43 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Indeed. That Ross rendered Spidey beak would wear a hole in his mask after a while, wouldn't it 

I think Jim Mooney softened the Punisher a little too much.  I like the original pencils better.

On 9/26/2023 at 12:14 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

That's cool Reggie. I love picking out the differences in the original art vs the finished page art. Spidey nose perky, Spidey nose rounded:

Thanks Steve.  Yes I love this stuff too.  It had been a while since I found something cool online.  You know, the way Ross drew that nose is probably more realistic, but I think artistically, I like the one Jim Mooney inked here.  

On 9/15/2023 at 9:59 AM, N e r V said:

A special upgrade for me. I own a few of these raw and at least 1 slab (9.2 ow/w) so got this CGC 9.4 white pages today from boardie A-1 comics. This was one of the earliest comics I purchased off the stands when I started collecting in 1973 and like a lot of the horror titles one of the most memorable covers for me. For some reason it’s no longer credited as a Rich Buckler/ Tom Palmer piece but just Tom Palmer. Even on Tom Palmers site he credits both artists not just him so…who knows. I think it’s a nice piece either way. It’s one of the horror books too which had mostly new stories and just one 1950’s Atlas reprint in it.

 

Seems my older brother picked that one off the stands too back in the day.  

On 9/12/2023 at 7:08 AM, Pontoon said:

Here's my hastily written two cents.

If we consider the parents of Giant-Size, the Annuals or King-Size Specials, then initially those were indeed just as good as the regular series of both FF and ASM. The first annuals of each title were huge and full of all-new material We got the epic Sub-Mariner vs. the Human Race and Spider-Man vs. the Sinister Six. Reprint material started to be included with the second issues but the new material was still top shelf. Since Jack Kirby was such a workhorse and endless fountain of ideas, the FF Annuals kept firing on all cylinders until #7 when they went all-reprint.

Since an annual basically amounted to an entire extra book that had to be shoehorned into an artist's and writer's monthly workload, it was undoubtedly pretty tough to maintain quality. I think ASM Annuals #3-5 slipped a bit with the usual creative team not at bat, not terrible but not as good as the monthly book. Afterwards the ASM Annual went reprint.

When the concept was revised as Giant-Size with all new material we're back in the same boat, trying to squeeze out an extra book in the same amount of time.

I started collecting in the mid-'70s, and was buying ASM, MTU, Marvel Tales, FF and Marvel's Greatest Comics off the racks, so I grew up with Kirby/Buckler/Perez FF and Ditko/Romita/Andru Spider-Man. I thought the Giant-Size were a mixed bag. Giant-Size Super Stars #1 with the Hulk and Buckler's Kirby-style art I liked. Giant-Size Super Heroes #1 with Morbius and the Man-Wolf and Gil Kane I liked. Giant-Size FF #2-4 were snoozers and I thought the art was meh. Then they went reprint. Giant-Size ASM #1-3 didn't do anything for me either, despite the regular team being on board. Shang-Chi? Doc Savage?  However, #4 with the Punisher was a-okay and felt just like a regular ASM issue, as did #5 with the Lizard and the Man-Thing, two characters I liked a lot.

So I guess my answer is sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Thanks for your detailed response!

On 9/10/2023 at 6:37 PM, WernerVonDoom said:

Catching up:

I always felt Giant-size Spider-Man was not up to the same standard as the Amazing Spider-Man series, both in story and art, especially art.  Do others feel that the GS series, such as FF, were up to snuff or were they lacking something as compared to their regular series?

On 9/10/2023 at 2:25 PM, MR. Pontoon said:

Giant-Size FF #4 was not an issue that stood out for me, so when prices shot up with movie hype, I sold my nice copy, something I don't usually do. I still have my undercopy.

 

I had this issue, but I have no recollection of how I came to own it.  

On 9/7/2023 at 12:13 PM, NP_Gresham said:

I vaguely recall a PGX 9.2 with sticker selling on the bay a couple of years ago, That of course is a huge Krapshoot as it could be anything with that label, still gives me hope that 8.0 is not the ceiling on the stickered variant. I think you did quite well. Always wanted a piece of original art. 
What was the artwork? Was it comic related?

LOL, incredibly sore spot for me.  It was a page from ASM 145 by Ross Andru, a much cherished issue I bought off the stands.  I would never in a billion years sell it had I still owned it today.  I would find another way to come up with the money I needed.

On 9/3/2023 at 12:07 AM, NP_Gresham said:

The tough books in high grade are #165 Whitman and #184 no price with sticker.

OSP is clueless on how impossible these books are in 9.0/9.2

They would be the only books close to being “under-valued”

I traded my ASM 184 no price (All Detergent variant) with sticker for some original art work several years back.  I sold that art work for $2200 a few years later and thought I made a good deal on the trade.  The new owner of the ASM 184 had it graded and it came back CGC 8.0.  I believe this is the highest graded sticker copy.  So, I do wonder did I get the great deal that I had thought I did?  

On 8/26/2023 at 11:31 AM, jjonahjameson11 said:

Recently, I noticed just how many ASM issues in the late 100's and early 200's have broken from the pack in the OPG and are now commanding more than surrounding issues.  It's a pretty incredible list of books and it got me to thinking about some of the other issues that may need to break out from the Bronze Age pack.  I'd like to share my list, and I hope you will share yours.

My top 3 as follows:

1. ASM 204/205.  The 3rd and 4th appearances of the Black Cat, with 205 being the 1st Romita Jr art on the title, I believe.  Overstreet lists them at $20 each in NM- 9.2.  By comparison, ASM 226/227 feature the return of the Black Cat and list for nearly double, $38 each.  Why?  the stories in 204/205 and just as good as 226/227 and they are available in equal quantities.  Most recent GPA sales for ASM 204/205 in 9.8 is $400 and $275, respectively.  By comparison, most recent GPA sales for ASM 226/227 in 9.8 is $190 and $158, respectfully.  All sales occurred within the past two months.  Similar results where sales for ASM 204/205 in 9.2 fetched more than ASM 226/227 can be found on GPA.
2. ASM Annual 13.  While there is usually less interest from collectors for annuals, there is no doubt that ASM Annual 13 needs to break out from its current grouping of ASM Ann 11-13 = $28 in OPG.  Annual 11 really has nothing going for it, while Annual 12 is a reprint of ASM 119 and 120.  However, ASM Ann 13 contains a killer, brand-new Spidey vs Doc Ock story illustrated by Byrne and Austin at their peak (same time they were on their ground-breaking Uncanny X-Men run), its the first time Spidey rips out one of Doc Ock's tentacles from his body, and its part 1 of a two part story that concludes in Spec Spidey Annual #1.  Not as easy to find in high grade as it used to be.
3. ASM 216.  With Madam Web's recent rise to fame in the Spider-verse, we've seen her 1st appearance in ASM #210 sky rocket in price, and its safe to say that she'll be a fixture in the Spider-verse for a while longer.  So ASM #210 may have already become unaffordable to some, but her second appearance, in ASM 216, should still be affordable...for now.

Thoughts?

Nice, well laid out analysis.

Couldn't agree with you more on ASM Annual 13.  I haven't looked a prices in a decade, but always assumed this issue would command a little more.  That JB art is nice.

Hmmm, not one of my favorite covers by Ross, interesting choice for a re-imagination.

This thread needs pics.  

On 8/13/2023 at 4:06 PM, BigLeagueCHEW said:

Not feeling either of these, wonder if someone was bored and said 195, let's use 140 as an example 

Yes, I agree, I didn't like either of those covers either.  Just give me one large image of something related to the inside of the book.

On 8/13/2023 at 12:42 PM, BigLeagueCHEW said:

Is that the entire page? Do most artist sign, date, and add notes to all OA?

It's the entire page (minus what I altered). 

No, most art is not signed nor dated.  Sometimes there are notes in the margin, usually referring to the pacing of the story.