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off-white pages; Foreign copy; from the Bildhauser Research Archives; 2nd highest graded!
Mexican Spider-Man & Gwen Stacy wedding issue; Green Goblin cvr & app; Jose Luis Duran cvr & art; Raul Martinez story; wedding cvr; contains alternate Spider-Man story-line in which Gwen Stacy remains alive (5/72)
During the Marvel Age of Comics, publisher Martin Goodwin licensed reprint rights to comic book stories across the globe. La Prensa published Marvel books translated into Spanish in Mexico; they were so incredibly popular that La Prensa began issuing El Sorprendente Hombre Arana on a bi-weekly basis. Since the American storylines were not keeping up with the demand for material in Mexico, the Editorial Director of La Prensa flew to NYC to petition Marvel to allow him to commission new Spider-Man stories from local Mexican talent to be inserted between the reprinted American stories, and was granted the rights. Jose Luis Gonzales Duran was the artist selected to draw these stories and all-new stories began with El Sorprendente Hombre Arana #123. At this time, newcomers Gerry Conway and John Romita decided to shake things up in the series in a major way and planned to have Spidey's arch-nemesis Green Goblin kill off Gwen Stacy.

The editor at La Prensa did not think the Latin American readers would be able to accept this, as Peter's blonde love interest was wildly popular in Mexico. She was also Duran's favorite character to draw, and often in a significantly more provocative manner than her American counterpart. While El Sorprendente Hombre Arana #128 was already released before this tragic event in comic lore, and the pair were never actually married, as the cover represented a dream sequence, this book represents a significant moment in comics book history as La Prensa persisted on with its own continuity in which Gwen remains alive throughout the publisher’s run, which ended in 1974 with issue #185.

A CGC 6.5 copy sold for $35,000 in November 2022! This is higher than any American Bronze Age comic has ever reached in such a grade.

This CBCS-graded comic has earned an impressive 8.5 with off-white pages. The comic is extremely clean and features nice corners, a solid spine, bright yellows, deep reds, and inky blacks. The cover by Jose Luis Duran pays tribute to Steve Ditko while showcasing Duran’s style as well. This comic comes from the Bildhauser Research Archives and presents a great opportunity for Spider-Man collectors who are looking for something outside of the ordinary AF #15s, ASM #1s, and other milestones of the run. We are looking forward to seeing where this book ends up at the end of bidding.

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