The Kid Who Collected Spider-man?

[lalalei2001]

I've heard of this issue, but never knew what it was about. Can someone fill me in? And I don't care about spoilers. :)

[Core]

Well, if you read these spoilers, most of the impact of the book will be diminished. No review I could write of it would be as edifying as reading the issue for yourself.

That said...


The issue is AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #246, by Stern, Frenz and Austin, and it focuses on a little boy named Tim Harrison, who is ostensibly the biggest Spidey fan on the planet. Over the years, he's collected any Spidey-related paraphernalia he could get his hands on: newspaper articles, photographs of Spidey, file footage from TV appearances, even going so far as to, on one occasion, use a pocket knife to pry some bullets that Spidey had dodged out of a brick wall.

Late one night, Tim is visited by Spidey, and the pair spend hours going over Tim's collection of memorabilia. After many laughs, Spidey decides it's time to go, but before he leaves, Tim asks him if he'll share his secret identity with him. Peter is hesitant, but eventually does reveal himself as Peter Parker. They then agree to be "buddies to the end." Spidey swings out of Tim's room and lands on a wall bordering the building in which Tim lives. A placard on the wall describes the building as the "Slocum-Brewer Cancer Clinic," and a narrative box in the last panel tells readers that Timmy has leukemia and only has a few more weeks to live.

That's it, in a nutshell.

[Mister Mets]

I'd go so far as to say that this is the most accessible comic book ever. This is the one comic you could give to anyone and they'll like it.

And I really like some of the little moments...
Such as Tim having a scrapbook of Jonah's retractions.
Or Spider-Man getting choked up recalling Ben's death, and Timothy then trying to comfort him.

[1HELLBOY]

Yeah, this one was a real emotional book. Gets to ya right here.

[Evan Lanctot]

Be prepared for a lump in your throat at the end.

[Colossus]

It's probably my fondest memory of reading comics as a kid. I remember when Pete took his mask off, thinking to myself, "What in the hell are you doing.?!"

Powerful story.

[leg end]

Defo the greatest single issue of spider-man ever. I read it for the first time about 6 years ago and it is a tear jerker.

[Zeta]

If I remember correctly, it was also adapted fairly straightforwardly for the Spiderman FOX animated series - although the gender of the child was changed to a girl.

[Kirayoshi]

If I remember correctly, it was also adapted fairly straightforwardly for the Spiderman FOX animated series - although the gender of the child was changed to a girl.They also tossed in elements of that Spider-Man/Doc Ock story where Spider-Man had amnesia and was conned into thinking he was Ock's accomplice.

[Geardaddy]

I remember when I read that issue. It was probably 10 years ago now, I was just getting back into comics (specifically Spider-Man) and was reading stories by the droves... but it was this issue that, as I finished and closed the book, I knew I had read something special.

What's great is that that issue came out some 22 years ago, and people are still talking about it today.