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

[HypnoHustler]

Rereading 'Revelations' in preparation for my next article. I enjoy it a lot more than I did when it came out (back when I was clouded by grief over how they dispatched Ben and Baby May). PP:SM#75 is probably Mackie's single best issue, even though I suspect it was more by committee than a solo effort.

[HypnoHustler]

I've been continuing my re-read of Brand New Day with the first two stories of 'The Gauntlet' mega-arc. I remember it being pretty disappointing on the whole, but I really enjoyed both Power to the People and Keemia's Castle. Power to the People is extremely derivative (how many Electro loses confidence and gets a power up arcs have there been?) but Azaceta's art is really good, in an off beat kind of way, and I felt like Waid crafted an enjoyable, surprisingly high stakes arc. I forgot how significant the ending (The DB gets destroyed and Dexter Bennett is crippled) was.

Keemia's Castle is a really effective follow up too. The Sandman has become an extremely muddled villain over the years, but I think he works best as the conflicted villain with a heart of gold that he is portrayed as here. I can't think of many arcs since BND that have utilised Spidey's supporting cast as well as this two parter - the opening scene with Jonah and Robbie particularly stands out and is extremely well written. Rivera's artwork is superb too.

These arcs, for me, show what a frustrating missed opportunity Brand New Day was. I did get the argument behind a team of rotating writers, but it clearly didn't work and should have been ditched far sooner. Imagine if Waid or van Lente had been given a solo run? Like I say, a real missed opportunity. This is a wider argument, but by the time Slott got the gig he was dangerously close to running out of steam.

I've also been re-reading Spider-Girl (volume 1). I used to love the series, but it went badly off the rails by the end and I felt it got ridiculously overrated by virtue of the fact that it was consistently better than the core ASM series for years (and featured a married Peter and MJ).

I've been pleasantly surprised so far. It really holds up. Oliffe's art is terrific and DeFalco's writing is great. He nails the classic Spider-Man feel, and manages to create a really well fleshed out world for Mayday in an incredibly short space of time. I forgot what a truly brilliant and original character she is, and Defalco also deserves credit for creating more interest and intrigue around her supporting cast than any ASM writer has done in years (possibly decades). 8-9 issues in I feel it's missing a standout villain, and I honestly can't remember if this ever changed. I do remember that the series started to go downhill when Defalco became overly reliant on classic Spider-Man characters and concepts like the Osborns and the Venom symbiote.

I think I stopped around when her baby brother Benjy was possessed by the Carnage symbiote, which was just a ridiculous visual, and didn't really interest me to see a baby being victimized. Although I peeked in on the occasional issue with May's semi-evil (but not really, but kinda) clone April. I thought that was a pretty interesting concept to see her involved in her own Clone Saga.

[JTait]

I think I stopped around when her baby brother Benjy was possessed by the Carnage symbiote, which was just a ridiculous visual, and didn't really interest me to see a baby being victimized.

This arc was where it jumped the shark for me too. Even as a teenager I thought it had gone too far. Now that I have a child of my own I think I genuinely don't think I would have been able to read it.

[babyblob]

I am about to jump into the Clone Conspiracy. I am hyped for it because ill take Clones any day over Symbiotes any day of the week.

[Matt Rat]

I think I stopped around when her baby brother Benjy was possessed by the Carnage symbiote, which was just a ridiculous visual, and didn't really interest me to see a baby being victimized. Although I peeked in on the occasional issue with May's semi-evil (but not really, but kinda) clone April. I thought that was a pretty interesting concept to see her involved in her own Clone Saga.

The Brand New May arc was awesome, April was a fine addition and the build to all of the Parkers, including Aunt May's ghost, kicking Norman's ass was well worth a year's investment. It's weird to see Arana as an outright villain/anti-hero given her push a few years later.

And the baby Carnage arc? Love it, it has such a tragic ending with Mayday's number one fan turning on her, Wes being cockblocked, and Mayday forced to deafen her brother to save him from Carnage. It's one of the more tragic Spider-Girl stories, and yet nobody dies, it demonstrates how far the stakes can be raised in a Spider-Man story without much bloodshed, if it make people feel uncomfortable, the hell with it, Marvel's told far worse.

[CaptainUniverse]

Aside from Lost Hunt and Slott's Spider-Man? Well, I've been rereading anything and everything Spider-Girl. I love it all, it never gets boring for me. That includes Marvels/Earth/Universe/Paradise X, especially because of the fight scene between Mayday Parker, the daughter of Ben Reilly and Mayday "Venom" Parker in Paradise X. Hilarious. I also read Spider-Man: Bloodline, I thought it was okay, it's not as bad as One More Day like all the reviews said it was. Still, I think the story I've reread the most is the Cosmic Spider-Man saga because it was an interesting point in Peter's life. He and Mary Jane were starting their lives as newlyweds together in the new apartment and before Peter can really enjoy any of it...bam! Peter gets cosmic powers and a whole slew of interesting villains to fight as he struggles to balance his personal life and Ultimate Power! The What If? to this story arc is really good as well, especially the whole "With Great Power must also come Great Responsibility" vs. "With Absolute Power one must assume Absolute Responsibility for the world" debate between Peter and the Enigma Force.

[Alex_Of_X]

I am about to jump into the Clone Conspiracy. I am hyped for it because ill take Clones any day over Symbiotes any day of the week.

Killer art on that. Jim Cheung put his whole bod into those pencils. Be sure to grab the ASM tie-ins, if you can.

Also I'm a big fan of the Prowler tie-in series: great spotlight on Hobie with Jamal Campbell (!!!) on art.

[babyblob]

Killer art on that. Jim Cheung put his whole bod into those pencils. Be sure to grab the ASM tie-ins, if you can.

Also I'm a big fan of the Prowler tie-in series: great spotlight on Hobie with Jamal Campbell (!!!) on art.

I am going to read the ASM tie ins. I am reading that run right now.

I am going to raid my friends collection to see if he has The Prowler stuff as Hobie is one of my favorite characters. If not I will order them online or Marvel Unlimited them. I never knew Prowler had his own series until I saw the tie in on the check list.

[babyblob]

I spent all day yesterday reading The Clone Conspiracy along with The Amazing Spiderman and Prowler tie ins. I have to say I loved it I am such a sucker for clones and it was a fun ride. And it left me feeling really bad for The Rhino. And it was good to read how Doc Ock came back. One of my favorite Spider Events

Today I am going to finish the Amazing Spiderman 2015 run. I am not enjoying this run as much as others. Parker Industries being world wide. parker being rich with all the tech. it is very much like an Ironman book and this is not how I want my Peter Parker and Spiderman. So while I am enjoying reading it I am looking forward to it being over.

[Alex_Of_X]

I spent all day yesterday reading The Clone Conspiracy along with The Amazing Spiderman and Prowler tie ins. I have to say I loved it I am such a sucker for clones and it was a fun ride. And it left me feeling really bad for The Rhino. And it was good to read how Doc Ock came back. One of my favorite Spider Events

Today I am going to finish the Amazing Spiderman 2015 run. I am not enjoying this run as much as others. Parker Industries being world wide. parker being rich with all the tech. it is very much like an Ironman book and this is not how I want my Peter Parker and Spiderman. So while I am enjoying reading it I am looking forward to it being over.

Been meaning to give Slott's last year a re-read myself--do tell how you find it, babyblob

[babyblob]

Been meaning to give Slott's last year a re-read myself--do tell how you find it, babyblob

There is a lot of Slott's stuff I enjoy. I loved the stuff when he first took over Amazing Spiderman and Superior Spiderman. I also enjoyed the 2014 run though I was not a fan of The Spiderverse. Got bored with it and I think it dragged on. 2015 I think The Clone Conspiracy was the best of it.

I am just not big on Peter having a big international company and a ton of tech. If I wanted to read that hero I would stick to Ironman. I want Peter stable with a good job and stuff but I dont want him to be a quip making Ironman ripoff.

To be honest if not for Anna Maria and The Clone Conspiracy I would have been disappointed in this run.

[chicainery]

I have fairly recently read Spider Hunt, Identity Crisis and The Gathering of Five tpbs, and then more recently read The Next Chapter vol 1 tpb. I'm just a few issues into The Next Chapter Vol 2 tpb at the moment. This is always a strange time period for me to revisit as I wasn't reading Spider-man comics when these issues originally came out. Because of that reason I find it difficult to connect to the stories.

[babyblob]

I am reading The Hunted story line as well as starting issue 1 of the current run.

[chicainery]

Since last post I've gone ahead and finished up the Next Chapter Vol 2 and Vol 3, Spider-man: Revenge of the Green Goblin, and read the Amazing Spider-man issues up to J. Michael Straczynski's run starts. After those I read the Best of Spider-man Vol 1 and am reading Vol 2 now. The Best of Spider-man HC's have a mix of Spider-man comics that were coming out at the time of JMS' run on Amazing Spider-man, along with the JMS ASM issues.

Like I said earlier, rereading these issues is very strange as I wasn't reading these as they came out. The tone in the Next Chapter issues (Howard Mackie) is very different than when JMS takes over. John Romita, Jr is the artist on both, which makes the transition both smooth and strange at the same time. I may be missing something since I didn't read Peter Parker: Spider-man (1999) #29, but the events at the end of Mackie's run (where Mary Jane was being held captive by an obsessed fan) that flow directly into JMS' run (where Mary Jane is taking a break from Peter to follow her acting career) don't seem to jive well together. It seems like I've missed something. However, I am enjoying reading the JMS issues again. They're more familiar as this is when I began reading ASM again.

[Jekyll]

About to start my new omnibus: Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man which collects the first 41 issues of that series from 70s.