Spider-Man Newspaper Strip To Be Reprinted By Clover Press

It looks like the Spider-Man newspaper comic strip, shepherded by Stan Lee himself for nearly fifty years, will soon be available in print again. This is another Kickstarter, but it’s one we were slow on picking up, and it’s technically already ended its campaign. However, it looks like they are still accepting late pledges, and it all appears to be still open, so…go ahead. After Stan Lee left The Amazing Spider-Man comic book to other people, he started up his own version in the form of a comic strip, with longtime collaborator John Romita providing the art. The story starts back at the beginning and goes off in…pretty much the same direction, albeit in a bit more streamlined form. The strip has been printed in books before, but no one’s managed to commit to the entirety of it. Perhaps Clover can make that happen through the power of crowdfunding. Four books are offered in this first campaign (more are planned) and they each cover one year, from 1977 to 1980. You can get them all in one package, with vertical slipcovers for each volume, for a $110 pledge. And it’s not just the books that are for sale…you can grab […]
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I think there’s a real chance Clover Press is rushing this because in a few decades, Spider-Man is going to start falling into the public domain. His first appearance was in Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962), so under current U.S. copyright law, that issue is expected to enter the public domain on January 1, 2058.

By republishing these old strips now and packaging them nicely for collectors, they might be trying to squeeze as much money out of these early stories before they lose exclusivity. It’s possible this is a last-ditch effort to monetize properties that will soon be open for anyone to reuse.

I used to read the Spider-Man newspaper strip every morning before school. It had a different tone from the comic books — slower and simpler, but that was the charm. You could follow it daily without getting lost. Seeing Clover Press take on the project makes me hopeful that new readers will discover it. I already backed some of their previous restorations, and they really respect the original material. If they include commentary or behind-the-scenes notes about Stan Lee and John Romita’s process, that would make it even better.

It feels strange that such a long-running series with Stan Lee’s name on it was so inaccessible. I like that they’re finally giving it proper attention. The $110 pledge is a bit steep, but considering the amount of restoration work and how niche this is, I think it’s fair. I might wait for a general retail release though, if it happens.

For me, these newspaper strips are like comfort food. They remind me of how comics used to be: short, daily stories that didn’t need to be complicated. I think it’s great Clover Press is treating it like an archival project rather than just another reprint. I hope they preserve the original colors and linework instead of modernizing it too much.

I never read the newspaper version before, only the regular Marvel issues, so this will be something new for me. I’m curious how much the storytelling differs since Stan Lee had full control. The daily strip format must have forced him to be very concise, and that probably made for tight writing. I plan to get the first volume digitally if they ever release it that way.