Essential Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, Vol. 3 by Roger Stern

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man Issues 54-74, and Annual #3.

This may be the third Spider-man book Marvel was publishing, and the villains may include more visits from second raters like Nitro and Goldbug than fan favorites like Doctor Octopus and Kraven the Hunter, but there are some great Spider-man stories from the early 1980s.

Among the highlights. We get to see the origin and early adventures of Cloak and Dagger, Annual #3 offers closure for the Man-Wolf saga, and we meet one of Marvel's most unlucky villains, Boomerang. We also get a gun control propaganda story in Issue #71. Debra Whitman's mental state comes to fore after her seeing Peter changing leads her convinced she's relapsing to viewing the world as fantasy.

The stories are enjoyable and written by two scribes who know Spidey. The art is good, but rarely impresses, though there are exceptions. Ed Hannigan pencils a couple of really fine title pages. The cover for issue #74 with Debra Whitman trapped by several tiny Spider-man is a classic.

Overall, while the stories aren't necessarily spectacular, they are really good and a worthwhile read for any Spidey fan.



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