Spider-Variant

On 3/26/2023 at 2:09 PM, sledgehammer said:

Although this is the Bronze Age, these books were definitely in my Golden Age of collecting during my youth.  Love these books.

I think I posted this Xerox before but a little latitude please, lol.

I often see an original art board with push pin holes in it and wonder "who the hell would do that?"

But looking at the Xerox of ASM 134 page 31, I think the answer is.... Ross Andru.

The push pin holes on both are in the same location (look at that oil spot on the fourth panel in the margins.

So, either Ross or the letterer must have used them to secure the board while working, since the next stop was Dave Hunt.

I also notice the original art board has been trimmed (because the notes in the margin are gone).  I think this had to due with reproducing the art for the printing plate, but I could be blowing smoke on this one.

On 3/27/2023 at 3:16 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Being a denizen of Englandville, I hate it for a whole host of reasons Reggie, mostly geographic....

Yes, I definitely got this one through mail order and it didn't stand out.  I love all the issues around this, with 92 and 97 being two of my all-time favorite covers.

On 3/27/2023 at 1:58 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Like Ross, you could always tell a Sal Spidey by the eyes....

                             Sal                                                   Ross

The eyes have it!

I enjoyed Sal's version of Spidey, not as much as I enjoyed Ross's though.  I thought his early issues of Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man were great.

But Sal also drew one of my least favorite Amazing Spider-Man covers...  That right hand just looks weird to me, almost pancake flat.

Again, not Ross Andru, but his fill-in on Amazing Spider-Man while Ross was working on his Magnum Opus, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.  

ASM 154 was the second issue that I bought off the stands back in the day.  I didn't know much about artist, etc., but knew this art was definitely different than issue 153. I also love the little pacing notes in the borders of the art.  Panel six reads "SM (Sand Man) begins to move."

Mrs. Spider-Variant and I just spent the last two weeks putting this 3000 piece puzzle together.  Although, it's not Ross Andru's work, I liked the fact that it had several villains pictured that were introduced during Ross's glory days.   It was fun to work when the cat and dog weren't wrecking havoc.  Only two missing pieces.....

This little joke comes to mind whenever I think of ASM 153.

For years I read it without the question mark, making Pete's thoughts "Kung Fu Fighting is our song."

I have always wondered if Ross drew his friends in comics, or perhaps even his wife.

On 3/16/2023 at 5:26 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Nothing beats that, does it. Your early experience with comics, as a kid, when it was all real and you believed in it. Nigh on fifty years later, we're still recalling those first experiences here. I've created a lot of threads on this forum over the last six years, and poured a lot of energy and enthusiasm into them. Some chart the results of decades of mucking about with comics but most relate to the latter years of my life when the pursuit of variant detail took over from actually reading the damn things. Don't get me wrong, I've loved gathering lost and forgotten information about books that no one cares about and my old Charlton thread will always be a personal favourite. But of all of them, this is the one I'm most glad that I started as it comes from that original innocent starting point - the love of your first comics. It covers the characters I've loved the most, from the time when comics meant the most. If I never post here again - you never know what's around the corner, do you - I'd be more than happy for this to be the last thing I write about comics. My fond recollections of the perpetually down on his luck Peter Parker, his courageous alter ego Spider-Man who always tried to do the right thing whatever the personal cost and the whole original gang, perfectly rendered by the long since departed Ross Andru - a man we can never meet to thank - and using just a pencil, his obvious talent and a no doubt trusty camera. 

Thanks Reggie. 

Wow Steve, if I worked on it a year, I'm not sure I could have captured my feelings on my experiences growing up with Spider-Man better than you just did.  

On 3/15/2023 at 8:20 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

That whole Doc Ock storyline stayed with me. I always felt sorry for him when he turned up at May's again, in tramp mode. Then asks Peter for a piece of chicken after he's had a wash and brush up. "May's a good woman. Better than I deserve" he said, or words to that effect. The oddest things stay with you, don't they. Like the squashed bird I mentioned earlier in the thread from ASM #153. I think it was 153, anyway, without checking. The football one. The power of charm, with a dash of nostalgia. Oh, and Andru art of course.

ASM 153 started my 35-year run on collecting the title.  My original copy is the only book I held onto.  Yes, Paine was the bird-crushing fiend from that issue.  It opens with Spidey in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Just a really poignant story to my nine year old self.

On 3/15/2023 at 9:48 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

In longways UK weekly format, yes:

I must have owned at least five of the US version over the years - here's my last two copies (long gone now):

I had a 9.4WP slab too. The preposterousness of a May/Ock marriage never seemed to trouble me, either as a kid or later as an adult. It was, and still is to me, charming. Which is what comics used to be, back in the day. A bit throwaway, but charming nonetheless. 

Yes, oddly enough, I never flinched at the thought of the marriage either.  In some ways it felt in character for Doc Ock.  I never bought this issue off the stands and obtained it through mail order.  It must have not made a bid impression on me, as I don't recall being excited about it.

On 3/15/2023 at 5:14 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

I love all the little notes you find here and there on OA 

 

Hey Steve, is this an issue you bought as a kid?

On 3/12/2023 at 6:54 AM, sledgehammer said:

I purchased every one of these issues through mail order back in the day.  Probably the best time of my collecting life.  Ah, the anticipation, seems like yesterday I was saving my coins and begging my older brother to write me a check or asking my mom to take me to the Post Office to get a money order.

Mrs. Spider-Variant and I went to see it yesterday.  It was fun for what it was.  We liked it better than the Ant Man and the Wasp.

On 10/11/2020 at 10:26 AM, Spider-Variant said:

The original art for Ross Andru's (Mike Esposito on inks) Month of November illustration for the Amazing Spider-Man Mighty Marvel Comics 1978 Calendar is up on Heritage Auctions.  Ross probably drew this in the Summer of 1977, for inclusion into the 1978 Calendar, which probably would have hit the stands in the fall of 1977.  I remember picking up my copy at the PX in Fort Benning, GA at the age of 11, although I can't remember the month.  For comparison, I pulled up ASM 131 to see how much Ross deviated from his original work.  ASM 131 had a cover date of April 1974 and was on the stands in Jan 1974.  So, 3.5 years between the two.

For the most part, Ross kept it the same.  The preacher is the same, Dr. Ock has the same attire with the exception of his glasses, and if you look at ASM 130 and 131 you see the building has a brick facade.   Also notice the thug of diminutive stature, Ross puts him in both illustrations.

But Ross does deviate some.  Aunt May's gown for example in the calendar picture no longer covers her neck.  The rest of the goons are changed up somewhat.

 

Here's another take of the Splash page from Amazing Spider-Man 131, this time by Steven Stiles and inks by Mike Esposito.  As many know, for the British Super Spider-Man issues (here #180 from 1976), the splash was redone in the horizontal format to fit the book.  I actually like Steven's point of view better than Ross's original, but I love the calendar depiction the best.  Maybe Ross liked Steven's version better as well and made changes for the calendar.  

On 1/30/2023 at 11:21 AM, Spider-Variant said:

I'm going to bump this thread occasionally with the hope of finding a few more of the missing pages.  

On 3/4/2023 at 7:21 AM, The lips said:

 

Yes, that storyline was the impetus for this thread.  But five issues weren't enough to talk about, so we expanded the discussion to all of Ross's ASM run, and then some beyond.

On 3/2/2023 at 11:50 AM, 1webslinger said:

Nicholas Hammond

It wasn't much, but it was all we had in the 70s.

On 3/2/2023 at 11:05 AM, mr_highgrade said:

He played Spidey in the 70's TV series. 

Congrats.  That Twinkie should still be eatable with all the preservatives used back in the day, lol.

The Sound of Music was released on this date back in 1965.

This young lad displayed his talents on this movie, but what in the heck does he have to do with Spider-Man?  

@Get Marwood & I's half eaten Twinkie from the 70s for the first correct winner.

On 2/23/2023 at 12:26 PM, Black_Adam said:

Lately I have been avoiding eBay like a trimmed comic edge but I went on a bit of a beer-fueled bidding binge on a recent Sunday night and ended up with these two, both comic covers I remember vividly from long gone childhood. 

My older brother and I bought both of those off the rack.  

On 2/22/2023 at 2:34 PM, sledgehammer said:

In my opinion, Ross Andru certainly at least inked the Torch's face.

It screams out Andru to me, especially the eyes, in the same way that the interior art of Giant Size Spider Man #1 screams out "Dear God, why did anyone let Don Heck anywhere near this artwork?"

If Ross did any work on this, I would think it would only be on the Human Torch.

I did not enjoy Mr. Heck's work either.

What if all of Ross's work was recreated by some cool French artist?

I'd be ok with that...

On 2/22/2023 at 12:22 PM, Jordysnordy said:

Such a great cover!

Yes, that's a great cover.  I still remember opening this one up from a mail order shipment back in the day.  I miss the days of discovering gems like these for the first time.

On 2/20/2023 at 4:53 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

Indeed. It could be like after Ross? Was that a thing? I know there are sketches now that are after a certain style attributed to a artist. Still, there I'm sure are various reasons withing a work environment,  and yet, I'd compare it to your knowledge 

Awaiting to see the answers

 

Hmmm, not sure there was an "after Ross" back then.

The Spidey looks like Al Milgrom and the Thing arm looks like Sinnott inks to me.  But the Human Torch looks like it is a little more detailed than the Spidey.  Hmmm 

Back in 2016, Heritage Auctions sold the cover to Marvel Team-Up 61.  They accredited the pencils to Ross Andru and the inker as unknown.  I see Comic Connect is now offering this cover, but they put Al Milgrom as the penciler and Joe Sinnott as the inker.  Other sources I reviewed also have this duo as the art team for this cover.

It doesn't look like Ross's work to me either.  Especially if I flip the image.

But here is the million dollar question?  Why did Ross sign it in pencil at the top of the artboard?  That looks like Ross's signature to me and not someone assigning the cover to Ross.

Any thoughts?