What was the WORST era for Spider-man

[SilverSpider]

So it looks like I'm in the major minority here.
I voted for Iron Spider-Man in the Avengers mainly because the worst status quo for Spider-Man in my opinion is to be reduced to only a comic relief character which while in the Avengers a lot of time was.

I love Spidey's jokes I want him to quipp a lot, but when that becomes his only trait, it doesn't feel like him anymore, he is a much more complex character.
I know it can be difficult to give him time to shine when he's surrounded by so many heroes, he would work a lot better on a smaller team like Spiderman and his amazing friends tv series clearly showed.

[Metamorphosis]

I can't believe I forgot Kraven's Last Hunt. I officially retract #5.

That being said, although I loved Peter and MJ getting married, I didn't particularly enjoy the actual issues. Once they got past the awkward few "honeymoon" issues it got great.

I just don't think they had the right writers in place to make it work, initially or long term.

Michelinie did what he could with it, and was ok.

Conway did pretty well, since Conway was allowed to plug in Peter's supporting cast in a way ASM neglected even then.

I think Peter David had a knack for writing the marriage. There was a funny bit where Aunt May found some racy boudoir photos Mary Jane had taken of herself for Peter.



PAD also wrote the standout story "Five Minutes" in the short prose story collection Ultimate Spider-Man in 1994, which perfectly spotlighted Peter & Mary Jane's marriage and the strain that Peter being Spider-Man took on it.

[TheCape]

After JMS and J.D Matteis, PAD is my favorite writter of the marriage. He did a great job with it in Spec and Friendly Neightboorth, shame that all his work was destroyed after OMD.

[BlitheringToot]

Michelinie did what he could with it, and was ok.

The biggest problem with Michelinie's run was he spent too much time on the awkward and unpleasant Jonathan Caesar storyline.

I loved Gerry Conway's "Spectacular Spider-Man." It got hokey at times (Knight and Fogg, while undeniably cool, were also undeniably ridiculous), and the brief story where the sleazy Jason Jerome (any relation to the Johnny Jerome who tried to get with Aunt May?) attempted to seduce MJ was uncomfortable, though not as bad as Caesar. Still, I very much enjoyed Conway's handling of the Spider-marriage overall.

PAD is great, period, but the biggest problem with his '80s run would have to be the villains he had to work with. Blaze? Foreigner? Ick. His "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" series is one of my all-time favorite runs, though.

[Metamorphosis]

The biggest problem with Michelinie's run was he spent too much time on the awkward and unpleasant Jonathan Caesar storyline.

As a kid, I adored the issue where Spider-Man fights the Taskmaster, so that made the Jonathan Ceaser stuff worth it to me:

I loved Gerry Conway's "Spectacular Spider-Man." It got hokey at times (Knight and Fogg, while undeniably cool, were also undeniably ridiculous), and the brief story where the sleazy Jason Jerome (any relation to the Johnny Jerome who tried to get with Aunt May?) attempted to seduce MJ was uncomfortable, though not as bad as Caesar. Still, I very much enjoyed Conway's handling of the Spider-marriage overall.

Yep, Conway did great with Peter & Mary Jane, and still does.

Good call re: Knight & Fogg, and great catch re: Johnny / Jason Jerome! Slott, when are you going to bring back Knight & Fogg?

PAD is great, period, but the biggest problem with his '80s run would have to be the villains he had to work with. Blaze? Foreigner? Ick. His "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" series is one of my all-time favorite runs, though.

I loved the Blaze / Foreigner stuff. Both villains played to PAD's strengths as writer perfectly, as well as to his overall Spec arc which was fantastic.

[BlitheringToot]

I loved the Blaze / Foreigner stuff. Both villains played to PAD's strengths as writer perfectly, as well as to his overall Spec arc which was fantastic.

The problem with Foreigner, to me, was his status as the ultimate criminal mastermind. "You want the Hobgoblin dead? Fine!" *snaps fingers, makes a phone call* "Bam! Dead Hobgoblin." And the reveal that Captain Kris Keating, who had been a pretty major supporting cast member/occasional antagonist for a few years, had been the Foreigner in disguise pretty much all along was a little abrupt and jarring. Aaaaand the reveal that he was Silver Sable's ex was a bit too convenient, though it didn't bother me as much.

[Metamorphosis]

The problem with Foreigner, to me, was his status as the ultimate criminal mastermind. "You want the Hobgoblin dead? Fine!" *snaps fingers, makes a phone call* "Bam! Dead Hobgoblin." And the reveal that Captain Kris Keating, who had been a pretty major supporting cast member/occasional antagonist for a few years, had been the Foreigner in disguise pretty much all along was a little abrupt and jarring. Aaaaand the reveal that he was Silver Sable's ex was a bit too convenient, though it didn't bother me as much.

Well, it's widely known now that the resolution of the Hobgoblin saga was one of more "we need to get this done" rather than one that really paid off the story up to that point.

Foreigner was a bit of Gary Stu in that arc, but PAD also mostly played him for laughs because Foreigner came off like such a smug, sanctimonious creep to everyone. Why not have him be a bit of an "ultimate criminal mastermind"? Can't let Wilson Fisk have all the fun.

The reveal that he was Sable's ex was hilarious, because he sent her an exploding bouquet of flowers, though we didn't know it was her getting them on the other end at the time.

[Pav]

Slott, when are you going to bring back Knight & Fogg?

Slott needs to do a story in which Spidey is caught in a fight between Knight and Fogg and Styx and Stone.

-Pav, who misses Aura and Override...

[Metamorphosis]

Slott needs to do a story in which Spidey is caught in a fight between Knight and Fogg and Styx and Stone.

-Pav, who misses Aura and Override...

Haha, may as well throw the Brothers Grimm in there as well, who Spidey fought during The Cosmic Powers saga.

[Masked Guy]

For me, it's a toss up between Denny O'Neil's run on Amazing, the Howard Mackie relaunch and the current Parker Industries CEO era.

[phantom1592]

So it looks like I'm in the major minority here.
I voted for Iron Spider-Man in the Avengers mainly because the worst status quo for Spider-Man in my opinion is to be reduced to only a comic relief character which while in the Avengers a lot of time was.

I love Spidey's jokes I want him to quipp a lot, but when that becomes his only trait, it doesn't feel like him anymore, he is a much more complex character.
I know it can be difficult to give him time to shine when he's surrounded by so many heroes, he would work a lot better on a smaller team like Spiderman and his amazing friends tv series clearly showed.

For me it was a toss up between Spidey on the avengers... which I HATED how he lost his supporting cast and basically relocated losing anything resembling a Spider-man book... and Mystic Totem era. In the end, I really hated the Mystic Totem retcons much worse.

Clone Saga was bad at the time... The whole idea that Spidey wasn't really spidey was insulting... however the wrap up that said 'yeah, peter always WAS the original Spidey' redeemed a lot of it. In retrospect I don't mind it much

[Noronha]

Post OMD and ongoing...

[Timmyb52]

Besides OMD/BND Era...it has to be the Parker Industries development IMHO.

[RD!]

Worst period is easily Brand New Day to Superior. There were good stories there but ultimately it was a bland period that didn't try anything new or exciting. I don't think there has ever been a consistently awful period, but this one was clearly the weakest.

[Magnetic Eye]

Pretty much most Spider-Man stories post OMD.