Todd McFarlane’s gorgeous work on Spider-Man was nothing less than groundbreaking. His intense version of the web-slinging wallcrawler took the character to new heights-instilling in the character a sense of energy and vitality rarely seen before. McFarlane took each character and made them his own-classic villains like the Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, Sandman, the Vulture, the Lizard, plus his classic interpretations of some of Marvel’s greatest heroes, the Incredible Hulk and Wolverine! And let’s not forget his alluring Mary Jane! McFarlane was also the co-creator of one of the most infamous new characters in years, the villainous Venom.
And while there are no complete stories presented in this book, there are many examples of McFarlane’s classic storytelling, filled with kinetic energy…and, oh, those WEBS!
- IDW Publishing, September 27, 2022
- ISBN: 978-1-68405-932-4
- 14” x 21”, 192 pages, hardcover
- $150 USD
- Order Online: Amazon, Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet
As with all AE format material (Artist’s Editions, Artifact Editions, Gallery Editions, Art Editions, Studio Editions, etc.), this is a collection of classic comic material and I’ll be reviewing the book and not the story. For a complete list of all current and announced editions, with review links, please visit our Index. Also, see What is an Artist’s Edition and our Artist Index. This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
For all the 1990s fans of Todd McFarlane’s run on Amazing Spider-Man and the relaunched Spider-Man. A large sampling of pages from both titles, along with a cover gallery and closing out with a one-page biography.
Scan quality is good. Some pages had some blur or softness. As well some word balloons have faded text or the lettering has bled into the paper. Inks show gradients and a lot of the earlier pages have faded inks. McFarlane loved to sign his name largely and to personalize pages. Some production margin notes, as well as title, issue and page information along the top. A lot of people thanked for their scans, with pages showing a variety of ageing.
The book is 14″ x 21″ because McFarlane went to a custom paper size for Spider-Man issues 1-9 and part of 14. So for about half the book, the art fills the page vertically with small side margins, with the rest having large white margins. Amazing Spider-Man and the other Spider-Man issues were done on standard modern art paper; some from Marvel and some from DC.
Great Spider-Man colours for the design, red and blue throughout, along with clear art enlargements. A table of contents for the main section and the cover gallery, but no page numbers in the book.
Another excellent production: heavy matte paper in a sewn binding. Guessing 150gsm. The book comes shrink-wrapped in a cardboard case that has a colour sticker with the book cover, UPC, and company logos.
This is IDW’s first Artist’s Edition without any full issues included, further cementing the death of the artifact edition line. Scott Williams and Rob Liefeld are shown as inkers on pages of issue 10 but not credited in the table of contents.
