American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Spider-Mania: The last days of Steve Ditko on Amazing Spider-Man with Mighty Marvel Firsts
*Marvel: From the Good Doctor Collection, we present the final five issues of Amazing Spider-Man drawn by Steve Ditko. Many take the view that Ditko was peaking at the end of his run, and I certainly think that these five issues are among the best of his work. Kraven the Hunter, the Molten Man, Meteor Man (later Looter) in his debut and, significantly, the first appearance of Norman Osborn, whose prominence in the Marvel Universe has grown way beyond his Green Goblin alter ego.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#34 VG+ p £115 Sound copy with great colour, flat, tight and fresh. Minimal edge wear, no creases, supple off-white pages, firm staples. Would grade a lot higher if not for obtrusive book shop stamp over Kraven’s figure (see scan).
#35 FN- p £95 Strong colour, tight, firm staples and supple off-white pages. Small bits of edge wear and spine ticks marginally break colour, but a nice copy.
#36 VG p £55 1st Meteor Man. A bright copy with colour-breaking reading crease, excellent staples and nice white to off-white pages. Poor production finishing has meant that the bottom cover edge is a little jagged and the bottom right edge of first couple of pages are a little proud. This doesn’t spoil the appreciation of this copy.
#37 VG+ p £95 1st Norman Osborn. Decent copy with good colour, tight staples and supple off-white pages. There is some spine wear and minor corner blunting. A faint, flat crease across the bottom right corner is barely perceptible.
#38 FN- £130 Final Ditko issue. Flat with vibrant colour cover. Square corners, no marks. Supple white to off-whie pages and great, tight staples. Tiny amounts of edge wear. Would grade higher but for a neat, tiny tear in the spine between the staples.