Amazing Fantasy 015 - Spider-Man! + Ex (1962, 2012|Digital|Cypher-Emp+) {DAKU RG|VTS}

Amazing (Adult) Fantasy was a gaudy, monster-a-go-go book when it first appeared on the newstands (for example, the ninth issue gave us "The Terror of Tim Boo Bah"). However, with issue 15, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko introduced us to the character that would become a pop culture icon for over 50 years and counting - the Amazing Spider-Man! In just 13 economical pages, Lee and Ditko's formidable talents combined to give us the single most famous origin story in all of Marvel history. It still holds up today, and has never been bettered or improved upon despite many updates, revisions or homages (including John Byrne's multi-issue take on the early stories, or the recent Spider-Man: Season One). Lee's grandiose and enthralling narrative, as well as Ditko's tight and focusing paneling and pencils tell the tragic tale of Peter Parker - a social outcast (read: nerd) at his high school, bullied about and forever the underdog. However, a chance encounter by a radioactive spider gives him incredible new powers - he can stick to surfaces, has super-strength and agility, and of course much more would be revealed later (such as his "Spider-Sense"). He uses his talents not to help others, but selfishly though quite naturally to help himself. What would you do if given such awesome power? Would you not exploit it? That brilliant conceit allows Lee to show us a young, brash Spider-Man whose ego gets the better of him, as he lets a thief escape from the building where his TV show is being filmed. As the cop angrily asks why he didn't help, Parker retorts with the lines, "Sorry pal, that's YOUR job! I'm THRU being pushed around - by anyone! From now on I just look out for number one - that means - ME!". In this one outburst, Spider-Man's ultimate fate is sealed - and unlike Batman, he plays a rather direct role in how events play out simply by his inaction. For as we all know, later than night that same thief kills his beloved Uncle Ben, and Spider-Man shockingly bemoans his own foolishness. The great last panel shows him walking off with the immortal caption, "And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last that in this world, with great power there must also come - great responsibility!". Truly, this is a masterpiece of the genre and its importance on completely changing the paradigm of the comics industry (as well as the fortunes of Marvel Comics) cannot be overstated. This is a must read, pure and simple.



I was surprised that this issue was not previously torrented in digital form; this small pack collects the reprint special from 2012 that combines AF15 + Spider-Man 001 into one edition, with new more modern coloring that looks great - but just a little off if you have any familiarity with the original look. Still, it is nice to have and in great resolution, digital courtesy of Cypher-Empire. I also have included the digital webrip of the original issue by HQPOINT - it is low-res but clean and crisp, and everything is intact as far as the color scheme goes (much more bold yellows and shades of tan). Thanks to the scanners for their efforts, please seed and enjoy this all-time classic! :-)