Easy Reader Says: "This Blog Is Easy To Read"

In my frenzy to index every comic book I get my hands on for the GCD, I recently borrowed issues of Spidey Super Stories from Barry Pearl (whose Pearl's of Comic Book Wisdom Blog can be accessed in the favorites section). Spidey was a co-production of the Children's Television Workshop, known for Sesame Street. The Electric Company was geared to young children, teaching then reading and punctuation skills while entertaining them with skits, animation and music. Included in the cast were well-known performers such as Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno and - before he rose to stardom -  Morgan Freeman. In 1974 CTW added a segment featuring Spider-Man,  although their version never spoke. If I recall correctly they used word-baloons and captions in place of Spidey actually talking. The Electric Company was a popular show, running from 1971-1977. 

Back cover to Spidey Super Stories # 1, Oct 1974. Art by Win Mortimer and Mike Esposito, with some touch-up work by John Romita.

The Spidey Super Stories comic book debuted in the summer of 1974 to coincide with his appearances on the show, produced under the supervision of Children's Television Workshop. The early issues were written by Jean Thomas, drawn by Win Mortimer (Don Heck drew a story in issue 2) and inked by Mike Esposito. Artie Simek and Ray Holloway lettered most of the stories. John Romita drew all the early covers, which were simple, uncluttered and attactive, unlike many of the concurrent Amazing covers, which were often very busy and relied on an abundance of captions and word balloons. Romita's Spidey covers harkened back to his exceptional mid-1960s work, when Marvel relied more on strong images to sell a cover.

Spidey Super Stories # 6, March 1975. Cover by John Romita and Mike Esposito.

It was fun to look through these stories. They were, of course, prepared for a younger audience, but Win Mortimer, a long-time pro who drew everything from Superman and Batman to romance stories, had a style that complimented the material. The storytelling was clear and simple, and Mortimer's poses often showed the influence of Ditko and Romita, who he clearly looked to for reference.

Back cover to Spidey Super Stories # 14, Dec 1975,by Win Mortimer and Mike Esposito.

An example of Win Mortimer's storytelling skills. While his art was not flashy and did not fit into the "Marvel" mold, he was well-suited to realistic settings and people. Nevertheless, he did a fine job molding his skills on Spidey Super Stories. Inside back cover to issue 17, July 1976.     

Here is a link to view Mortimer's pencils, from the back cover of Spidey # 14:

  http://www.romitaman.com/Images/Category_2/subcat_1064/spideysuper250.jpg

Included in many issues were feature pages such as this one, based on a similar scene that appeared in Spider-Man Annual # 4. Most of the feature pages were redrawn versions of the Ditko pages which explained Spidey's powers, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man Annual # 1. From Spidey Super Stories # 2, Nov 1974. Jean Thomas script; Win Mortimer pencils; Mike Esposito inks, Artie Simek letters.

The format for Spidey Super Stories usually included three stories per issue, with one an adaptation of an Electric Company Spidey story. The comic was 36 pages long, had no ads and was priced at 35 cents. 

While there were no outside ads in Spidey Super Stories, the back page was often used to promote subscriptions. Here Spidey and Easy Reader do the honors. Art by John Romita; letters by Gaspar Saladino. 

John Romita rendered some attractive illustrations in these ads. Spidey Stamps were similar to Marvel Value Stamps, with many drawn by Romita. Back covers to  Spidey Super Stroies #'s 18 and 24. Lettering by Irv Watanabe.

The inside front covers and sometimes the interior feature pages were often used to provide background on the villains and guest-stars. Here, Lockjaw, a popular character in the "Spidey universe" is featured. Win Mortimer pencils; Mike Esposito inks; Ray Holloway letters. Script by either Ralph Macchio or Kolfax Mingo (which is very likely a pseudonym). Spidey Super Stories # 24, July 1977. 

  

In some respects the title was similar to Marvel Team-Up, since most issues had Spider-Man meeting a Marvel hero. Medusa, Iceman, Shanna, The Cat, Falcon, Storm and Captain America were introduced to the younger set, and issue # 16 included a team-up that never occurred in the Marvel Universe....

Spidey Super Stories # 16, April 1976. John Romita cover.

No this wasn't a cross-over with the famous Steven Speilberg film! Since Jaws was such an overwhelming box-office hit, comics took advantage and utilized sharks on covers to promote sales. The obvious guest was the undersea hero Sub-Mariner, although he was only referred to as Namor, perhaps because it was thought to be an easier name for kids to pronounce. The unexpected co-star turned out to that granddaddy of cowboys, Kid Colt Outlaw.

     

Spider-Man Meets Kid Colt, Jim Salicrup script; Win Mortimer pencils; Mike Esposito inks. Ray Holloway letters. 

In the "Spidey" universe Lockjaw can teleport through time. He takes Spidey and the Electric Company to the past to clear Kid Colt's name. Interestingly, four months prior Steve Englehart had the Avengers travel to the past for Marvel's first cross-over with their western heroes in a story illustrated by George Perez and Vince Colletta. In that tale the Avengers met Kid Colt, Rawhide Kid, Two-Gun Kid, Ringo Kid and the Ghost Rider (Avengers #'s 142-143; Dec 1975-Jan 1976). I always enjoyed the Marvel westerns and was thrilled when Englehart brought them into the lines continuity. While there were requests in the letters pages from time to time for a cross-over, editor Stan Lee kept the line separate. When Roy Thomas took over editorial he was more open to the idea. George Perez was an energetic and talented young artist recently assigned to the Avengers and while he did a fine job illustrating the story, in retrospect Don Heck (who had recently been replaced by Perez on The Avengers) would have been a more perfect fit, as his efforts in the genre were particularly inspired. It would also have been interesting to see his interpretation of the characters, since he rarely worked on the lead characters. But I digress...

I asked writer Jim Salicrup about this story, thinking perhaps he was influenced by Englehart's story, but he replied that using Kid Colt's appearance may have been requested by Children's Television Workshop. Salicrup thought that perhaps they noticed the Avengers story and figured it might be interesting to use Kid Colt.  Salicrup worked on Spidey Super Stories for some time, usually with Win Mortimer and Mike Esposito. He recalled that the folks at CTW were pleased with Mortimer's work and Salicrup noted that he was a gentleman. 

Other creators that worked on Spidey included Byron Preiss, Ralph Macchio, Nick Cuti, Bill Mantlo and Dave Kraft (scripts); Don Perlin and Riccardo Villamonte (pencils and inks, respectively);and Tony Mortellaro often assisting Mike Esposito on backgrounds. Later covers featured the work of Sal Buscema, Al Milgrom, Dave Cockrum and even Jack Kirby on a cover or two!

Even Thanos got into the act! Spidey Super Stories #  39, March 1979. Al Milgrom pencils ?; Sal Buscema inks ? Image from the Grand Comic Book Database.

Spidey Super Stories continued until # 57, March 1982, a solid eight year run. While researching I was surprised to learn that the Electric Company also produced its own magazine, which included 4-5 page Spidey stories in many issues, a few illustrated by John Romita as recorded here:  https://www.spiderfan.org/title/comics/electric_co_mag.html

Writers and artists on these stories included Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Steven Grant, Sal Buscema, Jim Mooney and Alan Kupperberg. The magazine ran longer than the comic, lasting into the late 1980s.   

 While rarely mentioned when discussing Marvel's 1970s line, Spidey Super Stories was an example of the growing influence the characters had outside of comics. Like the earlier 1967 animated series, Spidey took the strong foundation of the Lee, Ditko, Romita era characters and simplified them for a younger audience.     

The Impossible Man pops up in a back page ad from Spidey Super Stories # 25, Aug 1977. Art likely by Al Milgrom. 

With special thanks to Gentleman Jim Salicrup and Bashful Barry Pearl.