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Amazing Fantasy #15 artwork surfaces! by Blake Bell (May 6 '08) The United States Library of Congress has issued a press release acknowledging that they've received, from an anonymous donor, the donation of the entire original artwork – 24 pages – to the Ditko-drawn issue of Amazing Fantasy #15 (cover-dated Aug ’62) that featured the origin of first appearance of the Lee/Ditko creation, the Amazing Spider-Man.
on his May 5th visit to look at the artwork Yesterday I packed my extra webbing cartridges and swung down to The Library of Congress to visit the pages of Amazing Fantasy #15. I arrived about 10 am with my Spider Senses completely tingling for a 2 hr visit with the pages and their curator Sara Duke. I'm honored to have been her first appointment to see them and whatta rush to see Spider-Man's debut in da flesh! I was allowed my camera and loose notepaper (LOC provides pencils for taking notes) and all other belongings had to go in a locker (including my Marvel Masterworks reprinting AF 15). Sara supervises your visit the entire time and she handles the pages, visitors are not allowed to touch or handle them and even for picture taking they must remain flat on the viewing table. The overhead lighting purposely leaves a glare on any pictures you'll get as the pages stay within their protective mylar. Anyway as previously stated all 11 pages of "Spider-Man" are present along with all pages to the 3 back-up stories "The Bell-Ringer" (3 pgs); "Man In The Mummy Case" (5 pgs); "There Are Martians Among Us" (5pgs) totaling 24 pgs in all. Among the 3 back-up stories, the Mummy story is a stand-out artistically (lots of heavy Ditko brush strokes) and has just the right twist ending. The pages themselves are in very fine condition -- the page color is white but not as pristine white as most Ditko ASM pgs I've seen as these pages are somewhat smudged with pencil on their front sides. I only got to see the back of the splash and it was smudged around the edges fairly heavily and the Comic Code stamp was present on all pages stamped with the date Mar 6 '62 (although the 6th looks more like a 0) and signed off with initials "M & MJ". There also is whiteout present where most early ASM pgs are pretty much free of this corrective fluid. At first glance I noticed that the line weight of Ditko's inking is a bit thinner than what we're used to seeing but around pg 10 his brush really takes over and the lines get much more free and thick! Of course with this being his first stab at Spider-Man he was just getting a feel for the character. For instance the spacing of Spidey's webbing on his costume changes a bit over the pages as well his the shape of his head while masked. Don't get me wrong -- the whole story is breathtaking to say the least, a real piece of comic book, comic art and American pop culture and history! I took several notes of the pencil markings on the pages and hope that it adds a glimpse into the creative processes of how these pages were developed. I'll leave quote marks (") where we couldn't read what was written in the margin notes. Also I wrote all these notes down exactly as I saw them written.
Page 1 - splash top margin:
Page 1 title logo:
Page 1 - splash margins:
Page 1 - splash notable word balloon correction: Page 1 - splash backside has Comics Code Stamp dated Mar 6 '62 signed by "M & MJ"
Page 2 bottom margin:
Page 2 word notable balloon corrections:
Page 3 panel 6:
Page 3 panel 8 margin:
Page 4 panel 3:
Page 4 panel 5:
Page 5 panel 7:
Page 6:
Page 7 top margin:
Page 7 panel 1:
Page 7 panel 4:
Page 8 right side margin:
Page 9 top margin:
Page 10:
Page 11 left margin:
Page 11 panel 4:
Page 11 panel 6:
Page 11 last panel: What is extremely interesting to me is that it seems pg 2 almost wasn't used and the story would have been 10 pages and gone straight from the splash into the science hall/spider-bite origin scene on pg 3! This assertion is based on the note along the bottom margin of page 2. Imagine not being introduced to Peter's loving Aunt May & Uncle Ben before he was bitten by the spider!? Not seeing Peter praised by his professor and shunned by his classmates (which pushed him into attending the exhibit on radioactivity!) The world needed these bits of back-story to make Peter/Spider-Man appeal to us so much. Sure this could have all come later but what a pivotal moment! The hand drawn logo found underneath the stat logo on the page 1 splash is most certainly drawn and designed by Ditko himself, not Kirby as some have asserted! It's glue stained but quite visible and highly stylized in a 'spindlely' sort of writing-- maybe this was a bit too much and that's why a more subdued version in block letters was ultimately used. The original Spider-Man logo looks like the kind of design we later see in Ditko's work at Charlton. On page 3 the radioactive spider is still lodged in Peter's hand after he is bitten (which Steve was told to remove) and Peter's hand was in a different position. On page 4 in the 3rd panel the one word balloon was made to be two separate statements/thoughts I believe in order to emphasize two distinct Spider powers -- the ability to climb walls ("I reached the roof in just a few seconds!") and great strength ("I crushed this steel pipe as though it were paper!"). If this had remained one balloon these separate and distinct abilities would have been much less emphasized. On page 8 I'm least sure about what was written in those corrective notes. The word "Hunt" may be "Home" or even another word, it wasn't easy to read. On page 11 in the 4th panel Spider-Man does indeed have eyes but I believe this was done for effect to demonstrate his great shock at recognizing the burglar as the man he could have stopped! Nowhere else in the art is there any evidence of eyes visible through his mask. In the last panel and perhaps most famous creed in all of comicdom Stan & Steve were definitely going for a moody panel where Spider-Man not only feels remorse but grows in his responsibilities. "This Speak Too Seemly" probably isn't what was written but sure appears to be. At the very bottom it reads "Be Sure To See The Next Issue Of Amazing Fantasy --- For The Further Amazing Exploits Of America's Most Different New Teen-Age Idol -- SpiderMan!" Does anyone know if this is what was printed at the end of Amazing Fantasy #15? I seem to remember something else to the effect of "See the letters page for a message from the editor about the new Amazing" but please correct me if I'm wrong as I don't have an Amazing Fantasy #15 comic book to refer to. Also if it isn't apparent in my notes above many of the corrections written in pencil were actually written right in the art areas within the panels themselves. Although the pencils wouldn't have shown up in the final printed version this is still a bit unusual for this era of Marvel artwork. I've seen these kinds of corrections more prevalent on Golden Age pages but not Silver Age, even early Silver Age pages like these so I was kinda surprised by this. This story was given as a donation to the LOC and the donor says that it was gifted to them as well but on the very last page of the Martian story in the bottom right corner there reads "50-" which seems to indicate a price of $50. I could be interpreting this wrong but even Sara remarked that it looked like a price to her as well. Could be nothing or could be one of the mysteries that surround the origins of who and where these pages came from -- dunno if the provenance will ever come to light as the donor has promised more artwork on the basis that their identity be kept secret (much like Peter Parker). I do have some photos but Marvel had a lawyer contact the LOC and the curators are very concerned with images being displayed publicly so I'm not going to straddle that line at the present (sorry!). Well, my Aunt May is calling so I'd better swing home...
Best regards,
Amazing Fantasy #15 artwork surfaces! Main Page Articles/Info. main page Front page
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