Ross Andru's Amazing Spider-Man Club 9 9

[Get Marwood & I]

Afternoon 

I can't remember if I've posted these before but back in the day when I was negotiating to buy my Spidey #137 page the seller had these two available too, which he kindly sent me photocopies of:

 

Lee B's post above inspired me to dig them out again.

I opted for my page below - the cheaper of the three - as it was a lot of money back then. Of course, I wish now I'd have had the courage to buy all three as they would now be worth many multiples of what they were back then and, money aside, they were lovely examples of Ross' work. But you can't live your life looking back all the time, wishing and wondering, can you. There's only what you did, the fact you can't now change it, and what you can do today.

They'd have been lovely pieces to own, but I'm happy I have just one ASM page that sat on Ross' desk, all those years ago.

I have this MTU page too, which I've posted here before, but there's no substitute for an ASM really:

I'm currently working through Chuck Gower's Stan Lee book, which is an interesting read, and it reminded me that I have this:

It's been many years since I read it, and I recall a chapter where Mike Esposito is disappointed when Ross fails to mention him at a meeting. I sort of don't want to read that again, in a way, as it suggested a bit of selfishness on Ross' part. Maybe I misremembered it, who knows.

Either way, and just in case I hadn't got it across in this thread that I started over six years ago now, I don't half have fond memories of being a kid when Ross was on the ASM run.

[Spider-Variant]

On 10/10/2024 at 10:36 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Afternoon 

I can't remember if I've posted these before but back in the day when I was negotiating to buy my Spidey #137 page the seller had these two available too, which he kindly sent me photocopies of:

 

Lee B's post above inspired me to dig them out again.

I opted for my page below - the cheaper of the three - as it was a lot of money back then. Of course, I wish now I'd have had the courage to buy all three as they would now be worth many multiples of what they were back then and, money aside, they were lovely examples of Ross' work. But you can't live your life looking back all the time, wishing and wondering, can you. There's only what you did, the fact you can't now change it, and what you can do today.

They'd have been lovely pieces to own, but I'm happy I have just one ASM page that sat on Ross' desk, all those years ago.

I have this MTU page too, which I've posted here before, but there's no substitute for an ASM really:

I'm currently working through Chuck Gower's Stan Lee book, which is an interesting read, and it reminded me that I have this:

It's been many years since I read it, and I recall a chapter where Mike Esposito is disappointed when Ross fails to mention him at a meeting. I sort of don't want to read that again, in a way, as it suggested a bit of selfishness on Ross' part. Maybe I misremembered it, who knows.

Either way, and just in case I hadn't got it across in this thread that I started over six years ago now, I don't half have fond memories of being a kid when Ross was on the ASM run.

Great stuff Steve.  I have slowed down on my posting as well, mainly because we have covered so much, running out of new discussion points. 

I keep meaning to order that Partners for Life book, but something always comes up.

I still want to see a photo of Ross Andru at a comic convention.  Mike Esposito talks about a convention, pre-ASM days, that Ross and he attended to sell some art work.  So, at least there is one instance.

I still track artwork photos/scans from Ross's ASM run, which you posted 3 examples above.  I'm always looking for pages I had not seen before.  Mike Burkey posted a list of all the art that he had once owned, but no photos.

 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 10/10/2024 at 6:26 PM, Spider-Variant said:

Great stuff Steve.  I have slowed down on my posting as well, mainly because we have covered so much, running out of new discussion points. 

Just do what I do, Reggie, repeat everything because you can't remember posting it in the first place 

On 10/10/2024 at 6:26 PM, Spider-Variant said:

I keep meaning to order that Partners for Life book, but something always comes up.

That fact that you don't own it, after all this time, is one of life's great mysteries Reggie. I'm going to have to leave you my copy in my will.

[Spider-Variant]

On 10/11/2024 at 2:58 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Just do what I do, Reggie, repeat everything because you can't remember posting it in the first place 

That fact that you don't own it, after all this time, is one of life's great mysteries Reggie. I'm going to have to leave you my copy in my will.

Leave me that original art as well my friend. 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 10/11/2024 at 3:12 PM, Spider-Variant said:

Leave me that original art as well my friend. 

 

[ganni]

The 1975 Ross Andru version is my favorite....

Was the 1975 version a remake ?

 

[LowGradeBronze]

On 2/21/2023 at 5:18 AM, Spider-Variant said:

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 

I see a Romita art edit on Spidey's head. This becomes especially clear in the flipped version. He re-drew a lot of heads back then. 

[LowGradeBronze]

On 10/10/2024 at 6:26 PM, Spider-Variant said:

Great stuff Steve.  I have slowed down on my posting as well, mainly because we have covered so much, running out of new discussion points. 

I keep meaning to order that Partners for Life book, but something always comes up.

I still want to see a photo of Ross Andru at a comic convention.  Mike Esposito talks about a convention, pre-ASM days, that Ross and he attended to sell some art work.  So, at least there is one instance.

I still track artwork photos/scans from Ross's ASM run, which you posted 3 examples above.  I'm always looking for pages I had not seen before.  Mike Burkey posted a list of all the art that he had once owned, but no photos.

 

I found this interview which might be of interest and mentions Ross a lot: (Can't find any images of them both together though.)

https://www.nerdteam30.com/creator-conversations-retro/an-interview-with-mike-esposito-silver-age-inker-for-wonder-woman-iron-man

Here's a great quote from the interview: 

Mike Esposito:  Ross was a difficult guy to ink.  First of all, he’d dig into the paper so much that if you had a pen or a brush the grooves would stop your line.  He was really hard to ink.  But good.  His stuff was so beautiful when you looked at it, you wanted to ink it.  But when you tried to ink it, it’s not easy.  Some guys really know how to do it but rubbing the eraser over it and just making it disappear, guys like Frank Miller and stuff like that, they re-do the stuff to the point it’s not even him any more.  But what Ross liked about me; he used to say to me, “I want it to look exactly the way I penciled it.”  And that’s the way I was trained to do it with him.  So, if a guy had a lantern jaw, that’s what he got.  If Wonder Woman’s eyes were bugging out, that’s what he wanted.  People used to think I was doing it.  I said, “No, no, no.  It’s in the pencils.  It’s just that I follow his pencils.” 

Edited Sunday at 08:36 AM by LowGradeBronze

[Spider-Variant]

On 10/13/2024 at 1:04 AM, ganni said:

The 1975 Ross Andru version is my favorite....

Was the 1975 version a remake ?

 

Not sure, I remember that version, and I know it's been remade since, but not sure if the 1975 version was a remake or not.

[Spider-Variant]

On 10/13/2024 at 4:20 AM, LowGradeBronze said:

I found this interview which might be of interest and mentions Ross a lot: (Can't find any images of them both together though.)

https://www.nerdteam30.com/creator-conversations-retro/an-interview-with-mike-esposito-silver-age-inker-for-wonder-woman-iron-man

Here's a great quote from the interview: 

Mike Esposito:  Ross was a difficult guy to ink.  First of all, he’d dig into the paper so much that if you had a pen or a brush the grooves would stop your line.  He was really hard to ink.  But good.  His stuff was so beautiful when you looked at it, you wanted to ink it.  But when you tried to ink it, it’s not easy.  Some guys really know how to do it but rubbing the eraser over it and just making it disappear, guys like Frank Miller and stuff like that, they re-do the stuff to the point it’s not even him any more.  But what Ross liked about me; he used to say to me, “I want it to look exactly the way I penciled it.”  And that’s the way I was trained to do it with him.  So, if a guy had a lantern jaw, that’s what he got.  If Wonder Woman’s eyes were bugging out, that’s what he wanted.  People used to think I was doing it.  I said, “No, no, no.  It’s in the pencils.  It’s just that I follow his pencils.” 

Oh that's some great points @lowgradebronze.  I have read that article before, but thanks for linking it here, because it is a very good one with Mike.

[ganni]

On 10/14/2024 at 3:31 AM, Spider-Variant said:

Not sure, I remember that version, and I know it's been remade since, but not sure if the 1975 version was a remake or not.

Somebody from Marvel did watch the 1974 version "The Longest Yard".

[jjonahjameson11]

I have a confession to make here.

i have never liked Ross’ work on ASM, and I thought he was the worst Spiderman artist ever…until Erik Larsen came along!  His artwork made me stop collecting ASM cold-turkey.

BUT, as I read through this thread, I am learning to appreciate the effort and attention to detail Ross put into every issue he worked on.  And I have to add, the amount of research and information being shared on this thread is, well, amazing 🤩 

I am seeing Ross’ work on ASM in a different light, and it’s slowly growing on me.  I’m not a convert yet, but perhaps in time…?

Also, I just want to say that I am not a Ross Andru basher.  I loved his work on Metal Men and I thought he was the perfect artist for the title.  His work on DC war titles was also quite good.

Anyhow, thanks all for sharing the info and keep up the great work! 👍🏻

[Spider-Variant]

On 10/15/2024 at 8:26 AM, jjonahjameson11 said:

I have a confession to make here.

i have never liked Ross’ work on ASM, and I thought he was the worst Spiderman artist ever…until Erik Larsen came along!  His artwork made me stop collecting ASM cold-turkey.

BUT, as I read through this thread, I am learning to appreciate the effort and attention to detail Ross put into every issue he worked on.  And I have to add, the amount of research and information being shared on this thread is, well, amazing 🤩 

I am seeing Ross’ work on ASM in a different light, and it’s slowly growing on me.  I’m not a convert yet, but perhaps in time…?

Also, I just want to say that I am not a Ross Andru basher.  I loved his work on Metal Men and I thought he was the perfect artist for the title.  His work on DC war titles was also quite good.

Anyhow, thanks all for sharing the info and keep up the great work! 👍🏻

Wow, thanks for sharing that thoughtful post @jjonahjameson11.   I, for one, know that Ross's work is not for everyone, and I have even cringed at some of his panels as well.  Part of my love for his Spider-Man is driven by nostalgia, as he was the artist in ASM when I first started collecting.  As I have posted to this thread, I too have come to have a much greater respect for the man and his efforts in the comic industry.  I some times marvel at his desire for accuracy, all the time getting paid by the page.

When I first started collecting and purchased the Marvel Tales reprints, they were covering issues done by Kane and Romita, so they were somewhat in line with what Ross was doing on the current ASM issues, all was good.  But when I got to the Steve Ditko books, I was really disappointed and did not enjoy his style at all.  It took me 35 years or so to appreciate his Spider-Man and another 10 years to actually enjoy it from those early issues.

Give Ross another 10 years, you'll love his art, lol. 

[ganni]

The fun part when one reads the Ross Andru's Spider-man.  you can always say  " this panel looks familiar."  I have never been to NY.  But I see a lot of NY in magazines, films etc..  So when I read his panels,  I can always say " Hey, I have seen this street/building somewhere.