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NEWS
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 The Look of the Spider
The Spider as The Spider!
This is what The Spider really looks like--as described in the
novels, starting with the sixth (The Citadel of Hell, March,
1934). In this adventure, Richard Wentworth disguises himself as a grotesque
street musician, Tito Caliepi, with a lanky fright wig, hooked nose, fangs
and a hunched back. This disguise sticks, and works wonders at frightening
lowlifes.
The Covers: The Spider as masked avenger
 The vampiric image of The Spider was thought too strong
for the cover of a pulp magazine (?!?!), so that characterization is only
seen in the interior illos., with the exception of a four issue stint in 1940. (And then
Popular Publications had two burly asian gentlemen escort Tito off. Shown
above). After that, it was again clear who was the hero (he's wearing
a simple mask, now), and who was the villain (he's got a meathook!).
Art by Raphael DeSoto.
 The Serials:
Wallopin' Web-Snappers!
The Spider made it to the big screen in two Columbia chapter-plays, The Spider's Web (1938) and The
Spider Returns (1940). Hollywood, then as now, ignored the sacred
source material and came up with their own costume. In this case, they improved
on the pulps by giving Wentworth a guise that capitalizes on an ultra-cool
name! Having seen these hard to find gems, I'd like to add that The Spider
has one of the nicest capes this side of the The Shadow's CGI cape in
the Alec Baldwin film. I think it's parachute material--it flows very dramatically.
 The Reprints c.1969:
The Spider as Doc Savage
This realistic, and wrinkled, depiction of a masked Spider is clearly
a nod to the Doc Savage covers done by James Bama. That even looks like
cover model Steve Holland behind the mask! In the wake of Bantam Books'
success reprinting the pulp adventures of Doc Savage, Berkley decided to
ressurrect a couple of other big pulp heroes: The Spider and G-8
and His Battle Aces. (The G-8 series sported three incredible Bama-esque
works by Jim Steranko before falling back on pulp cover reprints.) This is
from the nicest of the four Spider book covers.
Artist unknown. (Anyone...?)
 The Reprints c.1975:
The Spider as Mack Bolan
What the--??
Pocket Books tried to repackage The Spider as an Executioner-like men's-adventure
title. They modernized dated references in the text and took out all the
instances of "the" preceding the word "Spider"--so it's
just Spider. Get it? Like a code name, see? It's a travesty.
But hey, it's easier to get luscious babes like this one without the hunchback
and fangs.
Artwork by Robert Maguire.
(Yes, that is Steve Holland--again)
The Reprints c.1985:
The Spider as gentleman crimefighter
When Dimedia released three Spider stories and one
G-8 story, they weren't trying to be like any of the other adventure series,
they were merely reprinting pulp for pulp's-sake. Wisely, they
commissioned Ken Kelly and Kelly Freas (shown) to paint some bright, pulpy covers. So it's not the classic Spider--it's a decent portrait of Wentworth, scary and determined,
aged beyond his years. (This was my first exposure to the series.)
The Comics c.1990: The Spider as dark knight
 In two three-issue miniseries artist/writer Tim Truman
brought the Spider gloriously into the present--albeit an alternate present
that someone from the 1930s might have imagined for us. Truman keeps the
fangs and wig, and then tosses on a hooded cape -- typical Truman garb (see
his current series, DC's The Black Lamb). Nice pulp update. (Though in the
first story Nita seems based on the annoying version from 2nd serial. And Kirkpatrick-as-Cab
Calloway is completely arbitrary.
 The Comics c.1994:
The Spider as The Punisher
Luckily this revival of the character never made it past the cover and
two interior pin-ups of The Spider Presents: Quiver. This tepid comic,
and one or two others, tried to launch a modern Marvel-style comic book
universe for characters owned by Argosy (or pale take-offs thereof). There
is a cameo by The Spider, but he looks like the Masked Marvel when drawn
by veteran Gray Morrow. Art at right by Greg Luzniak and Bob Wiacek
 The Comics c.1998:
The Spider Comes Full Circle
The original, hunch-backed Spider finally sinks his fangs into comics when,
in July 1998, Insight Studios will publish Titanic Tales,
featuring the bloody return of The Spider! In the words of writer/artist Mark Wheatley:
"I wanted to make the statement, with 'Eat Flesh, Drink Blood, Break Heads!'
that THE SPIDER was a late '90s guy, in the 1930s! I want it to be just another great SPIDER story set in the 1933-1943
all-in-one year. Any changes will not be intentional."
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