Friday, September 25, 2020

The Spectacular Spider-Man: Lo, This Monster

Spectacular Spider-Man: Lo, This Monster (Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine (1968))Spectacular Spider-Man: Lo, This Monster (Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine by Stan Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Spectacular Spider-Man: Lo, This Monster collects the two issues of Spectacular Spider-Man magazine.

John Romita has always been my favorite Spider-Man artist, probably starting with the Spider-Man sleeping bag covered with his art that I got for Christmas when I was four. I have Spectacular Spider-Man #2 so I primarily bought this so I could read it without fear of damaging it.

The two stories in here are pretty standard Spider-Man tales for the time period. One features a crooked politician with a scientifically enhanced brute working for him. The other features Spider-Man going toe to toe with the Green Goblin.

Stan Lee's dialogue is cornier than the states of Iowa and Nebraska combined so this didn't make for as easy a reading experience as I hoped. Jazzy John Romita delivered the goods on the art, however. The first issue is in black and white and JR experiments with shading and ink washes, making it feel like Spider-Man in a Warren magazine. Spectacular Spider-Man #2 has many iconic shots from Jazzy John, some panels suitable for framing.

Spectacular Spider-Man: Lo, This Monster is an interesting time capsule from the glory days of Spider-Man. Three out of five stars.

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