Staff Pick (August12): Gil Kane’s Amazing Spider-Man — Artist’s Edition HC

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Item Code:AUG120380
SRP: $95.00
PREVIEWS Page #169
In Shops: 11/21/2012

IDW’s series of Artist Edition books have been lauded by individuals with far more industry cred than myself, but nevertheless here I sit, composing yet another praise laden passage in an attempt to entice anyone who hasn’t gotten their mitts on one of these books to pick one up and take it for a spin. It’s immediately evident that these books are in a league of their own. Indeed, once you go Artist Edition, it’s hard to go back.

Fabulous formatting aside, this tome collects some of the greatest Spider-Man material ever published. The Night Gwen Stacey Died alone would be worth the price of admission, but the book also collects the landmark “drug” issue that circumvented the Comic’s Code Authority. Additionally, the six-arm Spider-Man transformation is one of the first tales of the webhead that I remember reading and I haven’t stopped since.

To be able to revisit these seminal stories in their full 11” x 17” glory not only makes me drool with anticipation as a comics fan, but their sheer size is enough to make any grown adult feel like a kid again! Make mine Artist Edition!

~ Tim Lenaghan