The Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine

Before The Spectacular Spider-Man comic launched in 1976, there was a brief period eight years prior, in 1968, where the title was first seen. Always looking for ways to publish new stories, Marvel Comics, produced the short lived The Spectacular Spider-Man magazine.

Both of the two, and only, issues featured stories surrounding Norman Osborn and his alter ego, the Green Goblin. However, continuity wise, these didn't fit into the timeline that was established in the ongoing titles, The Amazing Spider-Man and Marvel Team-Up. This would be rectified in 1973, when magazine number one's story was re-adapted, altered and featured in The Amazing Spider-Man issues 116 through 118 and magazine number two was reprinted and published in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual 9.

Another unique aspect of the magazine, number two to be exact, was that it included a fantastic Spider-Man origin, entitled, The Spider-Man Saga. It's literally a one-page summary featuring characters such as Uncle Ben, Aunt May and of course, Peter Parker / Spider-Man.

A third issue was actually planned for the magazine series which would have included the story, The Mystery of the TV Terror. However, it's possibly a good thing this issue never came to fruition, as the costume design for the villain was eventually reworked and utilized for the character, the Prowler, who first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man issue 78.

These two books were only recently added to my want list, but yet I really felt drawn to them that I wanted to get them relatively quickly. I don't know why. Perhaps it was the draw of the uniqueness of them, or  to quickly check off another complete series in my Spider-Man collection. While I will probably read them, it won't be until after I've read the above noted The Amazing Spider-Man issues, and then it will be more so to compare the differences.

Just because I like to be thorough, I'll go ahead and put up some "official" The Toy Box images, to appropriately catalog these books.

The Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine
Marvel Comics
1968

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