A few months after Spider-Man's introduction, publisher Goodman reviewed the sales

figures for that issue and was shocked to find it was one of the nascent Marvel's highest-
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selling comics. A solo ongoing series followed, beginning with The Amazing Spider-
Man #1 (cover-dated March 1963). The title eventually became Marvel's top-selling
[9]:211
series with the character swiftly becoming a cultural icon; a 1965 Esquire poll of
college campuses found that college students ranked Spider-Man and fellow Marvel hero
the Hulk alongside Bob Dylan and Che Guevara as their favorite revolutionary icons. One
interviewee selected Spider-Man because he was "beset by woes, money problems, and
[9]:223
the question of existence. In short, he is one of us." Following Ditko's departure after
issue #38 (July 1966), John Romita Sr. replaced him as penciller and would draw the
series for the next several years. In 1968, Romita would also draw the character's extra-
length stories in the comics magazine The Spectacular Spider-Man, a proto-graphic novel
designed to appeal to older readers. It only lasted for two issues, but it represented the
first Spider-Man spin-off publication, aside from the original series' summer Annuals that
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began in 1964.