Peter Porker: The Spectacular Spider-Ham- The Complete Collection, Vol. 2

Yesterday, I reviewed volume 1. With that reflection, I argued that both Marvel and Amazon had rated the book incorrectly. Marvel put a Teen label on the back cover. Amazon said the first book was appropriate for preschool readers. I stated that since the original publishing imprint, Star Comics, was geared for readers aged 6-10, that both ratings weren't correct. 

Volume 2 collects all of the Spider-Ham stories that appeared in the back pages of Marvel Tales, a primarily Spider-Man reprint series that ran from 1964-1994. The Spider-Ham stories periodically ran from 1987 through 1991. That level of lunacy and silliness are still present in these later tales. Unlike the Star Comics stories, these shorts are a bit more grown-up.

Peter Porker's relationship with Mary Jane Waterbuffalo was a main focus in many of the Marvel Tales stories. When Mary Jane gets mad at her beau, Spider-Ham starts a love triangle with the cat burglar, Black Catfish. Plus, an old flame makes a couple of appearances in Peter's life, causing strife with Mary Jane. The female characters are dressed very scantily and drawn in sultry positions. And there's innuendo galore! Definitely not the sort of stuff preschoolers need to be reading.

The Spider-Ham shorts only account for about half of this book. The other half is comprised of an assortment of stories from the past 30 years. All of Spider-Ham's appearances in the pages of the Marvel humor book What The--?! along with a novella set during the third Secret Wars add to the wacky history of the character. Then Peter Porker suffers an identity crisis and later celebrates his 25th anniversary with family and friends. Readers then get a glimpse at Spider-Ham's future with daughter Swiney-Girl as well as meet ancestor Piguel O'Malley who swings through the streets of New York City as Spider-Ham 2099 before things wrap up with a metaphysical discourse on reboots between Spider-Ham and Howard the Duck!

Amazon rates this book as being for readers 9 and up. I have to side with Marvel on this one and put things at Teen. Everything in this book is much more mature than the material in Volume 1. No nudity or curse words or anything like that. It's more about the edginess of the jokes, vampiness of the female characters and more PG-13 level violence that parents and guardians might need to pay attention to. 

This is a volume that would result in having to collect almost 2 dozen assorted Marvel Tales issues and these books are part of a complete run. Spider-Ham would have to wait several issues to resolve his cliffhangers due to the length of the Spider-Man reprints contained. As for the specials and What The--?! stories, I've read some of them before. But it's been a long time. Definitely worth owning even if you got a few of these works if just for the ability to shave some time off of your search for everything. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Peter Porker: The Spectacular Spider-Ham- The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 (Family Comic Friday)

I gave up. Instead of trying to buy the complete 17 issue run of Marvel's Star Comics imprint devoted to the funny animals of the Marble Universe, I gave it and purchased this massive collection. 

I was missing about a dozen issues of Spectacular Spider-Ham and each one was running about $5-7 per issue. In fact, there was 1 issue that I couldn't find selling for less than $125. So I gave in and bought this book for less than $30, used. (It also helped that I had Amazon gift cards.)

Resting in May Porker's basement is a tiny spider named Peter. While working on an atomic hairdryer, May receives a large dose of radiation. This turns her temporarily rabid and May bites Peter as a result! 

The bite turns Peter the Spider into Peter Porker, a bi-pedaled swine with an eye for photography. While working as the main photographer for the Daily Beagle, Peter Porker makes a living selling photos of himself as the Spectacular Spider-Ham. These antics as a costumed hero brings Spider-Ham face-to-face with a myriad of super villains including Duktor Doom, The King-Pig and the mysterious Bee-Yonder. 

Don't feel too bad for Spider-Ham. Helping him out against these villains are allies such as Captain Americat, Nick Furry, Agent of SHEEP and heroic psychiatrist Doc Clamson. When the heroes of the Marble Universe aren't able to give Spider-Ham a hand, our friendly Neighborhood Spider-Ham can rely on his non-super-powered friends like girlfriend Mary Jane Water-Buffalo and the junior newspaper reporters of the Daily Beagle!

The stories are extremely fun. They can also be funny. However, this is a work of parody and some of the gags just don't cut the mustard. But the creativity of co-creator Tom DeFalco (Archie Christmas Spectacular 2022) and assists by writers such as Fred Hembeck and Mike Carlin (Star Trek) are unmatched. 

The artwork is all quite good. But the work of Steve Mellor and brother Mike in the debut story is perhaps the most striking. There's a hint of art deco to the first issue that was originally published as Marvel Tails. Everyone looks like they are drawn with italics. In fact, Captain Americat looks like he's walking on a ramp throughout the whole thing! But I love it!

I've shared works starring Spider-Ham in several Family Comic Friday postings before. But the reason I share this book in particular is mainly because of the rating Marvel gave this work and it's dead wrong. Marvel has this book rated for readers aged teen (and higher). Yet, with exception of that first story, which was released as a Marvel title, issues #1-17 of Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham were originally released as part of Star Comics, an imprint for readers aged 10 and under! 

Unless Star Comics readers in 1984-1989 were much more mature than the Gen Z readers of today, I don't see a reason this book should have been rated for Teens. In fact, Amazon grades this book as suitable for those in preschool and higher. Now, I think that's a bit young as there are some decent sized words in these books and the scripts are a tad wordy. But at least that recommended age range is closer to whom these comics were originally geared towards.

Over 400 pages with tons of inside jokes and Easter eggs. This is definitely a work that the parents and grandparents who grew up with Spider-Ham will enjoy perusing with the young readers in their lives!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

True Believers: Marvel Tails Starring Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham #1 (Family Comic Friday)

After a brief vacation, Family Comic Friday has returned and we brought with us a classic kids comic book from the 80s that you can buy a copy of for just a dollar! Welcome back to print the adventures of Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-ham!

True Believers: Marvel Tails Starring Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #1
Writer: Tom Defalco, Steve Mellor
Artist: Steve Mellor, Mark Armstrong
Publisher: Marvel Comics
SRP: $1.00

Way back in 1983, writer Tom Defalco along with G.I. Joe's Larry Hama and Mark Armstrong showed the world what would happen if Spider-Man was made of bacon!

Though his origin doesn't appear in this comic book, let's dive into how Spider-Ham came to be    In a world not quite similar to our own, Earth-1183 to be exact, a friendly little spider named Peter was bitten by a radioactive pig. As a result, Peter mutated into a swine but still maintained his arachnid abilities.

Adopting the last name of Porker, Peter became a photographer for the Daily Beagle. But now inspired by the superheroes that he photographs on a daily basis, Peter also wears a blue and red suit, masquerading as the Spectacular Spider-Ham.

With the recent release of Into The Spiderverse and next week's debut of Far From Home, Marvel is upping its distribution of anything Spiderverse related. Thus fans young and old can relive the very first appearance of Spider-Ham in this True Believers edition reprint for the price of one portrait of George Washington!

In this issue, Peter is sent to photograph a disturbance at a brand new video game arcade. Someone is sabotaging the games and when the mysterious villain causes game developer Dr. Bruce Bunny to become irradiated by his new gamma Ray game, Earth-1183 will become the new home of the Incredible Hulk Bunny!

I may have my issues with Marvel Comics. But when it comes to re-releasing classic all-ages material for the next generation of comic book fans, I can fault no wrongs! I only wish that this book was released as a facsimile edition. I really think that young readers and their parents would get a kick out of seeing all the old ads for Return of the Jedi, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and games for the Atari video game system.

I love Spider-Ham. It was one of a handful of titles that I subscribed to monthly as a child. Back then, when you subscribed to a book it came to you in the mail. The owner of your favorite LCS didn't hold it for you like they do today. I looked forward to a monthly trip to the mailbox to see what new parodies were dreamed up. From Ducktor Doom to Deerdevil, each issue was a creative delight to read.

If the young readers in your life become huge fans of Spider-Ham and want to read more, then rush back to your comic book store and pick up Peter Porker The Spectacular Spider-Ham Complete Collection Vol 1 TPB. This book collects the entire 17 issue run of Spider-Ham. This issue is also reprinted. But with a nearly $40 cover price for the collected edition, it makes sense to test the Spider-Ham waters with this more affordable release first.

True Believers: Marvel Tails is being re-released as all-ages. This actually surprises me. When the book was first published, Peter's boss, J. Jonah Jackal is depicted smoking a cigar. Also, some of the villains Spider-Ham first encounter are drawn smoking cigarettes and stealing cigarette lighters. There's been a huge effort to eliminate smoking from old cartoons. Since I re-read my 1983 back issue, I'm not sure if the reprints have edited the smoking parts or not. So if smoking is a taboo thing for your younglings to encounter, discretion is advised.

True Believers: Marvel Tails Starring Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham #1 and Peter Porker The Spectacular Spider-Ham Complete Collection Vol 1 TPB debuted in print and digital formats on June 26, 2019.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.