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  • Published: 15 June 2022
  • ISBN: 9780143135739
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $50.00

The Amazing Spider-Man




It is impossible to imagine American popular culture without Marvel Comics. For decades, Marvel has published groundbreaking visual narratives that sustain attention on multiple levels: as explorations of the relationship between power and responsibility; as metaphors for the experience of difference and otherness; as meditations on the pain of adolescence and the fluid nature of identity; as examinations of the meaning, and limits, of patriotism; as ironic juxtapositions of the cos­mic and the quotidian; as resources for the understanding of political and social history; and as high watermarks in the artistic tradition of American cartooning. For the first time, these classic stories of some of the most iconic super heroes in the history of American comics are Penguin Classics.
This anthology goes back to the original source material for The Amazing Spider­-Man, with key stories from the first two years from 1962 to 1964.  These allegories of adolescence permanently transformed the conventions of the super hero genre by insisting that great power is never just a means to an end, but also a burden­some responsibility. The introduction offers fresh insights into character development and the personalities of his creators. Also included are rarely reprinted non–super hero stories, early letter pages, and supplemen­tal materials shedding light on Lee and Ditko’s artistic process.

The Penguin Classics Marvel Collection presents the origin stories, seminal tales, and characters of the Marvel Universe to explore Marvel’s transformative and timeless influence on an entire genre of fantasy.
 
A Penguin Classics Marvel Collection Edition
 
Collects “Spider-Man!” from Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962); The Amazing Spider-Man #1-4, #9, #10, #13, #14, #17-19 (1963-1964); “Goodbye to Linda Brown” from Strange Tales #97 (1962); “How Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Create Spider-Man!” from The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964). It is impossible to imagine American popular culture without Marvel Comics. For decades, Marvel has published groundbreaking visual narratives that sustain attention on multiple levels: as metaphors for the experience of difference and otherness; as meditations on the fluid nature of identity; and as high-water marks in the artistic tradition of American cartooning, to name a few.
 
This anthology contains twelve key stories from the first two years of Spider-Man’s publication history (from 1962 to 1964). These influential adventures not only transformed the super hero fantasy into an allegory for the pain of adolescence but also brought a new ethical complexity to the genre—by insisting that with great power there must also come great responsibility.
 
A foreword by Jason Reynolds and scholarly introductions and apparatus by Ben Saunders offer further insight into the enduring significance of The Amazing Spider-Man and classic Marvel comics.
 
The Penguin Classics black spine paperback features full-color art throughout.

  • Published: 15 June 2022
  • ISBN: 9780143135739
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $50.00

About the authors

Stan Lee

STAN LEE is an icon of the comic book world. He is a legendary American comics writer, editor, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics. Having begun his career with wartime Timely Comics and staying the course throughout the Atlas era, he made comic-book history with Fantastic Four #1, harbinger of a bold new perspective in story writing that endures to this day. With some of the industry's greatest artists, he introduced hero after hero in Incredible Hulk, Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men and more -- forming a shared universe for rival publishers to measure themselves against. After an almost literal lifetime of writing and editing, Lee entered new entertainment fields and earned Marvel one opportunity after another. He remains one of Marvel's best-known public representatives.