Spider-Oracle Petitions (11-Apr-2020)
From frogoat
I have seen several places online claim that Aunt May and Uncle Ben suffered a miscarriage or a similarly traumatic loss. The most recent allusion to this that I am aware of was in the Spider-Geddon Handbook which mentions an unidentified child of May and Ben's as deceased. Is this something previously established in the comics or a case of misinformation that got widely spread?
This was told in Amazing Spider-Man Family #7 (Story 1). May says that she suffered a miscarriage, and subsequently was unable to have any children.
While we're on the subject of bringing up painful memories and matters ill-conceived, perhaps I should also mention Trouble – the five-part mini-series from 2003. That story "courageously" attempted to rewrite Spider-history by transforming Aunt May into a promiscuous tramp and having her also be the birth-mother of Peter.
It truly makes my stomach churn to think about it. Fortunately it was roundly rejected by fans and critics alike, and is consigned now to the realms of "alternative universe".
From Sean Kleefeld
Short of actually reading through every Spider-Man newspaper strip myself, I haven't been able to find any way of determining what storylines featured or cameoed other Marvel characters. In particular, I'm trying to track down any strips that might have shown Black Panther.
Do you happen to know if BP has appeared in any of the newspaper strips and/or could you point me to someplace where I might find that information?
Lead Oracular Acolyte Al Sjoerdsma responds:
I've been trying to piece together the whole newspaper strip story but there isn't much online help. I still have gaps where I don't know what the stories are. Eventually, the IDW hardcovers will tell me, if they keep publishing those, but it will be years down the line. (The upcoming volume will take us up to 1985. My main gaps are 1986-1989, 1996-1999, 2001-2005.) Until then, all I can keep doing is check eBay for auctions of these strips but they rarely come up. (The ones that constantly come up are the very first ones because those are the ones everyone saved. As far as I'm concerned, in this case, the earliest "issues" are the cheapest.) Anyway, I've tried to fill out the list as best as possible and I've tried to add the guest-stars for each story either in the "Story" or the "Summary" section.
It is possible that the Black Panther appeared but I can't think of a story offhand. He certainly did not appear since the movie. Since the intent in recent years seems to be to feature characters from the recent movies or Netflix shows (Dr. Strange, Ant-Man, Rocket Raccoon, Iron Fist, Luke Cage) I think they'd have gotten around to him, especially with the popularity of his film, if they hadn't gone reprint. There may be some stray panels with a montage of Avengers, for example, where the Panther is featured, particularly recently, but my reviews of the last five years have been very specific and a Find Search of "Panther" finds nothing in any of them.
From Brian
I recently was lucky enough to be given a piece of spider-man art work (from the original Inker). My question is not what it is worth, as I don't care about that.
My question is if you can help me figure out which series/issue it is from. I believe it is from "Winter 1999, Spider-Man Magazine For Kids".
I can attach a picture of the art if it helps but the scene for this particular page takes place in a museum against boomerang and blizzard.
Very close! This is from the original Spider-Man Magazine, which ran from 1994 to 1997. It ran monthly from issues 2 until 11, and then became quarterly one issue per season.
It only gained the name "Spider-Man Magazine For Kids" beginning with issue 15.
Spider-Man Magazine #19 (Story 1)
| Writer: | Roger Brown |
| Pencils: | Art Ruiz |
| Inker: | Dave Hunt |
| Lettering: | Susan Crespi |
| Colorist: | Garry Black |
Your artwork is from the lead story "Spider on Ice" from issue #19, which is "Winter 1997" (not 1999), and your inker friend is obviously Mr. Dave Hunt.
From Ron
Quite a few comic resources (including SpiderFan.org) list Jason Macendale (Jack O'Lantern / Hobgoblin) as a character appearing in Spectacular Spider-Man #110. I've read it twice, and I can't find him anywhere. Can someone help me out?
A splendid question. This appearance seems to be supported by the Marvel Chronology Project, which is usually very reliable. But you're quite right, there's no obvious appearance. Certainly none in costume.
Knowing Macendale is 6’1”, with black hair, there are two candidates. The first is a man who has an interaction with Jameson in the corridors of the Bugle.
The second is the dark-haired man who is interviewed in a "Vox Pop" on-the-streets.
But really there is nothing to suggest that either one is Macendale. I think we have to accept that this is a mis-categorization that has propagated through the interwebs. We will remove the erroneous reference from our database.
From Dan
in the audio section shan-lon enterprises put out two amazing spider-man cassette and comic book .the comic book was a smaller version measuring 6"x9". you have the cassette cover for ASM#303 but they also did one for ASM#319. i can send scans of the two comics and the cassette cover of ASM#319 if you want.
Thank you Dan. The image of the cassette inlay has been added to our Spoken Word (Misc) page, and the information on the comic book sizing has been added to the Spider-Man Reprints (Shan-Lon Promo) section.
As the Spider-Oracle, I am of course all-knowing. But sadly, the temple of SpiderFan is not all-purchasing, so we rely on contributions of images for some of these promotional items.
From Marc
Hello, unless I missed it your site does not indicate who sings the actual theme song - sounds like a lady, am I right?
According to Wikipedia, the vocals are not credited to any one person.
The original song was recorded at RCA Studios in Toronto (where the cartoon was produced) featuring 12 CBC vocalists (members of the Billy Van Singers, and Laurie Bower Singers groups) who added to the musical backing track supplied by RCA Studios, New York.