It’s deja vu all over again – The Amazing Spider-Man All Giveaway

When I bought this comic several weeks ago I went in with the full knowledge that it was stuffed with reprints (Spidey’s origin, a summary of his powers, how his webspinners work, etc.), all from the able hands of Stan Lee, John Romita, and Steve Ditko. Fine. Whatever. But it’s a 1979 Spider-Man comic from a detergent company, so why not add it to the Blog into Mystery archives?

It was only after I got it home that I did a double take of the cover. I had thought that it was just a reprint of Ditko’s cover to The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2 — I saw the poses, the headshot, the yellow background and even the black band a third of the way down and just assumed that that was what it was. I guess my eyes just passed right over it without really taking a closer look. Since you’re probably more observant than me you’ve realized that it’s actually a tribute to that earlier image. Here’s the Ditko original:

I’m not sure of the artist on the tribute. Romita perhaps. Whoever drew it, it looks like he has Spider-Man humping his own right eye. Just an observation.

A few thoughts about the All comic itself… I’m a little uncertain as to the mechanics of procuring this book back in the day. The cover says that it’s free with any purchase of Concentrated All, yet the comic has a price of 40 cents. Could you buy this? Were they handed out at cash registers when your All went across the checkout counter? Did you have to mail in for it? Or maybe a mysterious man in a dark suit and dark sunglasses showed up at your house, weeks after the detergent had been purchased and long after you had forgotten about the whole damned thing, handed you the comic and said “Don’t ask questions, just take it.”

I don’t know what the answer is, and I’m too lazy to sift through Google to find any answers.

I’m a little sad that this comic doesn’t have a themed story inside, like the Child Abuse and Minorities in Engineering giveaways that I’ve highlighted in the past. This means that we’re not treated to Spidey combating foes like grass stains and grape juice spills this time around. Oh well. At least there’s some Spidey-themed merchandise from All advertised on back cover:

I’d take the markers. Rockin’.