Spider-Man - El Hombre Arana

I should have guessed that since Power Records released a Spanish-language Superman record, they probably did the same for Spider-Man. And here it is!

I didn't know this beauty existed until I stumbled over it during a Google image search. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find the audio tracks, so for now just the sleeve art will have to do. Once I find the audio I will update this, because I really can't wait to hear it!

The Adventures of The Amazing Spider-Man and Friends!

Tracks:
Mark of the Man-Wolf
The Way It Began
...And A Pheonix Shall Arise
The Incredible Hulk At Bay

Power Records re-issued this Spider-Man LP, giving it a slightly new name, and managing to squeeze in a fourth audio adventure (why only three made it on the other version I can't imagine). Could it be possible this was sent back out after Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends debuted in 1981, with the hopes that slapping "...and Friends!" on it would move some copies? And check out the front cover blurb, where it says it features "Captain America and The Hawk." I think they mean The Falcon...

Regarding the back cover, it's interesting that of all the records they chose to plug, they picked Man-Thing, one of the least little kid-friendly records in the collection!

Spider-Man - The Abominable Showman

Track:
The Abominable Showman

Another Spidey 45", featuring signed cover art by Bill Gow. Art-wise, this is one of the better sleeves, with Spidey taking a real beating courtesy the Showman's giant robot!

Spider-Man: The Invasion of the Dragon Men

Track:
Invasion of the Dragon Men

Power Records issued a couple of their adventures in yet another format, a refitted book-and-record set that came with a 45 rpm record. I can't be sure just yet, but I believe they also used this cover when putting it out on cassette, which is why they changed "book and record" to "book and recording", which covers all bases.

The artwork looks like it was traced from Marvel comics/style guides--it's a little loose for the House of Ideas, but also tighter than the work of Bill Gow, who did the sleeves for a lot of Spider-Man 45" records.

Spidey Super Stories

Tracks:
Spidey Super Stories

I had absolutely no idea this thing existed until I saw it on sale on eBay a few weeks ago...a "new" Spider-Man Power Record, titled Spidey Super Stories!

Okay...so it's not a Power Record, exactly. I guess Peter Pan Records wanted to slightly differentiate these Spider-Man stories, culled from The Electric Company TV series, from the slightly harder-edged ones they had been producing via their Power label, so that familiar logo is nowhere to be found. Still, I was so jazzed to find this, since it was all new to me!

The narration is by, yes, the Morgan Freeman (who of course was Easy Reader on EC). The cast is different than the usual stable of actors you heard on the Power Records, so it's safe to assume Peter Pan just bought the contents lock, stock, and web-shooter and put it out. I love the constant references to the Electric Company within the stories themselves...nice marketing, fellas.

After listening to the tracks, I had a weird feeling of deja vu. I felt like I had heard these stories before, so...maybe I did have this record as a kid? I have zero memory of it, but it's possible the record got lost over the intervening decades, along with the memories. Either way, these are goofy, corny fun!

Spider-Man LP Original Art

When I first saw this beautiful piece of John Romita art, I assumed it had been created expressly for the Power Record The Amazing Spider-Man LP, seen above. But upon closer inspection, it's more likely that it was used for some other purpose (Romita being Marvel's go-to guy for iconic stock art shots of its characters) and then re-used for the LP. Although...

Now that I look at it again, I see that the Spidey logo looks like a recent addition to the paste-up, since it has not browned with age like the rest of the piece. So maybe that was added later, and then signed by Romita to make it more valuable on the original art market. Whatever its origins, it's a beautiful piece, perfect for the album sleeve, promising the buyer classic Spider-Man adventures!

Spider-Man - Bells of Doom

Track:
Bells of Doom

Another Spidey 45", featuring signed cover art by Bill Gow. Who is Bill Gow? Well, according to a commenter named Brian, he was an artist whose work "[A]ppeared mostly on the covers of Peter Pan and Kid Stuff Records in the 1970s." Mr. Gow, if you're out there, let us know, this blog would love to talk to you!

Spider-Man - The Mad Hatter of Manhattan

 

Track:
The Mad Hatter of Manhattan

Featuring some of the dodgiest sleeve art of any Power Record, "Mad Hatter of Manhattan" was a reissue from the The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. II LP, which featured this audio adventure plus four other tracks. The back cover's not so bad (it looks like a trace of a John Buscema Spider-Man to me), but man that front cover...hoo boy!

These sleeve scans courtesy Sean Keating and his Power Records Pinterest Page. Thanks Sean!

Back Issue! #44 - "Spider-Man Power Records"

I wrote a second article on the Power Records for TwoMorrows' Back Issue!, in this case #44, the all-Spider-Man issue, which you can read here via PDF.

If you're interested in purchasing this or any other issue of BI (and you should be), head over to the TwoMorrows site where every issue of the magazine is available in print and digital form!

Spider-Man - Conquistador

Track:
Conquistador

Even after years of scholarship on the subject, I had never seen this beautiful 45" sleeve until my POWER RECORDS PODCAST co-host, Chris Franklin, sent it to me in anticipation of our sixth episode, focusing on Spider-Man. It features Spidey as drawn by Neal Adams, which was pretty darn rare thing!

After a grabber of an opening, "Conquistador" turns out to be a pretty good Spider-Man adventure, even if it does spend too much time with weary, wise-cracking cops. Still, the Conquistator does make for a great and completely batty bad guy.

By the way--what is the name of this adventure? Is it just "Conquistador", as seen here, or "Return of the Conquistador" as on the Spider-Man Vol. II LP? Power Records always did play fast and loose with their titles.

Spider-Man - Invasion of the Dragon Men Cassette

Track:
Invasion of the Dragon Men

I really enjoy recording episodes of THE POWER RECORDS PODCAST, and a large reason why is due to my co-host, Chris Franklin (aka Earth-2 Chris). He grew up listening to the Power Records like I did, and he always has numerous fun observations about each audio adventure we profile on the show.

But sometimes he also drops some nerd knowledge on me--case in point, that Power Records released some of their productions on audio cassette! A few episodes back, Chris mentioned he owned "Invasion of the Dragon Men" on tape, which was a total shock to me! I had never seen any Power Record on tape, either in person or on eBay. A little while later, Chris found the tape (see above, oh-so-carefully labeled "Invasion of the Dragon MAN") and was kind enough to send a picture. Sockamagee!

This can't be the only Power Record released in this format, so now of course I'm dying to find others--most likely there's at least a Superman, Batman, and Hulk. The search continues, thanks Chris for being the blog's first Power Pal!

Spider-Man / Hulk 45s

Tracks:
The Hulk At Bay
Invasion of the Dragon Men
The Abominable Showman
Bells of Doom

As I've said repeatedly here, Power Records could re-purpose with the best of 'em. Audio tracks appeared on 45s, LPs, and any multitude of combinations thereof.

Here are four Marvel ones, all of which featuring stories we've talked about here before. Those bottom two look like art by John Romita or Ross Andru traced over by someone else(s).

Tomorrow: we lift the arm on Power Records, with a very unusual item! Be here!

The Amazing Spiderman Vol. II

Tracks:
Invasion of the Dragon Men
Return of the Conquistador
Mad Hatter of Manhattan
The Abominable Showman
The Bells of Doom

The ridiculously abbreviated stories on the back cover are a nice metaphor for this record, where Power Records crammed five Spidey stories onto one LP.

Some of the Spidey poses are clearly lifted from panels by John Romita and Gil Kane; the rest of the artwork is funky in the extreme.

The Amazing Spider-Man and Friends!

Tracks:

Mark of the Man-Wolf

The Way It Began

...And A Phoenix Shall Arise!

Power Records could repurpose stuff with the best of 'em, this record being a collection of three of their four Marvel superhero 45s.

This record came out in 1978, so by then the Hulk was popular enough to earn a solo record, but since that one didn't re-use The Hulk: At Bay!, you'd think they would've put it on here instead of Cap or the FF.

The Amazing Spider-Man LP

 
Tracks:

Invasion of the Dragon Men

Mark of the Man Wolf

I know this LP doesn't feature any audio tracks that haven't been posted before, but Power Records was an early master of the fine art of Repurposing--endlessly repackaging previously released material.
So, in my effort to make this blog as complete as possible, I'm posting this. Plus, the sleeve art--front and back--is just so nifty!

Spider-Man - Invasion of the Dragon Men

Track:
Invasion of the Dragon Men

Produced by Arthur Korb, even though it says Davidson and Saunders on the back cover.

As far as I can tell, this is an original story done for Power Records. Written by ?, the art is by Dick Giordano, Larry Hama, and Terry Austin. There are some Spidey poses here, though, that look like either Ditko or Marvel stock art at the very least, they look so familiar.

Oh, one last thing--even as a kid, I found the character of Jimmy to be so annoying that I wished the Dragon Men had eaten him, or at the very least fried him to a crisp. And this girl went off into the woods to neck with this loser? What's her deal?