In December 1997, Marvel Comics decided it was time to cash-in on the ever-increasing anime and manga fad. And it just so happens Marvel had genuine manga versions of both Spider-Man and the X-Men just lying around. Of the two mangas released at the time, I greatly preferred X-Men, but with it being nothing more than an adaptation of the Saban animated series, there’s really little to write about. So instead, I’ll take a crack at the most
”interesting” of the two books, Ryoichi Ikegami’s Spider-Man.

First, a little history on the author. Ryoichi Ikegami is one of the more well-renowned manga artists, with his work spanning numerous decades. He is the man behind such popular manga and anime series as “Crying Freeman”, “Mai, the Psychic Girl”, “Heat”, “Sanctuary” and many others. Ikegami began writing and illustrating the Spider-Man manga in January of 1970 and continued on through September of 1971, with the manga originally being published in Monthly Shonen Magazine. Spider-Man is one of Ikegami’s earliest works, and as a result, doesn’t exactly reflect the peak of his talent.

To read the rest of my article, Click Here!