129-475: The Spectacular Spider-Man is a comic book and magazine series starring Spider-Man and published by Marvel Comics . Following the success of Spider-Man's original series, The Amazing Spider-Man , Marvel felt the character could support more than one title. This led the company in 1968 to launch a short-lived magazine, the first to bear the Spectacular name. In 1972, Marvel more successfully launched
258-675: A tabloid form. Underground comics and "small press" titles have also appeared in the UK, notably Oz and Escape Magazine . The content of Action , another title aimed at children and launched in the mid-1970s, became the subject of discussion in the House of Commons . Although on a smaller scale than similar investigations in the US, such concerns led to a moderation of content published within British comics. Such moderation never became formalized to
387-469: A #−1 issue) and 14 Annual s until November 1998. The series was launched by writer/editor Gerry Conway and artist Sal Buscema and Mike Esposito . Conway explained the concept and origin of the series: [ Spectacular Spider-Man ] was in response to the fact that I had a deal to script several ongoing [series] for Marvel at the time. Stan [Lee] wanted me back on Spider-Man, in particular, but I didn't want to take Amazing Spider-Man from Len Wein , who
516-414: A 2003 interview, Len Wein recalled having been "a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age seven, my dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. And I was hooked. When my eighth grade art teacher, Mr. Smedley, told me he thought I had actual art talent, I decided to devote all my efforts in that direction in the hope that I might someday get into the comics biz." Approximately once
645-636: A black artist or writer allowed in a major comics company." Asian characters within comic books encountered similar prejudiced treatment as black characters did. They were subjected to dehumanizing depictions, with narratives often portraying them as "incompetent and subhuman." In a 1944 edition of the publication United States Marines , there was a story titled The Smell of the Monkeymen . This narrative portrayed Japanese soldiers as brutish simians, and it depicted their concealed positions being betrayed by their repugnant body odor. Chinese characters received
774-530: A comics adaptation of a Two-Face story pitch by Harlan Ellison originally intended for the Batman television series . In 2016, DC published a six-issue limited Swamp Thing series by Wein and artist Kelley Jones . Wein's first wife was Glynis Oliver , a comics colorist who spent years on the X-Men titles; they were married some time prior to 1972. Following their 1985 divorce, he married Christine Valada,
903-473: A company named Comics Guaranty (CGC) initiated the practice of "slabbing" comics, which involves encasing them within thick plastic cases and assigning them a numerical grade. This approach inspired the emergence of Comic Book Certification Service . Given the significance of condition in determining the value of rare comics, the concept of grading by an impartial company, one that does not engage in buying or selling comics, seemed promising. Nevertheless, there
1032-473: A decade.) Steven Grant had a brief run before the book was set adrift with a succession of fill-in issues which ran through late 1994, when former Amazing Spider-Man writer Tom DeFalco took over. By this time, all the Spider-books were being affected by the controversial " Clone Saga " that culminated with Spectacular Spider-Man #226 (July 1995), and Fingeroth convinced DeFalco that the series needed
1161-458: A famous example of the British comic annual. DC Thomson also repackages The Broons and Oor Wullie strips in softcover A4-size books for the holiday season. On 19 March 2012, the British postal service, the Royal Mail , released a set of stamps depicting British comic book characters and series. The collection featured The Beano , The Dandy , Eagle , The Topper , Roy of
1290-535: A few of the others, who would come into the office waiting for their next assignment and ask [editor] Julie Schwartz , 'Do you have any Len Wein scripts lying around? He's always easy to draw.'" DC editor Joe Orlando hired both Wolfman and Wein as freelance writers. Wein's first professional comics story was "Eye of the Beholder" in DC's Teen Titans #18 (Dec. 1968), for which he co-created, with Wolfman, Red Star ,
1419-586: A five chapter spy genre tale written by Otto Binder and drawn by Al Carreno. It is readable online in the Digital Comic Museum . The magazine never reached a second issue. In 1950, St. John Publications produced the digest-sized , adult-oriented "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust , a 128-page digest by pseudonymous writer "Drake Waller" ( Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller ), penciler Matt Baker and inker Ray Osrin , touted as "an original full-length novel" on its cover. "It Rhymes with Lust"
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#17327806125031548-628: A government ran program, the Writers' War Board, became heavily involved in what would be published in comics. "The Writers' War Board used comic books to shape popular perceptions of race and ethnicity..." Not only were they using comic books as a means of recruiting all Americans, they were also using it as propaganda to "[construct] a justification for race-based hatred of America's foreign enemies." The Writers' War Board created comics books that were meant to "[promote] domestic racial harmony". However, "these pro-tolerance narratives struggled to overcome
1677-794: A leading role in Grant Morrison 's Final Crisis storyline in 2008. In the fall of 1972, Wein and writers Gerry Conway and Steve Englehart crafted a metafictional unofficial crossover spanning titles from both major comics companies. Each comic featured Englehart, Conway, and Wein, as well as Wein's first wife Glynis , interacting with Marvel or DC characters at the Rutland Halloween Parade in Rutland, Vermont . Beginning in Marvel's Amazing Adventures #16 (by Englehart with art by Bob Brown and Frank McLaughlin ),
1806-427: A less superior race and cannot believe they bested his men."The Tuskegee Airmen, and images of black aviators appear in just three of the fifty three panels... the pilots of the 99th Squadron have no dialogue and interact with neither Hop Harrigan nor his Nazi captive." During this time, they also used black characters in comic books as a means to invalidate the militant black groups that were fighting for equality within
1935-412: A lifelong passion for the stories within comics, often focusing on specific superheroes and striving to gather a complete collection of a particular series. Comics are assigned sequential numbers, and the initial issue of a long-lasting comic book series tends to be both the scarcest and the most coveted among collectors. The introduction of a new character might occur within an existing title. For instance,
2064-616: A lot of what we are – certainly on the X-Men – to Len and to Dave [Cockrum]". In 1977, following an offer to script the " Batman " feature in Detective Comics , Wein left Marvel to work exclusively at DC Comics as a scriptwriter and editor. He scripted Batman and collaborated on Green Lantern with artists Dave Gibbons and Mark Farmer . On his first issue of Batman , #307 (Jan. 1979), he created Wayne Foundation executive Lucius Fox , later portrayed by Morgan Freeman in
2193-572: A month, as a teenager, Wein and his friend Marv Wolfman took DC Comics ' weekly Thursday afternoon tour of the company's offices. Wolfman was active in fanzine culture, and together he and Wein produced sample superhero stories to show to the DC editorial staff. At that point, Wein was more interested in becoming an artist than a writer. In a 2008 interview, Wein said his origins as an artist have helped him "describe art to an artist so that I can see it all in my own head", and claimed he "used to have artists, especially at DC, guys like Irv Novick and
2322-463: A novice comic-book writer shouldn't be handling the adventures of Marvel's flagship character". Former series writer Gerry Conway, who additionally wrote Web of Spider-Man from 1988 to 1990, returned to Spectacular , after which he left both books to become a story editor on the TV series Father Dowling Mysteries . Conway stated in 1991 that "I understand the character a lot better now than I did when I
2451-457: A photographer and attorney, in 1991, and became stepfather to Michael Bieniewicz-Valada. On April 6, 2009, Wein's California home burned down with considerable loss of property and mementos, including his Shazam Awards . He and his wife also lost their dog, Sheba, to the fire. Beginning October 26, 2009, Valada appeared on and won the television game show Jeopardy! , becoming a four-time champion with winnings of over $ 60,000. She indicated on
2580-539: A psychic link with insects and arachnids. This comic also included the sequel to " Sins Past ", " Sins Remembered ", in which Peter went to Paris to meet Sarah Stacy and resolved the issues between them. Spectacular Spider-Man Adventures was a title published by Panini Comics in the United Kingdom from November 1995 to September 2005, although the Adventures portion of the title was often dropped from
2709-613: A recurring panelist on the Los Angeles-based stage revival of the TV game show What's My Line? He wrote episodes of the Cartoon Network animated series Ben 10: Alien Force , Ben 10: Ultimate Alien , Ben 10: Omniverse and the Marvel Super Hero Squad . Wein was interviewed for commentary tracks on comics-related DVDs, including the animated Justice League: The New Frontier film,
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#17327806125032838-554: A regular writer to help guide the crossover story. This story revealed (though it was later reversed) that the Spider-Man who had appeared in the previous 20 years of comics was a clone of the real Spider-Man. This tied into a publishing gap after #229 (Oct. 1995), when the title was temporarily replaced by The Spectacular Scarlet Spider #1–2 (Nov.–Dec. 1995), featuring the "original" Peter Parker. The series picked up again with #230 (Jan. 1996). Initially newcomer Todd Dezago wrote
2967-656: A revival of the Blue Beetle , two issues of the DC Challenge limited series, and dialogued the miniseries Legends over the plots of John Ostrander . The following year, Wein scripted the rebooted Wonder Woman series over penciller George Pérez 's plots. With artist Steve Erwin , Wein co-created the superhero Gunfire . Following his second stint at DC and a move to the West Coast, Wein served as editor-in-chief of Disney Comics for three years in
3096-536: A second Spider-Man ongoing series, Marvel Team-Up , in which he was paired with other Marvel heroes. A third monthly ongoing series, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man , debuted in 1976. The Spectacular Spider-Man was initially a two-issue magazine published by Marvel in 1968, as an experiment in entering the black-and-white comic-magazine market successfully pioneered by Warren Publishing and others. It sold for 35 cents when standard comic books cost 12 cents and Annual s and Giant s 25 cents. It represented
3225-603: A story drawn by Fred Hembeck . Al Milgrom took over scripting as well as art on the title with issue #90 (May 1984) and worked on it through issue #100 (March 1985). Milgrom imbued the book with a more whimsical tone, for example, pitting Spider-Man against the Spot, a supervillain who was so ridiculous that he gave Spider-Man fits of laughter. Jim Owsley , then-editor of the Spider-Man books, disapproved of this approach and had Milgrom replaced as writer by newcomer Peter David in 1985. David and artist Rich Buckler , said Owsley, had
3354-497: A surge of creativity emerged in what became known as underground comix . Published and distributed independently of the established comics industry, most of such comics reflected the youth counterculture and drug culture of the time. Underground comix "reflected and commented on the social divisions and tensions of American society". Many had an uninhibited, often irreverent style; their frank depictions of nudity, sex, profanity, and politics had no parallel outside their precursors,
3483-495: Is Japan. By 1995, the manga market in Japan was valued at ¥ 586.4 billion ( $ 6–7 billion ), with annual sales of 1.9 billion manga books ( tankōbon volumes and manga magazines ) in Japan, equivalent to 15 issues per person. In 2020 the manga market in Japan reached a new record value of ¥612.5 billion due to a fast growth of digital manga sales as well as an increase in print sales. The comic book market in
3612-410: Is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, usually dialogue contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form. Comic Cuts was a British comic published from 1890 to 1953. It was preceded by Ally Sloper's Half Holiday (1884), which
3741-502: Is also available to read online in the Digital Comic Museum. In 1971, writer-artist Gil Kane and collaborators applied a paperback format to their "comics novel" Blackmark . Will Eisner popularized the term "graphic novel" when he used it on the cover of the paperback edition of his work A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories in 1978 and, subsequently, the usage of the term began to increase. In 2017,
3870-458: Is an ongoing debate regarding whether the relatively high cost of this grading service is justified and whether it serves the interests of collectors or mainly caters to speculators seeking rapid profits, akin to trading in stocks or fine art. Comic grading has played a role in establishing standards for valuation, which online price guides such as GoCollect and GPAnalysis utilize to provide real-time market value information. Collectors also seek out
3999-662: Is generally considered the beginning of the modern comic book as it is known today. The Silver Age of Comic Books is generally considered to date from the first successful revival of the then-dormant superhero form, with the debut of the Flash in Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956). The Silver Age lasted through the late 1960s or early 1970s, during which time Marvel Comics revolutionized the medium with such naturalistic superheroes as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby 's Fantastic Four and Lee and Steve Ditko 's Spider-Man . The demarcation between
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4128-625: Is largely set in Britain and starring the magician John Constantine , paved the way for British writers such as Jamie Delano . The English musician Peter Gabriel issued in 2000 The Story of OVO which was released in a CD-booklet-shaped comic book as part of the CD edition with the title " OVO The Millennium Show ". The 2000 Millennium Dome Show based on it. At Christmas, publishers repackage and commission material for comic annuals , printed and bound as hardcover A4 -size books; "Rupert" supplies
4257-416: Is notable for its use of sequential cartoons to unfold narrative. These British comics existed alongside the popular lurid " penny dreadfuls " (such as Spring-heeled Jack ), boys' " story papers " and the humorous Punch magazine, which was the first to use the term "cartoon" in its modern sense of a humorous drawing. The first modern American-style comic book , Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics ,
4386-469: Is one of the best storytellers and a wonderful collaborator. I loved that run." During this period, Spider-Man editor Danny Fingeroth would hold conferences in New York with all the Spider-Man creative staff, allowing them to brainstorm ideas and discuss future storylines. DeMatteis left the book in mid-1993 to write The Amazing Spider-Man (succeeding David Michelinie who wrote Amazing for over half
4515-597: Is used in South Korea to refer to both comics and cartooning in general. Outside South Korea, the term usually refers to comics originally published in the country. Manhwa is greatly influenced by Japanese Manga comics though it differs from manga and manhua with its own distinct features. Webtoons have become popular in South Korea as a new way to read comics. Thanks in part to different censorship rules, color and unique visual effects, and optimization for easier reading on smartphones and computers. More manhwa have made
4644-628: Is written by Greg Weisman (who also created The Spectacular Spider-Man television series) with Ramos returning for art. The Spectacular Spider-Men stars both versions of Spider-Man (Peter Parker and Miles Morales ) and focuses on the relationship between the two Spider-Men. The series' supporting cast featured characters who previously appeared in the television series and Weisman's Starbrand & Nightmask comic series, including Kenny Kong , Shelly Conklin, Cedric Harrison, Sha Shan Nguyen , and Professor Raymond Warren . Comic book A comic book , comic-magazine or simply ' comic' ,
4773-589: The United States and Canada was valued at $ 1.09 billion in 2016. As of 2017 , the largest comic book publisher in the United States is manga distributor Viz Media , followed by DC Comics and Marvel Comics featuring superhero comics franchises such as Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , Spider-Man , the Incredible Hulk and the X-Men . The best-selling comic book categories in
4902-586: The archetype of the superhero . According to historian Michael A. Amundson , appealing comic-book characters helped ease young readers' fear of nuclear war and neutralize anxiety about the questions posed by atomic power. Historians generally divide the timeline of the American comic book into eras. The Golden Age of Comic Books began in 1938, with the debut of Superman in Action Comics #1, published by Detective Comics (predecessor of DC Comics), which
5031-554: The 1930s – and through really to the 1950s and 60s – these comics were almost the only entertainment available to children." Dennis the Menace was created in the 1950s, which saw sales for The Beano soar. He features in the cover of The Beano , with the BBC referring to him as the "definitive naughty boy of the comic world." In 1954, Tiger comics introduced Roy of the Rovers ,
5160-422: The 1940s there was a change in portrayal of black characters. "A cursory glance...might give the impression that situations had improved for African Americans in comics." In many comics being produced in this time there was a major push for tolerance between races. "These equality minded heroes began to spring to action just as African Americans were being asked to participate in the war effort." During this time,
5289-560: The 1990s, changed the format and distribution of their comics to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The " minicomics " form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing , arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than the small press. Small publishers regularly releasing titles include Avatar Press , Hyperwerks , Raytoons, and Terminal Press , buoyed by such advances in printing technology as digital print-on-demand . In 1964, Richard Kyle coined
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5418-399: The 20th century, with the first comic standard-sized comic being Funnies on Parade . Funnies on Parades was the first book that established the size, duration, and format of the modern comic book. Following this was, Dell Publishing 's 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics as the first true newsstand American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of
5547-459: The 21st century and which Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini adapted into a 2003 film . Some independent comics continued in the tradition of underground comics. While their content generally remained less explicit, others resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned companies or by single artists. A few (notably RAW ) represented experimental attempts to bring comics closer to
5676-688: The Comics Magazine Association of America. The CMAA instilled the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the self-censorship Comics Code that year, which required all comic books to go through a process of approval. It was not until the 1970s that comic books could be published without passing through the inspection of the CMAA. The Code was made formally defunct in November 2011. In the late 1960s and early 1970s,
5805-662: The Disruptor!", and "Countdown to Chaos!" (with additional inking by Tony Mortellaro on the latter two). These versions were themselves reprinted in Marvel Tales #95–97 (Sept.-Oct. 1978). The second and final issue (Nov. 1968) also sported a painted cover and the interior was in color as well. Lee, Romita and Mooney again collaborated on its single story, "The Goblin Lives!", featuring the Green Goblin . A next-issue box at
5934-565: The Innocent (1954). This critique led to the involvement of the American Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency , which launched an investigation into comic books. Wertham argued that comic books were accountable for a surge in juvenile delinquency and posed a potential impact on a child's sexuality and moral values. In response to attention from the government and from the media, the US comic book industry set up
6063-661: The Magician , and the Phantom . Several reprint companies became involved in repackaging American material for the British market, notably the importer and distributor Thorpe & Porter . Marvel Comics established a UK office in 1972. DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics also opened offices in the 1990s. The repackaging of European material has occurred less frequently, although The Adventures of Tintin and Asterix serials have been successfully translated and repackaged in softcover books. The number of European comics available in
6192-532: The Rovers , Bunty , Buster , Valiant , Twinkle and 2000 AD . Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein ( / w iː n / ; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics ' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics ' Wolverine , and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men (including the co-creation of Nightcrawler , Storm , and Colossus ). Additionally, he
6321-597: The Silver Age and the following era, the Bronze Age of Comic Books , is less well-defined, with the Bronze Age running from the very early 1970s through the mid-1980s. The Modern Age of Comic Books runs from the mid-1980s to the present day. A significant event in the timeline of American comic books occurred when psychiatrist Fredric Wertham voiced his criticisms of the medium through his book Seduction of
6450-493: The Spectacular Spider-Man #131 and 132. With issue #134 (Jan. 1988), the "Peter Parker" part of the title was removed and the series became simply The Spectacular Spider-Man . The logo changed from a distinctive design to using the same design as that of The Amazing Spider-Man and the 1968 Spectacular Spider-Man magazine; this logo did not change until issue #218 (Nov. 1994). The logo of Web of Spider-Man
6579-507: The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (March 1982), and included a story arc which took place from issues #73–79 (Dec. 1982 – June 1983), in which Doctor Octopus and the Owl competed for control of the New York underworld, Octopus almost destroys New York with a nuclear device and the Black Cat is critically injured. Issue #86 (January 1984) was part of the "Assistant Editors Month" event and featured
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#17327806125036708-599: The Swamp Thing , edited by Wein and featuring early work by writer Alan Moore —as well as two theatrical films, and a syndicated television series. Abigail Arcane , a major supporting character in the character's mythos, was introduced by Wein and Wrightson in Swamp Thing #3 (March 1973). Wein wrote the second story featuring Man-Thing (written circa May 1971, published in June 1972), introducing Barbara Morse and
6837-426: The U.S. "Spider-Man 'made it clear that militant black power was not the remedy for racial injustice'." "The Falcon openly criticized black behavior stating' maybe it's important fo [ sic ] us to cool things down-so we can protect the rights we been fightin' for'." This portrayal and character development of black characters can be partially blamed on the fact that, during this time, "there had rarely been
6966-507: The UK has increased in the last two decades. The British company Cinebook , founded in 2005, has released English translated versions of many European series. In the 1980s, a resurgence of British writers and artists gained prominence in mainstream comic books, which was dubbed the " British Invasion " in comic book history. These writers and artists brought with them their own mature themes and philosophy such as anarchy, controversy and politics common in British media. These elements would pave
7095-460: The US as of 2019 are juvenile children's fiction at 41%, manga at 28% and superhero comics at 10% of the market. Another major comic book market is France , where Franco-Belgian comics and Japanese manga each represent 40% of the market, followed by American comics at 10% market share. Comic books heavily rely on their organization and visual presentation. Authors dedicate significant attention to aspects like page layout, size, orientation, and
7224-443: The United States. They were the ones painted as intolerant and disrespectful of the dominant concerns of white America". Manga (漫画) are comic books or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, though the art form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art . The term manga is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning in general. Outside Japan,
7353-410: The artist and remained until the series ended, but there was no regular writer for the last half-year with Glenn Greenberg , Roger Stern, John Byrne and Howard Mackie all contributing during this time. The final issue was #263 (Nov. 1998). Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) titled without the definite article "The", is a 27-issue monthly series published from September 2003 to June 2005. Each issue
7482-540: The color-comics line in 1974, staying a little over a year before handing the reins to Wolfman. Remaining at Marvel as a writer, Wein had lengthy runs on Marvel Team-Up , The Amazing Spider-Man , The Incredible Hulk , Thor , and Fantastic Four , as well as shorter runs on such titles as The Defenders and " Brother Voodoo ". Wein co-created Wolverine with artist John Romita Sr. during his run on The Incredible Hulk . Wein's story "Between Hammer and Anvil" from The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #182 (Dec. 1974)
7611-467: The comic and the film adaptation. Wein returned to comics writing for DC in the late 2000s, where he collaborated in the DC Comics nostalgic event DC Retroactive writing stories for the one-shot specials Batman – The '70s (September 2011) drawn by Tom Mandrake and Green Lantern – The '80s (October 2011) drawn by Joe Staton . The hardcover collection of his 10-issue DC Universe: Legacies
7740-687: The comic book market size for North America was just over $ 1 billion with digital sales being flat, book stores having a 1 percent decline, and comic book stores having a 10 percent decline over 2016. The global comic book market saw a substantial 12% growth in 2020, reaching a total worth of US$ 8.49 billion. This positive trajectory continued in 2021, with the market's annual valuation surging to US$ 9.21 billion. The rising popularity of comic books can be attributed to heightened global interest, driven significantly by collaborative efforts among diverse brands. These collaborations are geared towards producing more engaging and appealing comic content, contributing to
7869-463: The comic book market. The rarest modern comic books include the original press run of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #5, which DC executive Paul Levitz recalled and pulped due to the appearance of a vintage Victorian era advertisement for "Marvel Douche ", which the publisher considered offensive; only 100 copies exist, most of which have been CGC graded. (See Recalled comics for more pulped, recalled, and erroneous comics.) In 2000,
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#17327806125037998-545: The comics all together. There was a comic created about the 99th Squadron, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen , an all-black air force unit. Instead of making the comic about their story, the comic was about Hop Harrigan. A white pilot who captures a Nazi, shows him videos of the 99th Squadron defeating his men and then reveals to the Nazi that his men were defeated by African Americans which infuriated him as he sees them as
8127-733: The concept that "Whatever Knows Fear Burns at the Man-Thing's Touch!", and later edited Steve Gerber 's run on that title. Wein wrote a well-regarded run of Justice League of America (issues #100–114) wherein, together with artist Dick Dillin , he re-introduced the Seven Soldiers of Victory in issues #100–102 and the Freedom Fighters in issues #107–108. Libra , a supervillain created by Wein and Dillin in Justice League of America #111 (June 1974), would play
8256-433: The coon stereotype but had some subtle differences. They are both a derogatory way of portraying black characters. "The name itself, an abbreviation of raccoon, is dehumanizing. As with Sambo, the coon was portrayed as a lazy, easily frightened, chronically idle, inarticulate, buffoon." This portrayal "was of course another attempt to solidify the intellectual inferiority of the black race through popular culture." However, in
8385-415: The cover page. It featured a mix of reprinted American material, as well as originally produced British material, including a guest appearance from Captain Britain . Spectacular was aimed at a younger audience than Panini's other Spider-Man reprint title Astonishing Spider-Man , and was loosely based on the continuity of the 1990s animated series . Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 3)
8514-584: The debut appearances of iconic characters such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman , the Flash , Captain Marvel , Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk , Iron Man , Captain America and the Mighty Thor are regarded as priceless treasures within the comic book world. Many early iterations of black characters in comics "became variations on the 'single stereotypical image of Sambo'." Sambo was closely related to
8643-421: The early "new X-Men" stories with artist Cockrum. These issues were then scripted as Uncanny X-Men #94-95 by Chris Claremont , who subsequently developed the title into one of Marvel's leading franchises. In 2009, Claremont said, "The history of modern comics would be incredibly different if you took [Wein's] contributions out of the mix. The fact he doesn't get credit for it half the time is disgraceful. We owe
8772-410: The early 1990s. After leaving Disney, Wein began writing and story editing for such animated television series as X-Men , Batman , Spider-Man , Street Fighter , ExoSquad , Phantom 2040 , Godzilla , Pocket Dragon Adventures , ReBoot and War Planets: Shadow Raiders . In 2001, he and Wolfman wrote the screenplay Gene Pool for the production company Helkon, and later wrote a prequel to
8901-934: The end promoted the planned contents of the unrealized issue #3, "The Mystery of the TV Terror". A version of the Goblin story, trimmed by 18 pages, was reprinted in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #9 (1973), and portions of the "TV Terror" costume were reused for the costume of the Prowler . Both issues of the magazine were reprinted in their entirety (albeit reduced to comic size) in the collection Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man #7 ( ISBN 0-7851-1636-2 ), then again in Marvel Epic Collections: The Amazing Spider-Man #4 in 2019. The first issue
9030-420: The eradication of Asian invaders." There was "a constant relay race in which one Asian culture merely handed off the baton of hatred to another with no perceptible changes in the manner in which the characters would be portrayed." "The only specific depiction of a Hispanic superhero did not end well. In 1975, Marvel gave us Hector Ayala (a.k.a. The White Tiger)." "Although he fought for several years alongside
9159-413: The extent of promulgating a code, nor did it last long. The UK has also established a healthy market in the reprinting and repackaging of material, notably material originating in the US. The lack of reliable supplies of American comic books led to a variety of black-and-white reprints, including Marvel's monster comics of the 1950s, Fawcett's Captain Marvel , and other characters such as Sheena , Mandrake
9288-415: The first Spider-Man spin-off publication aside from the original series' summer Annual s , begun in 1964. The first issue ( cover-dated July 1968) featured a painted, color cover by men's adventure -magazine artist Harry Rosenbaum, in acrylic paint on illustration board, over layouts by The Amazing Spider-Man artist John Romita Sr. The 52-page black-and-white Spider-Man story, "Lo, This Monster!",
9417-501: The first appearance of Spider-Man took place in Amazing Fantasy #15. New characters were frequently introduced in this manner, waiting for an established audience before launching their own titles. Consequently, comics featuring the debut appearance of a significant character can sometimes be even more challenging to locate than the inaugural issue of that character's standalone series. Some rare comic books include copies of
9546-508: The first appearance of Superman , both sold privately through online dealer ComicConnect.com in 2010, and Detective Comics #27, the first appearance of Batman , via public auction. Updating the above price obtained for Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman , the highest sale on record for this book is $ 3.2 million, for a 9.0 copy. Misprints, promotional comic-dealer incentive printings, and issues with exceptionally low distribution tend to possess scarcity value in
9675-538: The first official Russian superhero in the DC universe. Neal Adams was called upon to rewrite and redraw a Teen Titans story which had been written by Wein and Wolfman. The story, titled "Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho!", would have introduced DC's first African American superhero but was rejected by publisher Carmine Infantino . The revised story appeared in Teen Titans #20 (April 1969). Later that year, Wein
9804-590: The hugely popular football based strip recounting the life of Roy Race and the team he played for, Melchester Rovers . The stock media phrase "real 'Roy of the Rovers' stuff" is often used by football writers, commentators and fans when describing displays of great skill, or surprising results that go against the odds, in reference to the dramatic storylines that were the strip's trademark. Other comic books such as Eagle , Valiant , Warrior , Viz and 2000 AD also flourished. Some comics, such as Judge Dredd and other 2000 AD titles, have been published in
9933-426: The industry's continued growth. The 1970s saw the advent of specialty comic book stores . Initially, comic books were marketed by publishers to children because comic books were perceived as children's entertainment. However, with increasing recognition of comics as an art form and the growing pop culture presence of comic book conventions , they are now embraced by many adults. Comic book collectors often exhibit
10062-471: The influence of the Francophone "Franco-Belgian" comics but have their own distinct style. Although Ally Sloper's Half Holiday (1884) was aimed at an adult market, publishers quickly targeted a younger demographic, which has led to most publications being for children and has created an association in the public's mind of comics as somewhat juvenile. The Guardian refers to Ally Sloper as "one of
10191-437: The likes of much more popular heroes such as Spider-Man and Daredevil, he only lasted six years before sales of comics featuring him got so bad that Marvel had him retire. The most famous Hispanic character is Bane, a villain from Batman." The Native American representation in comic books "can be summed up in the noble savage stereotype" " a recurring theme...urged American indians to abandon their traditional hostility towards
10320-772: The live-action Spider-Man , Fantastic Four and X-Men films, the X-Men Origins: Wolverine film, the Watchmen film, the Swamp Thing TV-series sets, the Human Target first season TV series, and the July 2008 History Channel specials Batman Unmasked and Batman Tech . He wrote the storyline for the Watchmen video game, The End Is Nigh , which serves as a backstory to both
10449-501: The most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". In 1905 G.W. Dillingham Company published 24 select strips by the cartoonist Gustave Verbeek in an anthology book called 'The Incredible Upside-Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffaroo'. The introduction of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster 's Superman in 1938 turned comic books into a major industry and ushered in the Golden Age of Comic Books . The Golden Age originated
10578-735: The movies Batman Begins , The Dark Knight , and The Dark Knight Rises . With artist Marshall Rogers , Wein co-created the third version of the supervillain Clayface in Detective Comics #478 (Aug. 1978). He wrote The Untold Legend of the Batman , the first Batman miniseries , in 1980 and the following year wrote a DC-Marvel crossover between Batman and the Hulk in DC Special Series #27 (Fall 1981). Pandora Pann
10707-556: The name Foolbert Sturgeon, has been credited as the first underground comix; while R. Crumb and the crew of cartoonists who worked on Zap Comix popularized the form. The rise of comic book specialty stores in the late 1970s created and paralleled a dedicated market for "independent" or " alternative comics " in the US. The first such comics included the anthology series Star Reach , published by comic book writer Mike Friedrich from 1974 to 1979, and Harvey Pekar 's American Splendor , which continued sporadic publication into
10836-464: The one Annual , were illustrated by guest artists; Kubert's final issue as artist was #307, excluding covers. Zdarsky left the series with issue #310. The series ended with issue #313, the final three issues being a tie-in to the Spider-Geddon crossover event written by Sean Ryan. The Spectacular Spider-Men is a currently ongoing series that was published beginning March 2024. The series
10965-408: The original artwork pages from comic books, which are perhaps the most rarefied items in the realm of comic book collecting. These pages hold unparalleled scarcity due to the fact that there exists only one unique page of artwork for every page that was printed and published. The creation of these original artwork pages involves a collaborative effort: a writer crafts the story, a pencil artist designs
11094-499: The popular and widely understood negative tropes used for decades in American mass culture...". However, they were not accomplishing this agenda within all of their comics. In the comic series Captain Marvel Adventures , there was a character named Steamboat who embodied a collection of highly negative stereotypes prevalent during that period. The Writers' War Board did not request any alterations to this character despite
11223-428: The pornographic and even more obscure " Tijuana bibles ". Underground comics were almost never sold at newsstands, but rather in such youth-oriented outlets as head shops and record stores, as well as by mail order . The underground comics encouraged creators to publish their work independently so that they would have full ownership rights to their characters. Frank Stack 's The Adventures of Jesus , published under
11352-736: The positioning of panels. These characteristics are crucial for effectively conveying the content and messages within the comic book. Key components of comic books encompass panels, speech bubbles (also known as balloons), text lines, and characters. Speech balloons generally take the form of convex containers that hold character dialogue and are connected to the character via a tail element. The tail comprises an origin, path, tip, and directional point. The creation of comic books involves several essential steps: writing, drawing, and coloring. Various technological tools and methods are employed to craft comic books, incorporating concepts such as directions, axes, data, and metrics. Following these formatting guidelines,
11481-617: The problematic portrayal. The removal of Steamboat from the series only came about due to the persistent advocacy of a black youth group based in New York City." Originally their request was refused by individuals working on the comic stating, " Captain Marvel Adventures included many kinds of caricatures 'for the sake of humor'." The black youth group responded with "this is not the Negro race, but your one-and-a-half millions readers will think it so." Afterwards, Steamboat disappeared from
11610-488: The process unfolds with writing, drawing, and coloring. In the United States, the term "comic book", is generally used for comics periodicals and trade paperbacks while " graphic novel " is the term used for standalone books. Comics as a print medium have existed in the United States since the printing of The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck in 1842 in hardcover, making it the first known American prototype comic book. Proto-comics periodicals began appearing early in
11739-501: The return of the Harry Osborn version of the Green Goblin . As written by DeMatteis, Harry sank further into insanity and gained the same super-strength possessed by his father , battling Spider-Man again in #189 (June 1992), before being killed in #200 (May 1993). In an undated 2000s interview, DeMatteis said, "I really loved the two years on Spectacular Spider-Man that I wrote with Sal Buscema drawing. Talk about underrated! Sal
11868-452: The same for Asian people. However, "Japanese and Filipino characters were visually indistinguishable. Both groups have grotesque buckteeth, tattered clothing, and bright yellow skin." "Publishers depicted America's Asian allies through derogatory images and language honed over the preceding decades." Asian characters were previously portrayed as, "ghastly yellow demons". During WWII, "[every] major superhero worth his spandex devoted himself to
11997-455: The same treatment. "By the time the United States entered WWII, negative perceptions of Chinese were an established part of mass culture...." However, concerned that the Japanese could use America's anti-Chinese material as propaganda they began "to present a more positive image of America's Chinese allies..." Just as they tried to show better representation for Black people in comics they did
12126-430: The screenplay for a one-shot comic book for IDW Publishing . Wein collaborated with writer Kurt Busiek and artist Kelley Jones on the four-issue miniseries Conan: The Book of Thoth for Dark Horse Comics . He scripted the comics series The Victorian for Penny-Farthing Press and wrote comic-book stories for Bongo Comics ' TV-series tie-ins The Simpsons and Futurama . From 2005 to 2008, Wein appeared as
12255-454: The scripts for DeFalco's plots, since DeFalco was already writing two other series and wanted to groom DeZago to be the long-term writer on Spectacular Spider-Man . Todd Dezago then wrote for a year before DeMatteis returned through May 1998. DeMatteis later commented, "We did some nice stories, like the one about Flash Thompson 's childhood. But, in general, I don't hold that last run...very dear to my heart." Luke Ross succeeded Sal Buscema as
12384-467: The semi-anthological occult title The Phantom Stranger #14–26 (Aug. 1971 – Sept. 1973). Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson created the horror character the Swamp Thing in The House of Secrets #92 (July 1971). Over the next several decades, the Swamp Thing would star in DC series and miniseries – including an initial 1972–76 series begun by Wein and Wrightson, and the early 1980s The Saga of
12513-551: The sequential panels on the page, an ink artist goes over the pencil with pen and ink, a letterer provides the dialogue and narration through hand-lettering, and finally, a colorist adds color as the final touch before the pages are sent to the printer. When the printer returns the original artwork pages, they are typically returned to the artists themselves. These artists sometimes opt to sell these pages at comic book conventions, in galleries, and at art shows centered around comic book art. The original pages from DC and Marvel, featuring
12642-777: The series "focusing on stories with a serious, 'grown-up' tone and more complex themes". The most notable story arc of the David/Buckler era is " The Death of Jean DeWolff " (#107–110 (Oct. 1985–Jan. 1986)), in which Spider-Man's ally, NYC Police Captain Jean DeWolff – a supporting character in the Spider-Man comics since 1976 – is murdered by the vigilante/serial killer the Sin-Eater . This multi-part story guest-starred Daredevil . The storyline " Fearful Symmetry: Kraven's Last Hunt " by writer J.M. DeMatteis and artists Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod crossed over into Peter Parker,
12771-519: The series to wrap up unresolved plot elements from The Champions comic book series and concluded his first run with a crossover with Fantastic Four #218 (May 1980). In a notable two-part story scripted by Mantlo and published in The Spectacular Spider-Man #39-40 (February-March 1980), Spider-Man was temporarily transformed into "The Spider-Lizard," a rampaging creature akin to Spider-Man's recurring foe The Lizard . Mantlo
12900-479: The series' run, Buscema drew over 100 issues, making him by far the series' most frequent contributor. After his story arc "Return of the Sin-Eater" (#134–136 (Jan.–March 1988)), Peter David was removed as writer. Editor Owsley said editor-in-chief Jim Shooter "disliked Peter's work intensely". David, in a 2005 interview, believed, "I was fired off Spider-Man because it was felt at the upper editorial level that
13029-452: The status of fine art . During the 1970s the " small press " culture grew and diversified. By the 1980s, several independent publishers – such as Pacific , Eclipse , First , Comico , and Fantagraphics – had started releasing a wide range of styles and formats—from color-superhero, detective , and science-fiction comic books to black-and-white magazine-format stories of Latin American magical realism . A number of small publishers in
13158-585: The stories focused more on Parker's campus life as an undergraduate student/teacher's assistant at Empire State University and giving more attention to his colleagues than to the more long-running supporting characters in Amazing . Mantlo's first run on the title featured frequent appearances by the White Tiger , Marvel's first Hispanic superhero, and the first appearance of the supervillain Carrion . He used
13287-473: The story continued in DC's Justice League of America #103 (by Wein, Dillin and Dick Giordano ), and concluded in Marvel's Thor #207 (by Conway and penciler John Buscema ). As Englehart explained in 2010, "It certainly seemed like a radical concept and we knew that we had to be subtle (laughs) and each story had to stand on its own, but we really worked it out. It's really worthwhile to read those stories back to back to back – it didn't matter to us that one
13416-750: The switch from traditional print manhwa to online webtoons thanks to better pay and more freedom than traditional print manhwa. The webtoon format has also expanded to other countries outside of Korea like China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Western countries. Major webtoon distributors include Lezhin , Naver , and Kakao . France and Belgium have a long tradition in comics and comic books, often called BDs (an abbreviation of bandes dessinées , meaning literally "drawn strips") in French, and strips in Dutch or Flemish . Belgian comic books originally written in Dutch show
13545-406: The term " graphic novel ". Precursors of the form existed by the 1920s, which saw a revival of the medieval woodcut tradition by Belgian Frans Masereel , American Lynd Ward and others, including Stan Lee. In 1947, Fawcett Publications published "Comics Novel No. 1", as the first in an intended series of these "comics novels". The story in the first issue was "Anarcho, Dictator of Death",
13674-568: The title until mid-1978. After Buscema's departure, a succession of artists (including Mike Zeck , Jim Mooney , Ed Hannigan , Marie Severin and Greg LaRocque ) penciled the series for approximately five years. Frank Miller , who would later become the artist on Daredevil , first drew the character in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #27. Scripting initially alternated between Conway and Archie Goodwin until mid-1977, when Bill Mantlo took over. During this era of Spectacular ,
13803-668: The toyline tie-in Microbots , and the TV-series tie-ins Star Trek and The Twilight Zone . Wein's first superhero work for Marvel was a one-off story in Daredevil #71 (Dec. 1970) co-written with staff writer/editor Roy Thomas . Wein later began scripting sporadic issues of such DC superhero titles as Adventure Comics (featuring Supergirl and Zatanna ), The Flash , and Superman , while continuing to write anthological mysteries, along with well-received stories for
13932-480: The two separate titles and strengthen the continuity between them. Throughout their run, Conway and Buscema collaborated using the Marvel method , occasionally working out details of the plot over the phone. J. M. DeMatteis became the regular writer in mid-1991, injecting a grim, psychological tone into the series. DeMatteis began his run with the story arc "The Child Within" (#178–184 (July 1991–Jan. 1992)), featuring
14061-496: The unreleased Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 from 1939. Eight copies, plus one without a cover, emerged in the estate of the deceased publisher in 1974. The "Pay Copy" of this book sold for $ 43,125 in a 2005 Heritage auction. The most valuable American comics have combined rarity and quality with the first appearances of popular and enduring characters. Four comic books have sold for over US$ 1 million as of December 2010 , including two examples of Action Comics #1,
14190-584: The way for mature and "darker and edgier" comic books and jump start the Modern Age of Comics . Writers included Alan Moore , famous for his V for Vendetta , From Hell , Watchmen , Marvelman , and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ; Neil Gaiman with The Sandman mythos and Books of Magic ; Warren Ellis , creator of Transmetropolitan and Planetary ; and others such as Mark Millar , creator of Wanted and Kick-Ass . The comic book series John Constantine, Hellblazer , which
14319-417: The word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in the country. Dōjinshi ( 同人誌 , fan magazine ) , fan-made Japanese comics, operate in a far larger market in Japan than the American "underground comix" market; the largest dōjinshi fair, Comiket , attracts 500,000 visitors twice a year. Manhwa (만화) are comic books or graphic novels originating from South Korea . The term manhwa
14448-609: The world's first iconic cartoon characters", and "as famous in Victorian Britain as Dennis the Menace would be a century later." British comics in the early 20th century typically evolved from illustrated penny dreadfuls of the Victorian era (featuring Sweeney Todd , Dick Turpin and Varney the Vampire ). First published in the 1830s, penny dreadfuls were "Britain's first taste of mass-produced popular culture for
14577-457: The young." The two most popular British comic books, The Beano and The Dandy , were first published by DC Thomson in the 1930s. By 1950 the weekly circulation of both reached two million. Explaining the enormous popularity of comics in the UK during this period, Anita O'Brien, director curator at London's Cartoon Museum, states: "When comics like the Beano and Dandy were invented back in
14706-624: Was a proposed series by Wein and artist Ross Andru which was to have been published in 1982 but other commitments prevented Wein from writing it and the project was cancelled . As editor, he worked on the first twelve-issue limited series Camelot 3000 , and such successful series as The New Teen Titans , All-Star Squadron , Batman and the Outsiders , Who's Who in the DC Universe , and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons 's acclaimed and highly influential Watchmen . In 1986, he wrote
14835-414: Was also changed in 1988 to match that of The Amazing Spider-Man , prompting Owsley to later reflect, "Suddenly, the three books that I had worked for years to give unique identities to were homogenized into a blur of Spider Sameness: same logo style, same basic look, indistinguishable from one another." Sal Buscema returned as the regular artist, staying with the title from early 1988 to late 1996; throughout
14964-560: Was at DC and two were at Marvel – I think it was us being creative, thinking what would be really cool to do." Wein co-created the Human Target with artist Carmine Infantino and wrote the character's appearances as a backup feature in Action Comics , Detective Comics , and The Brave and the Bold . The character was adapted into a short-lived ABC television series starring Rick Springfield which debuted in July 1992, and
15093-484: Was briefly revived in 2010 for a two-season series on Fox that starred Mark Valley , Chi McBride , and Jackie Earle Haley . He briefly wrote the " Batman " feature in Detective Comics and produced a storyline with artist Jim Aparo and in which Batman was framed for the murder of Talia al Ghul and battled Sterling Silversmith for the first time. In the early 1970s, Wein began writing regularly for Marvel Comics. He succeeded Roy Thomas as editor-in-chief of
15222-415: Was by this time the regular writer, so Stan saw it as an opportunity to launch a second Spider-Man title, which was something he'd wanted to do for a while. ... the full, original title was "Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man." The notion was we'd focus more on the supporting characters and Peter's social life, but before we could really develop that I left Marvel again, not long after that. Buscema drew
15351-532: Was by writer Stan Lee , penciler Romita Sr. and inker Jim Mooney . A 10-page origin story, "In The Beginning!", was by Lee, penciler Larry Lieber and inker Bill Everett . The feature story was reprinted in color, with some small alterations and bridging material by Gerry Conway , in The Amazing Spider-Man #116–118 (Jan.–March 1973) as "Suddenly...the Smasher!", "The Deadly Designs of
15480-592: Was later cited in Tony Isabella 's book 1,000 Comics You Must Read . In 1975, he and artist Dave Cockrum revived the Stan Lee / Jack Kirby mutant -superhero team the X-Men after a half-decade's hiatus, reformatting the membership in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975). Among the characters the duo created for the series were Nightcrawler , Storm , Colossus , and Thunderbird . Wein plotted
15609-428: Was nineteen. And one of the nice things about the Marvel characters is that you can keep them fresh by changing them just a bit." His 1988–1991 run on Spectacular included such story arcs as the "Lobo Brothers Gang War", and the conflict between Daily Bugle editor Joe Robertson and his former friend, the albino criminal Tombstone . He used his joint duty as Web of Spider-Man writer to tie together storylines in
15738-445: Was published from June 2017 to December 2018. After the first six issues, the series reverted to legacy numbering with issue #297 as part of the line-wide Marvel Legacy relaunch. The series' original creative team had Chip Zdarsky as writer, with Adam Kubert providing the artwork. Notable recurring characters included Teresa Durand, J. Jonah Jameson , Johnny Storm , and original character Rebecca London. Various issues, as well as
15867-789: Was published in August 2011. In 2012, Wein worked on the Before Watchmen project, writing the mini-series Ozymandias with art by Jae Lee and the serialized feature " Curse of the Crimson Corsair " with art by Watchmen colorist John Higgins . The hardcover collection of the Ozymandias storyline spent several weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List in 2013. In 2015, he and José Luis García-López produced Batman '66: The Lost Episode ,
15996-422: Was released in the U.S. in 1933 and was a reprinting of earlier newspaper humor comic strips , which had established many of the story-telling devices used in comics. The term comic book derives from American comic books once being a compilation of comic strips of a humorous tone; however, this practice was replaced by featuring stories of all genres, usually not humorous in tone. The largest comic book market
16125-451: Was reprinted again in 2002 as The Spectacular Spider-Man Facsimile , exactly as it was originally presented. Titled Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man on its December 1976 debut, and shortened to simply The Spectacular Spider-Man with #134 (Jan. 1988), this was the second Amazing Spider-Man monthly comic-book spin-off series, after Marvel Team-Up , which also featured Spider-Man. The monthly title ran 264 issues (including
16254-425: Was succeeded by Roger Stern , who wrote The Spectacular Spider-Man from #43 (June 1980) to 61 (December 1981). When Stern departed to write for The Amazing Spider-Man , Mantlo returned to scripting Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man ; Mantlo's second tenure at the title lasted until April 1984. Mantlo's second run introduced the superhero duo Cloak and Dagger , created by Mantlo and Hannigan in Peter Parker,
16383-780: Was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons ' influential DC miniseries Watchmen . Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008. Wein was born on June 12, 1948, in New York City, and was raised in a Jewish household. One of two children of Phillip and Rosalyn (née Bauman) Wein, he lived in The Bronx until age 7, when he moved with his family to Levittown, New York , on Long Island . There he graduated from Division Avenue High School in 1966, and went on to an art degree from nearby Farmingdale State College . Wein's younger brother, Michael, died in 2007. In
16512-547: Was writing anthological mystery stories for DC's The House of Secrets and Marvel 's Tower of Shadows and Chamber of Darkness . He additionally began writing for DC's romance comic Secret Hearts and the company's toyline tie-in Hot Wheels ; Skywald Publications ' horror -comics magazines Nightmare and Psycho and its short-lived Western comic books The Bravados and The Sundance Kid ; and Gold Key Comics ' Mod Wheels , Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery ,
16641-494: Was written by Paul Jenkins (except #23–26, by Samm Barnes ). The book's primary pencillers were Humberto Ramos and Mark Buckingham . The comic included the storyline Spider-Man: Disassembled in which Spider-Man met a new enemy called the Queen who wanted him as her mate. Her kiss caused him to slowly mutate into a giant spider who metamorphosed into human form with enhanced strength and agility, along with organic webbing and
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