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Which was the first Spider-Man cover?
Patrick Ford
8 August 2016
Will Murray: "The rest is history. Or it was until Jack Kirby claimed
in an interview in Will Eisner's Spirit Magazine that he created
Spider-Man with Joe Simon, the original Marvel Comics editor and
long-time Kirby partner. Years later, Joe Simon penned a book called
The Comic Book Makers and told his side of the story."
Read the full article by Will Murray at the link.
https://web.archive.org/web/19990428163524/http://www.gemstonepub.com/cbm/features/amazing16.html
Tim Bateman: It occurs to me to wonder what Stan Lee thought 'epic' means.
Patrick Ford: The dialogue on the cover is identical to the dialogue
on the Kirby cover. It has made me wonder if perhaps the Kirby cover
came first, was set aside, and then used with Ditko changing the
costume in the inking stage. The "timid teenager" to "awesome might"
lines hint at the Kirby version where a magic ring transformed a timid
teen into an awesome and mighty Spider-Man.
Dave Rawlins: I think you may be onto something, Patrick.
Patrick Ford: Ditko could answer that question. It may also be that
there is a third cover. An unseen cover by Kirby showing the same
scene but with Spider-Man in whatever costume Kirby designed for him.
This is less of a theory and more of an "I wonder" but the dialogue
does suggest a transformation.
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