First Edition 'Spider-Man' Comic at Deering Library

EVANSTON, Ill. --- The first edition of "The Amazing Spider-Man" from March 1963 is part of Northwestern University's Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections.

It was the first Marvel comic issue completely devoted to the now legendary superhero and his alter ego, Peter Parker.

Created by writer and editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, Spider-Man had first been introduced as a character in the August 1962 issue of "Amazing Fantasy" (No. 15). Lee, who also is the co-creator of the X-Men, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four and many other Marvel characters, came to Northwestern in 1973 to dedicate the Library's comic book collection.

Spider-Man and his crime-fighting friends are part of the only collection initiated by Northwestern undergraduates, the Comic Book Collection. The collection, created in the 1970s when alumnus Juan Cole donated his collection of more than 1,000 comics, has books dating back to 1939.