Originally written August 14, 2017

So, in this review I’ll be tackling the second year of The Amazing Spider-Man comic’s run. Since this was a monthly series, it’s unsurprising that there were 12 issues in 1964, issues #8-19. However, one common thing comics used to do a lot were big annual issues (more on that later), and so this year featured the first Annual for The Amazing Spider-Man. First, though, let’s focus on the regular issues. In my review of the first seven issues, I noted that its biggest strength was its originality, while its biggest weakness was its growing pains. I wanna revisit both of these ideas.

As far as the originality goes, this set of issues still continues to excel just as much. I find it to be truly incredible how in the early days of this series, so many classic Spider-Man villains were introduced with such frequency. The main new villains featured in this set of issues is Electro, Mysterio, Green Goblin, and Kraven the Hunter, who are all excellent villains. I recognize that this isn’t as many as the first year’s run, but that’s mainly because 1964’s issues also brought back some of the more memorable villains of 1963, like Doctor Octopus and Sandman. It’s cool getting to see these villains back for return visits, since it’s fun to see what stories they do with these characters now that their introductions are out of the way.

However, I should mention that I’m not a big fan of some of the villains introduced either. The other new villains of 1964 are the Living Brain, Ringmaster, and a group of criminals called the Enforcers. The Enforcers, especially, are used in multiple issues this year, so they must have been popular back in the day. However, I don’t really see why, since they’re really just common criminals with different gimmicks to them. They’re not really that interesting, so I was surprised to see how much they were used.

Now, to talk about the growing pains weakness. I had said about issues #1-7 that while the characters and concepts were great, the stories themselves weren’t. I found this to have improved with issues #8-19. I already mentioned this earlier with how they get to use the villains in new ways, but this also applies to the structure of the issues. In the first year, every issue was completely a standalone story. While a series doesn’t need a continuous storyline to be good, I always think that some continuity can be a good thing, and luckily these issues start to add that. While stories are still pretty self-contained, they start to experiment with having storylines stretch across two issues instead of one, and there are plot elements that carry through multiple issues, particularly with Peter’s love life. My favorite storylines in this set of issues are Spider-Man getting unmasked, Peter giving up being Spider-Man, and the storylines involving Mysterio and Green Goblin. These are just really memorable and have become iconic, inspiring future Spider-Man storylines.

The only other thing that needs to be talked about is the Annual. This is a giant, 72 page issue, with its own special storyline. In Annual #1, they fire on all cylinders by giving us The Sinister Six, who have become pretty famous since then. Basically, this involves six of Spider-Man’s biggest foes teaming up to try to take down Spider-Man together. It’s always great seeing a hero try to take on more than he normally can, and this story is no exception. In addition, the annuals are pretty great because other than giving a double-length story, they also give cool bonus features, such as a gallery of Spider-Man’s enemies, and an explanation of all of his powers. It’s extra little features like that which make it worth it.

Overall, there are still signs of the comic growing this early in the game, but for the most part this is a solid set of issues. Steve Ditko’s art improves a bit more, and Stan Lee is just a marvel (no pun intended…okay, yeah, pun intended) at creating unique and interesting superhero storylines. This set of issues got me to be even more invested in the comic.

4.5/5