© 2024 Created by CarlsComix
Spider-Man just celebrated his 55th anniversary! On August 5th, 1962 Amazing Fantasy #15 was published. If you somehow don’t know, Amazing Fantasy #15 was the first appearance of Spider-Man! The story was drawn and inked by Steve Ditko.
The cover we know was not the first. Steve Ditko drew a cover but Stan Lee told Jack Kirby to draw a new one. The cover that was published was inked by Steve Ditko but drawn by Jack Kirby.
This is Steve Ditko’s original cover:
This is Kirby’s cover that we all know:
Ditko’s cover looks cool, with Spider-Man carrying a bad guy above the ground. You see people on the ground below and even someone in an open window looking right at Spider-Man. They actually used this cover as a variant for Amazing Spider-Man #700.
Kirby’s cover is bolder and makes Spider-Man look stronger with more muscles. He also looks higher up in Kirby’s cover than in Ditko’s. There aren’t as many people in the picture, either.
One thing I noticed is that Kirby’s cover looks a lot like Action Comics #7. The cover of Action Comics #7 was drawn by Joe Shuster, one of the co-creators of Superman. Action Comics #7 is bold like Kirby’s cover, shows Superman carrying a bad guy in green on the left, just like Kirby’s cover and Superman looks really high up and there aren’t many people in it, just like in Kirby’s cover.
Action Comics #7 went on sale on October 25, 1938. In 1938, Kirby was working in newspaper comic strips. He started in 1936 at the Lincoln Newspaper Syndicate and worked there until 1939. At the same time, he worked at the studio of Will Eisner and Jerry Iger. So Jack Kirby was seriously working in comics when Action Comics #7 was released. He probably would have read it because Superman was new and superheroes were just getting started.
Could Kirby have gotten his inspiration for Amazing Fantasy #15 from Action Comics #7? My opinion is that he did. What do you think?
Ed Catto
August 14, 2017Thanks, Carl! You are becoming quite the comics history detective!
Carl
September 5, 2017Thanks Ed, I try really hard. That means a lot coming from you.
Jack
June 2, 2020Who drew that version of AF 15? It does not look like the original. The face?
Carl
June 3, 2020Jack Kirby drew it but it’s the more modern digital coloring. Maybe it’s the coloring that makes it look different for you.
David
October 30, 2020I like the Steve Ditko’s more. I don’t like the webs under Spider-Man’s arm pits.
Quinn
November 9, 2021What is AF 15?
David
October 30, 2020I like the Steve Ditko’s more. I don’t like the webs under Spider-Man’s armpits in the Jack Kirby’s.
Adam Spector
November 18, 2020More likely a reworking of Detective Comics #27 the first appearance of Batman.
Sal Oneiros
February 24, 2021The image shown of the “published” AMAZING FANTASY #15 is not the actual cover penciled by Kirby and inked by Ditko. It’s a copy by someone else. Compare it to another image of AMAZING FANTASY #15 and the difference is obvious.
Quinn
November 9, 2021I’m more of a Miraculous Ladybug fan not at all marvel
Matthew Celis
May 17, 2024The Kirby cover is pretty weak compared to Ditko’s. What a bizarre choice. Ditko all the way.
Timothy Crack
May 23, 2024The Kirby, like the Superman, is a swing by image. The Ditko, like the Batman, is a swing at you image – much more engaging and even more scary. I alway thought that Kirby worked in outer space while Ditko worked on inner space.