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About this Item

Title

  • Spider-man!

Summary

  • Eleven drawings for Amazing Fantasy #15 comic book pages 1 through 6 and 8 through 12 show the origin story of the Marvel comic book character Spiderman. Peter Parker, an outcast teenager living with his doting Aunt May and Uncle Ben, is rejected by his peers. While visiting a science exhibit he is bitten by a radioactive spider. He acquires super powers and challenges a wrestler, Crusher Hogan with a disguised identity. Lifting the heavyweight off the ground, he wins. Realizing that his powers are those of a spider, Peter designs a spider costume, invents a spider web device and names himself Spiderman. In part 2, pages 8-12, Spiderman entertains audiences on the Ed Sullivan television show. He lets a criminal get away, selfishly enjoying the fame that has come with his exploits. When his Uncle Ben is murdered by a burglar, however, Peter, dressed as Spiderman, tracks the criminal down in an abandoned warehouse. He unmasks the burglar, only to realize that he is the same man who fled past him after his appearance on television. The story ends as Peter realizes that his super powers have come with the responsibility to make the world a better place.

Names

  • Ditko, Steve, artist
  • Lee, Stan, 1922-2018, author
  • Simek, Artie, 1916-1975.

Created / Published

  • [1962]

Headings

  • -  Spider-Man (Fictitious character)
  • -  Criminals--1960-1970
  • -  Science--1960-1970
  • -  Spiders--1960-1970
  • -  Superheroes--1960-1970
  • -  Teenagers--1960-1970

Headings

  • Comic book illustrations--American--1960-1970.
  • Drawings--American--1960-1970.

Genre

  • Comic book illustrations--American--1960-1970
  • Drawings--American--1960-1970

Notes

  • -  Caption label from exhibit of digital copy in "Swann Gallery": First Spider-Man Cartoon. In the opening page of the Spider-Man origin story, Steve Ditko depicts the hero Peter Parker as a social outcast, physically distant from his classmates. The panel on the right signals Parker's future transformation into the Marvel comic superhero. With writer Stan Lee, Ditko created this classic of the comic book's "Silver Age" (1956-1969), an era of superheroes' resurgence in the mainstream comic book industry, following the genre's decline after World War II. Ditko's clean, eye-catching design pulls the viewer into the scene and sets the suspenseful tone for the eleven-page story.
  • -  Artie Simek was the letterer.
  • -  Signed lower right single panel of first page: Stan Lee and S. Ditko.
  • -  The lettering for the "Spider-Man!" title is on a photomechanical overlay piece of paper that replaced an earlier concept in which the name Spiderman was spelled without a hyphen and the letters are filled with a spider web design. For an image of the earlier concept, see LC-DIG-ppmsca-64993.
  • -  Inscribed in upper margin of first page: 11. Amazing April '62, v-789, Amazing 15 - p. 1, 6 1/4 x 91/4 - 1 SP.
  • -  Stamped on verso of each drawing: Comics Magazine Code Authority approved Mar 6 1962.
  • -  Penciled notes to Steve Ditko, partially erased, are in the margins of some of the drawings.
  • -  Gift; 2008, (DLC/PP-2008:043).
  • -  Published in: Amazing Fantasy, 15 (1962 Aug.), pp. 1-6, 8-12.
  • -  no. 1g Exhibited: "Timely and Timeless" at the Graphic Arts Galleries, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 2011-2012.
  • -  no. 1d and 1j Exhibited: "Superheroes in Gotham" at the New York Historical Society, New York, N.Y., Oct. 2015 - Feb. 2016.
  • -  no. 1a Exhibited: "Marvel : The Cinematic Universe" at the Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, South Brisbane, Australia, May - September 2017.
  • -  no. 1f Exhibited: "Marvel Universe : The Fantastic World of Superheroes" at The Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle, WA, April - October 2018.
  • -  no. 1a, 1f, and 1k Exhibited: "Collecting Memories: Treasures from the Library of Congress at the Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, NW Curtain, Treasures Gallery, Washington, D.C., 2023.

Medium

  • 11 drawings on layered paper board : ink, opaque white, and overlay over graphite underdrawing ; 48 x 38.2 cm. (board)

Call Number/Physical Location

  • CD 1 - Ditko, no. 1a-k (B size) [P&P]

Source Collection

  • Cartoon Drawings (Library of Congress)

Repository

Digital Id

  • ppmsca 18747 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.18747
  • ppmsca 64993 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.64993
  • ppmsca 18748 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.18748
  • ppmsca 18749 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.18749
  • ppmsca 18750 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.18750
  • ppmsca 18751 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.18751
  • ppmsca 18752 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.18752
  • ppmsca 18753 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.18753
  • ppmsca 18754 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.18754
  • ppmsca 18755 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.18755
  • ppmsca 18756 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.18756
  • ppmsca 18757 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.18757

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2016687393

Reproduction Number

  • LC-DIG-ppmsca-18747 (digital file from original, page 1 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-64993 ((digital file from original, detail of title on page 1) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18748 (digital file from original, page 2 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18749 (digital file from original, page 3 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18750 (digital file from original, page 4 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18751 (digital file from original, page 5 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18752 (digital file from original, page 6 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18753 (digital file from original, page 7 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18754 (digital file from original, page 8 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18755 (digital file from original, page 9 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18756 (digital file from original, page 10 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18757 (digital file from original, page 11 of 11)

Rights Advisory

Access Advisory

  • Restricted access: Materials are served to researchers by appointment only; use digital surrogate to preserve fragile drawings.

Online Format

  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Cartoon Drawings - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: Publication may be restricted. For information see "Steve Ditko Rights and Restrictions," https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/602_ditk.html
  • Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-18747 (digital file from original, page 1 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-64993 ((digital file from original, detail of title on page 1) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18748 (digital file from original, page 2 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18749 (digital file from original, page 3 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18750 (digital file from original, page 4 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18751 (digital file from original, page 5 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18752 (digital file from original, page 6 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18753 (digital file from original, page 7 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18754 (digital file from original, page 8 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18755 (digital file from original, page 9 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18756 (digital file from original, page 10 of 11) LC-DIG-ppmsca-18757 (digital file from original, page 11 of 11)
  • Call Number: CD 1 - Ditko, no. 1a-k (B size) [P&P]
  • Access Advisory: Restricted access: Materials are served to researchers by appointment only; use digital surrogate to preserve fragile drawings.

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      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Ditko, Steve, Artist, Stan Lee, and Artie Simek. Spider-Man!. American, 1962. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016687393/.

APA citation style:

Ditko, S., Lee, S. & Simek, A. (1962) Spider-Man!. American, 1962. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2016687393/.

MLA citation style:

Ditko, Steve, Artist, Stan Lee, and Artie Simek. Spider-Man!. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2016687393/>.