The best I remember, I received my first Spider-Man comic in my Easter Basket when I was around 8 years old. It was a reprint of “The Amazing Spider-Man” #4 (“Marvel Tales Starring Spider-Man” #141 according to the Internets). I went on to read (and re-read) these “reruns” of the original Spider-Man series for years, and of course got a hold of any other Spider-Man comics I could. There were other back issues and current issues to read, including several different monthly titles such as “Peter Parker: the Spectacular Spider-Man,” “The Web of Spider-Man,” and so on.
But I feel very lucky that it all started with these reprints of the originals. I mean, for one thing, I was still a few years away from being born when the originals were being produced and released. For another, I’m pretty sure my mom–out shopping for Easter basket goodies for me and my siblings–just stopped by the comics with the idea of getting “a comic book for Ben.”
She likely knew that Spidey was a good choice. I was probably already watching Spidey on the Electric Company. (I told my mom I wanted a Spider-Man costume like the one on the Electric Company. She said I should write them a letter asking for one. I think I actually did. But I assume the answer was no, as I never received said costume.) I might have already been watching the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends cartoon on Saturdays. But did she know that she was introducing me to the original stories from the 60’s?
I don’t know. But I’m glad this was where I started. Because these were the comics by artist and co-creator Steve Ditko, and as I might have said before, Ditko’s Spider-Man is sort of the Primal Original Spider-Man to me. The images from his run on Spider-Man are very much embedded in my mind:
“Ahh, my leg! Is it supposed to do that?”
Look at that! I mean, look at it! That’s not just Spider-Man, as in a guy who wears a spider-themed suit and goes by the name Spider-Man. That is a spider-man, a spider-like person. Humanoid, but evoking–no, oozing spider-ness in the lean and oddly flexible turn of his limbs, the splay of his fingers…
There is just such a “Ditko-ness” that I cannot really describe. You can see more Ditko Spidey in a couple of image galleries such as this one and this one at the Chasing Amazing blog. (And I highly recommend you Google Steve Ditko and just check him out as an artist and a person in general. Very interesting fella, and truly foundational in more comics and comic characters than you might imagine.)
There have been many updates and reboots and new takes and so on regarding Spidey’s look. I’ve liked most of them, not liked more than a few. I would even say that there are many “cooler” takes on Spidey than Ditko’s. Still, the Ditko Spider-Man was my *first* Spider-Man, and that look is firmly rooted in my mind.
The Test Costume (that has possibly gotten a little out of hand considering the original intent)
I started out this test costume with a couple of aims in mind. I wanted it to be much like the original costume Peter made in terms of components: mask, gloves, boots, shirt, leggings. I also set out to sort of explore just how hard it would be to basically hand-craft a costume the way he was depicted as doing. Not in the same way that Civil War reenactment types set out to create their uniforms using only the materials and tools available to them in the Civil War era. I was just kind of looking at it in the spirit of things.
I suppose I have stuck to the spirit of the idea in a lot of ways. I started with the basic material–spandex–and sewed it together in the form of the specified pieces. And I will be screen printing the design on that material, adding lenses and soles. But I definitely wonder how much more difficult this would have been in the pre-Internet age…
Anyway, I will save a full evaluation of the process for when it’s actually done. My point now is that considering the inspiration for the method of crafting the test costume came largely from those early Ditko comics, it only seems fitting to base the final design of the test costume on the Ditko version of Spider-Man.
The Design and Beginnings of a Plan
Since I have spent way too much time thinking about this, I have decided that there are 6 basic components to a particular Spider-Man costume “style:”
1) Web pattern: style and layout
2) Eyes: shape and style
3) Chest emblem: style and size
4) Back emblem: style and size
5) Color: how bright the red and blue are
6) Balance and lines of the red and blue/black areas of the costume
And to sketch out the Ditko aspects of that list in basic form:
So, fine for a general concept, but now I need to break that down into a specific, final pattern, and divide it into 8.5 x 11 “puzzle” pieces that I can screen print individually in such a way that they all fit together. And I need to do it using no more than 7 of those pieces, to save spending even more on supplies. Should be interesting…
Up Next: More Plan Details AND “Are we going to talk about that underarm webbing?”
Spider-Man Mashup Cosplay Costume: 
