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Author:
Title: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 45
Place Published:
Publisher:Marvel [Indicia: Non-Pareil Publishing Group]
Date Published: February, 1967
Description:

CGC certified: Fine+ (6.5). Off-white to white pages. Not cleaned and pressed. Cover: John Romita pencils and inks, Stan Goldberg colors. Story: Stan Lee and John Romita. Art: John Romita. Lettering: Sam Rosen. GPAnalysis: A 6.5 sold for $143 in 7/22.

John Romita worked for Atlas, Marvel's 1950s incarnation, in a variety of genres including horror, romance, sci-fi, war, and superhero (he drew Captain America's brief Red-baiting revival in 1953-54). After leaving Atlas, Romita drew romance rags for DC, 'til DC dumped him in the mid-1960s (one wonders if DC sent him a severance letter starting "Dear John"). After a brief stint as an ad man, he bounced back to Marvel, whose titles he was utterly unfamiliar with by then. The first time he laid eyes on Ditko's Spidey, he wasn't impressed – Ditko's troubled teen hero was worlds apart from the square-jawed cornballs that Romita associated with the superhero category.

"I never read one Spider-Man book or even knew it existed until Stan came in with a pile of them and said, 'How would you like to try Spider-Man?' The only thing I knew they were doing was Fantastic Four. When he showed me Spider-Man, I said, 'You know, this looks funny...' I apologized to Ditko years later. I was surprised to hear it was a good-selling book!" – John Romita interview. Roy Thomas and Jim Amash, John Romita... And All That Jazz! TwoMorrows: 2007, p. 44.

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