This 1995 joint publication reprints the very first DC/Marvel crossover ever! In 1976, worlds literally collided as the Man of Steel and your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man fought against each other and then joined forces against the combined might of Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus!
You might also note that I did not refer to this book as having reprinted the first DC/Marvel collaboration. In 1975, DC and Marvel were approached by MGM Studios to craft a joint adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. Having great success with this venture, the two publishers finally decided it was time for their most famous characters to meet!
I wasn't born when this team-up occurred. But as a kid, I saw ads for it in back issues and I salivated over it. But for some reason or another, I never could find a copy of this. Then last year at a con, my search was finally complete as I found this banged up copy for only a buck!
Gerry Conway, a veteran at writing both Spider-Man and Superman, wrote the script. Ross Andru was on pencils and Dick Giordano did inks.
Carmine Infantino and Stan Lee were the editors on this. It was during this time, Infantino expressed frustration at not getting a chance to be DC's head editor due to the lengthy tenure of Julius Schwartz. Lee made all sorts of promises to Carmine and eventually poached the DC man when his contract came up later in the year. This is why Infantino worked on the Marvel Star Wars series in 1977-78. But Stan Lee was known to make promises that he never intended to keep and made Jim Shooter EIC instead in 1978.
Superman Vs. Spider-Man follows the tried but true (but not always the best) rules of first time ever crossovers. The first act has both Superman/Clark Kent and Spidey/Peter Parker acting independently of the other. And of course, the lives of both run socking parallel.
The second act has the real villains pulling off their master scheme. Some misunderstanding makes our heroes believe that the other is behind the attack. Epic battling ensues.
Then in our final act, our heroes discover that neither is a baddie. So Superman and Spider-Man team up to put the true foes behind bars. Then you get a hinted promise of a rematch/continued rivalry to conclude the yarn.
A couple of years after this book, the two heroes would met again. This time against Doctor Doom and the Parasite. I've actually read that one previously. A few years ago, I found a pocket paperback reprinting of that story.
While the story was chopped all to hell to fit a paperback's format limitations, I enjoyed that team-up just a little bit better. Maybe that's because with the two already knowing each other, Superman and Spidey don't spend half the book fighting each other. Plus there is a great twist as Kent goes to work by J. Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle and Parker becomes the new Daily Planet photographer.
A good read that doesn't disappoint but really doesn't do much on surprises either. An important milestone in comic book history on so many levels, any copy of this story is a must for collectors!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
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