SPIDER-MAN ART TIMES FIVE...

FIRST THERE WAS THIS...

JOHN ROMITA's original art design for the cover to The SPECTACULAR
SPIDER-MAN #1.  Note that Spidey's crawling up the side of the building

THEN THERE WAS THIS...

The 1968 published cover based on Romita's original art, painted by HARRY
ROSENBAUM.  Note that Spidey is now crawling along the rooftop ledge

THEN THERE WAS THIS...

The cover to the 1976 UK Annual (on sale in '75).  This looks like a retouched
version of Rosenbaum's, with an ink outline applied to the Spidey figure 

THEN THERE WAS THIS...

The 2002 softcover facsimile edition of the original mag.  Unfortunately, most of
SAM ROSEN's interior lettering was replaced by a lacklustre computer font

AND, FINALLY, THERE WAS THIS...

The 2019 collected edition contained the two '60s issues.  This was a regular comicbook size,
whereas the originals were a larger magazine size.  Sam's interior lettering was retained

All images copyright MARVEL COMICS

EAGLE And CONCORDE...

Copyright relevant owner

Got this great book in a charity shop yesterday for a mere £2, having already bought its companion volume some years before at a discounted price, either in WHS or perhaps The WORKS.  (Why is it I can no longer seem to recall things the way I used to?  Extremely annoying.)  Incidentally, the 'aged' look of the logo is the way it was published, not the sad result of neglect.  Take a look at the page below of the CONCORDE.  I bought the CORGI TOYS model in 1969 or '70, at which time I was only 11 or 12, so to discover it had appeared in a comic when I was yet a mere 4 years old, 6 years before the supersonic jet's maiden flight (though it didn't enter commercial service until 1976), came as quite a surprise.  (After all, that was nearly two-thirds of my life away at the time.)

Of course, my adult self knows that these things spend years (decades even) in development, but when you're a kid, you tend to think that anything 'new' has just popped up fully-formed and ready-to-go, which was obviously my impression back in 1969.  And some impressions are hard to shift, hence my recent surprise at seeing how far in advance the Concorde had been announced and even named.

Having said that, I have a vague recollection of seeing (many years after the fact) either a photograph or an artist's impression of a couple of supersonic jets (one was Russian I think) which bore a strong resemblance to Concorde, but preceded it by quite a number of years.  The other one was probably an 'embryonic' Concorde when the idea of supersonic flight was first being developed.  (Perhaps the BRISTOL TYPE 223 SST.)  I should still have the mag or book it appeared in, and when I rediscover which one it is, I'll add the page to this post.

And that's my own little Corgi Toys Concorde (replacement) below.  Ain't it a beauty?!  (Go on, humour me.)

TWO MORE TRUE BELIEVERS...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Wow!  35 years.  Really?  Yes, really.  'Twas way back in 1985 when I bought the first ish of a new SPIDEY mag - WEB Of SPIDER-MAN #1, and now I have the TRUE BELIEVERS reprint issue to complete the circle.  This one came out almost a couple of years ago, but I've only just acquired it.  Note that the new logo (replacing the original 'Web' one) doesn't look as out of place as most of the other replacement logos on current TB issues do.

Talking of which, the cover of the True Believers reprint of The INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #54 would've looked better if MARVEL had retained the corner illo of ol' SHELL-HEAD to offset the space around the new name.  I think someone needs to have a word with whoever's responsible for the replacement logos on this current batch of TBs, because quite a few of them let the side down.

Anyway, that small observation aside, they're still well-worth having for the titanic tales from yesteryear contained within.  And as I've mentioned before, the original, untampered-with covers are reproduced in the back of each mag.  (Just a shame they're not on the front.)

More TBs and Facsimile Editions coming up soon, frantic ones.