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| Ross Andru, Frank Giacoia and Dave Hunt; Amazing Spider-Man 129 |
Redartz: We, as a group, have in the past (either here, or in that fondly remembered BAB) discussed the most significant covers, and the most significant splash pages. Today, we take it a step further (and smaller): what is the most memorable single panel from a Bronze age Spider-Man story? Granted, dealing with just covers and splashes is a big enough task. Originally I'd planned this post to cover all Marvel Bronze Age books, but that was casting a pretty wide net. Look for other characters to be dealt with as we go along.
Considering individual panels is like picking a specific glass of water from the ocean. That said, there are definitely panels that stick to your memory, or have become iconic images in and of themselves. A few, to prime the pump (again, to narrow the search parameters a little, we will include only panels that are part of a multi-panel page, not full page splashes). In no particular order:
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| Ed Hannigan and Al Milgrom, Spectacular Spider-Man 70 |
Hannigan and inker Milgrom, doing a nice job channeling Ditko with a modern touch. Their work on SSM made it one of my favorite books at the time.
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| John Byrne and Tony DeZuniga, Marvel Team-Up 70 |
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| John Byrne and Tony DeZuniga, Marvel Team-Up 70 |
Two individual panels, consecutive action, but two fun bits with Spidey and Thor, beautifully rendered. The perspective in that first panel is perfect, and wonderfully emphasizes Spidey's involuntary ride.
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| Gil Kane and John Romita, Amazing Spider-Man 122 |
Two masters at their best in a very poignant scene. No more needs be said.
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| Gil Kane and John Romita, Amazing Spider-Man 90 |
As in the preceding example, Kane and Romita etch so much emotion in one single panel. Those two artists are perfectly suited for each other. This panel hit me like a brick as a 9 year old reader.
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| Ross Andru and John Romita, Amazing Spider-Man 151 |
An unsettling image from the first clone saga. Live Peter says goodbye to dead Peter.
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| John Byrne and Terry Austin, Marvel Team-Up 79 |
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| John Byrne and Terry Austin, Marvel Team-Up 79 |
Two fabulous panels (okay, technically three) from one of the best MTU issues ever. By the incomparable Byrne and Austin. That grin showing on Spidey's mask is worth the purchase price of this book.
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| Jim Starlin and Joe Rubinstein, Marvel Two-in-One Annual 2 |
Great twisted composition here from Starlin. Balanced, yet full of movement. We knew Starlin drew excellent aliens, here we ascertain that he does a stellar Spider-Man too.
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| Ed Hannigan and Jim Mooney; Spectacular Spider-Man 64 |
Just a very nice, quiet image.Mooney's inks can be overpowering, but very subtle here.
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| Ross Andru, Frank Giacoia and Dave Hunt; Amazing Spider-Man 136 |
Andru showing his expertise with architecture, and with Peter and Mary Jane.
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| Kieth Pollard and Jim Mooney, Amazing Spider-Man 200 |
Great use of shadow from a classic anniversary issue. Love how the dark tones frame the flashback image; very effective.
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| Ron Frenz and Brett Breeding; Amazing Spider-Man 252 |
An excellent introduction to the black costume, and to Spidey's acrobatics. I was skeptical of the new look at first, but this issue's art (and this cool panel) helped convince me.
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| Ron Frenz and Terry Austin, Amazing Spider-Man 248 |
Peak moment from one of the absolute greatest Spider-Man stories. Frenz and Austin aced it.
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| John Romita Jr. and Brett Breeding, Amazing Spider-Man 248 |
Love the action presented here, and the positioning of the ball and chain. JR Jr. cut his drawing teeth on Spider-Man, and he did his father proud.
Well, those are some of my standout favorite panels. Some of these images are quite familiar, others possibly forgotten (until you leaf through the book and say, "Whoaaaaa....". Any critique, agreement, other choices?
34 comments:
Ohhhhhhh-- was it an issue of MTU or ASM where both Pete and Steve Rogers are forced to do a quick-change in a couple of bathroom stalls in a men's room? The panel where they both come dynamically bursting out of those stalls is a delight. And, IIRC, their trajectories really kinda defy the laws of physics, but-- who cares? The punchline panel at the end of the sequence is also wonderful, where the fellow who had been occupying the stall between them offers a belated post-script along the lines of ". . . only in New York. . . "
HB
The first Spider-Man story I ever read was The Kingpin vs. The Schemer so a memorable panel was when the Schemer pulled off his rubber mask to reveal - gasp - he was the Kingpin's son !!! That was also my first ever Marvel "rubber mask moment" as I'd only discovered Marvel comics four months previously (I'm talking about the Marvel UK Spidey reprint in March 1975 not the original issue of Amazing Spider-Man from 1970). Another memorable Spider-Man panel was later that year when Peter Parker discovered to his horror that he now had six arms (I don't think that was a splash page...was it ? I can't remember).
I'd like to second Colin Jones... I think it was the last panels in Amazing Spider Man 100 where he wakes up from his crazy dream and has 6 arms due to a drug he took to eliminate his spidey powers. I was 10 years old and I distinctly remember sitting on a sandy Lake Michigan beach, on a hot weekend, in Gary, Indiana and thinking, "Holy Moley!!!" Charlie 47
Not too many come to mind now, but Redartz, I think you nailed it with both the 122 and 129 panels.
Both ASM 121 and 122 have virtually EVERY panel as classic, I get chills when I recall that panel in 121 where Gwen's deep in thought and outside the window you see the Goblin flying straight towards her. It was so phenomenal to finally buy a copy of the original ASM 121; I had bought ish 122 off the stands back in '73, but had to put up with the Marvel Tales copy of 121 for decades until I could finally afford a VF+ original and gaze upon all the panels the MT reprint removed for more ads.
Those are some really good choices you posted, Redartz; the one from "The Kid Who Collects Spider-man" is particularly memorable. As for the panels with from MTU #179, that is my single favorite issue of the entire series, and there's so many memorable panels in it that I can't pick.
I also agree with Charlie about that last panel in ASMS #100 - that one similarly blew my mind when I first saw it, at about the age of 9 (I read it as a reprint in the Marvel Treasury Edition).
I'm sure there's a bunch I'll think of later, but one that kind of sticks in my head right now is from X-men #123, when Spider-man shatters a glass phone-booth (after realizing that Arcade had kidnapped the X-men).
HB, not sure which story you're referring to, but I recall that in the second issue of Dazzler there's a panel in which Peter runs into the men's room to change into his Spidey duds and all of the stalls are occupied with other heroes already changing (with the Thing grumbling something about how hard it is to get out of a tux).
Cool topic. It's just a shame that there is no way to post pics in the comments. If we could there would be some awesome looking replies.
This is pretty tough because there is just so much material to choose from. But I'll give it a shot. My favorite Spider-Man artist is Ron Frenz (especially his early work on ASM when the was channeling Ditko big time) so I am going to keep it simple and just list a few of my favorite Frenz panels.
Up first is from ASM #255, page 20, panel 2. It is Spidey in his nifty black threads running from the Red Ghost and he's bounding down a hall and bouncing off the walls like a pinball. It's a small and seemingly insignificant panel, but it is loaded with kinetic energy and it has always stuck out in my mind. It was the first thing I thought of when I saw today's topic.
Another favorite of mine is from ASM #260, page 7, panel 3, and it features Spidey in his classic red and blues standing on a roof and thinking about the Green Goblin and Hobgoblin. To illustrate this there is a ghostly image of GG hovering menacingly over the city, and the floating heads of Norman and Harry Osborn, along with a silhouette of Hobby in the background. It's a really cool image and very well drawn by Ron. Again, it's a shame we can't post pics here. (After all a picture is worth 1,000 words as they say).
ASM #260-261 is my personal favorite Spider-Man story ever. (If you've never read it, you should). So, my final choice is one that most of you will think is a little crazy, but I just love this panel. It's from ASM #261, page 21, panel 6. It's a small simple little panel featuring MJ standing next to Spidey, and it's just so retro and Ditko-like that it fills my heart with happiness every time I see it. I really wish Frenz had kept drawing Spider-Man like that for his entire run on the book.
Perhaps the greatest ever
http://www.collectededitions.com/marvel/mm/ff/images/FF121021_col.jpg
Yoyo
Hi Edo, if I may inquire with you... I understand you are in Croatia and I am curious if any comics comparable to Kubert's "Fax from Sarajevo " where created in Croatia or Bosnia about the war and perhaps published in English? Regards, Charlie
Charlie, yep, lots of war-themed comics/graphic novels were done in these here parts as you can imagine; I've read quite a number of them, but I'm scratching my head about how much of this material has been translated into English. You've actually given me something to think about - I'll look into it.
By the way, since you're interested in this theme, I'd suggest reading American cartoonist Joe Sacco's various graphic novels that deal with his experiences in Bosnia during the 1990s (near the end of the war and the immediate aftermath): Safe Area Gorazde, The Fixer and War's End. They're quite good, and I think they're better than Kubert's Fax from Sarajevo.
Great selections Redartz and everybody.
For personal memories, I'll pitch in Secret Wars #3. Spider-Man famously holds his own against the full X-Men team. The entire fight was an eye-opener, but I'll go for the panel in which Spidey avoids Wolverine's claws while webbing up Colossus. Zeck and Beatty with the art.
PS The Byrne/DeZuniga Thor/Spidey panel is truly lovely.
This is a tricky exercise, as it requires a heck of a memory if one doesn't have issues at hand to draw specifics from, yeah? Also-- the images that have stuck with me the most are really more in Romita's Silver Age run. Soooo many there. (And often an argument is made that ASM #'s 121 & 122 mark the "end" of the Silver Age, even).
Couple o' others, though--
Pete & MJ kissing at the airport for the first time in maybe the 130's? GREAT moment that had nothing to do w/ superheroics. Likewise the sequence several issues earlier where MJ is closing her apartment door so she can comfort a deeply grieving Peter-- last panels of that particular issue.
The two-issue story where Spidey battles the Juggernaut? The tanker truck explosion? Whooo-boy-!
Oh! And the panel in 140's/150's where Spidey (deeply caught in a Mysterio illusion) drives the SpiderMobile off the end of that pier? GREAT "Omigod!" moment where the shock of the real situation hits home. . . and there's no turnin' around. . . !
HB
Fun topic!
To the point of the post, I was taken back to Avengers #28, where Don Heck and Frank Giacoia showed us what it would be like to be a giant.
Here's another memorable Avengers panel, from "Under Siege". Cap at his best.
Speaking of Cap, while securing the image above I noticed another panel. I'm a sucker for "motion panels" - love the Spidey one used in today's post. But this Cap panel is just great. Frank Miller seemed to treat us to at least one of these in his Daredevil tenure. Here are two great examples - one, and two.
Doug
Ugh. In my efforts to insert direct hyperlinks in my previous post, I messed up and left out a Cap panel. Here it is.
Red-faced,
Doug
Hmmm, well Spidey's had so many great artists over the years, how do you pick? I've always liked Spidey's action poses; the fight with Hobgoblin in Amazing #239 was great; his first couple fights with Puma; the first Sinister Syndicate storyline had some cool action shots (including Silver Sable and Sandman); for something more poignant, how about Spidey holding Black Cat's bleeding body after she got mangled up during the Owl/Octopus War in Spectacular?
Of course, the first panel that jumped to mind on reading this was Romita's MJ saying "Face it tiger, you just hit the jackpot!" ... but I guess that doesn't qualify as Bronze Age.
Thanks for commenting, everyone ! It is indeed a big topic, considering every issue could potentially have a candidate panel...
HB- not sure either what issue the scene you described is from, MTU 13 perhaps? And great suggestions with the Pete and MJ panels. The scene you mention of MJ closing the door to comfort Peter? Would you believe, that is one page they cut for the Marvel Tales reprint. Nggh... got to get a better reprint of those books.
Edo- the X-Men panel you suggested was on my short list to include today. Again, you just can't beat Byrne and Austin.
William- by ASM 261 I had given up the title. Now you have me convinced to track down those issues...thanks for the heads up!
Great topic! Love some of those images. That first one came courtesy of the first appearance of the Punisher, right? Even though Spidey dispatched with him at the end of that story pretty easily, that panel gave the impression that he was someone you didn't want to mess with. FOOM! indeed.
Also remember those images of Gwen, Capt. Stacy and the Peter clone. HB beat me to the Pete/MJ first kiss. I loved the banter leading up to that - something like "MJ, why do you call me Tiger?" "Oh Petey, I call you Tiger...cause you're not." When they kissed, young teenyboppernerdme thought "Finally."
And david_b, you and I are kindred zuvembies but the reverse on 121-122. I bought 121 off the spinner rack but had to wait for the Marvel Tales reprint of 122 to see how it all turned out.
Tom
Thanks Edo! I'll see what I can find of your recommendations! BTW, How were you able to keep up with comics here? I assume you lived in the USA once upon a time? Cheers.
HB, thanks for the HUGE reminder...., ASM 123's ending with MJ closing the door.
I rate this as the Trifecta of ASM's Bronze Age beginning (catch my caveat here..?, only ASM's Bronze Age). The panels are (drum-roll...)
1) Spidey quietly whispering Gwen's death, as shown in the post;
2) Spidey showing no satisfaction in seeing Osborne's dead body lay before him in 122; and
3) MJ closing the door at the close of ish 122
Not only the two critical, life-altering deaths, but the significant change in MJ's role to Peter to cap it off.
Bravo, HB.
Charlie, I'm American, born and raised (grew up in Oregon). Went to Croatia (where my parents are from) in 1992 and ended up staying a bit longer than initially planned...
Sorry, shoddy editing on my last post. I was convinced MJ's door close scene was in 123 initially, until I looked it up, but forgot to update the first line of my post.
".....Aaaack."
Is that really the end of issue #122? Wow. Pete's grief is still utterly raw right then, isn't it. Man--- Soooooo much well-told story with huge consequences and multiple threads going on. And all in two issues. Good lord-- could that story take less than a year to tell today?
I'd say I can't believe they'd cut that coda for the Marvel Tales reprints, but--- I kinda can. That's why I was never a big, big fan of the reprint books that came out when they'd gone to a 17 or 18 page content-to-add format. You just lost everything that made the books "Marvel", y'know?
DaveB-- I'm liking your suggestion that maybe individual titles had their own personal Silver-to-Bronze shifts! Has that been tossed around before? GREAT topic for discussion down the road-!
HB
You are all so well-mannered. Above, as impulse struck me, a whole bunch of panels NOT from Spider-Man comics flooded my brain. Between those many first impressions and fiddling around trying to link said panels within my comment, I basically drove right off the road Redartz had charted for us. You'd think I'd never done this blogging thing before.
So, with making amends as my goal, I'd like to suggest 1971's Amazing Spider-Man #96 for your perusal. It's the first chapter of the "drug issues" and features Gil Kane's pencils inked by John Romita. Phenomenal collaboration there, regardless of how the panels turned out. That being said, if you have access to the book, of note would be:
Page 2, panel 2 - cool image of Pete on a plane with the NYC skyline reflected in the window.
Page 11, panel 5 shows Spidey sweeping low to catch the drug-crazed teen who'd jumped from a building roof. Nice high camera angle, and you really feel like you sense the motion.
Page 18, panels 4 and 5 have fantastic facial expressions on Norman Osborn as he slides back into madness. The coloring is also of note in these two panels.
And like others, I'll add my appreciation for the last few panels in ASM #122.
Thanks for putting up with me.
Doug
Jeez, Doug, you fell off the bicycle! I've been trying to let my mind think of Spidey images for a few hours. It found some, but it can't remember exactly which issues! (When it was younger it could!)First from Amazing circa late 170s. Ross Andru. Spidey (pretending to be) passed out on the backseat of a large 1970s car between two well-dressed hoods. Then he "wakes up," rips apart the handcuffs, and shoves both hoods out the doors. Any of those panels is a keeper. The other is from Spectacular #17 or #18 guest starring Angel. John Byrne. Its just an understated picture of Spidey crawling down a hallway in an office building. On the ceiling. With the thought bubble, "Thor would look pretty ridiculous doing this."
@Doug: Good call on Amazing #96; the next issue had some pretty good action panels too, with Spidey fighting Gobby after losing his wall-crawling ability AND running out of web-fluid.
@Redartz: Which Marvel Tales issue do you have? I have this one, (which reprints 121 and 122), and it does have that last page with Pete yelling at MJ ("you wouldn't be sorry if your own mother died!) and her closing the door and staying with him. So I'm assuming you have an earlier reprint?
The issue number escapes me, but there was a full-page splash panel on the last page of a Spidey issue drawn, I believe, by John Romita Sr., where Doc Ock is attacking Spider-Man between two brick buildings, suspended way up high, shouting "YOU MUST DIE!" The arms look impossibly long, and the pincers on the end of two of the arms are digging into the bricks, to hold Ock up, while a third is going straight for Spidey's head.
It's Doc Ock that actually looks like a spider here, hanging between the two buildings like that.
It's a heckuva panel! You just knew whoever saw that was gonna wait with baited breath for the next ish.
I think it was around the time of the first Hammerhead appearance, but I could be wrong. Don't have my comics handy.
M.P.
Tom- that first kiss is anot excellent candidate. Amazing SM 143, maybe? I don't have that one anymore...
Doug- it's all good, I know you were just giving prompts for the next edition of this topic ( who will it be, best Skull the Slayer panels?)!
Mike Wilson- I have Marvel Tales 98 and 99. They're good for having the covers, but the story content sure suffers, Will have to pick up that issue, unless copies of ASM 121 and 122 fall into my lap!
For me it's Mary Jane's iconic "Face it tiger ... you just hit the jackpot!" introduction in the very last panel of Spider-Man #42 where we the viewers finally get to see her face after two years. What a reveal! Jazzy John Romita definitely hit his jackpot too here!
- Mike 'no jackpot, just two cherries and a banana' from Trinidad & Tobago.
Sorry I am late to this Spidey shindig. This may be the most comments we've ever received so cheers to that! Great topic Red.
What's funny is whenever I think of my favorite Spider-Man panels, I go to a great artist who is rarely tied to Spider-Man....John Buscema.
There are a handful of panels that just stick with me from big John B.
1) In Avengers 59 (of all things) in the first issue with Yellowjacket, there is a scene where people around the city are reacting to news of the new superhero. And if I recall it correctly there are a couple panels where Spidey has made a web hammock on the flagpole outside of J. Jonah Jameson's office window and he's taunting and arguing with the publisher over the new "bug" hero. I love it for so many reasons. Just great stuff. I think Buscema draws SM's eyes too small and squinty, but I still like the whole pose and attitude and schtick. (Buscema draws a great JJJ by the way).
2) Then there is the debut of the Prowler in ASM 78 (I think) and the first page is just a shot of the hero swinging through the city. New York and Spidey - like peas in a pod. And I really like Buscema's Spider-Man. He is a little more muscular but still wiry and flexible. I am sure I am in the minority there - but man that is a great splash page. I may need to give proper credit to Jim Mooney for the art because I am not sure where the line is drawn between breakdowns and finishes in Marvel's vernacular. Is finishing more than inking? And how raw are breakdowns compared to pencils? In any case it was Buscema and Mooney I believe.
3) In an issue of that same time period -it may be in that same book or maybe it is in an issue with the Schemer - Peter Parker needs to make a call to Gwen but has no change for the pay phone. He webs a dime from under a sewer grate and thinks it's his lucky day. There is something so typically Spider-Man about that scene.
I hope I have my facts straight because I can't access my comics at this moment, but I believe those are all John Buscema (and Jim Mooney) and are all images that immediately popped into my head when I saw the post.
I love Andru's rendering of Grace Church on Broadway in NYC in ASM 136. I work right by there (and have on and off for 17 years) and often walked right by it on my lunch hour to go buy comics!
Oh and I second Edo's recommendation of Joe Sacco's work. Comics journalism. Great stuff!
Marti- good call on Big John; he is responsible for one of my all-time favorite Spidey images: the cover for Silver Surfer 14. Just incredible. And it would be interesting to get some clarification as to the difference between breakdowns and pencils and layouts, and inks and finishes.
Dr. O- thanks for identifying the church in that panel! Always thought it was a beautiful structure,as nicely rendered by Andru. But as a midwesterner who has never (yet) been to NYC, I had no clue as to its' id or location. That's very cool that you see it frequently...
I seem to remember one scene, somewhere, not sure if it was mentioned here, where Peter had to wash his Spider-Man outfit because it was getting ripe, so he he took it down to the laundromat. He had to wear a paper bag on his head the whole time so nobody would discover his secret identity.
That scene always stuck in my mind, for some reason, him sitting in the laundromat with a paper bag on his head.
That might happen to me some day.
M.P.
Martinex, you get points in my point for mentioned ASM #78 and the debut of Prowler; my first-ever Spidey comic book, and basically my first-ever comic book in general, was Marvel Tales #59, which reprints that story. Of course, the most memorable part of that book for me is the cover, which is indelibly etched into my brain.
I'm late to the party again, but my nomination is, like many others here, from the first issue I ever read.
In #91 Sam Bullitt is running for mayor and a couple of his thugs have just beaten up Peter Parker (or so they think). Pete quickly changes into his Spider-Man outfit and chases them down to exact revenge.
There's a fantastic panel on one page where he's chasing Thug #2...rendered by Kane/Romita, it's done to show a giant Spider-Man crouching over the fleeing hood (portrayed time-lapse style as multiple images), with an arm out to trip him up...but he picks himself up and keeps running.
I'm probably not describing it very well, but it knocked me out for showing something that could only be done in comics - you couldn't do it with the same effect in animation, movie, or text. It was, as the academics might say, pure comics...and I've been hooked to 'em ever since.
B.Smith- excellent point! One of the reasons comics are such an engaging medium is the blend of text and image. Plus, the unique effects and techniques this blend enables...I'm hooked on 'em too!
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