Ross Andru's Amazing Spider-Man Club 9 9

[Spider-Variant]

Here's one of the oldest Ross Andru real life references, from Amazing Spider-Man 171, the Montauk Point Light House.  George Washington personally authorized construction of this lighthouse.

Hmmm, even though I adored this issue as a kid and loved the battle location, especially with the hydro-foil, this is one of the few depictions that I felt Ross didn't knock it out of the ballpark on.

Obviously there is no secret AIM base in the bottom of the lighthouse, but Ross left out the structures closest to the sea in his depictions.  They were at least there since 1961.  His depiction of the keeper's residence is not to scale and his building locations don't match very well.

Overall, not his best depictions, but I am going to cut him some slack, because this issue feature Nova!

[FoggyNelson]

Nice catch on that lighthouse👍👍

[Spider-Variant]

Here's a small one for a Friday.

The Queensboro Bridge was featured heavily in Issues 161 and 162, but Ross threw in a nice shot of the underside of the bridge as a nervous JJJ and the Hitman go down the East River in Amazing Spider-Man 175.

[Spider-Variant]

I just noticed that the story text refers to the bridge above as the Brooklyn Bridge, which it is definitely not.  Maybe Len Wein was trying to make up for Gil Kane drawing the Brooklyn Bridge in ASM 122 when the story called for the George Washington Bridge.  

Seriously, I do wonder if it was a writer's mistake or the artist's or both.

Edited March 7, 2020 by Spider-Variant
typo

[FoggyNelson]

15 hours ago, Spider-Variant said:

Here's a small one for a Friday.

The Queensboro Bridge was featured heavily in Issues 161 and 162, but Ross threw in a nice shot of the underside of the bridge as a nervous JJJ and the Hitman go down the East River in Amazing Spider-Man 175.

Looks exactly like a reverse image of the original photo 👍👍 great job spider-variant

[Spider-Variant]

It was November of 1975 and I had just turned nine years old.  Amazing Spider-Man 153 with a cover date of Feb. 1976 hit the stands, and thus started a 35 year collecting odyssey.  Now, as I had mentioned many times, my older brother had collected for as long as I could remember.  He regaled with stories of his collection and lamented its loss as the family car was shipped with his comics inside and the books were never seen again.  I have great affection for the issues I remember buying together, like issue 145, 148, and two copies of 150 (because he knew it was going to be a collector's item).  But with issue 153, I had taken over as the family ASM collector, under his careful tutelage. 

Amazing Spider-Man 153 opens with an amazing splash page of Spidey perched in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC.   I wanted to dissect that splash page, but there was a lot of disconnects between the real St. Patrick's Cathedral and one Ross Andru drew.  I'll have to tackle it another day.  But on the second page, Spidey is definitely swinging around from the side of the cathedral.  His depiction is spot on (I highlight all the matching points), which makes the splash page so confusing to me.

 

Edited March 7, 2020 by Spider-Variant
Typo

[Get Marwood & I]

A rare Ross recalcitration of realism. He makes up for it with the bird squashing bloke though. 

[Spider-Variant]

 

3 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

A rare Ross recalcitration of realism. He makes up for it with the bird squashing bloke though. 

Ugh, Paine!

That guy creeped me out back in the day.

But MJ was bringing it.

Funny, I always read that "Kung Fu Fighting" is our song? with no question mark, implying Peter was making a joke.  With the question mark, the song is playing and Pete is wondering if MJ really thinks it's their song.

Does anyone else think John Romita did MJ's face in this panel?

 

Edited March 7, 2020 by Spider-Variant

[Get Marwood & I]

13 hours ago, Spider-Variant said:

Ugh, Paine!

That guy creeped me out back in the day

It takes skill to draw a creep 

[Spider-Variant]

Hmm, where have we seen this one recently?

 

[Spider-Variant]

In Issue 143 (April 1975) of the Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker joins Joe Robertson for a flight to France, from which JJJ has frantically sent a cable requesting Joe bring money.  Ross Andru depicts a cab arriving at the Pan Am World Port at JFK International Airport, which opened in 1960.  This Terminal was later purchased by Delta.  In trying to find a good comparison, I came across a picture from 1978.  It was the oldest I could find from near the same vantage.  Note the funky lamp posts, which also contain the gate numbers. 

Not being satisfied though, I kept searching and came across this 1962 ad for the Chevrolet Impala.  It was themed Jet-Smooth Chevrolet and features the World Port as the back drop.  I was astonished at how it matches what Ross drew in 1975.  If you look closely, the cars pulling into the terminal on the brochure almost match one for one with those Ross drew in ASM.  I am almost convinced Ross used this brochure/ad as his reference.  At first I thought the brochure was a concept drawing, but a lot of it matches with other real life photos.  The air traffic tower does exist but not sure at the exact angle.

Anyway, I thought this was pretty neat.  I couldn't find the interior shots I was looking for, perhaps another time.

 

 

[Get Marwood & I]

2 minutes ago, Spider-Variant said:

Spooky. 

[Spider-Variant]

5 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Spooky. 

Yes, definitely.  I really, really want to say Ross was using that as he was drawing the panel, but who knows, maybe he just drove out to the airport and took a picture.  Uncanny the resemblance.   There's a car going down to the lower level in both pics.  

Edited March 19, 2020 by Spider-Variant

[Get Marwood & I]

Just now, Spider-Variant said:

Yes, definitely.  I really, really want to say Ross was using that as he was drawing the panel, but who knows, maybe he just drove out to the airport and took a picture.  Uncanny the resemblance. 

Too many similarities to be coincidence. Even the lines in the road match. 

[Spider-Variant]

2 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Too many similarities to be coincidence. Even the lines in the road match. 

I wanted to see if I could match this interior, but no good shots so far.

[Get Marwood & I]

Just now, Spider-Variant said:

I wanted to see if I could match this interior, but no good shots so far.

I love that issue. 

[Eric M. Rom]

I'm glad I found this topic. 

Does anybody have an example of Ross Andru's signature?  I have an Amazing Spider-Man #151 with a very large, but very faint, "R" and "A" written on the cover with a pen.  Does anybody know if that is how he signed things?

I know that getting comics autographed wasn't a big thing back in the day, but I've been looking for years and I can't find one example of his signature anywhere.  Thanks in advance for any help or information.

-Eric

[Spider-Variant]

25 minutes ago, Eric M. Rom said:

I'm glad I found this topic. 

Does anybody have an example of Ross Andru's signature?  I have an Amazing Spider-Man #151 with a very large, but very faint, "R" and "A" written on the cover with a pen.  Does anybody know if that is how he signed things?

I know that getting comics autographed wasn't a big thing back in the day, but I've been looking for years and I can't find one example of his signature anywhere.  Thanks in advance for any help or information.

-Eric

 

Signature from 1989.  I looked for something older, but I don't have one.

This is 100% guaranteed his signature.  It's not from a comic though.  There are a few original art boards that have his signature too.

Welcome to the thread.  Got any stories?  Tell us about your collecting experience concerning ASM and Ross.

Please post your issue of 151, one of the best bronze age ASM covers, IMHO.

I also found his initials.  

Edited March 19, 2020 by Spider-Variant
Clarification

[Spider-Variant]

Here's the original art page 31 to Issue 133 with Ross's signature.  Looks like Frank Giacoia also signed that one.  Sweet.

 

 

 

[Eric M. Rom]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is not his signature.... but anyway, here are pictures of:

1.  The full cover,

2.  A close-up of the "pen markings" (which are barely visible) on the cover

3.  The same close-up outlined by me so as to make the "pen markings" (or scribble) easier to see.

Any thoughts?  Thanks.

-Eric