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Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Amazing Spider-Man #35 - Cover

Here's one that always fascinated me. The Spidey figure on the cover of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #35 is a Kirby figure (usually attributed to Ditko inks, but I never quite saw that). Don't think it's ever been reprinted in any other version in English (unlike some other covers with paste-ups which reverted in reprints), but someone dug up this foreign reprint. Click for a closer look at both covers.



  


I will say that the modified version is the more attractive cover, with a great Spidey figure. I'm not sure exactly why the original was seen as needing altering, though. Too unflattering a pose for the hero? Did it make Spidey's butt look too big?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Bob,

That's exactly the reason! I spoke to John Romita and he was in the office when Kirby was correcting that cover. This was finally reprinted in one of the Barnes and Noble trade paperbacks reprinting that issue.

Nick Caputo

bob said...

Thanks for the info, Nick. Glad to hear they added the original to the newest edition of the Masterworks. A Ditko drawn Spider-Man figure, no matter how unflattering the pose, deserves to be seen.

Romita didn't have anything to say about who inked the Kirby figure, did he? Looking at it some more I'm leaning towards Brodsky based on some of his other covers.

Anonymous said...

Romita didn't mention who inked it, but it looks like Brodsky inks to my eyes as well.

Nick C.

Anonymous said...

Hello people,

I have to disagree about the altered version being the best cover. Although a Kirby drawing always deserves all my praises, in this particular case the posture doesn't quite fit any logic in the action. By contrast Spider-man looks stiff and as if he's falling from the ceiling while the Ditko composition (even unflatering) makes more sense with our hero hanging on his webs confronting the molten man.

Cheers,
Pascal LISE

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