Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 4 [Remasterworks]

Back in hardcover, beautifully restored to match the original comics and boasting expanded bonus material — welcome to Marvel’s ReMasterworks!

Back in hardcover, beautifully restored to match the original comics and boasting expanded bonus material! Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created an unabashed cultural phenomenon in the Amazing Spider-Man. Their blend of everyday woes and super-heroic exploits was something undeniably special. And after years of perfecting that formula, they unleashed their Spider-Man masterpiece: the Master Planner saga. With the clock ticking and Aunt May’s life on the line, Stan and Steve put Spider-Man through the most wrenching experience of his career and define a hero in the process. They’ll also introduce you to Gwen Stacy and show you around the campus at E.S.U. before a new talent joins the Spider-Man team. In John Romita Sr.’s legendary debut, the Green Goblin uncovers Spidey’s secret identity. Peter Parker finds himself fighting for his life only to discover the Goblin is none other than Norman Osborn! 

COLLECTING: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #31-40

Writer/editor Stan Lee (1922-2018) made comic-book history together with Jack Kirby in 1961 with Fantastic Four #1. The monumental popularity of its new style inspired Lee to develop similarly themed characters — including the Hulk and X-Men with Kirby, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange with Steve Ditko, and Daredevil with Bill Everett. After shepherding his creations through dozens of issues — in some cases a hundred or more — Lee allowed other writers to take over, but he maintained steady editorial control. Eventually, he helped expand Marvel into a multimedia empire. In recent years, his frequent cameo appearances in Marvel’s films established Lee as one of the world’s most famous faces.

Steve Ditko (1927-2018) began his comics career in the anthologies of the 1950s, where his unique style and perspective quickly earned recognition and respect. Recruited to join Stan Lee’s Atlas Comics, later Marvel, in 1958, his nuances contrasted well with Jack Kirby’s bombast. In 1962, in the pages of Amazing Fantasy, Ditko and Lee brought to life Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man, changing the industry forever. The pair’s other iconic co-creation, Doctor Strange, debuted in Strange Tales. Ditko returned to Marvel during the late 1970s and remained for much of the 1980s — co-creating Speedball, Squirrel Girl and other characters.

John Romita was born in 1930 and drew for Atlas Era Marvel Comics across many genres. By the time Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko were defining the look and feel of the Marvel Age of Comics during the 1960s, Romita had made the move to DC Comics, where he was working exclusively behind the boards of the company’s many romance comics. It wasn’t until 1966 that he returned to Marvel Comics and the super-hero genre, drawing Daredevil before taking over from Ditko on what was fast becoming Marvel’s most important book, Amazing Spider-Man. Romita’s slick, clean craftsmanship would be a hallmark of his tenure, and his years of drawing beautiful women in DC’s romance books paid off with iconic renderings of Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson and the other women in Peter Parker’s life.