Not From The Archives: AMAZING FANTASY #15!

Originally posted on... Wait a minute... This isn't part of my "From The Archives" section, I have to do this again! 

Let's take a look at Amazing Fantasy #15 again because my review style has changed a lot since that old review and my grammar is way better. If you want to read that review on the old website, click here.

Well, let me tell you the story of Spider-Man with my new writing skills (I'm never gonna do this again)

Way back in the 60's, a man called Stan Lee was sitting in his desk thinking about what to put in the last issue of Amazing Adult Fantasy. When he saw a fly crawling on the wall, which made him think "Gee, wouldn't it be nice to have a superhero that can crawl on walls?" Or at least that's how he tells the story. He was thinking about it for a couple minutes when he came up with Spider-Man, a hero that was a teenager with problems like me and you, so that we could relate to him.

He presented the idea to the editor Martin Goodman, but Goodman wasn't very enthused, he thought it was stupid because teenagers weren't supposed to be heroes, him having realistic problems was fucking ridiculous and spiders are scary as hell, but he decided to publish it anyways because the magazine was ending and worst-case scenario the character fails. 

BUT The magazine DIDN'T fail. I mean, it was cancelled anyways but the character stuck, and the rest is history. 

Jack Kirby was asked to design the character, but Stan felt he looked too much like Captain America, so he asked Steve Ditko to come up with ideas, and that is how we got the iconic Spider-Man design. Jack still got to design the cover. And speaking of the cover...

What can I say about this cover that hasn't already been said? For starters, why are there like 5 people on the top of a building? They're all too close to the edge, like, get outta there. Spidey is telling us that he was once a loser nerd or whatever. Next you're gonna tell me he uses League of Comic Geeks. Also, an important message to YOU, from the editor. Well, I also have a message for you, about this new section.

The story begins with a bunch of high-schoolers that look like they're in their 20's, talking about how they need one more guy for the dance. Lucky for them, Peter Parker is walking by. But they think Peter doesn't know jack shit about dancing. Yeah, they're gonna look like fools once they see Peter dating that supermodel. 

Well, Peter Parker lives with his aunt and uncle, and they think he is a very special lad. Aunt May makes wheatcakes for ol' Petey, and Uncle Ben is old. Peter is the top student of Midtown High, and he tries to get Sally Lastname to notice him, but she's like "Are we lobbing hand grenades, kiddo? No, I don't think we are. You're close! (close!), but no cigar!" and then she decides to go with Flash Thompson and like 2 other random fellows and they all leave Peter alone, and he swears revenge in his future. What a loser that guy is, no friends and no girlfriend. 

Peter is now at a science demonstration where they control radioactive rays. Jessica Jones was actually there, about to ask Peter out on a date (Check Alias #22), but before that happened, a spider gets irradiated and bites Peter in the hand before it dies, but then it bites another person before it dies (Cindy Moon), and then it gets eaten by some bully we never saw until much later (Carl King), and then it somehow survives and now it can talk. Yeah, comics are weird, there is so much going on in this scene and we don't even see it in the original story. Okay, Peter was bitten by a spider, and now he has to get fresh air. 

Well, Peter is looking at his fingers like "WTF", but a car is about to run him over and turn him into The Amazing Roadkill, but before our protagonist becomes a wheat cake, he jumps to the nearest wall. Sure, I would've done the same thing. I wish that wheat cake joke was original, but no, you see, this story is told in Spidey Super Stories #1, and Peter remarks "I would've been as flat as Aunt May's Pancakes!" 

Anyway, our protagonist is now crawling on the wall. This reminds me of something... An ANT! Ants can do that. 

Peter thinks the spider had something to do with it... No, all boys can do that, this is a secret that women don't know about us, but we can all crawl walls, we all have spidey-senses and we all have mechanical web shooters, Pete just didn't notice it until now.

Well, Peter's gotta decide what to do with his powers, so he finds some old clothes and makes some sorta outfit with a mask made out of a rag. Who is our hero going up against? Well, none other than Crusher Hogan, c'mon, we all knew about him. The reward for kicking this guy's ass is 100 dollars, which was *checks calculator* a LOT of money back in the 1960's.

Hogan gives up and Peter wins. EZ. The guy that gives him the money just so happens to be a TV producer. He gives Peter a deal, but he doesn't ask to see what he looks like, or show an ID or something, but we'll let that slide for now. Peter is at home making his costume, and web shooters, and after that he has to come up with a name... Well, I guess SpiderMan is as good as any. I did not miss the hyphen, that's what it looks like in the comic.

ONLY A SCIENCE MAJOR COULD'VE CREATED WEB SHOOTERS, which is actually true, so no making fun of this scene. Next is part 2, HOLY SHIT HOW IS HE CRAWLING ON THE WALL? Dude, this is insane. Spider-Man is so fucking cool!

After a show, he sees a robber passing by. He doesn't stop the crook because from now on, Spidey's gonna look up for #1, THAT MEANS HIM! Get in line, loser, I'm #1. At home, Peter gets that microscope that he's always wanted thanks to Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Most kids would've wanted a PS5, but okay. 

Fucking loser actually being LOVED by audiences and families... *sob* I wish someone loved me... Anyway, after a big show, Peter is walking home, when he sees a police car in front of Aunt May's house. A cop just casually tells Peter that his uncle has bitten the dust, but he also tells useful information like how they have the murderer surrounded at the old ACME warehouse. Peter changes into his Spider-Man gear and looks for that old, abandoned place. BUT BEFORE WE GET TO THAT SCENE, I gotta tell you another funny little fun factoid: Mary Jane was living next door, and she saw Spidey going out the window and she instantly figured out his identity. Nosy bitch.

Spider-Man catches the crook by surprise, and instantly knocks him out, only to discover that it was the same guy that ran past him! What a silly coincidence. Peter brings the crook to the police, but after that, Peter reflects on what he should've done. Like any normal human being, he is saddened by the loss of his beloved uncle, but at the same time he has learned a very important lesson.

And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last that in this world, with great power there must also come great responsibility!

And so, a legend is born, and a new name is added to the roster of those who make the world of fantasy the most exciting realm of all!

This comic is perfect, yeah, it's silly, yeah, it's dated, but guess what? I do not care, it's Spider-Man's first appearance, it's perfect, it's one of my favorite comics, it's one of the best stories in Marvel history, we owe a lot to this comic. 10/10. 

That's it for this one! BYE... That's right, I have a message to tell you.

You see that? that "Not From The Archives" thing in the title? That's because these are remakes of old posts from the old site that I didn't want to just copy and paste into this one because my critique style has changed since the good ol' days. That's all. BYE! Up next from this series: I could either re-review ASM121 or I could look at THE DEATH OF SOCIETY.