First Ever Exhibition of Original Spider-Man Artwork

Check out the first ever exhibition of original Spider-Man artwork by John Romita and other artists including Steve Ditko, Todd McFarlane, John Buscema, Ross Andru, Gil Kane, Ron Frenz, Keith Pollard, John Romita Jr. and others at the Society of Illustrators.

Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, fan reaction was promising where Lee decided to take a chance and published Spider-Man as a stand- alone comic. Unlike the fun, yet two dimensional super heroes of the 1930s and 40s, Lee scripted his new characters with flaws, insecurities, and nuanced personalities. These new style comics proved to be popular with fans, and readers as old as college age began to follow the exploits of these famed but flawed super heroes.

Ditko soon left Marvel where artist John Romita gave Spider-Man and his cast of characters his own warmer, friendlier, appealing and more elegant portrayal which would propel Spider-Man and his cast of characters and villains to worldwide fame and multi-media acceptance as ‘the’ super hero symbol of 60s’ pop culture.

This exhibition features art from throughout Romita’s initial Spider-Man run. Featured are (‘twice up’) pages from early in the run and their large size and clean presentation are a joy to behold. Significant pages are exhibited here for the first time, including Spider-Man’s battles with the Green Goblin, the Rhino, Doctor Octopus and many others. There are many pages featuring Romita’s beautiful presentation of Mary Jane Parker and Gwen Stacy, including the original early finished drawings. Also featured are the first two weeks of John Romita’s amazing Spider-Man strip run as well as several of his earliest larger Sunday strips.

You can also see select pages from Steve Ditko as well as from artists like Todd McFarlane who rebooted Spider-Man’s look in 1988 to much fan acclaim, and Ross Andru, John Buscema, Ron Frenz, Gil Kane, Keith Pollard, and John Romita Jr, who all contributed their considerable talents in illustrating this iconic character.

The exhibition also includes rare art from the original Spider-Man newspaper strip, advertising and other illustrative work. It is the largest, and most comprehensive exhibition of Spider-Man art ever seen anywhere in the world.

The art is on loan from the collection of Spider-Man and Romita expert Mike Burkey, and the show is arranged and curated by Comic Art Specialist Rob Pistella.

Society of Illustrators exhibit runs now through August 26th, 2017.

SI is located at 128 East 63rd Street between Lexington and Park Avenue in New York City.

Tues: 10am to 8pm
Wed to Fri: 10am to 5pm
Sat: 11am to 5pm

Admission is $15 for adults and kids under 10 are free! Admission is also free for all visitors on Tuesdays from 5pm-8pm.

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