Spider-Man Magazine #9 (Story 1)

Background

This is a magazine-sized periodical that was targeted for kids (Think Nickelodeon Magazine), and ties into the then-current, animated Spider-Man TV show. It contained two six-page comic strips (One staring Spider-Man and the second another Marvel hero or group - Iron Man in this issue). It also contains fan art, puzzles, word searches, jokes, and kid-targeted features (on nature, etc.), as well as bios of Spidey, and other Marvel characters (Venom in this issue). Most of the issues (#1 and from #4 forward) contained uncut sheets of Marvel trading cards bound inside. The entire contents of the mag are done in that free-wheeling, jokey, Marvel Bullpen style. The mag was packaged by an outside firm, and distributed by Marvel. Starting with issue #8, the magazine became a flip-book, with the second half of the book "upside- down" to the first half.

Story 'Spider-Man and the Human Torch in: The Face of Doom'

While covering a press conference at the Latverian Consulate Daily Bugle photographer Peter Parker wanders away from the pack and begins to take pictures of the Embassy itself. As he was wandering around, he happens upon the real Doom (a robot is addressing the reporters downstairs) and snaps off a shot of Doom without his face mask. Doom sees the flash, and (replacing his mask) chases after Parker. Knowing that he is trouble, Peter swiftly changes to Spidey and confronts Doom. True to form, instead of confronting Spidey directly, Doom sics a bunch of his robots on Spidey. Knowing he is outclassed, Spidey calls for help by shooting webs out the Embassy window forming a #4. The signal is seen by the Human Torch who rushes to his aid. With the help of the Torch, Spidey and the Torch manage to escape doom's clutches, only Peter's pictures are accidentally ruined by Johnny's extreme heat.

It is Iron Man vs. Blizzard in the back-up story

General Comments

Keeping in mind that this is targeted for kids, it plays out fine (if you go for that kind of thing-my son seemed to like it when he was younger). It really isn't an item that most Spidey (or Marvel superhero) fans will want to seek out and actively collect, but if they stumbled across it, it is kind of fun to have.

Overall Rating

The comic stories are simplistic and probably don't fit into any actual continuity. Plus the feature articles are all one-two pages long. The jokes are cute, but if the comic was owned by a kid, they probably have completed all of the puzzles, thus bringing down any real (or imagined) value of the book as far as hard-core collectors are concerned. While both stories are okay, they are still toss-offs for the kiddies, and don't really garner much interest.

Footnote

This issue contains an uncut sheet of four bound-in Greg and Tim Hildebrant's Marvel Masterprints trading cards (Captain America, Psyloche, Hulk, & The Thing The Human Torch).