The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) Annual #1

 "THE SINISTER SIX"

Writer: Stan Lee/Penciller: Steve Ditko/Inker: Steve Ditko/Letterer: Sam Rosen/Editor: Stan Lee/Cover Art: Steve Ditko

Synopsis: Six of Spider-Man's most dangerous enemies team up to bring down the wall-crawler once and for all...

Review: I don't know if words can truly express just how truly wonderful the first ASM annual is, but as I set this blog up with the express purpose of waxing lyrical about Spider-Man comics, I'll attempt to do just that. The Sinister Six story remains one of my all-time favourites, featuring some of the best writing and artwork ever seen in Spider-Man. The concept of a bunch of villains teaming up was nothing new when this story came out in 1964, but the real reason for this story's success lies in everything else going on. Of course, the fact that Spider-Man has the best rogues' gallery in all of comics helps too.

Not only do we get six of the best Spidey villains ever, but we're also treated to cameo appearances by practically every major Marvel hero in existence at the time (save for the Hulk and Sgt. Fury). They're nothing more than glorified adverts for Marvel's other titles, but they're unintrusive and actually rather fun, giving the reader a greater sense of the wider Marvel Universe happening around the web-slinger. If nothing else, we get to see Ditko bring Doctor Strange to a Spider-Man story for the first time. As well as these fun guest appearances, we have the comedic stylings of J Jonah Jameson, in some of his funniest moments. Telling the Vulture that he doesn't want to see Betty harmed because "good secretaries are hard to find these days" is chucklesome enough, but his desperate pleas to a spider hanging on a thread outside his window - thinking the arachnid has some kind of message from Spider-Man - is downright hilarious. As if that wasn't enough, we also get Aunt May's obliviousness to the fact that she and Betty have been kidnapped by the bad guys; her constant praise and approval of Doc Ock's good manners is delightful; I've always loved her soft spot for Ock, and it all starts here.

But the real core of this story is Peter's lingering guilt over Uncle Ben's death, and his discomfort with his Spider-Man identity. These themes may only dominate the first half, but they're incredibly well implemented. This is the first time that the origin story has been recounted since the very brief recap at the start of ASM #1, and it feels appropriate that it's being referred to in such a monumental story as this. Peter still feels guilty about Uncle Ben's death, and this guilt causes him to temporarily lose his spider-powers (it's all psycho-somatic). The early scenes of the story, with Peter wandering aimlessly through the streets wondering where his life will go from here, or what the hell he's going to do with it, are some of the most down to earth and relatable moments in Spider-Man history; everyone has felt similarly lost and directionless at some point in their life - spider-powers or not - and Ditko perfectly captures Peter's malaise and confusion. And then, when he gets his powers back - or realises that he never lost them...

The power of his pose, and the triumphant quality of his words: "I'm still Spider-Man!" have never left me. That single panel lingers in my mind probably more so than any other piece of Spider-Man art, and never fails to give me hope for the future when my own life feels particularly dark. Bad times will not last. I haven't lost everything. I'm still Spider-Man.

Of course, when the action does arrive, Ditko pulls out all the stops, delivering the definitive depictions of every member of the Sinister Six, in a sextet of splash pages that I would kill to have good quality prints of and hang on my wall:

Every fight scene is beautifully drawn, with exciting, dynamic action, clean, fluid storytelling, and endless invention: Electro using Tony Stark's electric plant to charge himself like a dynamo, Kraven sicking two leopards on Spider-Man, Mysterio creating deadly robot duplicates of the X-Men, Sandman trapping Spider-Man in an airtight prison, Vulture forcing Spidey to fight without his web-shooters, and Doc Ock trying to end the web-head's career for good by battling him in a giant fishbowl.

The first Spider-Man annual is a triumph in every sense of the word, and remains the best annual that Marvel has ever produced. Gorgeous artwork throughout by the best of them all, and Stan's optimistic, emotion-fuelled dialogue rarely gets better than this. Their collaboration gives us a story that is dramatic, exciting, hilarious and moving all in one, a story that harks back to the beginning, whilst also reminding Peter - and us - that things are not always so bleak. Life is not just one horrible event after another. And, no matter how bad things seem, at the end of the day, you're still Spider-Man.

Rating: 5/5

But it doesn't end there! Oh no! Stan and Steve bring you even more content in the form of several pages worth of extras. Let's glance over them briefly, shall we?

First up is my personal favourite feature: "A Gallery of Spider-Man's Most Famous Foes". Essentially, it's a roll call of every supervillain that Spidey's faced so far, complete with a brief bit of backstory from Stan, and a gorgeous pin-up from Ditko. Lovely stuff. This feature is brought back in some of the subsequent annuals as well, and it's always a pleasure to see.

Next up is "The Secrets of Spider-Man!" This is where Stan and Steve tell you all you ever wanted to know about Spider-Man and his powers, but where afraid to ask. It goes into detail about his clinging ability, his balance, his agility, his strength, his webbing, and of course, his uncanny spider-sense. Lots of nice Ditko pieces here, especially the "living action demonstration," where Spidey performs one of his typically acrobatic jaunts across the rooftops for our pleasure.

After that, we have several pin-ups of Spider-Man's supporting cast. A lovely one of Jameson and Betty at the Bugle office - love the JJJ monogram on the floor - and a really nice one of Peter at Midtown High with his classmates. We also get a more in-depth look inside the Parker home with a nice cross-section. Last but not least, we have a pin-up of Spidey fighting both the Fantastic Four and the Hulk, for reasons unexplained. It's a great pin-up nevertheless.

And, perhaps most famously of all, we finish with: "How Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Create Spider-Man!" This is a fun little three page comic explaining how the Spider-Man comics are created, in a tongue in cheek way, of course. Stan and Steve argue constantly, and each thinks the other is a pain in the neck. This couldn't be possibly be true, surely? My one gripe with this feature is that it's another example of Stan short-changing Steve and not giving him the credit he deserved; he gives the impression that he himself develops all the ideas, writes a script, and just gets Steve to draw it, when the reality is far from that. For those unaware, Steve was instrumental in creating not just Spider-Man, but also his supporting cast and villains. He also developed a great deal of the plots as well (we'll revisit this in a later post), working under the Marvel Method (this means that Stan would give Steve a vague outline, sometimes as little as a sentence, and Steve would craft the story by himself, leaving Stan to write some dialogue in afterward). In my opinion, Steve was the real driving force behind Spider-Man in these early years, and that's only going to become more apparent as we move forward.

Thus ends the first Spider-Man annual. As said, it is still the best annual that Marvel has ever produced, packed full with content, and it's clear that a great deal of time, effort and passion went into making it.

Next time, it's back to our regularly scheduled programme with ASM #16! The circus is in town, and so is the Ringmaster! In order to stop him, Spidey will need a little help from a friend...