Even more than the new issues, I am always reading back issues of Spidey from different eras. Some issues have aged well, some haven’t. Some are still genuinely good, and some I just read again for nostalgia sake.

This week, I’ve been reading the original Man-Wolf saga from ASM #124-125 by Gerry Conway and Gil Kane. It’s goofy and dumb, but a lot of fun. Some real classic Bronze Age Spidey action and banter. I’m also rereading the Green Ninjas/Electro storyline from the post-clone saga era of Spidey in ASM #421-425 by Tom DeFalco and Steve Skroce. The concept of “green ninjas” has always been ridiculed, but the story actually isn’t that bad (although DeFalco seems to get his Asian cultures mixed up as these ninjas are from Korea). And the confrontation with Electro in ASM#425 is pretty cool. I’ve even softened on Steve Skroce, who I used to hate for replacing Mark Bagley. He’s still not my cup of tea, but his Spidey is very physically dynamic at least.

Speaking of polarizing artists, last week I read ‘Sometimes it Snows in April’, the Zeb Wells/ Chris Bachelo BND story from ASM #555-557. I’ve always had a hard time reading BND stories due to their association with OMD. I didn’t read much of BND when it came out, but have gone back to some of them over the years. This story is all right. I’m a sucker for stories that have Spidey fighting during bad weather like blizzards, and the Mayan death cult premise is original at least. I also think Bachelo is a decent fit for this arc and don’t dislike him like others do. But it’s nothing that great. I am trying to give this era more of a chance though, and it’s been a mixed bag. Really don’t care for Carlie, Lily, the undead and regressed Harry, Jackpot, Dexter Bennett, etc. But it did have ‘Unscheduled Stop’, which is a classic. Maybe I’ll reread that next.

What back issues are you guys reading lately or thinking of going back to soon?