The Amazing Spider-Man the Ultimate Guide - Hardcover

DeFalco, Tom; Manning, Matthew K.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1405319119 ISBN 13: 9781405319119

Publisher: DK Children, 2007

Synopsis

Everything you ever wanted to know about the world's most famous wall-crawler Enter Spider-Man's comic universe and find out all about Peter Parker and his amazing life. Discover his origins, superpowers and explore the most thrilling plotlines right back to the '60s. Come face-to-face with Spidey's friends and family and his most evil adversaries, from the Green Goblin to Venom. Fully updated and packed with over 600 web-dropping illustrations - from the original comics, to never-seen-before artworks and spreads. Once you start reading, you'll be caught in Spidey's web forever.

About this title

Review:

In Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide, DK present a huge, no-messin', glossy hardback history of our favourite friendly neighbourhood wall-crawler. Spanning the whole of the hyphenated hero's long 40 years in the public eye, Tom DeFalco spins a fascinating tale of Spidey's rise from humble origins, scraping a guest appearance in the cut-rate catch-all comic book Amazing Fantasy, to the blockbuster-inspiring cultural icon he's become today.

Marshalling his material admirably, DeFalco uses over 600 full-colour images to complement detailed sections on the various characters, villains and events and to illustrate the interesting chapters on the comics of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. He obviously has a passion for his subject, and manages to convey the appeal that has enabled Parker's wisecracking alter ego to endure over the years.

With its edifying introduction from Stan "The Man" Lee and its extremely in-depth explication of the web-slinging wonder's origins, the Marvel-endorsed Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide is bound to prove indispensable to hardcore Spidey-philes as well as to new disciples lured into the Spidey's web by all the Hollywood hoo-ha. And though the more serious fans may become disenchanted with the episodic structure, and the more casual reader may tire of the minute details (do we really need to know Peter Parker's wife's parents' university majors?), this book strikes a happy balance, being easily devoured from cover to cover or just dipped into using the gazetteer and index. Ultimately, this slab of spider-facts is a must for anyone with even the slightest interest in popular culture. You know it makes spider-sense. --Paul Eisinger

About the Author:

Matthew Manning has written numerous comics for a variety of publishers, including Marvel and DC. His work has appeared in the pages of The Batman Strikes!, Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century, Justice League Adventures, Spider-Man Unlimited, Looney Tunes, and Marvel Romance Redux. For DK, he has penned Wolverine: Inside the World of the Living Weapon, the updated versions of Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide and Hulk: The Incredible Guide, the children's reader Marvel Heroes: Greatest Battles, and contributed to Marvel Chronicle. Manning currently resides in Brooklyn with his wife Dorothy, and a collection of comics much too large for any normal-size apartment.

About this edition

• Publisher: DK Children
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1405319119
• ISBN 13: 9781405319119
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 184