The original Clone Saga, the start of Peter and Mary Jane's romance, and much more in this epic collection for the ages] Peter Parker's life has never been easy, but it's hard to take a turn for the worse after your dead girlfriend shows up on your doorstep. Oh, we challenged that infamous Parker luck, which means it does get worse. It means, Spidey, you've been cloned] The Amazing Spider-Man launches into the storyline that shocked the comics world. The scheming Jackal clones our hero and forces him to face one of his greatest personal tragedies. Then, Doc Ock returns and he's brought the ghost of Hammerhead with him. And those two aren't the only others back from the grave: the Kingpin is out to resurrect his son and he can, if Spider-Man dies] It's not all reanimation-a-go-go though, in this Epic Collection, Peter and Mary Jane's relationship blossoms and they even share their first kiss.
Gerry Conway wrote Daredevil, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and others. He was instrumental in Marvel's 1970s horror boom with work on Man-Thing, Tomb of Dracula and Werewolf by Night. His years on Amazing Spider-Man yielded such historic highlights as the groundbreaking death of Gwen Stacy and the debut of the Punisher. He also wrote DC's Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Legion of Super-Heroes. For TV, he has written and produced episodes of Diagnosis: Murder, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Huntress and Matlock.
After co-creating DC's Swamp Thing in 1972, Len Wein moved to Marvel for lengthy runs on some of the company's biggest titles -- Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk and Thor -- and helped bring the landmark Giant-Size X-Men #1 into the world, changing Marvel forever. Returning to DC as an editor, Wein oversaw an influx of British writing talent, highlighted by Alan Moore's historic Watchmen miniseries. Wein also has worked in television and animation, returning to his roots to develop a Swamp Thing screenplay. He has written comic-book adaptations of The Simpsons and Futurama.
In 1976, Ross Andru (1927-1993) made comic-book history by penciling the first large-scale intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, having spent years illustrating both characters in various titles. He also made Marvel history in Marvel Feature, drawing the Defenders' first appearance. At DC, he spent nine years collaborating with Bob Kanigher on Wonder Woman. With Marv Wolfman and Mike Esposito, he co-created Vigilante (Adrian Chase).
The career of the late Gil Kane began in comicdom's Golden Age. Following his role in ushering in the Silver Age of Comics via the re-creations of Green Lantern, the Atom and others, he became Marvel's star cover artist and the regular penciler on Amazing Spider-Man. Kane also helped develop Iron Fist, Morbius the Living Vampire and other Marvel mainstays. In 1971, he published the sword-and-sorcery/science-fiction hybrid Blackmark, often called the first American graphic novel. He was a multiple winner of the National Cartoonist Society Award; in 1997, he was inducted into both the Eisner Award Hall of Fame and the Harvey Award Jack Kirby Hall of Fame.
