What Older Spidey Comics Are You Reading Right Now?

[Jely4me]

Picked up some Spectacular and Web for the Tombstone/Joe Robertson story and a few more arcs for both books pre Clone bullshit. Whoever it was that said that ASM was just a showcase for McFarlane was spot on. I enjoyed the linkage, but I also like triangle Superman too, when Jurgens and Stern were running that ship..

[Venomsaurus]

Just wrapped up the Spidey 2099 Omnibus the other day. Overall a really great run that sadly doesn't get to wrap up all it's loose threads before the story is over. But finally getting to experience the entire original series was an absolute shockin' thrill.

Rick Leonardi really was the star of Spidey 2099 with some fantastic art all through his run. Easily the best artist on the series and everyone who followed was doing their best to keep up. Leonardi's style with Williamson's inks remidns me a lot of early 90's JRJR. Probably because Williamson was also inking his work around that time as well, if I recall correctly.

I mentioned this earlier, but Miguel's origin of being poisoned with an addictive drug and trying to get it out of his system with science kookiness is so very 90's, I loved it. It's also just a great way to firmly establish his own story and not connect it to Peter's too much outside of being inspired by him.

For me the absolute highlight was finally getting to read Spider-man Meets Spider-Man 2099, I've wanted to read that since I was a kid and never saw it in shops when looking for it. Finally reading it now it's definitely one of my favorite stories of the bunch.

Peter David is definitely one of my all time favorite Marvel writers and seeing him cut loose in a Marvel U he got to shape to his own ideas better was so great. I loved the heavy Judge Dredd influence throughout the series, and how David even calls himself out on it in Spidey meets Spidey 2099.

Definitely one of the best alternate Spideys of all time, and a must read for any fans of the character who never read his earlier days.

[Celgress]

Superior Spider-Man, Kraven's Last Hunt, Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut!, Secret Wars (OG trade), Saga of the Alien Costume (trade), and The Death of Harry Osborn (Spec #200 and proceeding other issues).

[exile001]

Definitely one of the best alternate Spideys of all time, and a must read for any fans of the character who never read his earlier days.

I've never read all of the original 2099 (I have read Spider-Man Meets Spider-Man 2099). It's always looked a bit too Late-80's/early-90's for me.

I really do need to give it a read one day, as I usually hear good things.

[Venomsaurus]

I've never read all of the original 2099 (I have read Spider-Man Meets Spider-Man 2099). It's always looked a bit too Late-80's/early-90's for me.

I really do need to give it a read one day, as I usually hear good things.

I'd say it's well worth your time. It does have plenty of 90's-isms. Like how everyone calls Spidey 2099 S-Man. Or how Vulture is reimagind as an extreme crazy cannibal. Some goofy stuff like that, but it doesn't detract much from the main story which is where the real core quality lies. One thing that helps make it feel a bit less dated is the over the type future they envision. It's very Mega-City One-esque right down to the police force having a Judge system like vibe, just working for Alchemax instead. I think the first 30 issues or so are the best of the bunch, with a shoutout to the Venom 2099 story later on also being pretty fantastic. If you're a fan of PAD, you'll definitely dig it. It's very cool getting to see him make his own new take on the Marvel U.

[MaydayStan]

I picked this up off Amazon for a good price.

[clonegeek]

I picked this up off Amazon for a good price.

That was an interesting story, they never did reveal what happened to the place MJ inheritied

[Venomsaurus]

Just wrapped up the Spidey Beyond Omnibus and man, that is such a definition of mixed bag. Some really good stuff, some really okay stuff, and a rather poor ending that kinda tanks the whole thing.

I think Beyond's biggest problem is a problem I've had with a lot of modern Marvel comics which is the artistic inconsistency. Some issues look amazing, while others look just all right and have stiffer artwork. Gleason probably shines the brightest among the artists. His Spider-man is just pitch perfect artistically. He's easily become one of my favorite modern comic artists.

My favorite moments in Beyond was probably the first half. Ben figuring out the hero thing. May and Doc Ock trying to help Peter. Lots of fun moments. The 2nd half is a bit more mixed. I liked the issue with Peter and MJ in the hospital by Saladin Ahmed. Though I was wondering how all these patients go missing without anyone noticing. Still, great hero moment for MJ and nice to focus on Peter during all this. I did like Felicia and Cap training him back to strength, that was fun.

I feel like there was some interesting bits from Beyond that never went anywhere. Like, I figured Peter's Spidey sense going berserk was going to tie into some catastrophe coming. But that never went anywhere.

Honestly the worst elements of Beyond are the things that set up the current run. Like how Ben just goes from good guy, to good guy with questionable morals, to just straight up super villaining it up in the final issue. There was some set up for the Chasm personality but it didn't quite work for a totally villainous turn.

I'd say Beyond is all right, but the ending just really sours everything. Especially now that we know who shows up at the end and where it goes. I still liked getting to read it overall. That MJ and Black Cat one-shot is phenomenal. And it's overall not a bad run, but it has it's flaws and makes it hard to recommend as a whole.