Many of my early memories seem to involve my older brother and sister getting to go places while I was stuck at home. I'm one of the biggest Tim Burton fans you'll ever meet, yet I was denied being allowed to see Batman. My dad went and took my brother instead.
But my introduction to one of the great artistic loves of my life (and yes I consider Spider-man to be art, deal with it) came about when the fair came to town. I don't know what show it was. I have no idea. I just distinctly remember something coming to town, setting up tents and there being all kinds of lights, rides, stalls and one of those big metal ball cages where the motorbikes ride around and around.
So although I wasn't allowed to go, I'm pretty sure I came along to pick up my brother and sister. They must have gotten a show bag or something. Do you guys have showbags overseas? Here at such things, we have these little plastic bags filled with all kinds of crap. I call em showboats because The Royal Show has em. Now I can;t be certain, but I'm pretty sure I was given something from one of these bags in order to settle me down. Or maybe because I wasn't allowed to go. I have no idea. I just remember the bright lights, the motorbike cage and then being at home and seeing Spider-man for the first time. On something. I don't know what. Not sure if it was a comic.
The image has stuck with me ever since, however. The costume stood out. It was cold and colourful. But it went over his entire body. He seemed mysterious and slightly creepy, sticking to the wall with that big red spider on his back standing out against the blue. But the part of the design that sold me for the rest of my life were the eyes. Those fantastic eyes on that amazing design just stuck with me. They're slightly creepy too, kind of frightening. Yet it was clear that this was a Superhero. He was obviously a good guy, and yet he was a spider.
Spiders, to me, meant going to the outhouse at 2am when I needed to pee and being terrified one was going to emerge. It meant creepy crawly wriggly legs, dark places and strange webs, sometimes sticky and sometimes fluffy. The idea of a man who took on these properties was alluring. I never read or really saw anything else to do with Spiderman for many years. But it didn't matter because the seed had been planted. I was already hypnotised by this strange character who I barely understood.
Fast forward to Ninteen Ninety Two. I must have been Eight. For some reason I had two comic books. I think I saw them in the shop and begged for them. Honestly I'm guessing here. I don't really remember how or why they got into my possession, only that they did and the next stage of my obsession was planted. These were the two issues that changed my life forever:
Only they didn't look like that on the front cover. Marvel Comics reprinted the original run of "Amazing Spider-man," comics with different covers. On the back page they showed what the original covers looked like. I can't remember what the covers I actually had appeared to be, for some reason it didn;t stay with me, But the cover for Issue 100 in particular burned into my brain.
My fondest memory of this comic was when I actually took the time to sit down and read it. I was pretty young and not the best at reading. I certainly never really read any books. Well, not true I did read a few. Bit probably less than most people at that age who go on to read a lot. I remember getting a torch and after being put to bed, hiding under my covers with the torch, reading these two issues of The Amazing Spider-man. I know this sounds like some kind of cheesy cliche from a TV series, but god damn it I really did this. And that was the first time I forced myself to read a comic properly, reading all the words and trying to understand them. I think I struggled a bit, but thanks to the amazing artwork I was able to piece together what was happening. And what a story!
The end of issue 100 has an amazing climax where Peter Parker grows four extra arms, while trying to cure himself of his powers. And in issue 101, he not only has to somehow hide this from everyone normal, but he also faces Morbius, a killer vampire character!
It wasn't until the next year that I finally became what I'd call a Spider-man nerd, but that;s another story for another time. I just wanted to share these two memories. They've really stuck with me. Seeing that amazing design and being haunted by it, back in Kalgoorlie. And me, under the covers, reading those two comics and being amazed by the incredible world that was opening up in front of me. I think back on these two things and I can't help but smile. They make me happy.
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