Spider-Man results in CBR's Top 100 Runs

[Smoov-E]

when they say Ultimate Spider-man ,Are they including Miles Morales' comics too??

Yes

10charas

[WebLurker]

when they say Ultimate Spider-man ,Are they including Miles Morales' comics too??

They actually addressed that in the article. Basically, they're counting both the Peter and Miles eras of USM. I think that's fair way to do it. Both have been very influential and arguably deserve to be noted. It also prevents slighting fans who prefer one character. (I personally think Miles was a lesser achievement than Ultimate Peter and would've been annoyed if he was the only one honored.

[oldschool]

I love Stern's run (it got me back into reading ASM again way back in the day) but I wouldn't say I'm shocked that it didn't make the Top 20. If you're talking about every comic run ever, getting into the Top 20 is a pretty tall order - even for a much-loved run like Stern and Romita Jr's Spidey. I just don't think you can take placements on lists like this too much to heart. It doesn't devalue a run if it isn't ranked as high as you think it should've been.

As for Stern's run not having detractors like Slott and JMS, you have to take into account the fact that time is a factor here. JMS and Slott's runs are recent (with Slott's run obviously still ongoing) so you have the aspect of Stern's more than 30-year-old run being well settled into history by now. Also, Stern's run was very down the middle (not in a bad way) and didn't take the kind of chances with the character that JMS and Slott did. As much as some of those chances were controversial, they were also popular with a large segment of the readership and helped redefine the character whereas Stern applied his considerable craftsmanship to evoking "classic" Spidey without adding many new wrinkles.

Two runs I wish had landed on this list are the Gerry Conway/Ross Andru ASM run and the Tom DeFalco/Ron Frenz ASM.

Conway/Andru is my sentimental favorite among the great ASM runs as it's when I first started reading the book as a kid. I still think it's one of the best eras of ASM with Conway belting out classic tales and Andru at his peak as the most underrated Spidey artist of them all.

And the DeFalco/Frenz run did a stellar job of following Stern's run - no small feat. I loved that era and I think if it had ended strong with the reveal of the Hobgoblin instead of being unfairly cut short by editorial idiocy, it would be much better remembered as a high point in ASM's history.

Nice post. I suppose what I was driving at regarding being surprised at where Stern's run was ranked here is that it is, IMO, better than many other runs (Spidey or not) that were ranked ahead of it; and I think you are right on in citing time and distance as a factor. Also,I totally agree with you that DeFalco/Frenz' run tends to get overlooked when it was, in fact, a nearly seamless transition from Stern's. I also love Conway/Andru though there are a few lemons in there ("Uncle Ock"!) although the good most definitely outweighs the bad.

[Aioros22]

Slott should be lower and...no Dematteis run? Shame. That said I agree on mostly the rest of Spidey runs, with the Lee/Conway/Kane/Romita Sr being the highest placed with being the character`s golden years.

[Aioros22]

Yeah I forgot the Defalco/Frenz run. That was powerful stuff and you could feel the cast was growing up rather than changing for change`s sake. The long black costume storyline and his romance with Felicia are pretty much in my top 3 moments reading Spiderman when I was a kid.

Pretty much the reason I don`t care to follow Felicia`s current status quo.

[Frontier]

Pretty much the reason I don`t care to follow Felicia`s current status quo.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who is .

[WebLurker]

I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who is .

I, admittedly, am pretty indifferent to the idea of Black Cat as an out and out villain (her having her own agenda sounds interesting enough). However, most of the stories I know about her have her playing a minor role in their overall iterations of the franchise, so I have hardly the same level of attachment as others do. So, while it wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me (like how OMD has put me off 616 period), I have sympathy for those who don't care for an evil Black Cat.

[comicscollector]

Disapointing not to see the Dematteis run in the list.
Both the Conway runs in ASM and Spectacular Spider-Man are some of my favorites runs so i thought they would be in the list as well.

[Confuzzled]

Disapointing not to see the Dematteis run in the list.
Both the Conway runs in ASM and Spectacular Spider-Man are some of my favorites runs so i thought they would be in the list as well.

Conway had made it on the previous list I think. I was too distracted to post my list this time around.

[Prof. Warren]

I, admittedly, am pretty indifferent to the idea of Black Cat as an out and out villain (her having her own agenda sounds interesting enough). However, most of the stories I know about her have her playing a minor role in their overall iterations of the franchise, so I have hardly the same level of attachment as others do. So, while it wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me (like how OMD has put me off 616 period), I have sympathy for those who don't care for an evil Black Cat.

I have sympathy for those who don't care for it but personally I'm very much ok with it. I felt that the Black Cat's longtime status as this hot, kind of bad girl who Peter/Spidey occasionally got it on with was not interesting in the least. I'd much rather see her as a genuine threat to Spidey than just have her in play as an occasional hook up. She wasn't really a true villain but yet you also knew she would never be a serious love interest in the long haul. She was just this flirtatious presence that never really was going to be be much more than that. It just got old. So, given that, I prefer Felicia's present status. I just hope that we get a bigger storyline with her before too long.

[Aioros22]

I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who is .

Pretty much everything got its fans. I love Felicia as the sassy rogue to Spiderman. The bad girl he would never bring home to show his aunt but the one he can`t help feeling attracted beyond reason. We`ve all had that girl and if you haven`t, well, you missed some hot sex. Dem life. What I`m trying to say is, she`s more relatable to me that way, as the one girl who could compete with either MJ or Gwen for her own qualities.

I also think she was already somewhat a threat depending the situation given how unpredictable she was and her luck aura. This hitgirl business to me seems something I associate more with Catwoman instead of the free spirit archetype for Felicia.

[magnum]

Slott's run is WAY to high IMO. His should not be ahead of Stern/JRJ or Lee/JRS run. I also believe Conway, Dematteis and others are better runs IMO.

[Mister Mets]

Given the 100+ post discussion about why Slott gets more criticism than JMS, I think it's worth considering why his run made the list and JMS's didn't.

It can't just be that Slott's run is ongoing, since there aren't a whole lot of other ongoing runs in the top 50 (Ms. Marvel in 49th Place, Jason Aaron's Thor in 34th, Astro City in 31st, Saga in 26th, and Ultimate Spider-Man in 21st-although that's probably a different run han Miles Morales)

[Miles To Go]

Given the 100+ post discussion about why Slott gets more criticism than JMS, I think it's worth considering why his run made the list and JMS's didn't

A populist list from a site known for flip-flopping and going with who's "trendy" isn't going to convince me that Slott is the better writer.

[Mister Mets]

A populist list from a site known for flip-flopping and going with who's "trendy" isn't going to convince me that Slott is the better writer.

To be clear, this wasn't based on one person's opinion. The results came from the readers.