AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1, AND #2

After several years of collecting, I've completed my initial run of The Amazing Spider-Man. This most iconic of all superhero characters was created by, plotted by, written by, and illustrated by Steve Ditko. Spider-Man/Peter Parker completely and utterly captured my imagination when I was a kid unlike any other comic book character, (with the possible exception of Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four).

Having spent my early years as the son of parents who owned used bookstores stacked high with old comic books, I got to grow up reading vast numbers of them. Even though I had the pick of the mass that publishers had produced for America's red-blooded kids, Spider-Man was my favorite. And Ditko's work on that book remains the best that the superhero genre has ever offered.

Since Ditko left the book and character he created with #38 of the title, I have no desire to own any copies done after his exit. And so my collection consists of all of the issues of Amazing Spider-Man from the beginning to the terminus of Ditko's time.

It hasn't been terribly easy to fill in the collection. But now it's done. The whole run that I set out to purchase are all in my possession. The guy I bought the issues from knows how I feel about Stan Lee. When he got ready to show me the books, he said, "I'm sorry, but the first issue is autographed by Stan Lee." I bought it anyway.

My copy of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1.

Back cover of #1.

My copy of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #2.

Back cover of #2.