What Do You Consider a Spider-Man Series?

[CRuby28]

I have been collecting Spider-Man comics since 1988 and would buy every book under the Spider-Man umbrella (Amazing, Spectacular, Web, the McFarlane series, and 2099). I stopped after issue 400, having finally had enough after a horrible clone saga and the "death" of Aunt May. I got back into Spidey in 2009 and worked on collecting all the issues I missed and the new titles that came and went (Sensational, Tangled Web, Ultimate).

In your opinion; Does Scarlet Spider, Venom, Superior Foes, and Spider-Man 2099 count as Spider-Man books? Is New Avengers a Spider-Man book?

[saucemaster]

In your opinion; Does Scarlet Spider, Venom, Superior Foes, and Spider-Man 2099 count as Spider-Man books? Is New Avengers a Spider-Man book?

I would say 'no' to all of those.

That's not to say that they are not good books, or worth reading, though. Superior Foes, for example, is one if the best books at Marvel right now! But, no, despite their origins, this era's Scarlet Spider and Venom are not Spider-Man books. Though if the new Spider-Man 2099 takes place in present day NYC, it might be more of a Spider-Man book--assuming he hangs out with Peter, fights the Osborns/Allans, etc.

Current 'New Avengers'? Definitely not. It is basically a re-titled Illuminati. It is about as far from a Spider-Man book as it can be (at least without featuring the terrorist Cyclops as the lead).

[saucemaster]

The previous New Avengers, by Bendis, before the current Hickman run, however did have some great Spider-Man moments in it, but I don't recall any of the stories being Spider-Centric, unless you count the time Norman Osborn was running S.H.I.E.L.D./H.A.M.M.E.R.

[Ripclaw005]

My fav Spider-Man arc in the past 5 years would have to be " The Grim Hunt" , The Black suit comes back, Kraven's at large. Its really a major throw down in the last pages. Thats how I would return to Spider-Man, just selective arcs and bounce around with some of the current events where Spider-Man tags along.

[CRuby28]

Current 'New Avengers'? Definitely not. It is basically a re-titled Illuminati. It is about as far from a Spider-Man book as it can be (at least without featuring the terrorist Cyclops as the lead).

I skipped New Avengers, and Avengers (when Spidey was on both teams during the Heroic Age) because I felt that they were Avengers books w/ Spidey in them. I did collect FF when Spidey joined because I knew it was going to be only 12 issues.

I have gone back and forth as to what qualifies as a Spidey book in the last 5 years. My interpretation was more broad when I restarted but as I ran out of room (I am currently at 33+ small boxes and growing) I scaled back. I stopped collecting Venom and Scarlet Spider, and never bothered with Alpha, Superior Team-Up, and Superior Foes thinking that they will be available in lots on ebay cheaper than buying each issue as it was released. I loved the first Ultimate Spider-Man. Post Ultimatum Ultimate Spider-Man was good as well, and although I lost interest in Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man I kept buying them. With Volume 4 (I guess we can call it that) coming out next Wednesday I get to evaluate if that is a book I will continue to collect in my quest to have every Spider-Man comic book. Also, Miles in the Ultimates falls under the Avengers premise in my mind

[Huntsman Spider]

For me, it qualifies as a Spider-Man book if Spider-Man is the central character of the story, whether he be Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, Otto Octavius, Miguel O'Hara, or Miles Morales. More importantly, it qualifies as a Spider-Man book if the protagonist faces challenges both in his superhero life and in his unmasked life and if he has to struggle to balance the responsibilities and obligations that come with each identity. In his unmasked life, Spider-Man has a responsibility to be there for his friends and family when they need his help with something, to show up to work (or for class), and (help) pay the bills. In his costumed life, Spider-Man has the responsibility to defend innocent people in New York (or anywhere else he happens to be) from dangerous criminals, whether they're super-powered, equipped with advanced tech, or just relatively run-of-the-mill @$$holes hurting people for no good reason. Both of those are very great responsibilities if you think about it in a certain way, and the tightrope Spider-Man walks is that if he teeters too far toward fulfilling his civilian responsibilities, he risks leaving people in danger or worse that he could have saved, but if he teeters too far toward fulfilling his superhero responsibilities, he disappoints his friends and family and fails to meet his professional or scholastic obligations, which will result in significant distrust and resentment toward him that will adversely affect his relationships and his chances of achieving his personal, non-superhero-related goals. That's the essence of a Spider-Man book to me, and in that light, Flash Thompson's Venom series actually does a pretty good job of emulating the spirit of that even if the series is generally darker and bloodier than the usual Spider-Man series, given how much strain has been put on Flash's relationships with his friends and family and other loved ones since he donned the symbiote.

[marshal99]

How about a dr seuss book...

[CRuby28]

How about a dr seuss book...

I'd buy that book.

[Siddon]

For me Spider-man ended when Roger Stern left.



For me this was the last pure version of the 1960's Spider-man. Not saying the books after that weren't great but it was a series of gimmicks and revamps and shifting focus from the character to the artists. Not to say their haven't fantastic books, Spider-girl, Ultimate Spider-man, Superior Spiderman are all fantastic but they are gimmicks. Once the black suit came around (the very next issue) that was the end of "Spider-man".

[ngroove]

Spider-Man book defined by me:

Spider-Man - Peter Parker, heroic, yet still residual-ness of nerd, to keep grounded to humanity, fighting colorful foes, including Green Goblin who looks like Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus who looks like Doctor Octopus (bowl cutted, slightly pudgy, yet debonair), Lizard who looks like Lizard (labcoated), and Vulture, Rose, Puma, Tombstone, Gibbon, Grizzly, ect, doted by Aunt May, photographs for J Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle, and Married to Mary Jane Watson Parker.

[CRuby28]

Spider-Man book defined by me:

Spider-Man - Peter Parker, heroic, yet still residual-ness of nerd, to keep grounded to humanity, fighting colorful foes, including Green Goblin who looks like Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus who looks like Doctor Octopus (bowl cutted, slightly pudgy, yet debonair), Lizard who looks like Lizard (labcoated), and Vulture, Rose, Puma, Tombstone, Gibbon, Grizzly, ect, doted by Aunt May, photographs for J Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle, and Married to Mary Jane Watson Parker.

So your collection would be from Amazing Spider-Man 292 to Amazing Spider-Man 537?

[ngroove]

So your collection would be from Amazing Spider-Man 292 to Amazing Spider-Man 537?

Actually, end at Amazing 500. From there, it just gets darker (Sins Past, The Other) and been more of a "New Avengers" book, featuring Spidey than a Spidey book, don't get me started with the political mumbo-jumbo of CIVIL WAR, before ish 537.