Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Big Apple Battleground

Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection

by Len Wein, Ross Andru (artist), Sal Buscema (artist)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #165-185, Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1964) #11-12, Nova (1977) #12 And Marvel Calendar 1978.

J. Jonah Jameson has uncovered proof that Peter Parker is Spider-Man - and that's just the beginning of the web-slinger's problems! Dinosaurs are fighting the Lizard on Broadway. Doctor Faustus plots to drive our hero insane. And the Molten Man and Punisher are back in town! That's just another day in the Big Apple for Spider-Man! But when the Green Goblin returns, all bets are off! Spider-Man's secret identity, the lives of Aunt May and Mary Jane - everything is on the line! Also featuring a team-up with Nova, the first appearance of Rocket Racer, the return of the crime boss Silvermane, an Annual with more spiders than men…and Peter Parker proposes to Mary Jane! Will she accept?

Genres: Comics, Spider Man, Marvel, Graphic Novels

519 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 28, 2024

About the author

Len Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men (including the co-creation of Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus). Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.

Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.

Reviews

[Sean Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spider-Man is the ultimate comfort food comic, and Ross Andru is just wonderful. These are facts.

[Alex Andrasik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty decent 70s fare! Len Wein does the hip swinging 20something vibe very well. Highlights are the New Goblin arc, Spider-Man's recap at Uncle Ben's graveside, and the debut of conflicted villain Will o' the Wisp. Marv Wolfman takes over as writer towards the end, and he does the swinging 20something much less well; too much with the cuttin' off of the g's from the ends of gerunds, and just a half notch too much with the Spidey mid-battle quips. Shuffling Mary Jane away in what might be the first recorded instance of Editorially Mandated Parker Arrested Development was a great misstep too. But! Fun enough.

[Darik · Rating 3 out of 5]

The comics aren't as sharp as when Gerry Conway was writing 'em, and the quality REALLY takes a nosedive when they swap out Len Wein for Marv Wolfman (who clearly had a bug up his ass about the Mary Jane relationship, and clumsily shuffles her out of the picture so he can even MORE clumsily bring back Betty Brant as a love interest)...

But overall, this is still some solid monthly storytelling.

[Jimbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Spider-man, but honestly, he is kind of a nitwit. I mean, he steps into trouble all the time. He supposed to be a science genius, but barely puts two and two together and don't get me started on his Aunt May (who should be his great aunt because she's drawn as a ninety-year old and he's barely 21.)
She should have died at least four times, if not more, I was never sure why they kept her alive. It didn't make him a better character. It made him an ungrateful ass.
This collection had some good moments, but even when he wasn't supposed to graduate, the writers came up with one credit short? Hell, I was one credit short and talked to the head of my department and graduated. Simple.
Will'o'the wisp and Rocket Racer were terrible villains without giving them better back stories (at least Rocket Racer) Will'o was a tragic villain and deserved better.
Hitman and Punisher storyline was decent.
Green Goblin was great. Nova crossover was kind of a mess and I always loved Nova. It was cool trying for a murder mystery, ala Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie, ultimately was weak.
It's worth reading, but don't think "wow" will happen.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gems include Spidey v. Stegron, Lizard v. Stegron, Spidey v. Will o’ the Wisp, Spidey v. Will o’ the Wisp on a gin billboard, JJJ tries to unmask Peter, Spidey v. Doc Faustus, Spider-Squad, & Rocket Racer, Hitman kidnaps JJJ, Spidey rides in the war wagon, Green Goblin tosses Flash out the window, Goblin crashes Silvermane’s WTC meeting, Goblin ghostbags Spidey, Harry twist, Goblin v. Goblin, Peter pops the question, Rocket Racer v. Big Wheel, Spidey v. White Dragon, & JJJ Scholarship for Journalistic Integrity

[Doug Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

some fairly good stories in here, this is largely good overall but there also isn't any standout stories really. most noteable moments are peter asking MJ to marry him and his "graduation" which both really don't work out in this volume anyways.

[Rachel E. Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great Spider-Man collection, with only a few issues I didn't enjoy.

[Eldon Farrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent batch of Spidey adventures :)

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some solid Spidey stories from the 70s. There's lots of villains you don't see much of these days like Rocket Racer, Will-O'-the-Wisp, Big Wheel (Yes, this was a real villain who drove around in a giant wheel.) Stegron, the Molten Man, Silvermane (before he became a cyborg) and classics like the Lizard and the Green Goblin. I really like the pairing of Len Wein and Ross Andru. Their stuff is a lot of fun. Marv Wolfman comes on at the end and it's surprisingly not as good. He jettisons some subplots like Pete failing out of college to sort of have him graduate as if it didn't happen along with MJ kicking Pete to the curb. It was all in preparation for setting him to be an adult. He also has Pete go from not being able to pay the rent one month to buying an engagement ring the next which makes zero sense. That whole subplot felt pretty dumb.