"And He Strikes Like a Thunderball!" is the title to the first story featured in issue #248 of the first Amazing Spider-Man ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It was written by Roger Stern with artwork by John Romita, Jr. and inks by Brett Breeding. It was colored by Bob Sharen and lettered by Diana Albers. The second story is called "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man!", and was written by Roger Stern and illustrated by Ron Frenz with inks by Terry Austin. It was colored by Christie Scheele and lettered by Joe Rosen. Both stories were edited by Bob DeNatale. This issue shipped with a January, 1984 cover date and carries a cover price of .60 cents per copy.
The character of Spider-Man was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 in August, 1962 in a story titled "Spider-Man!" The character has since gone on to become one of the most well-known and enduring super-heroes of all time, having appeared in numerous comic book titles, as well as feature films, animated projects and video games.
This issue is part of "Assistant Editor's Month". Bob DeNatale takes over for Tom DeFalco for this issue. This was released during a point when DeFalco was transitioning off the title. Danny Fingeroth becomes the regular editor for the series with Amazing Spider-Man #249.
"The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man" was the topic focus of Season 5, Episode 3 of The Amazing Spider-Talk podcast on April 14th, 2021. Artist Ron Frenz was a special guest star on the podcast.
