Barker 1 Courteney Barker Ms.

Bell English 4/Period 2 26 August 2013 Spiderman History of Comic Books: Not everybody likes comic books but they happen to be very popular around the world. Comic books are a source of entertainment, but how did comic books even begin in the first place? What is a comic book? Comic books are an amalgam of theoretical debates about sequence, narrative, image, text, genre, and art. Comic books originated in the United States in the late 1800s. The comic book was created to contain everyday language, slang, and idiom as well as color and sophisticated interplay between text and image. (McCloud) They are a source of entertainment. Comic books have had two major publishers since the 1960s; Marvel and Detective Comics, or DC. Marvel and Detective Comics, are two of the most famous comic book publishers in general. They publish comic books of all types. Most people think that comic books are only about superheroes. There are comic books about villans, cats, dogs, all sorts of subjects, but superheroes are the first to come to mind. The history of comic books is determined by periods. Comic fans started calling the ages based on the period of time. The oldest age is called Golden, it is based from 1938-1956. The second age is called Silver, from 1956-1971. The third age is Bronze and it is recorded from 1971-1980. Fourth is Iron, from 1980-1987. The most present day age is called Modern age, and it is calculated from 1987-present day. The cost of comic books have ranged, ones for all ages

Barker 2 are normally free and comics for adults are sold in pharmacy stores and such due to their taboo subjects. (Coville) History of Spiderman: Spiderman is a classic super hero. We are all found of him from his appearances in comic books. But do we ever wonder how Spiderman came across? Who created him? Well, Spiderman was created by a man named Stan Lee. Spiderman took his debut in 1962 as a crime fighter. His role was motivated by the murder of his Uncle Ben, his father figure growing up. Spiderman starts out as a young kid by the name of Peter Parker. Peter is a classic wimp; loves art, schoolwork, science, and to be creative. He himself could be named a comic book reader. He also has a tragic love for his friend Mary Jane who is way out of his league. He dreams that only some day she will love him back. One day he went to a science exhibit where he is bitten by a spider on his hand. The spider bite gives him radioactivity. Soon, he starts to experience strange powers. All of a sudden, he can climb walls, has extremely strong agility, and can sling webs from the palm of his hands. From there, the Spiderman comics begin. Spiderman wasnt created at first for profit, just as a fun little way to kill time. Martin Goodman didnt want to publish it, says Stan Lee. Then the not so popular comic series the Amazing Fantasy goes down a rough patch and almost cancelled off the market, until Stan Lee threw his Spiderman comic in the mix. Weeks later the charts went crazy and the Peter Parker story was a hit! The American Fantasy comic books start to sell again because of Spiderman. That is how Spiderman got his current spot in the Comic Book industry. Spiderman was at first seen in an all black costume from 1982-1988 until his true blue and red colors appeared. Now Spiderman is a world favorite and many childrens roll model. History of Stan Lee:

Barker 3 Stan Lee is the creator/writer for the Spiderman comic series. He was born on December 28th, 1922 by the name of Stanley Martin Lieber. He was born in New York City. Stan Lee went to a high school in the Bronx called Dewitt Clinton High School. (Wikipedia) He dreamed of writing and writing the Great American Novel. In 1939 he was an assistant at Timely Comics of Pulp Magazine, and went on to be an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, media, producer, television host, actor, and the former president and chairmen of Marvel Comics. He has published superhero films other than Spiderman, such as Fantastic Four, X-men, Iron Man, and Thor. He went on to receive awards by the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1995. (Wikipedia) Stan Lee has made an enormous impact in the comic book world and continues to make wonders happen. Summary of Comic Book: In my Spiderman comic book, a girl by the name of Gwen is obsessed with Spiderman. She wants to get to the bottom of his secret. Her father happens to be a police officer so when he is called to duty because Spiderman has been reported of doing justice, Gwen has to tag along. She interviews anyone and everyone she can trying to find any details she can on who Spiderman is. She looks to her ex boyfriend Peter Parker to help. Peter Parker is the real Spiderman so to keep his identity private, he does not tell her the truth. They go on interviewing cops, judges, people on the streets, anything that can talk really. During the night time spider man goes out to fight crime. He finds the bad guys, sneaks up on them by climbing walls, and shooting his webs everywhere. Soaring high threw they sky from building to building he jumps. He reaches the criminal from the behind and CRASH! They fall out the window, glass falling everywhere. Good thing Spidey has his web abilities to catch their fall. Or else they would be dead men.

Barker 4 Cops are on the call and report just in time to arrest the criminal and soon enough Spiderman has left the scene, still without leaving an inch of evidence to his identity. Comes the next morning when everyone is talking about Spidermans awesome save last night, Gwen is upset she missed the action. She finally gives up on looking for Spiderman and realizes he doesnt want to be known and she learns to accept that. When she breaks the news to her father and Peter, they are both relieved and the comic is over until the next issued story. Review of Comic Book:

I think that comic books are a unique way to tell a story and that it takes a certain type of person to read them and be interested. Comic books are not for everyone and you have to be a creative, artistic, braniac kind of person to understand and appreciate comic books. I did enjoy reading my edition of Spiderman due to the pictures. I thought the animations were very helpful to understanding the story and made it more interesting for me to read. I enjoyed how this comic book I chose was not a very action packed issue, but more laid back and for a teenage audience. The character Gwen wanted to investigate Spidermans identity and that was what I liked best about the comic book. I hope that with more readings and looking into comics I can learn to appreciate and serve an interest for the comic books in the future.