What is the best Spider-Man comic since Kraven's Last Hunt?

[Mister Mets]

A discussion on Kraven's Last Hunt, and whether many of the best Spider-Man stories preceded it, got me thinking in a different vein: What is the best Spider-Man story since then?

Let's limit this to stories with the regular Marvel Universe Spider-Man, and exclude spin-offs (IE- Spider-Girl/ Remender's Venom/ Scarlet Spider/ Superior Foes of Spider-Man)

Some of the choices, in what I hope is the order of publication....

Venom (Amazing Spider-Man #300)

The Harry Osborn Saga (Spectacular Spider-Man #178-190, 199-200)

The Gift (Amazing Spider-Man #400)

Coming Home (Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2 #30-35, 37, 38)

One Small Break (Peter Parker Spider-Man #30-32)

Doomed Affairs (Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2 #50)

Spider-Man Blue

Down Among the Dead Men (Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1-12)

Spider-Man/ Human Torch: I'm With Stupid

To Have and to Hold (Sensational Spider-Man Annual #1)

Unscheduled Stop (Amazing Spider-Man #578-579)

No One Dies (Amazing Spider-Man #655-656)

Spider Island (Amazing Spider-Man #666-673)

Superior Spider-Man (Amazing Spider-Man #698-700, Superior Spider-Man #1-31)

In some cases, I've merged what is arguably multiple stories together. A vote for one portion would count for the whole.

And if I left out your favorite, give it a shout-out.

[Alastor]

Millar's Marvel Knights run.

[Celgress]

Tough call, I'll go with The Harry Osborn Saga (Spectacular Spider-Man #178-190, 199-200) very heart wrenching.

[SickAlice]

@Mister Mets: By the " if I left out your favorite " I took this as asking " in our opinion " as opposed to how we think it sunk in universally, so I answered Superior. If it was the latter I wouldn't go that route as I know it was at least equally held to disdain as it was to accolades if not more so.

[cyberhubbs]

For the kind of story KLH is? I'll say Kelly and Fiumara's Rhino story.

[Tuck]

No Ultimate stories? Confessions should definitely be up there.

I went with I'm With Stupid. Could have easily gone with half a dozen others though. I really liked Spider-Man Blue, To Have and to Hold, and No One Dies. I remember liking the Harry Osborn Saga, but don't remember it well enough other than the end.

[Mister Mets]

I gave it some thought, and went with "No One Dies" partly because other stories didn't make the cut for technical reasons.

Spider-Man VS Wolverine came out a few months too early.

Spider-Man 2 isn't a comic.

Ultimate Spider-Man: Learning Curve is set outside the Marvel universe.

@Mister Mets: By the " if I left out your favorite " I took this as asking " in our opinion " as opposed to how we think it sunk in universally, so I answered Superior. If it was the latter I wouldn't go that route as I know it was at least equally held to disdain as it was to accolades if not more so.

There is an "Other" option if your favorite is one of the hundreds of stories published in the last 25+ years that I wasn't able to fit into a poll with 15 options.

[Mister Mets]

No Ultimate stories? Confessions should definitely be up there.

I went with I'm With Stupid. Could have easily gone with half a dozen others though. I really liked Spider-Man Blue, To Have and to Hold, and No One Dies. I remember liking the Harry Osborn Saga, but don't remember it well enough other than the end.

I limited this to the 616 Spider-Man.

I may do a follow-up poll on whether people's favorite Spider-Man story since KLH is about the 616 Spider-Man.

For the kind of story KLH is? I'll say Kelly and Fiumara's Rhino story.

It doesn't have to be the kind of story KLH is. It just has to be your favorite.

[cyberhubbs]

I limited this to the 616 Spider-Man.

I may do a follow-up poll on whether people's favorite Spider-Man story since KLH is about the 616 Spider-Man.

It doesn't have to be the kind of story KLH is. It just has to be your favorite.

Yeah, I know. I was just narrowing the list down. Otherwise, it coulda been an unfair comparison.

[Coal Tiger]

I loved JMS's opening arc, from the fight with Morlun to Aunt May discovering that Peter was Spider-Man. The run really spiraled down the drain afterwards, but I thought the beginning was really strong.

[SickAlice]

@Mister Mets: Sorry my terminology must have been off. I wasn't referring to chronology. I was referring to " personal favorite/enjoyed " as opposed to " how one believes the overall readership felt about the story arc " and took from the quoted sentence you were asking us in the frame of the former.

For myself personally Superior was the last story that wowed me looking back from this exact date, though as I've stated elsewhere I expand that overall and credit the other parties as well (Stegman, Yost, Spencer, so on) and take in personally as an era rather than individual story.

[normanosborn]

I loved JMS's opening arc, from the fight with Morlun to Aunt May discovering that Peter was Spider-Man. The run really spiraled down the drain afterwards, but I thought the beginning was really strong.

Absolutely. The punch to Morlun's jaw is up there with moments like Spidey lifting that crumbling down base off him in the Master Planner saga.

But the comic wasn't that strong from 2003 onwards or so.

[Coal Tiger]

Absolutely. The punch to Morlun's jaw is up there with moments like Spidey lifting that crumbling down base off him in the Master Planner saga.

But the comic wasn't that strong from 2003 onwards or so.

It's only really good from #30-39 with a few genuinely good moments after that, most notably the reunion between Peter and MJ. The book got bad really quickly.

[oldschool]

It's only really good from #30-39 with a few genuinely good moments after that, most notably the reunion between Peter and MJ. The book got bad really quickly.

Totally agreed. Back to the OP's question, I have to say the Superior Saga is the best the comics has been, pound for pound, since the Glory Days of the mid-80's in general and KLH in particular.

[Expletive Deleted]

I'm With Stupid is by far my favorite out of this list, I think Unscheduled Stop is more accomplished.