IDW Publishing has finally given us a time frame for the release of the oversized hardcover collecting John Romita, Sr.‘s Amazing Spider-Man art in their Artist’s Edition line. And that time is in December.

There are very few artists out there whose work on a single run of a comic book title defines both the character and the artist. John Romita is one of the few, and his work on Spider-Man is simply one of the very few on that character that was able to bring life to the comics from his art. He and Steve Ditko are arguably the two best artists to grace the pages of the book.

So, any fan of art, Spider-Man, the landscape of New York City, and comics in general is going to want to pick up this absolutely gorgeous addition to the Artist’s Edition books from IDW. The book is scanned from the leftover original art that belonged to John Romita and showcases the penciled art in its original size. The hardcover is 144 pages of story pages and cover art and will be selling for $100. But if you want to get this book, you need to go to your local comic shop now and tell them that you want it, because if you don’t, you may never see this book available for purchase. A book like this is not going to have a large print run, and will based the majority of the copies off of pre-orders. So, do the right thing and reserve a copy for yourself.

And if you need any more convincing, just look at the cover and a sample page here below.

As previously reported, John Romita’s The Amazing Spider-Man: Artist’s Edition was scheduled for a 2012 release, and while December is certainly close to that year, they manage to get the collection together just in time for the holidays. So wife, mom and dad, add this to my Christmas list.

John Romita’s The Amazing Spider-Man joins a fine line of Artist’s Edition books alongside Walter Simonson’s Thor, Wally Wood’s EC Stories (coming in November), and Will Eisner’s The Spirit (slated for a 2012 release). Let’s just hope they can get their hands on some of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World art, because I’m dying to see an Artist’s Edition of those comics.