1/6: The Face of Void – The Amazing Spider-Man!
Welcome to the 1st of six (6) in a series that looks into characters with masks who played a part in establishing the final “look” of Void. How could I start anywhere but with everyone’s favorite webslinger, The Amazing Spider-Man. I was in the 1st grade and struggling to read like most other 5-year olds when I went into the Moultrie, GA newsstand with my Mom one Saturday afternoon. She told me I could pick out a comic book, so I began looking over the brightly colored covers of Superman and Batman to make my choice. And then, I saw THIS one! My life changed forever!
My very first MARVEL comic, Amazing Spider-Man (ASM) #45. In 1995, I showed that copy I bought that day to Stan Lee & John Romita in Chicago. They signed it for me, the perfect highlight to my favorite comic of all time!
I was not sure who or what Spider-Man was, but the cover of this fantastic costume with a man clearly injured (arm in sling) fighting a human lizard sent my imagination into overdrive! Written by legendary writer Stan Lee and drawn by superb artist John Romita, I was not yet aware of how popular this comic and character already were. But 5-months later, when I saw this issue for sale (ASM #50), I was hopelessly addicted.
Amazing Spider-Man #50, by Lee & Romita. IMHO, this is the greatest comic cover of all time.
About 45-years and three hugely successful movies later, Spider-Man is an international icon. But his mask … possibly the FIRST masked character I saw with a mask that covered the ENTIRE FACE … really hooked me on that magical day in the mid-1960s. Thus it was Spider-Man who was first in line to inspire me to one day develop my own “man of mystery.”
"Hey, who's that hanging out with Bill?" Meeting Spidey himself at a dinner for Stan Lee in Chicago, 1995.
Next Week: “Sing along with me!”