Byrne Robotics: 50 years of SPIDER-MAN!

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Joe Hollon
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Joined: 08 May 2004
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Posted: 18 July 2012 at 7:45am \| IP Logged \| 1

I recently read a post from Kurt Busiek stating that Marvel had almost convinced Ditko to do another Spider-Man story until someone from Marvel sent him copies of UNTOLD TALES and that torpedoed the whole deal.

••

Well, as long as Kurt's admitting to it, yes. That's what I heard from Ralph Macchio. He'd come within inches of convincing Ditko to do a new Spider-Man story, then Steve saw UNTOLD, took offense, and backed away.

**

NO-OOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

It may take me days to recover from that revelation....

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DW Zomberg
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Posted: 18 July 2012 at 7:51am \| IP Logged \| 2

the industry could use all the fans...

The "growth and change" crowd are largely responsible for the sad state of the comic market in the first place. It's their mentality that drove away fresh, casual readers who kept comic sales steady decade after decade. And by appealing to these selfish knuckleheads, the industry is committing a slow and painful suicide.

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Adam Hutchinson
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Posted: 18 July 2012 at 8:07am \| IP Logged \| 3

QUOTE:

*Glad someone else mentioned Mike Wieringo. That Sensational Spider-Man run with Todd DeZago was a real high point for the character in the 1990s. Their first issue, Ben Reilly vs. The Looter, might be my single favorite issue from that decade (or the past 20 years, even). I've got one page of original art from their run and it's hanging in my living room.

Andrew, that's awesome. I have a page from that run too. It's from the -1 issue, a really heartfelt story about young Peter and Uncle Ben that came out of a weird marketing gimmick. I'd like to get a page from one of the Swarm issues, just to see all the individually drawn and inked bees. :)

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kenny rogers
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Joined: 26 June 2012
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Posted: 18 July 2012 at 8:45am \| IP Logged \| 4

The biggest thing I miss about Spider man is his eyes. John Romita and J.B did his eyes the best. I hate the Mcfarlane giant bug eyes that everyone seems to be drawing now.

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Paul Greer
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Posted: 18 July 2012 at 9:26am \| IP Logged \| 5

I did enjoy Untold Tales but there is a key difference between that and Hidden Years. Busiek actually created new stories between key Spider-Man moments from Ditko and Lee's run. Hidden Years covered an era where the X-Men existed in the Marvel U but didn't have any new stories being told. One was being retrofitted and the other filled a gap.

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John Byrne
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Posted: 18 July 2012 at 9:50am \| IP Logged \| 6

Years before UNTOLD TALES I started pitching -- somewhat in jest, to be sure -- a series I dubbed "Spider-Boy". This would NOT have been the actual title, I promise you. But my idea was that Spider-Man had, at that point, been around longer than Superman had when Superboy was added to the canon. So why not, I asked, do stories set in the period when Peter Parker was still in high school? The idea here was that, like Superboy, "Spider-Boy" would not be tied to real time, so his high school adventures could go on forever.

Alas, when a series along these lines final came to be, in the form of UNTOLD TALES, the anal fanboy mentality was in full vigor, so the stories, rather than just happening "in the Past" simply HAD TO BE set "between" old stories, and even PANELS in those old stories. In other words, the series was tied to the passing of time just as the original series had been. After a while, Peter would have to leave high school, go to college, deal with Gwen's death, etc, etc. All the stuff that had muddied up the original, clean and clear vision.

(The greater crime, tho, for me, was when Marvel gave us "Amazing Fantasy" 16, 17, and so on. This was to insert stories BETWEEN the last panel of the first Spider-Man tale in AMAZING FANTASY 15 and the first panel in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1. Why? To provide Parker time to "realistically" get good enough with his spider-powers that he could go out and fight crime and save plummeting Mercury capsules. Evidently, all those months he spent going from newly acquired powers to being famous and skilled enough to appear on "Ed Sullivan" wasn't sufficient explanation. Those idiots, Lee and Ditko! Got it WRONG again!)

"The first story you'd do as a fan should be the last story you'd do as a pro." - Len Wein

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Matt Reed
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Posted: 18 July 2012 at 9:53am \| IP Logged \| 7

The only reason I stuck around for UNTOLD TALES was Pat Olliffe's art. To me, he's the definition of underrated. Really enjoy his work.

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Michael Penn
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Posted: 18 July 2012 at 10:08am \| IP Logged \| 8

Ultimately, if timelessness prevails, virtually any new story can be an untold tale.

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David Plunkert
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Posted: 18 July 2012 at 11:45am \| IP Logged \| 9

Quote--Well, as long as Kurt's admitting to it, yes. That's what I heard from Ralph Macchio. He'd come within inches of convincing Ditko to do a new Spider-Man story, then Steve saw UNTOLD, took offense, and backed away.

--probably for the best.

From what I've read; "within inches of convincing Ditko" is still a vast distance.

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John Byrne
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Posted: 18 July 2012 at 11:48am \| IP Logged \| 10

From what I've read; "within inches of convincing Ditko" is still a vast distance.

••

Remind me now, where was your office at Marvel, at the time?

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David Plunkert
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Posted: 18 July 2012 at 12:12pm \| IP Logged \| 11

quote--Remind me now, where was your office at Marvel, at the time?

I thought "from what I've read" was an adequate qualifier.

Ditko has a history of taking easy offense and backing away from projects based on what industry professionals say about him in books. Blake Bell's Ditko book devotes a chapter to it.

No offense intended towards you or Ralph Macchio. I certainly did not intend to imply he was lying.

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Greg Kirkman
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Posted: 18 July 2012 at 12:33pm \| IP Logged \| 12

Okay, time to bring up a few favorite stories:

(Basically, the entire Lee-Ditko run, with a few highlights listed below)

* "Spider-Man", AMAZING FANTASY # 15. Often imitated, never duplicated.

* The Master Planner trilogy, ASM # 31-33.

* "How Green Was My Goblin"/"The End of the Green Goblin", ASM # 39-40.

* "The Goblin Lives!", SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (magazine) # 2.

* "The Arms of Doctor Octopus"/"Doc Ock Lives!"/"And Death Shall Come", ASM # 88-90.

* The Doctor Octopus/Hammerhead gang war, ASM # 112-115.

* "The Night Gwen Stacy Died"/"The Goblin's Last Stand", ASM # 121-122.

* The original Clone Saga, ASM # 141-150.

* "Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut", ASM # 229-230.

* The original Hobgoblin saga, ASM 238-239, 244-245, 249-251.

* "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man", ASM # 248.

* The Alien Costume Saga, ASM 252-259.

* The Death of Jean DeWolff, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN # 107-110, and its sequel, in SSM # 134-136.

* "Fearful Symmetry"/"Kraven's Last Hunt".

* "Best of Enemies", SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN # 200.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few!

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