Ross, Jonathan
Their collaboration on Spider-Man couldnt last foreverbut the five-years of Stan Lee and Steve Ditkos remarkable partnership lasted long enough for their character to evolve into a timeless icon and create a fandom that would last generations. TASCHENs second volume of Amazing Spider-Man stories collects the latter half of the duos magnum opus, featuring brand new arch-villains the Scorpion, Molten Man, and the Crime-Master, return engagements with Kraven the Hunter and the Green Goblinand the three-part Master Planner Saga that reignited a feud with an iconic mystery villain, and left behind what many comics critics declare to be the greatest super hero story of all time. Beyond the action that faced Spider-Manall choreographed with aplomb by the master stylist Ditkothere was also the matter of Peter Parkers maturation during a decade of social upheaval and change. With Stan Lees blend of soap opera melodramatics and finger-on-the-pulse social sensitivities, Peter graduated from high school to college and started to deal with a myriad of adult struggles, mirroring the life experiences of the books readership. A scrawny teenager no more, Lee and Ditko would widen his network of friends and frenemies, debuting Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, and, in a series of hilarious cameos, Mary Jane Watsonall characters that would develop into one of the deepest and most substantive supporting casts in all of comics. Also introduced is Harrys father, Norman Osborn, the short-tempered industrialist who would later be revealed as Spider-Mans most dreaded foe. Meanwhile, Peters up-and-down romance with Betty Brant would reach its culmination with both changed forever. Collected in an XXL-size volume that closely simulates the size and proportions of the original comic artboards, all individual issues have been sourced from the collection of Bob Bretall, holder of the Guinness World Record for largest comics collection. Bretalls pedigreed collection has been photographed using TASCHENs sterling reproduction methods, resembling the way these comics first looked when initially published in 1965 and 1966, while also being digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the eras inexpensive, imperfect printing. A custom paper stock was exclusively developed for this series to simulate the newsprint feel and color holding of the original comics. The Marvel Comics Library has earned well-deserved raves from comic collecting diehards for combining an old school comic book reading experience with a luxurious oversized book format, winning the industrys coveted Eisner Award for Best Publication Design. Complementing the comics is an incisive and often side-splitting essay by British TV and radio host Jonathan Ross. Accompanying his essay is a gallery of original art, photographs, rarities, and other ephemera of the era.
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