Superman Vs Spider-Man # 1: A look Back
Vicki/Matt Holmes
of my mouth, so I'm going to take a stroll down Memory Lane and
talk about the one that started it all (not counting the WIZARD
OF OZ book since it didn't feature Marvel or DC characters in
it).
Some would say that this book didn't "age" well. By that they
would likely mean that it shows a simpler time than what we're
used to now. For me, this was the blueprint for how to do a
two company crossover. It felt important, it read well, the
characters looked and acted right, and there was more than
enough character interaction AND fighting to satisfy everyone!
The story was written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Ross Andru
and Dick Giordano. Mr Andru will be familiar to those few lucky
souls who've been buying the issues of WONDER WOMAN from the
early to mid 60's. He was also the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN artist
at the time this book came out, I think (which would explain
his selection for this high profile job). This book was a
giant (Treasury Edition) of a thing, as befits a meeting of
this significance! It's been reprinted only once that I know
of, in something called CROSSOVER CLASSICS (which contains
three other DC/Marvel stories: Batman/Hulk, X-Men/Teen Titans
and a second Superman/Spider-Man). I'm not sure of the price
nowadays on the original (can it really only be $10 as it says
in my Price Guide Update?) but the collected version is right
around $20, although I got mine for less in a sale (I think it
cost me about $10).
As a personal note, I will always remember the first time I
heard about the existence of this book. In those days, I was
13 years old, and didn't know about fanzines. So the house ads
were often the first time I saw any special issue that might be
coming out (and if they didn't advertise it then the local
cigar store's shelf was the first I saw of it!). I recall
buying my week's allotment of comics, getting them home, and
starting to read one. I got about 1/3 of the way into it,
turned the page and saw Spider-Man perched on top of the tower
of the Empire State Building (there's that structure again..
it showed up in the AVENGERS # 76 writeup I did!) while Superman
flew toward him!! What the Hell?! How could this be?? There's
no way Superman and Spider-Man can be in the same book! When I
could concentrate again, I looked more closely at the cover being
shown: the words "The greatest superhero team-up of all time!"
and "The Battle of the Century" were blazing across the top!
Could it be? The ad went on to tell you how you could order
this beauty, and how the first so many thousand orderers would
receive their copy signed by Stan (Lee) and Carmine (Infantino)
themselves! Of course, in those days, I was still about a year
or so from venturing into the raging waters of "comics by mail"
and so I didn't send away for one. Instead, I made a silent
vow to haunt the cigar store until my copy arrived.
That night, I had this crazy dream. In it, the book had come
out, but instead of being a Treasury Edition size, or even a
regular comic size, it was about 1/3 the size of a normal
comic! Not only that, but more importantly, when I opened it
up, what it contained were reprinted stories of Superman
alternating with reprinted Spider-Man tales (and ones I had,
to boot!). The dream was so vivid that for days afterward I
was convinced that the book was going to be something of that
nature, and my life would be over.
Instead, when the day finally came for its arrival, I grabbed up
the huge book and quickly scanned through it. It REALLY WAS
Superman meeting Spider-Man!! They met, they fought, they teamed
up! Lois was there, and MJ and JJJ and JO (Hell, all of the J's
were there!!). I was in COMIC BOOK HEAVEN and all that remained
was for me to cycle home and read the damn thing about six times
before supper!
Few moments in my comic collecting activies from that day forward
ever matched that one. (Receiving a copy of AVENGERS # 1 from
Vicki on my 30th birthday, to complete my run on that title,
probably comes in 2nd. And discovering the various works of Alan
Moore certainly beats it out in longevity, but not in intensity
of the moment.)
So I can't help but scoff when people "poo poo" this book. I guess
if I'd been 20 years old when it came out, or if I'd bought it as
a back issue, it would've been received much differently. But it
came out at just the right time in my life to push all of my buttons
and make an indeliable print on my psyche.
It truly WAS the Battle of the Century.
Oh, you want some details? OK.
The story is remarkably well-balanced between the two heroes. Well,
maybe not so remarkable, since both companies were probably trying
to make sure their guy wasn't outshone by the other one. Anyway,
Prologue One starts off with a double-page spread (DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD!
This is incredible!) of Supes zooming toward a many-stories tall
robot that's on a rampage across Metropolis. After five pages of
action between Big Blue and the robot, we find out that Luthor was
inside the machine, and we watch as he flies away after suckering
Clark into following the wrong section of it when it separates.
Before long, though, Supes is back on Luthor's trail, and he catches
up with Lex, overcomes the Red Sun lasers being used against him and
carts the villain off to jail. However, Luthor manages to send a vital
piece of stolen equipment off to another hideout before being bagged by
the Man of Steel.
And then we get an early version of a Fact File page: It's called
a "Pause for Hero Identification" and we learn all the rudimentary
facts about Superman in case we just got back from a 40 year trip
to Alpha Centauri!
Prologue 2 follows the same pattern as the first one. We get a
2-page shot of Spidey hanging out outside a NYC museum, just as a
theft occurs. Spidey arrives on the scene only to find that his
old sparring partner Doc Ock is behind the theft. The two fight,
and Spidey is knocked out. The Octopus gets away, Spidey licks
his wounds, and then finds him again in time to do like Supes
did to Luthor. However, there are a couple of clever and funny
scenes here. First, Spidey nonchalantly drops a Spidey-Tracer on
Ock during the fight, and this is what allows him to find the
villain later. But by far the funniest scene in the whole book
happens when Peter Parker (or the clone.. how the Hell do I know
anymore?) tells Jonah Jameson he has exclusive pictures of the
fight between Spidey and Ock, and JJJ rushes the undeveloped film
to the printer, with the instruction "Take the best shot and
plaster it over PAGE ONE!" On the next page we see the result:
the front page of the Daily Bugle with a shot of part of Spidey's
arm and half his head, and a shadow of the same! The printer
tells Jameson, "I did what you said, sir... the -uh- best shot
on -er- page one!" Then we see Jonah providing the inspiration
for many future Homer/Bart confrontations, as he attempts to
wring Parker's neck!!
Then we get our second Hero Identification (Hey, he was bitten by
a radioactive spider... who knew?) (This is a joke.. I was a BIG
Spidey fan when this book came out!)
Oh, and we finally see the connection between the two heroes and
their people, as Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Clark, Peter, MJ, JJJ and
Robbie are all headed to the World News Conference in New York.
Prologue 3 shows Lex and Octavius meeting up in jail. (This is
the first interaction across company lines, I believe!) Naturally,
they hit it off (after a funny scene where Octopus immediately
recognizes the evil genius Luthor but Lex requires an introduction
before he places the lesser-light of Doc Ock!). Luthor shows
why he's considered a World Class Villain by immediately breaking
himself and Octavius out of jail, with him riding Otto like a pony
over the walls!
Next we our Villain Identifications, half a page each. I don't
know how, but DC actually had the intestinal fortitude to explain
the reason for Luthor hating Superman (if you don't know, I'm not
going to tell you, but I will just say, Sy Sperling could've
averted the whole mess!).
And so, 36 pages in, Chapter One begins!! Its title: "A Duel of
Titans" (how they resisted "Clash of" is beyond me!) Another 2-
page shot, and we finally see the two groups in the same shot!
Hey, by today's standards (DC VS MARVEL # 1) that should've been
the whole teamup!! :) Parker gets roughed up by Jameson but
fights back, and MJ asks if he ate nails for breakfast. Kent
gets the same treatment from Morgan Edge and just takes it like
a feeb, as the always did in those days. Lois is disgusted with
the worm, as always. Then we see Lois and Peter meet up, when
Petey saves Lois (hey, isn't that the job of that OTHER GUY??)
from falling off a scaffolding. When they do the introductions.
they're both in awe of the other's reputation, which I thought was
a really nice touch. I guess in today's world they'd have to put
each other down or somesuch garbage. Ah, for the days of respect!
In a shocking turn of events, "Superman" flies down to where Peter,
MJ and LL are standing, and apparently vapourizes the two women!
(At this point I have to comment on how prophetic it was that those
particular women were the girlfriends of choice at this time, since
one is now married to her hero (or maybe his Anti-Matter evil
double) and the other is engaged to hers. Cool.) Anyway, Parker
is not at all impressed by Big Blue's apparent double murder, and
asks the guy standing next to him where the nearest phone booth
is. The other person, who just happens to be the guy who made
"changing identities in a phone booth" part of the modern
vernacular, points him toward one. In a shot that would later
be stolen by the first Superman movie, Parker finds the phones
only to discover there aren't any booths around them! So off he
tears to find a place to change (the roof) and just in time, too,
as we turn the page and...
THE MOMENT WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!
Chapter Two "When Heroes Clash!" (Ah, see, they were just
saving "Clash" for Chapter 2!) It starts off with yet another
double-page shot, this time of Spidey (taking up most of the
first page) swinging toward Supes (filling the second page) and
saying "Faaaaaaar out! It's really you... Superman!" Why he's
so happy to see the guy he thinks killed his girlfriend is kind
of strange, at first glance, but fortunately Conway considered
that and has Parker immediately looking for an explanation out
of the Last Son of Krypton. Superman, for his part, is under
the assumption that Spidey is somehow connected to what he
knows was a phony Man of Steel. And so, for several pages,
confusion and mutual distrust reign supreme, and we get the
slugfest we'd all been waiting for.
Wait a minute, though... Spider-Man, while arguably as popular
as Superman at that point, certainly wasn't ANYWHERE NEAR his
power class, especially when you consider that this was the
pre-Crisis, planet-juggling Kryptonian! (Back when being a
Kryptonian meant that only you and a few billion of your
closest friends and family escaped the destruction of your
home planet! :))
So this is where Conway needed to be clever, and he was. He
has the phony Superman, really Luthor, zap Spidey with some
red sun radiation, meaning that just by being close to Supes
he weakens Kal-El, dropping him down to approximately the
same power level. Way cool. (It IS confusing at times, though,
as to whether the radiation makes Spidey more powerful, Supes
less powerful, or both. I always assumed it just weakened Clark,
but on re-reading it now, I see Parker thinking, "All the years
I've been web-slinging, I NEVER could do that before!" But maybe
he's referring to the fact that he just clobbered a guy who's
supposed to be about a gazillion times stronger than him, like
the Hulk would be.)
After several pages of destruction, Supes decides to end it with
one punch. But just as he's about to deliver a non-pulled punch,
he realizes it'll likely kill any mortal it connects with, and
pulls it. But the force of the punch still knocks Spidey about
a mile, and through a window and a conveniently modern piece of
art (any traditional piece of artwork would've been ruined by
his flight!), and this pisses Spidey off enough to want to really
do some damage to ol' Supey! And so, as he lays a killer two
foot kick on his opponent, in the words of Gerry Conway, "guess
what wears off?" Yup, Spidey just bounces off his opponent's
chest, as so many bullets have before him! Parker indignantly
asks, "How'd you get so hard so suddenly?" but still continues
to try to pound on Clark as he had done before. Finally he
stops, bends over in pain, and says, "Oboy. Oboy, I broke my
hands." Since both have cooled off by now, they shake (much
to the chagrin of Spidey... ouch!) and decide to team up to
get to the bottom of the mystery of the missing madamemoiselles!
The remaining 1/3 of the book showcases the two heroes working
together to rescue MJ and Lois, and capture Luthor and Octavius.
It's pretty standard stuff, after the thrill of seeing them
meet and fight. Both heroes get to do what they do best (Spidey
makes jokes while Superman stops a tital wave!) and they part as
newfound friends.
Cool. Awesome. Unforgetable. It was, truly, the comic event of
the decade, IMO. It was everything I'd hoped for, and more. Never
once in any of the many times I read it did I feel letdown or
betrayed.
Ah, those truly WERE the days.
Matt, all awash in nostalgia with Dire Straits in the background
JSandsmark
<<I feel the need to "wash the taste" of DC VS MARVEL # 1 out
<<of my mouth, so I'm going to take a stroll down Memory Lane and
<<talk about the one that started it all...<<snip>>>>
Oh, Matt, I'm so glad you did!!! That was a really nice, I mean really
really nice, fun, piece of work. I wasn't reading comics when this came
out, so I have no way to gauge what it would have felt like at the time.
This put me there. Thank you so much for writing that. Simply wonderful.
-- Joanna
Robert Faires
Matt Holmes <vho...@icis.on.ca> did his usual expert job of taking us
back in time and making a comic book of days gone by come alive again in
all four colors:
>
> The story was written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Ross Andru
> and Dick Giordano. Mr Andru will be familiar to those few lucky
> souls who've been buying the issues of WONDER WOMAN from the
> early to mid 60's. He was also the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN artist
> at the time this book came out, I think (which would explain
> his selection for this high profile job). This book was a
> giant (Treasury Edition) of a thing, as befits a meeting of
> this significance!
<snip>
> As a personal note, I will always remember the first time I
> heard about the existence of this book. In those days, I was
> 13 years old, and didn't know about fanzines. So the house ads
> were often the first time I saw any special issue that might be
> coming out (and if they didn't advertise it then the local
> cigar store's shelf was the first I saw of it!). I recall
> buying my week's allotment of comics, getting them home, and
> starting to read one. I got about 1/3 of the way into it,
> turned the page and saw Spider-Man perched on top of the tower
> of the Empire State Building (there's that structure again..
> it showed up in the AVENGERS # 76 writeup I did!) while Superman
> flew toward him!! What the Hell?! How could this be?? There's
> no way Superman and Spider-Man can be in the same book! When I
> could concentrate again, I looked more closely at the cover being
> shown: the words "The greatest superhero team-up of all time!"
> and "The Battle of the Century" were blazing across the top!
<snip>
> Prologue One starts off with a double-page spread (DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD!
> This is incredible!) of Supes zooming toward a many-stories tall
> robot that's on a rampage across Metropolis.
<snip>
> Prologue 2 follows the same pattern as the first one. We get a
> 2-page shot of Spidey hanging out outside a NYC museum, just as a
> theft occurs.
It's been a while since I looked at my copy, but like you, Matt, this book
made a tremendous impression on me when it came out. I was a couple years
older than you describe yourself as being and perhaps a little more jaded
in that way that only teenagers can be, but I remember being thrilled when
it finally hit the stands and reading this sucker over and over. And it
struck me that it *was* indeed the way a crossover should be treated:
Conway's story, the mutual respect toward the characters, all the scenes
of these long-separated characters meeting and interacting,... it all
worked for me in much the way you've written.
And the art. I pulled a couple of your quotes regarding the artwork for a
couple of reasons. One, the degree to which it seemed that Ross Andru
really outdid himself on the art for this project. I had been familiar
with Mr. Andru's work for maybe ten, twelve years at that point, from the
Sixties WONDER WOMAN and METAL MEN books to SUPERMAN and some of the war
books and heaven knows what else at DC, plus his run on SPIDER-MAN at
Marvel, but I had taken much of his work for granted. Upon seeing the
SUPERMAN/SPIDER-MAN crossover, I found I had to reconsider my opinions of
his artistry. The layouts were, as you noted in your original post, Matt,
breathtaking. The compositions were dynamic, and the craft of the man was
evident on every page. The book was fun to look at and lived up to the
expectations of this *truly* ground-breaking crossover.
Two, if I remember correctly, the credit for a lot of those spectacular
aerial shots, with all the skyscrapers of New York City and Metropolis
rendered in eye-popping detail, went to Terry Austin as background inker.
Dick Giordano did the lovely inks on the main figures and some of the
backgrounds, but Austin did the cityscapes. In addition to being the book
that made me sit up and give Ross Andru the respect he deserved all those
years (and which I now eagerly give him), I'm pretty sure it was also the
book that made me take note of the name Terry Austin. (Anyone care to back
me up on this or has my memeory gone faulty?)
A welcome reminiscence, Matt, as all your Memory Lane reviews have been.
You and Joanna Sandsmark have made these so much a fun, fun, fun part of
the newsgroup that I'm sorely tempted to wade in and try one myself.
However, you both do them so well that it's a daunting prospect to tread
in your shadows. Dare I?
Awash in a happy past,
Robert Faires
Austin, Texas
Bill Henley
The first SUPERMAN & SPIDER-MAN book was passable, but I recall
the second one, written by Jim Shooter and drawn by John Buscema,
as being considerably more fun reading. (Shooter may not be a
fun guy to work for, or so I've heard, but he used to write some
pretty neat comics-- and Marvel comics were a lot better reading
in general when he was in charge than they have been since.)
With the obligatory Supes/Spidey fight scene having been gotten
out of the way in the first book, Shooter was able instead to
come up with a plot that had the two heroes working together
in a credible way, and also got some nice character bits and
jokes from mixing the two series' casts. (Peter Parker and
Clark Kent switch employers temporarily, and Peter is amazed at
how nice it is to work for a relative pussycat like Perry White,
while Clark has to put up with J. Jonah Jameson.)
--
"A civilization can hardly be expected to improve by encouraging
the spread of the idea, "It doesn't matter if I act stupid
because somebody wll bail me out." (Stanley Schmidt) *********
Bill Henley (aa396) Asst Sysop, Cleveland Freenet SF/Fantasy SIG
JSandsmark
<<A welcome reminiscence, Matt, as all your Memory Lane reviews have been.
You and Joanna Sandsmark have made these so much a fun, fun, fun part of
the newsgroup that I'm sorely tempted to wade in and try one myself.
However, you both do them so well that it's a daunting prospect to tread
in your shadows. Dare I?>>
Oh dare it! dare it! Really, this is all about having fun and reading
comics to each other, IMO. It's not a contest, it's not about being
clever -- it's about the books. If you have a favorite comic or one you
think most people don't have or a genre that gets short shrift, then dig
in and tell us about it.
I, for one, am thrilled that there have been so many reviews lately. It
gives me a chance to sample books I haven't read or relive the experience
of reading old favorites. And what's more fun than sitting around,
reading old comics and talking about them with our friends?
-- Joanna
Mark Thomson
was out. I begged my mother to buy it for me but she thought the 99 cents
it costs 'was rediculous to pay for a stupid comic book'. Anytime I am
feeling depressed about the Spidey-Ben situation, I always whip out an
old ASM issue and remember the good old marvel days ! (I think this is
the part where the Wonder Years narrator comes in)
To nostalgia and pleasant memories,
Mark 'Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew' Thomson
Vicki/Matt Holmes
>Robert Faires wrote:
>
><<A welcome reminiscence, Matt, as all your Memory Lane reviews have been.
> You and Joanna Sandsmark have made these so much a fun, fun, fun part of
>the newsgroup that I'm sorely tempted to wade in and try one myself.
>However, you both do them so well that it's a daunting prospect to tread
>in your shadows. Dare I?>>
>
>comics to each other, IMO. It's not a contest, it's not about being
>clever -- it's about the books. If you have a favorite comic or one you
>think most people don't have or a genre that gets short shrift, then dig
>in and tell us about it.
>
>I, for one, am thrilled that there have been so many reviews lately. It
>gives me a chance to sample books I haven't read or relive the experience
>of reading old favorites. And what's more fun than sitting around,
>reading old comics and talking about them with our friends?
>
sick of seeing responses to notes when I haven't even seen the note yet...
like I'm only reading Robert's comments because Joanna kindly included them
in her post!)
I'm finding I value the reviews (of old and new alike) and "Most xxxxxx
issues/storylines/titles" threads most. The FLAMEWARS (tm) are usually
boring ("You're scum!" "Am not!" "Are so!" repeat ad nauseum) and of
late there hasn't been a lot else.
So yes, by all means, "Jump into the water" (as P. Gabriel sings) and give
us all something to read!!
Matt
MRBAND
nostalgic waxing for Superman vs. Spider-Man, especially since it's been
about 20 years to the week of its initial release. As a 10 year old, I
thought this book was the Holy Grail of comics. The artwork had plenty of
room to breathe in the late, lamented treasury format as I spent a good
portion of a winter Saturday afternoon pouring over those pages.
I'm especially nostalgic as yesterday I purchased a copy of this treasury
in fine (some would say near mint) condition for all of $2.50!!! (The
reprint is going for $5.95!!!)
I don't think DC Vs. Marvel will ever bring out the 10 year old in me.
Twenty years have made me more privy to the economics of the field and
perhaps more cynical.
Still, I'm more than happy to give it a chance!
MRB...@aol.com
Matt and Vicki Holmes
>I just stumbled across this newsgroup and was heartened to read all of the
>nostalgic waxing for Superman vs. Spider-Man, especially since it's been
>about 20 years to the week of its initial release. As a 10 year old, I
>thought this book was the Holy Grail of comics. The artwork had plenty of
>room to breathe in the late, lamented treasury format as I spent a good
>portion of a winter Saturday afternoon pouring over those pages.
I'm happy to see others waxing nostalgic about this book. It's a
major part of my memories of being a kid and buying comics!
>I'm especially nostalgic as yesterday I purchased a copy of this treasury
>in fine (some would say near mint) condition for all of $2.50!!! (The
>reprint is going for $5.95!!!)
Great price!!
>I don't think DC Vs. Marvel will ever bring out the 10 year old in me.
>Twenty years have made me more privy to the economics of the field and
>perhaps more cynical.
>Still, I'm more than happy to give it a chance!
And justifiably cynical, IMO. I received the DC VS MARVEL trading
cards for Christmas, and enjoyed them enormously, because they were
just what you'd expect. Too bad issue # 1 of the comic wasn't.