It seems that the AMAZING FANTASY #15 giveaway in the NY Post we wrote of yesterday is but one example of a huge project that will see weekly Spider-man comics given away in 122 newspaper until the end of the year. The Chicago Sun Times is one such paper:

The Sun-Times has snared Spider-Man.

Starting Sunday and continuing through December, Sun-Times readers will find reprints of the original Amazing Spider-Man comic book series inside their Sunday paper.

The first insert will be the debut book, “Amazing Fantasy” No. 15, which introduced Spider-Man in August of 1962, followed by the first issue in the “Amazing Spider-Man” series, originally published in March of 1963. After the initial insert, each issue will be split up, to appear in two parts on consecutive Sundays.

The Sun-Times is one of 122 newspapers nationwide that will reissue the series as part of a licensing agreement between Marvel Entertainment and News America Marketing.

The inserts also will run in six Sun-Times sister papers, in Aurora, Elgin, Joliet, Naperville, Waukegan and Gary.


Jinkies! This is part of a plot announced last November hatched between Marvel and a division of News Corp., Rupert Murdoch’s publishing arm (will there be comics on MySpace next?)

In our humble opinion, THIS, not CIVIL WAR #4 is probably the most earth shattering news of the day. Haven’t we been crying for years about getting comics in front of the general mass audience? AND HERE IT IS! FINALLY! We won! We did it! The air is nice here at the top of Everest. Now, you could argue that maybe these 40-year old comics are too old fashioned to capture the fancy of today’s hot rodders and hippie kids with their new fangled LPs and what not…but on the other hand, they are timeless classics that have been entertaining folks for those 40 years, and may actually be more palatable to the more mature newspaper reading audience. From what we’ve been able to gather, the kids already think comics are pretty darned cool.

The PR isn’t too clear on what comes after SPIDER-MAN #1 — will it be more Lee/Ditko? Will it jump ahead to other epics like Gwen Stacy, Venom, the Clone, and the Other? Will there be Comics Shop Locater info in the inserts? Will they come with Pez? Can we use them as bedding in the case of a terrorist attack? Are they collectible? We just don’t know. But this is the kind of mega-sized promotion that everyone has been asking for for years and years. Celebrate. With great circulation comes great responsibility.

1 COMMENT

  1. Great idea, but I hope this doesn’t remain just a nostalgia trip like the first installment. Otherwise it’ll be just as much of a wasted opportunity as giving away a reprint of the Punisher’s first appearance to everyone who went to the Punisher movie instead of a more recent one that more closely reflected the version in the film (like say the first issue by Ennis & Dillon).

  2. I prefer to take a wait-and-see attitude before declaring victory. And, I would be happier to see something like installments of The Watchmen, if we must have spandex, or better yet, Love & Rockets.

  3. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose… we, of course, had this sixty years ago with the old Spirit sections, but still, an interesting development!

  4. I just picked up a dozen Daily Press rags in Victorville, CA. What a trip to see Spidey up here in the high desert!