UNTOLD TALES Of SPIDER-MAN COVER & IMAGE GALLERY - PART ONE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

It had been done before of course.  Telling 'untold' adventures in a hero's early career wasn't a new idea from MARVEL, whose first nine issues of The RAMPAGING HULK (in 1977) presented stories meant to be set between the last ish of his own mag and his first appearance in TALES To ASTONISH.  True, the stories were later dismissed as fictional imaginings of an alien called BEREET, but it was a brave try at recapturing the raw fun and energy of Hulkie's first six outings, though for a slightly more mature audience.

UNTOLD TALES Of SPIDER-MAN was pretty much the same concept, fitting somewhere amongst Spidey's earliest escapades by STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO.  The 25 issue series (not counting, for the moment, a FLASHBACK ish, two Annuals ['96 & '97], and a card-covered Special ['98/'99]), was mainly by KURT BUSIEK & PAT OLLIFFE, though ROGER STERN, TOM DeFALCO & RON FRENZ were also contributors.

It's a nice little run, part of Marvel's 99 cents line, created in an attempt to attract new readers who may have been deterred by the standard cost of  $1.50 or $1.95.  The series is available in an OMNIBUS edition if you'd like to catch up on it, or you could try tracking down the individual issues on eBay if, like KRAVEN, you enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

In the meantime though, you can enjoy this first instalment in a four-part post.

BABE Of The DAY - SALMA HAYEK...

Here's stunning SALMA

HAYEK to cheer you all up on a

dreich Monday morning, Crivs.  It's

raining where I live, but Salma's a

 lovely little ray of sunshine.