PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #1 FACSIMILE EDITION...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS and relevant owners

More proof, if any were needed, that I continue to buy things I've already got (in some form or other) and which I don't really need; namely, the Facsimile Edition of Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #1.  I've already got the True Believers presentation, and perhaps another couple of reprints of the tale elsewhere, but this latest incarnation contains the original ads and text pages which perfectly capture the mood of the period.

Take the ad for Maurice Horn's Encyclopaedia Of Comics (at the foot of this post) for example.  I bought this book (and still have it) from Debenhams in Southsea in 1981.  It cost a mere fiver, surely the bargain of the century (any century as Marvel would say), and despite printing a picture of Jor-El to accompany an entry about Hawkman, is an excellent book.  Large and thick, some people would say it complements me perfectly, though I'll ignore them (and myself for repeating it) and say it's a very worthy addition to anyone's personal library.

Just looking at that ad, I'm back in Debenhams (now closed) in Southsea once again, which is exactly how I feel whenever I look at the book itself.  Hell, it's worth buying the comic for that ad alone, even though I've got original issues from the '70s that carry the same ad.  So I've been on a journey 41 years into the past, self-indulgent of me as it is, but time travel always gives me a thrill.

Anyway, the main point of this post is to alert you to this facsimile of PPTSSM #1 and urge you to buy a copy if you haven't already.  Job done.  However, should you now decide you want the book as well, then I've done you a double-favour, so give eBay a try.

Posted in: Cartoons