{"id":26893,"date":"2022-11-04T09:00:40","date_gmt":"2022-11-04T09:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=26893"},"modified":"2022-11-03T15:38:07","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T15:38:07","slug":"spider-man-saga-of-the-sandman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2022\/11\/04\/spider-man-saga-of-the-sandman\/","title":{"rendered":"Spider-Man: Saga of The Sandman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Stan Lee<\/strong>, Roy Thomas<\/strong>, Tom DeFalco<\/strong>, Kurt Busiek<\/strong>, Steve Ditko<\/strong>, Jack Kirby<\/strong>, Herb<\/strong> Trimpe<\/strong>, Ross Andru<\/strong>, Ron Wilson<\/strong>, Patrick Olliffe<\/strong> & various (Marvel)
\nISBN: 978-0-7851-2497-9 (TPB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Spider-Man<\/em><\/strong> debuted in the summer of 1962 – Happy Anniversary, webslinger! – but didn\u2019t really take off until he won his own title in the early days of 1963 – so expect a whole bunch of Spidey-reviews here next year. A crucial factor in his success was the ever-expanding and iconic legion of super-foes Steve Ditko, Stan Lee and all their successors so sensibly highlighted over the years. many of them starring in archives like this one on the back of their movie appearances. Here\u2019s another to be going on with\u2026\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Heroes are only truly defined by their enemies and superheroes doubly so, with the added proviso that costumed crusaders generally have a rogue\u2019s gallery of fantastic foes rather than just one arch-nemesis. Even so, there\u2019s always one particular enemy who wears that mantle: Moriarty<\/em> for Sherlock Holmes<\/strong>; Blofeld<\/em> for James Bond<\/strong>; Luthor<\/em> for Superman<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Spider-Man<\/strong> has always had two top contenders\u2026 but Sandman <\/strong>isn\u2019t one of them. (*If you can\u2019t guess, check out the end of the review, puzzle-fans!)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This nifty compilation gathers a range of tales featuring gritty gangster William Baker<\/em> (AKA Flint Marko<\/em>): a cheap thug who remade himself into a major threat in numerous spectacular clashes with the wondrous wallcrawler and other Marvel Stars. This brief compilation traces his rather rocky development by a series of key moments: uncomplicated, no-frills thrill-rides each delivering frantic spills and chills, equally appetising to film-inspired new meat and grizzled old veterans of the Fights \u2018n\u2019 Tights arena.<\/p>\n

It all starts with Amazing Spider-Man<\/strong> #4, cover-dated September 1963, as Lee & Ditko resort to the ubiquitous atomic experiment maguffin to absurdly empower a commonplace, uneducated low grade career criminal, to counterbalance the preponderance of evil geniuses.<\/p>\n

\u2018Nothing Can Stop\u2026 the Sandman!\u2019 <\/em>was another instant classic as brutally violent, simplistic thug Marko gains the shapeshifting power to transform into all aspects of sand. Terrorising New York City, he evades and humiliates the cops before invading Peter Parker<\/em>\u2019s high school.<\/p>\n

Ruthless and deadly, he is challenged by the mysterious Spider-Man who must stop the monster at all costs. The epic clash proves that wits trump force every time\u2026<\/p>\n

Marko returned in issues #18-19 (November & December 1964), joining an already in-progress imbroglio by Lee & Ditko. In AS <\/strong>#17 (not included here) the wallcrawler endured renewed print assaults from the Daily Bugle and its rabid publisher J. Jonah Jameson<\/em> just as enigmatic archfoe Green Goblin<\/strong> began a war of nerves and attrition, employing the Enforcers<\/em>, Sandman and an army of thugs to publicly humiliate the Amazing Arachnid. To exacerbate matters Parker\u2019s beloved Aunt May<\/em>\u2019s health took a drastic downward turn\u2026<\/p>\n

Resuming here with \u2018The End of Spider-Man!\u2019 <\/em>and explosively concluding in the triumphal \u2018Spidey Strikes Back!\u2019 <\/em>– featuring a turbulent team-up with friendly rival Johnny Storm<\/em> – The<\/strong> Human Torch<\/strong> was another teen Sandman frequently fought – the extended tale proved fans were ready for every kind of narrative experiment and that overwhelming tension, drama and action were always welcome.<\/p>\n

As the sixties progressed Sandman teamed up with fellow Torch arch foes The Wizard<\/em> and Trapster <\/em>as the core of evil alliance The Frightful Four<\/em>: targeting the Fantastic Four with determination but little success. That war led to a revolutionary evolution in Fantastic Four <\/strong>#61 (April 1967, by Lee, Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott)\u2026<\/p>\n

Having just defeated cosmically-empowered Doctor Doom<\/strong> and returned to the Silver Surfer<\/strong> his purloined life-energies, the weary team entered their Baxter Building HQ and were ambushed by a new and improved foe in \u2018Where Stalks the Sandman?\u2019 <\/em>Having gone back to school for a crash course in chemistry, Marko had designed a gadget-and-mineral-enhanced costume to maximise his powers. Brashly overconfident, the villain almost defeated the FF before being driven off\u2026<\/p>\n

He became a roving solo villain: adding Ka-Zar<\/strong> and The Hulk<\/strong> to his hit list. The latter was a mistake that almost destroyed his powdery predations as a he was turned from sand to glass. That plot thread was resolved by Roy Thomas, Herb Trimpe & Sam Grainger in Incredible Hulk <\/strong>#138 (April 1971) as \u2018Sincerely, the Sandman!\u2019 <\/em>sees the vicious villain rid himself of his crystalline affliction by callously transferring it to Bruce Banner<\/em>\u2019s true love: turning Betty Ross<\/em> into a brittle, fragile thing of glass\u2026<\/p>\n

Having fallen too low, a touch of humanity was found in Sandman when he was the creep du jour in a bold new publishing venture\u2026<\/p>\n

In those long-lost days editors were acutely conscious of potential over-exposure; and since superheroes were actually in a decline they may well have been right. Marvel Team-Up<\/strong> was the second regular Spider-Man<\/strong> title (because abortive companion title Spectacular Spider-Man<\/strong> was created for the magazine market in 1968 but died after two issues). MTU<\/strong> launched at the end of 1971 and went from strength to strength, proving the time had finally come for expansion and a concentration on uncomplicated action over sub-plots\u2026<\/p>\n

Marvel Team-Up<\/strong> #1was crafted by Thomas, Ross Andru & Mike Esposito and saw a mutual old enemy of the wallcrawler and the Torch rear his gritty head in a charming seasonal spree: \u2018Have Yourself a Sandman Little Christmas!\u2019 <\/em>is a light-hearted romp full of Christmas cheer, rambunctious action and seasonal sentiment, as Marko repeatedly routs the young heroes in a desperate attempt to wish his mother – blithely unaware of his criminal career – the season\u2019s greetings\u2026<\/p>\n

It was back to bombastic bad guy bouts for a long time after that, but time and Tom DeFalco, Ron Wilson & Chic Stone eventually set the super-villain on a new path with April 1982\u2019s Marvel Two-in-One<\/strong> #86. Here, \u2018Time Runs Like Sand!\u2019 <\/em>presents an astoundingly low-key landmark as Ben and the sinister Sandman meet again. However, instead of another battle, they have a few bevies in a bar and talk about their remarkably similar past lives. Treating monsters like men seemingly turns the felon\u2019s life around\u2026<\/p>\n

Since then, The Sandman has vacillated between heroic mercenary, greedy criminal and outcast horror according to editorial whim, but this tome terminates with another visit to the early days of unthinking larceny\u2026<\/p>\n

Untold Tales of Spider-Man<\/strong> was a series designed to tell new stories chronologically set during the early Lee\/Ditko days of the character, and here Kurt Busiek, Patrick Oliffe, Al Vey & Pam Eklund see the webspinner \u2018Sand Blasted\u2019<\/em> (UTS-M<\/strong> #3, November 1995) as the malleable menace goes a robbing rampage even The Avengers<\/strong> cannot counter. Despite initially thrashing Spider-Man, Marko cannot stop or deter the bold, irrepressible kid and ultimately goes down big time\u2026<\/p>\n

Also included here are pertinent \u2018Spider\u2019s Web\u2019<\/em> letters pages, House ads, info pages from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe <\/strong>and the \u2018Cover Process\u2019<\/em> undertaken from Marks Brooks\u2019 pencil sketch to Jaime Mendoza\u2019s inks and Danimation\u2019s colour finishes.<\/p>\n

Epic and engaging, this grab-bag of gritty tussles is pure comic book catharsis: fast, furious fun and thrill-a-minute-melodrama no Fights \u2018n\u2019 Tights fan could resist.
\n\u00a9 2017 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

* Green Goblin<\/strong> Norman Osborn and Doctor Otto Octavius still share the dishonours of being Spider-Man\u2019s most dastardly nemeses. If you had trouble with that, you need to read more mainstream comics. If you\u2019re interested, I have a little list \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Tom DeFalco, Kurt Busiek, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Herb Trimpe, Ross Andru, Ron Wilson, Patrick Olliffe & various (Marvel) ISBN: 978-0-7851-2497-9 (TPB\/Digital edition) Spider-Man debuted in the summer of 1962 – Happy Anniversary, webslinger! – but didn\u2019t really take off until he won his own title in the early days … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Spider-Man: Saga of The Sandman”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[94,54,98,79,39,231],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-avengers","category-fantastic-four","category-hulk","category-marvel-superheroes","category-spider-man","category-the-thing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-6ZL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26893"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26896,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26893\/revisions\/26896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}