Marvelmania International: The Spider-Man Portfolio
Background
Last time, we saw that Marvelmania Catalog #2 included an offer to buy (at $1.75 plus 50¢ postage) Super-Hero Portfolios. One was a Spider-Man Portfolio that “will include drawings of some of his most famous villains, a checklist of his magazine including info on writers, artists and story titles, and lots of other goodies.” The other was for Daredevil that “will not be terribly different from Spider-Man’s, what with a checklist of his comic appearances and drawings of some of his greatest foes…But we think you’ll find that our features on how DD’s radar-sense operates to be one of the most fascinating pieces of comic lore ever.” That sounds good. The ad tells us that the portfolios “are available only as a set.” The only problem with that is that the Daredevil portfolio does not seem to exist. At least, I’ve never encountered it. So, how about it? Does anyone out there own it? Does it exist? (Wikipedia seems to think so.) While we’re waiting for someone to respond, let’s look at the Spider-Man Portfolio, which definitely does exist.
Story Details
Marvelmania International: The Spider-Man Portfolio
| Reprints: | Amazing Fantasy #15 |
| Reprints: | Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) Annual #1 (Story 2) |
As you can see from the box above, the set consists of 29 pages. Each page is 8 ½” by 11” and seems to be regular old printing paper (or, in the parlance of the times, typing paper). Fifteen pages are pin-up shots of Spidey, Peter Parker, and 13 villains. (All displayed in the Gallery above.) Eleven pages are reprints in black and white, turned sideways on the page so two pages can fit instead of one, including Amazing Fantasy #15, August 1962 and a slew of pin-ups from Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) Annual #1 (Story 2), 1964. The last three pages comprise the typed (complete with typos) list of Spidey issues that I’ve been including at the end of each of my ASM reviews. It goes up to ASM #92, January 1971 so this portfolio did not come out in 1969 or even 1970. I have the mailing envelope with mine which has no dated postmark but I did find a comment online from a portfolio owner who said that his is postmarked in 1973. What I can’t find is a list of who all of the artists are. Some of the pin-ups are Ditko taken from his time on the book and some are Romita Sr. but I can’t place the others. The pin-ups that stick out as unlike the others are the ones of Spidey and Peter Parker. They are the only ones with word balloons (Spidey says, “I guess Spidey will have to take it from here” and Peter says, “Oh no, looks like a full day’s work for ol’ Peter Parker.”) and they are not immediately recognizable as any particular artist’s work. (If anyone can pinpoint these artists, please let me know.) Two other pin-ups that stick out are those for the Masked Marauder and the Ox. While the Ox did fight Spidey as a member of the Enforcers, he became a Daredevil villain, as is the Marauder (who had not yet fought Spidey), giving you the feeling that these two were originally intended for the Daredevil Portfolio which may or may not exist.
General Comments
In looking for details about this portfolio, I found several sets for sale at $300+ prices, none of which were complete. If you want to spend the money and invest in a set, go for it. It may (or may not) further increase in value. But if you ordered it at the time, you discovered that nearly half of the pages were black-and-white reprints of items previously printed and reprinted, you found a hodgepodge of pin-ups that included two villains that were primarily Daredevil villains (and which probably means that you didn’t get the Daredevil Portfolio with it) and you got a three-page checklist that looks like it was hastily composed. And you may have not gotten your portfolio until 1973 if you received it at all.
Overall Rating 
Yes, it’s kind of cool and it’s kind of rare but it’s also kind of a disappointment.
Footnote
We have two UK annuals to look at and then we’re done with 1969. Let’s do Marvel Comic Annual (UK) 1969 first.