Spider-Oracle Petitions (02-Jun-2012)

 Posted: Jun 2012
 Staff: The Spider-Oracle (E-Mail)
From Mark

My father painted the cover for Spectacular Spiderman #1 in 1968. His name was Harry Rosenbaum. He is credited for the cover on the inside of the comic book. I checked your database and he is not included.

Can you please add him to your list?

Indeed, the legendary original Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #1.

  Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #1 (Story 1)
Story: “Lo, This Monster”
Summary: Spider-Man vs. Smasher & Raleigh (story is no longer part of official continuity).
Arc: Part 1 of 'Lo, This Monster' (1-2-3-4)

The reason he is not credited is that generally speaking, my acolytes do not record the name of the cover artist for most issues. They are instructed to record credits for Editors, Writers and Artists for internal material. However the documentation Cover Art, Colorists and Letterers is entirely optional according to current policy.

I have instructed one of them to record your father's name for that issue, as you request. Perhaps I will also discuss with my senior priests and examine the current policy.

From Ronna

Are there any issues that actually name Ryker's Island in print? All the ones I have come across are simply located there... in a prison... with no real mention of the name

Very much so.

In fact, the real world prison is called "Riker's Island". It was subtly renamed "Ryker's Island" for Marvel comics.

Admittedly, when the prison first appeared (in Amazing Spider-Man #4) it was simply referred to as "Island Prison". But it was subsequently named many times in comics, and held both regular and super-powered criminals. Most notably, The Punisher spent some pleasant time there.

Ryker's still exists in the Marvel Universe, but is generally used for non-enhanced bad guys. Super-heroes nowadays are more likely to be incarcerated at "The Vault" or on "The Raft".

From Michael

I was reading your review of ASM 655, and was interested in your section F.A.Q. : Has Spider-Man Killed? that was referenced. Now, I consider myself a somewhat seasoned fan. I've been collecting since 1996, but I had no idea Spider-Man killed so many people (even if a majority are accidental).

However, there was one on the list I did not notice, and I would not even had remembered if not for my random re-readings on older stories (plus it was to refresh my memory and to go "fact" digging).

The Queen, in Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #20. At the end of the issue, he is attempting to stop the bomb she has and pulls out some wires, which for some reason, makes her explode. I'm not sure if that makes it intentional or not, but hey, he did it. Of course, it's my bet she's the one funding/commanding The Jackal in Spider-Island, so maybe it's a retcon now.

So, let me see if I have this correct. Spider-Man was defusing a bomb that was about to destroy him. When he did so, the Queen apparently exploded for no obvious reason as an unexpected side effect. And she's not actually dead.

It certainly would appear to be a stretch to suggest that Spider-Man "killed" the Queen under these circumstances. However, perhaps it is worth nothing in our F.A.Q. Along with several disclaimers.

From inscool

When i was a kid , i have read one of spider comics , in which I remember there was a scene as follows :

A doctor ( bald and fat) and Peter Parker are in a place like a lab. The doctor has cloned Mary Jane and she comes out of a tube . Doctor holds her and helps her to get out. Peter does not accept MJ clone , even he feels guilty of her death.

Do you know the name or number of this episode?

A doctor, a clone... that doesn't narrow it down particularly far. Can you give us a hint as to roughly what year this would have been... or at least what decade!

Also, I strongly suspect that the woman was Gwen Stacy, not Mary Jane Watson. Gwen has been cloned, but Mary Jane has not.

The original story with the cloning of Gwen began with Amazing Spider-Man #144, all the way back in 1975. The tale has been revisited and enhanced several times since then. Without further information, it's hard to know if you remember the original comic, or the later ones.

continued...

Thanks for your answer. I am not from USA and in my country the spider man or other comic series are not published in the same page numbers and sizes. We have them as a book arround 100 pages and with a cartoon paper colorful printed and black and white 100 pages , in paper size of A5.

I remember that the year should be 1985 or arround but this will not help for finding the episode number. The man that i think he was a doctor is actually Kingpin. Even I was a child i clearly remember the scene but i relaized that the bald man is not wearing a "doctor apron" , he is Kingpin in his white jacket. He is fat and bald and evil , i was just not knowing his name.

I have downloaded all 650 spider man comics and i have extracted the pics inside them which makes 650 comics x 25 pages of each (comic+covers+adverts) almost 15.000 pics. I seeked all but i did not find the epidose. Probably i missed 1 page out of 15.000 when i was distructed.

Kingpin says to Peter " No man has ever see or touched this girl before" when she gets out of the clonning tube. There was a note in this page , saying " Even Peter feels guilty of her death he refused to take the clone".

I thought that she is Peter's love and can be MJ , but you might be right that she is Gwen.

I hope these new information help you to point me the correct episode name. I have already searched episode 144 and there is Gwen in this episode but no cloning.

Sorry, but the closest we can get is that Mary Jane was cloned by Miles Warren in the TV Cartoon Spider-Man: The Animated Series into a super-powered female version of Hydroman.

Also, the original clone of Spider-Man encountered the Kingpin in What If? (Vol. 1) #30.

The High Evolutionary created a clone with the appearance of Gwen Stacy in Spectacular Spider-Man Annual (Vol. 1) #8. He is bald like the Kingpin, but otherwise the resemblance is minimal.

But we can find no record that the Kingpin has ever cloned either Mary Jane or Gwen Stacy in the regular comics. I can only suggest that either the comic book differs from what you describe, or else perhaps you read an unofficial story which was never published by Marvel.

From FMC_20

Hi, I was wondering if you knew if and when the SpiderMan live action series from the late 70's early 80's is gonna be officially released on DVD? Thank you in advance for any and all help.

We do not believe there are any current plans in the works to release an official DVD compilation of the Spider-Man TV (1977) series. The only official releases available at this time are old VHS tapes.

However, there are several sites selling bootleg compilations on DVD. Naturally, these are unlicensed, and there is no guarantee of quality. The reproductions will almost certainly be low-grade or mid-grade captures from TV, or transfers from VHS.

A Google search for "spider-man live action dvd" should find you a couple of purchase options without too much problem. Prices appear to vary greatly, from $60 at the top end, down to less than $20.

Note that like yourself, the Oracle and the other staff at Spider-Fan always look to purchase officially licensed products whenever possible. We do not recommend bootleg products unless there is no alternative.

From MJenks

i recently bought all the back issues of ultiamte spiderman in graphic novel. they were amazing! some of the best reads. one little question though. why is peter dating gwen stacey after ultimatum with no reason why him and mj broke up? am i missing some issue somewhere or what? really confusing and its annoying me.

They first broke up in Ultimate Spider-Man #77, after MJ endangered herself by chasing after the Harry Osborn Hobgoblin. They got back together in Ultimate Spider-Man #104, after her kidnapping during the Ultimate Clone Saga forced Peter to confront his feelings for her.

They were still together at the beginning of the Ultimatum event, but when the story took up again in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, they weren't anymore - that was the event to which you refer. The breakup is implied; we readers never actually see it.

The pair reconciles in Ultimate Spider-Man #154 and, to this reader at least, it's heavily implied they initiate a sexual relationship, which they had shied away from previously (see the issues Ultimate Spider-Man #66-67, where he body-swaps with Wolverine, and later in Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #3).

And then, six issues later, he dies. Most of those six issues take place in a single day, so they don't have much time to enjoy an adult relationship. Such are the fates.

From Jowens14

I there any reason to read Untold Tales of Spider-Man? I'm going through the tedious task of reading EVERY Spider-man comic since the beginning the lies in the same universe (Amazing, Spectacular, Marvel-Teamup, Web of, etc.) Do the other core titles refer back to any of the stories represented in untold tales, or would you recommend just skipping this series?

Yes, according to Marvel the events of Untold Tales of Spider-Man are part of Spider-Man's official continuity, and the title creators went to great effort to ensure that this was possible.

Even better, at the back of the final issue Untold Tales of Spider-Man #25 there is a complete reading continuity guide showing how Untold Tales interweaves with the classic stories.

From Bill

I am looking for a special promotion Dallas Times-Herald newspaper insert created by Marvel for Sanger-Harris Department Store in Dallas, Texas around 1980. I was the Sanger-Harris advertising director at the time and collaborated with/financed the Times-Herald effort on the idea. Our resulting Spider-Man/Incredible Hulk promotion was a huge success. The Times-Herald no longer exists. During a recent reunion with old colleagues involved in the event the question came up as to whether we could obtain a copy of the comic book insert (8 pages, I think) that was produced.

There are two Sanger Harris promo comics, but only one of them was created in conjunction with the Dallas Times-Herald.

  Pipeline To Peril (Dallas Times Herald/Sanger Harris)
Review:  No Review Yet
Story: “Pipeline To Peril”
Publisher: Marvel Comics Group
Distributor: Dallas Times Herald
Sponsor: Sanger Harris

These are normally readily available on eBay. A low/mid grade copy sells for a few dollars, but you can often find high-grade copies for only twenty bucks or so.

continued...

Thanks. You are correct, the "Pipeline to Peril"/1981 with the store on the cover is the one I did. I moved on to a different company/job situation shortly thereafter; but it seems the store thought it was a strong idea so they copied me and continued.

But they associated it with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, which seems to be a stretch on demographic relevance. My effort was strictly a Back-to-School youth oriented focus. If you have a copy of the piece, check out the merchandise we featured/promoted in the insert.

By the way, I guess there is really no shame in copying a good idea, as the Ad Sales Manager from the Chicago Tribune 1980 version was subsequently the Ad Sales Director - and my rep - from the Dallas Times Herald who pitched the idea to me in 1981 for Sanger Harris Department Store!

 Posted: Jun 2012
 Staff: The Spider-Oracle (E-Mail)