Marvel Comics has unveiled acclaimed Spider-Man cover artist J. Scott Campbell's variant cover for Amazing Fantasy #1000, which arrives this August to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Spidey's very first appearance in 1962's Amazing Fantasy #15.
Campbell's Amazing Fantasy #1000 variant finds Spider-Man characteristically swinging through the city. Of course, this isn't the only anniversary cover the artist has drawn as of late, with Campbell also lending his talents to Thor #25 and Hulk #5. Like Spidey, both Thor and the Hulk celebrate their 60th anniversaries this year, with the two first appearing in 1962's Journey into Mystery #83 and The Incredible Hulk #1, respectively.
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"It's a thrill and an honor to create cover art celebrating the 60th anniversary of characters that have become so iconic and ingrained in our culture," Campbell said. "I really wanted to make images that would have a visual bridge from the pulpy 4 color origins of these monumental heroes to the modern day slick coloring and production we are now all familiar with."
Amazing Fantasy #1000 is set to hit comic shops on Wednesday, Aug 31. The anniversary issue features a main cover by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Alejandro Sánchez Rodríguez. It also boasts an all-star creative team including the likes of Neil Gaiman, Armando Iannucci, Dan Slott, Anthony Falcone, Ho Che Anderson, Rainbow Rowell, Jonathan Hickman, Jim Cheung, Michael Cho and more.
Cover-dated August 1962, Amazing Fantasy #15 first hit stands on June 5, 1962. The issue introduced readers to Spider-Man, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Amazing Fantasy #15 was co-written by Lee and Ditko, penciled and inked by Ditko, colored by Stan Goldberg and lettered by Artie Simek.
Marvel Comics originally launched the anthology series Amazing Adventures in 1961. After six issues, the title was replaced by Amazing Adult Fantasy. After eight issues of its own, Amazing Adult Fantasy was renamed as simply Amazing Fantasy for its 15th issue, which would prove to be its last for 33 years. Following Spider-Man's debut in Amazing Fantasy #15, the title was retired, with the character spinning off into his own solo series, The Amazing Spider-Man, which would become one of the House of Ideas' most enduring comics.
That said, Amazing Fantasy #1000 is only the latest instance of Marvel reviving the title. Over three decades after Amazing Fantasy #15 came out, Spider-Man starred in Amazing Fantasy #16-18 from 1995 to 1996. Marvel later relaunched Amazing Fantasy for a 20-issue run from 2004 to 2006. The publisher relaunched the title once more in 2021, this time for five issues.
Written by Neil Gaiman, Armando Iannucci, Dan Slott, Anthony Falcone, Ho Che Anderson, Rainbow Rowell and Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by Jim Cheung, Michael Cho and more, Amazing Fantasy #1000 goes on sale Aug. 31 from Marvel Comics.
Source: Marvel Comics