Two decades before Spider-Man was conceived, another masked hero dressed in red & blue was shooting webs from his her wrists. The Spider Queen was introduced in 1941 as a backup feature for the second issue of The Eagle. She would go on to appear in issues three and four before the title was canceled. In 1962, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko would use her as the inspiration for Spider-Man: updating her costume, changing her web-shooting bracelets into “wrist-shooters”, and of course turning her into a man.

The Spider Queen was credited to Elsa Lesau in her first appearance and to Elsa Lisau in her later appearances. The author is otherwise unknown.

Spider Queen: Her Collected Tales republishes her original appearances together for the first time.

Spider Queen: Her Collected Tales was edited by Will Dick, a comic book collector in Toronto. If you have any feedback about the book, additional information about The Spider Queen or its author, original copies of The Spider Queen’s appearances that you’d like to sell (or brag about), or anything else to share, please email him.