I noticed you took the New Avengers comics off the Core Titles section a while ago, how come? And if it's no longer considered a core title but instead a Mainstream Guest App, then why does the description still claim it must be regarded a core title?
This is an excellent question. We created the new category of Spider-Man Team Titles specifically when New Avengers (Vol. 2) and Avengers (Vol. 4) were launched. This is because of the ridiculous number of variant covers. I am personally committed to collecting and uploading details for all core Spider-Man titles. But I and the rest of the staff refused to collect the objectionable number of New Avengers (Vol. 2) variant covers. Hence the new "Spider-Man Team" designation was created.
New Avengers (Vol. 1) was formerly a Core Title. But it has been retroactively downgraded to a "Team Title" in order to be consistent. The introduction text that you refer to was out of date. Thank you for pointing that out, I have now corrected it.
Note that according to the Inclusion Guidelines in our F.A.Q. - Database Overview we do include variants for guest appearances and team titles prior to June 2010 - i.e. we list all variants for New Avengers (Vol. 1). However, variants for team titles and other non-core titles with cover dates July 2010 or later are not listed on SpiderFan. E.g. we do not list variants for New Avengers (Vol. 2) nor for Avengers (Vol. 4).
I just wanted to call out a slight missing on "Spider-Man" Volume 1 (todd Mcfarlane 1990). I noticed that you are missing the following variants:
Silver Bagged w/ no price
Green bagged w/ price
gold cover (2nd printing)
Gold cover w/ UPC
Chromium Edition
Dynamic Forces Sign edition
I don't know if you left these out intentionally, but I just wanted to contribute if I could.
Hmm... interesting. For some strange reason, these classic issues do appear to have been overlooked in our database listing for the Spider-Man (Vol. 1) title. We have now added the missing entries. However, not all of your list qualifies as "variants" according to the strict SpiderFan Inclusion Guidelines as defined in our F.A.Q. : Database Overview. Specifically:
The black/silver priced and un-priced variants both qualify. They have been added.
Regarding the gold cover 2nd printings. According to the SpiderFan inclusion guidelines we do not distinguish between UPC and non-UPC printings. In general, 2nd printings always have a UPC. This is a very unusual case where a 2nd printing did not have a UPC. That does make it interesting for collectors. However, SpiderFan policy is clear. We have added a single generic "2nd printing gold variant".
The chromium edition is not considered a variant. It has been added as a reprint in a separate title as MCC #1 - Amazing Spider-Man #300 Chromium Reprint. This comic is ridiculously expensive, copies list for around $300 on eBay. For a reprint. Crazy stuff. [Updated in 2019, now goes for $600 on eBay – who the hell is buying these?].
The Dynamic Forces Sign edition is simply a signed version of a standard cover. The SpiderFan guidelines specifically exclude signature variants.
A question for the staff: Why is the variant cover for Ultimate Spider-Man # 2 said to have been drawn by Jae Lee, when both appear to be clearly the art of Mark Bagley? The 'B' cover in question was used as the iconic image on all types of Spider-Man merchandise over the last decade, which makes it all the more confusing if the cover was drawn by Lee or not?
Hmm... very strange. This appears to have been a data entry problem. Cover art for issue #1 appears to have been credit to Joe Quesada! Both have been corrected. As I understand it, Bagley drew all the cover art for all the Ultimate Spidey issues that he illustrated. Should all be fixed now.
I have just read your review of Pictozine and although I don't have any issues regarding your opinions on what you reviewed, I would like to point out that you have credited some of of the items with the wrong people.
Robyn E Kenealy's "I made a Toastie Pie for Satan" is only one page long. She didn't do the page about people working in a comic store. That was by Becky Ben and Frank. My Free Maps is by Brent Willis and the untitled piece that you say is the worst one is actually by Tim Danko. Doctors and Nurses is jam comic by the Funtime collective.
Brent Willis. (who should only have one strike against me)
Sorry about that! As you know, the stories aren't individually credited, there's just a list of the people involved on the back cover. Also, some stories are untitled, so it's not always clear where one ends and the next begins.
With your assistance, I have updated "Pictozine, Sally, and Horses" to accurately assign credit and blame where I feel it is due!
Regarding Spider-Man's Tangled Web #14, the story entitled "The Last Shoot", which was about the pro wrestler Crusher Hogan:
It may interest you to know that the co-writer, Scott Levy, is actually a professional wrestler himself. He wrestled under the name Raven for many years. I thought you may be interested in this information, in case you want to add it as a footnote in your site's review of the issue.
P.S. A bit of trivia: Raven was also known in his wrestling career as a hardcore comic book fan, and would often wear Daredevil T-Shirts to the ring.
Hey, that's a neat piece of info. I have just added a footnote to that review.
this is jorge, from spain. i would be great if you could help me document a work i am going to do. it is a commercial for a non profit international short film festival that this year celebrates a superhero special. so the commercial tells a moment in life of a superhero fan, a teenager that has devoted his entire life to superheroes, the location is his bedroom, an impressive superhero museum... i want to make it as authentic as i can, thats why i am contacting an expert and i guess also a superhero fan, it would be amazing if you can tell me what kind of things a teen superhero fan can put in his bedroom, i do not know, maybe you have some pictures about how was your bedroom when you were a child, or maybe now, or maybe you know someone who feels like sharing it, maybe at the end you can find some things you had in your bedroom in the commercial and that draws a smile in your face, any help would be so much appreciated, we want to make it well, thats why i need to document the process with truth, thanks so much in advance and have a great week!
Saludo, Jorge.
Well, as a great super hero fan, I'd be delighted to tell you about the bedroom I had as a kid.
I didn't get my own room until I was about ten years old. I shared a room with my sister until then, and we moved house a lot. My dad left home when I was young, and we didn't have a lot of money. My mother married another man, but he didn't have a job, and he was always mean to my mother and to my sister and to me.
We didn't have lots of money for posters or toys or things like that. I had a few books, but mostly I read books from the library. I didn't have a computer at all. Nobody had home computers back in the 1970's. My mother saved up to buy me a flute, and I played in the youth orchestra. I was very good at playing the flute.
When I was thirteen or fourteen, I discovered Spider-Man. I used to buy one of the black and white reprint comics that you can get in New Zealand. I would buy one every month. So by the time I was sixteen or seventeen, I owned perhaps twenty or thirty comics. They sat in a pile on my shelves.
As for my room... my curtains were red, white and blue. I had red and blue squares of carpet on the floor. As well as my shelves, I had bunk beds, a chest of drawers, and a heater. I had a lamp as well. I can't remember what the pattern was on the wallpaper. Out of my window I had a wonderful view of the harbor. I remember one night there was a lunar eclipse and I watched it from my window.
Now I am 44 years old, and I manage the biggest Spider-Man website in the world. I spend thousands of dollars on Spider-Man comics every year. I don't think about my childhood very often.
hi guys i have a copy of spiderman issue 10 on the front cover instead of the price showing 12 cents it says 9d can you tell me what this means.many thanks Neil,west midlands uk.
You have a "9d" variant? Are you sure? There's only been, like, six of those every found. I've been saving for years to buy one, but have never actually managed to come across one for sale. They're worth, like, half a million bucks!
Nah, I'm just kidding. It's just a UK distribution version, so the price is nine pence, instead of twelve cents. Check out the Wikipedia article on British Comics. Those early issues of Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) were distributed in that slightly modified format by Thorpe & Porter, with a nine-pence price tag instead of 12 cents, and with a note at the bottom of the indicia at the bottom of the first page.
Most Spider-Man collectors (myself included) only want the U.S. edition. Some consider them identical, and collect a mix of U.S. or UK editions without distinguishing between the two. A few hardcore collectors look to acquire both versions. As for what they're worth? Like any other comic, they're worth whatever somebody will give you on eBay.
Finally, if you knew anything about the history of your own country, you'd be aware that "d" was the abbreviation for "penny" before the UK currency went decimal in 1971.
I'd like to add Moondark the Magician to the list of Spider-man's kills. In Marvel Team-up #12 he kicks Moondark through a misty portal which opens above the golden gate bridge. Moondark plunges to his death and Spider-man, recoginzing that he could not have survived goes on with his day like nothing happened. Moondark was eventually returned to life by his dark masters, but the fact that he had to be resurrected should be enough to prove that Spidey killed him.
You're quite right, although this is a bit of an accident. Spider-Man and Moondark went through the portal together. Both appeared over the Golden Gate bridge, but while Spidey's powers allowed him to grab a hold of one of the beams, Moondark was not so fortunate.
This isn't really murder, it's more "recklessness causing death". But even so, Spider-Man's casual approach is (as you point out) quite notable. Our "hero" simply shrugs and swings off into the distance, quipping "Even I can't hang around cryin' over spilt magicians!"
Super-powered characters push each other through mystic inter-dimensional portals all the time, with nary a thought for where the other end might open up. This is a classic example of why a little more forethought is required before undertaking such actions!
In any case, I have just added this to our F.A.Q. : Has Spider-Man Killed?.