What Spider-Man Comics have you been reading lately!? Version 3.0

[ermac]

Reading Life in the Mad Dog Ward again.

This story is just fun.

That arc is insanely good. It was the first story after Kraven's Last Hunt, so it got totally overshadowed. But it's truly a hidden gem.

[Daveismyhero]

Thanks for the insight, Rev and Snoop!

[TheCape]

So today I read Gerry Conway's Amazing Spider-Man: Spiral at the local library. It was printed as "16.1, 17.1, 18.1, 19.1, 20.1" (similar to Hunted) and it's a great miniseries and incredible use of the Spidey underworld. Parts of it seem to have directly inspired the PS4 game especially the DLC story with the gang wars and so on. It really reads and feels great, and some really nice dialogue and captions from him. Also Conway's Spider-Man feels like a real competent and capable Spider-Man.

The second series in Slott's later years -- Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Zdarsky's Spectacular, and Conway's Spiral -- was miles and leagues better than the main book.

Yeah, i was surprised for how much i enjoyed Spiral when it came out, mostly because i was tired of Slott run so having a more classic Spider-Man was refreshing. Is nothing especial but is fun, although i did scracth my head with the spiral allegory, it just sounded weird.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Yeah, i was surprised for how much i enjoyed Spiral when it came out, mostly because i was tired of Slott run so having a more classic Spider-Man was refreshing. Is nothing especial but is fun, although i did scracth my head with the spiral allegory, it just sounded weird.

Conway discussed Spiral here on this podcast:

He talked about how when he was asked to pitch something, he thought of doing something street level since he felt that was neglected. He also felt that the need for event comics and big storylines comes in the way of developing and maintaining an ongoing. He pointed out that something like Superior Spider-Man would have had an aftermath that lasted a year, but then immediately Slott had to go with Spider-Verse, and in the case of Spiral he's doing a character in street-level returning from a multiverse.

Conway also talks about his love for Spencer's Superior Foes there. Which also looked at street-level crime.

[xpyred]

Just finished reading Mark Millar's Marvel Knights Spider-Man run. It's a fun read. My only issue with the story, and a few other stories from that time period, is continuity.

Did Norman Osborn escape prison (at the beginning of the first issue) after his arrest in Pulse 05? If not, then which arrest of Osborn is canon? Same goes for how Spider-Man got the organic webbing around that time. Jenkins wrote the story of the Spider-Queen (i forgot her name) and then the other titles went with The Other. stupid nitpicking...I know. But Marvel Knights 1 through 12 was great.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

So in preparation of reading Blake Bell's book on Steve Ditko ''Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko'', I re-read chunks of Ditko's run on ASM and also his run on Doctor Strange in entirety (which I never did before, and gotta say, the Strange stuff is his masterpiece).

I found a lot of interesting stuff. I actually found what I think is the smoking gun about Ditko intending Norman being the Goblin all this time.

I re-read ASM #26-27, The Crime-Master Two-Parter. This storyline features Norman Osborn's first spoken words in #26 where he, unnamed and unidentified, asks Jonah about Foswell, and in #27 points out the Globe got pictures of the entire incident rather than the Bugle (because Jonah had stiffed Peter enough that he went to a rival paper). Now the last page of ASM #27 includes a silhouette of the Man behind the mask, and today I looked at the shadow of that silhouette and found it familiar. Take a look-see.

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That silhouette of the shadow has the same curly hairstyle that Osborn does. If you outline the lines around Osborn's face as you can in this earlier panel and compare it, then it's totally him. Ditko visually planted the evidence right under everyone's noses the whole time.

[PCN24454]

I think you’re reaching a bit.

[JTait]

I've recently been re-reading quite a lot of 90's Spider-Man (mostly ASM) on Marvel Unlimited, trying to fill in some of the gaps in my reading. Over the last few days I've got to the beginning of the Clone Saga, and I've got to say there is some pretty good stuff in there!

Obviously this is tempered by the fact that I know where it is all going, but looking at it as objectively as possible, it's easy to see why it was such a phenomenon at the time. There was clearly a lot to be excited for - Buscema, Bagley, Lyle and Butler were a pretty solid quartet of artists, and while I think DeMatteis' style was pretty overbearing by the time he took over ASM, I really like the more nuanced characterisation that he gave to some of Spidey's villains like Doc Ock. I always thought of the de-aged iteration of the Vulture as very limp and lacking ideas, but after reading 'Back from the Edge' for the first time I actually really liked his bloodthirsty and genuinely quite unhinged portrayal in this story.

As I said, a lot of the excitement around the various subplots and mysteries is spoiled by the fact that I know how disappointingly (or not at all) a lot of them were resolved, but that doesn't change the fact that there is a definite sense of 'things happening', after a few years of stagnation for all the Spider-titles (aside from Spectacular which I can always remember being a pretty good read).

None of the stories that I have read - Power and Responsibility, the Exile Returns, Back from the Edge, and the beginnings of Web of Life/Dead - are classics at all, but so far they are making for a much more enjoyable and cohesive read than I was expecting. I'm curious to see how long this lasts for before the arc morphs into the overstuffed mess that we all know and love!

[JTait]

Just read Venomverse in its entirety, and against my better judgement I quite enjoyed it. It was incredibly silly, but Cullen Benn deserves a lot of credit for making such a thin premise into
an enjoyable story. The character work is non existent, but the action sequences were mostly terrific - aided by Iban Coello's smooth and dynamic artwork. I also enjoyed Carnage's appearance.

Now, on to Venom Inc!

[Twinlock51]

Reading New Ways To Live TPB. Enjoying seeing both Peter and MJ’s separate lives. Black Cat returned and I think that was my favourite story featuring the Chameleon.

[PCN24454]

Man, I love Kurt Busiek.

Reading Amazing Fantasy #16.

It's always nice seeing early early Spider-Man. Early Spider-Man never intended to be a superhero. That much is constant, but it's interesting to see his just how he fell into the role.

Also reading Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil.

It's kinda funny to see people in-universe assess events that readers have firsthand knowledge in. This is probably the moment where Ben Urich really figures out who Spider-Man is.

And finally Spider-Man: With Great Power...

Out of all of the AUs, this is the one that I want a continuation in the most, and the reason why will become obvious when you finish the miniseries.

[comicscollector]

My most recent readings of Spider-Man comics in collected editions have been :
Marvel Knights:Spider-Man Vol.1#1 to 6 by Mark Millar and Terry Dodson and Frank Cho.This is a re-reading.
Spider-Man:Torment.A re-reading of Spider-Man#1 to 5 from Todd McFarlane.
And i got another Hardcover edition that have Spider-Man#6 to 12 also by Tod McFarlane.Had never read Spider-Man#8 to 12 actually.Only the first two stories with the Ghost Rider.
Art wise,Todd McFarlane stories have better art that the Marvel Knights:Spider-Man.
Story wise Marvel Knights:Spider-Man is more interesting,but i liked the stories from Spider-Man from Todd McFarlane as well,especially the stories from Spider-Man issue one to seven.

[Mike]

The issues that led up to issue #75 of the Amazing Spider-Man,
83cdcec08fbf90370fcf53bdd56604ff_xl.jpg

[PCN24454]

The issues that led up to issue #75 of the Amazing Spider-Man,
83cdcec08fbf90370fcf53bdd56604ff_xl.jpg

Wow this is out of context...

[Jack Parker]

I recently decided to read through Paul Jenkins Spiderman comics. When I first started getting into comics Jenkins and JMS were the writers at the time. While I got Jenkins issues from time to time, I usually just stuck with JSM, so I wanted to read through Jenkins stuff to see what I had missed. Started with Webspinners #10-12 last night. I though 10 and 11 were incredible and left me feeling sad for the Chameleon. While I know he comes back in future issues, that scene of him jumping off the bridge was pretty impactful to me as well as Peter's reaction to it. I felt #12 was decent but felt unnecessary and to me was a major step down from the previous two issues.