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The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) (Collected Editions) #39
El Asombroso Spiderman #30 El origen de las especies
Contiene The Amazing Spider-Man 642-647 y Annual 37 USA
El fin a “Un nuevo día”. Spidey se ha enfrentado a “Nuevas Formas de Morir”, a un enorme “Desafío” y a la “Cacería Macabra”… ¡Y ha logrado salir con vida de todos esos envites! Su vida ha cambiado, pero… ¿Qué puede esperar del futuro?
El fin a “Un nuevo día”. Spidey se ha enfrentado a “Nuevas Formas de Morir”, a un enorme “Desafío” y a la “Cacería Macabra”… ¡Y ha logrado salir con vida de todos esos envites! Su vida ha cambiado, pero… ¿Qué puede esperar del futuro?
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
8 people are currently reading
260 people want to read
About the author
Mark Waid
3,182 books1,273 followersMark Waid (born March 21, 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama) is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
March 22, 2016
What To Expect When You’re Expecting in the Marvel Universe or Baby’s Day Out with Spiderman.
Births in the Marvel universe aren’t usually a source of joy, but conflict:
“Congrats Mom (and sometimes Dad) you’re the proud parents of a (pick one or hold down the CTRL key and choose multiples - mutant, werewolf, vampire, half-robot, half-cyborg, half-android, fully-grown adult, Kree, Skrull, Brood, demon, gamma-irradiated, imaginary) baby.”
He has his father’s eyes…
This Spiderman/baby storyline is no exception. In this collection, the new-born belongs to Norman Osborn and his son’s fiancée (ick!), Menace. The baby will allegedly have super-goblin-serum coursing through its veins and consequently be of value to the criminal element, most notably Dr. Octopus, who sends assorted members of Spiderman’s rogue gallery after the little tyke.
If he’s sending The Spot, he must be serious.
Of course, Spider-Man rescues the baby and the chase is on.
Now if the assorted members of this gallery would actually team up into groups of three or more instead of alone or in pairs (they’ve been employing this strategy unsuccessfully since the early ‘60s and they’ll never learn), they might have some success against the Web-Head.
*sigh* Tell me again how many years you fellas been doing this?
Spider-man stories can be redundant in small and large ways and this storyline sadly is no exception. Example: Ingenious! Peter Parker can’t pay his rent. Again.
To top it off, the art work is subpar. You can’t tell who the non-costumed characters are from one panel to the next and early on Peter Parker looks like an overweight fourteen year old.
Is it me or does Parker look like he has a receding hairline in a couple of those panels? And he kind of resembles Alfred E. Neuman in another.
Bottom Line: I hate to dump on the usually reliable Mark Waid, but this one is for Spider-Man fanatics and completists only.
Births in the Marvel universe aren’t usually a source of joy, but conflict:
“Congrats Mom (and sometimes Dad) you’re the proud parents of a (pick one or hold down the CTRL key and choose multiples - mutant, werewolf, vampire, half-robot, half-cyborg, half-android, fully-grown adult, Kree, Skrull, Brood, demon, gamma-irradiated, imaginary) baby.”
He has his father’s eyes…
This Spiderman/baby storyline is no exception. In this collection, the new-born belongs to Norman Osborn and his son’s fiancée (ick!), Menace. The baby will allegedly have super-goblin-serum coursing through its veins and consequently be of value to the criminal element, most notably Dr. Octopus, who sends assorted members of Spiderman’s rogue gallery after the little tyke.
If he’s sending The Spot, he must be serious.
Of course, Spider-Man rescues the baby and the chase is on.
Now if the assorted members of this gallery would actually team up into groups of three or more instead of alone or in pairs (they’ve been employing this strategy unsuccessfully since the early ‘60s and they’ll never learn), they might have some success against the Web-Head.
*sigh* Tell me again how many years you fellas been doing this?
Spider-man stories can be redundant in small and large ways and this storyline sadly is no exception. Example: Ingenious! Peter Parker can’t pay his rent. Again.
To top it off, the art work is subpar. You can’t tell who the non-costumed characters are from one panel to the next and early on Peter Parker looks like an overweight fourteen year old.
Is it me or does Parker look like he has a receding hairline in a couple of those panels? And he kind of resembles Alfred E. Neuman in another.
Bottom Line: I hate to dump on the usually reliable Mark Waid, but this one is for Spider-Man fanatics and completists only.
May 3, 2018
This returns to form!! Cool return to the story arc. Cant wait for the next story arc with Slott
August 29, 2011
On the whole this was nothing special. The art in the first half of the book was pretty awful, but it gradually improves.
I probably would have only given it 2 stars, but in the back of the book there is a really good catch-up called The Spider Man Saga. It explained everything that had happened in the Spidey Universe from the time he unmasked in Civil War: Amazing Spider-Man right up to this book.
Maybe that wouldn't be worth an extra star to anyone but me. However, I have been thoroughly confused for a while now, and it really helped.
Even though I still think the whole Mary Jane/Spider-Man Break-up is idiotic.
I probably would have only given it 2 stars, but in the back of the book there is a really good catch-up called The Spider Man Saga. It explained everything that had happened in the Spidey Universe from the time he unmasked in Civil War: Amazing Spider-Man right up to this book.
Maybe that wouldn't be worth an extra star to anyone but me. However, I have been thoroughly confused for a while now, and it really helped.
Even though I still think the whole Mary Jane/Spider-Man Break-up is idiotic.
August 1, 2012
What the hell has happened to comic book art these days?!?
You'd think Marvel's signature character could find an artist who actually gives us panels that don't look like they were thrown together by someone using finger paints!
Maybe I'm getting old here, but back in my day the art across all the Spider-Man books was consistent enough that you could look at a panel and figure out who was who. Yes, there was some minor differences based on the artist, but for the most part there was a consistent look to the Spider-Man universe.
Apparently that's no longer the case.
Origin of the Species brings together a who's who of the Spidey rogue's list, all battling over the newborn baby of Norman Osborn and Menace. Spidey is caught in the middle and hounded on all sides because the legitimate authorities think he's kidnapped the baby and the villains all want to beat the fire out of him and take the baby. It's no more or less absurd a plotline than we got back in the golden age of Spider-Man, but I can't help but think that somehow Stan Lee would have found a better way to sell the story to the reader. Or he would have made the twist that occurs halfway through a bit more interesting and a lot less out of left field feeling.
Of course back in Stan's day, we'd easily recognize Doc Ock by how he was drawn and not just as--hey, there's a guy who has glasses and metal arms...guess he must be Doc Ock.
If you're starting to get the idea that I didn't care for the artwork in this one....
Sub-par art and a half-baked story all add up to a less than enjoyable Spidey reading experience. If you'll excuse me, I think I'll dust off my old collections of the Lee/Ditko and Lee/Romita era....
You'd think Marvel's signature character could find an artist who actually gives us panels that don't look like they were thrown together by someone using finger paints!
Maybe I'm getting old here, but back in my day the art across all the Spider-Man books was consistent enough that you could look at a panel and figure out who was who. Yes, there was some minor differences based on the artist, but for the most part there was a consistent look to the Spider-Man universe.
Apparently that's no longer the case.
Origin of the Species brings together a who's who of the Spidey rogue's list, all battling over the newborn baby of Norman Osborn and Menace. Spidey is caught in the middle and hounded on all sides because the legitimate authorities think he's kidnapped the baby and the villains all want to beat the fire out of him and take the baby. It's no more or less absurd a plotline than we got back in the golden age of Spider-Man, but I can't help but think that somehow Stan Lee would have found a better way to sell the story to the reader. Or he would have made the twist that occurs halfway through a bit more interesting and a lot less out of left field feeling.
Of course back in Stan's day, we'd easily recognize Doc Ock by how he was drawn and not just as--hey, there's a guy who has glasses and metal arms...guess he must be Doc Ock.
If you're starting to get the idea that I didn't care for the artwork in this one....
Sub-par art and a half-baked story all add up to a less than enjoyable Spidey reading experience. If you'll excuse me, I think I'll dust off my old collections of the Lee/Ditko and Lee/Romita era....
May 2, 2019
2.5. Pointless.
World: The art is solid, for the main Waid story that is. This is the best thing in this arc. The world building is pretty much a culmination of every piece of story since “One More Day” and so a lot of people and faces so up. It’s aight.
Story: Pretty pointless for a last story before Slott comes in. We just had the “Gauntlet” and all the Kraven and the villains thing and now this arc surprise surprise is the same stuff again. There are so wrap up stuff here with the new writer coming in and setting up for the new status quo but this arc is highly forgettable and pointless.
Characters: I thought with this new run after “One More Day” we would have new and interesting characters but so far it’s the same old same old and Peter has be stuck again and nothing much has changed...a new writer is needed for these characters.
It was meh.
Onward to the next book!
World: The art is solid, for the main Waid story that is. This is the best thing in this arc. The world building is pretty much a culmination of every piece of story since “One More Day” and so a lot of people and faces so up. It’s aight.
Story: Pretty pointless for a last story before Slott comes in. We just had the “Gauntlet” and all the Kraven and the villains thing and now this arc surprise surprise is the same stuff again. There are so wrap up stuff here with the new writer coming in and setting up for the new status quo but this arc is highly forgettable and pointless.
Characters: I thought with this new run after “One More Day” we would have new and interesting characters but so far it’s the same old same old and Peter has be stuck again and nothing much has changed...a new writer is needed for these characters.
It was meh.
Onward to the next book!
February 23, 2014
A pretty simple and straight forward story excellently told by Waid and Azaceta. Peter must protect a new born baby from a large part of his rogues gallery because it's the offspring of Norman Osborn and Menace (Lily Holister) and Doctor Octopus wants it for science. Just your typical average hard day for Spider-man then.
Waid, like everything else he works on, writes a good Peter/Spider-man. He starts off with his usual quipy and smart-ass self, but completely changes his tone when things become more serious. Rather than having Spider-man becoming overly violent like some writers have done in the past (JMS with Back in Black), Waid writes an angry Spider-man as someone more focused and not in the mood for jokes. There's a part towards the end were Spider-man barely says anything because he's so angry at thinking he's failed, and in the process he takes down several villains (by handing them over to the cops. Yay for super-heroics). Violent Spider-man can be fine, but I prefer it when he keeps more of a cool head and doesn't stoop to automatically beating the hell out of people.
Waid, like everything else he works on, writes a good Peter/Spider-man. He starts off with his usual quipy and smart-ass self, but completely changes his tone when things become more serious. Rather than having Spider-man becoming overly violent like some writers have done in the past (JMS with Back in Black), Waid writes an angry Spider-man as someone more focused and not in the mood for jokes. There's a part towards the end were Spider-man barely says anything because he's so angry at thinking he's failed, and in the process he takes down several villains (by handing them over to the cops. Yay for super-heroics). Violent Spider-man can be fine, but I prefer it when he keeps more of a cool head and doesn't stoop to automatically beating the hell out of people.
October 31, 2015
I wanted to give this 4 stars and I think the main story deserves it, but the art is terrible. There are some panels where Spider-Man actually looks fat!
The main story arc is by Mark Waid, and this is the 2nd or 3rd arc he's done during this run (post OMD) of Spider-Man and they have all been outstanding. Spider-Man tries to save a baby while being pursued by his entire rogue's gallery, then something happens causing him to go on a rampage. It's Spidey at his best, emotionally torn, inventive under pressure, and just a plain superhero.
There's an additional story by Slott detailing some of the childhood of Doctor Octopus. I believe this starts us on the long road to Superior Spider-Man and I really enjoyed the background on him because I don't think anybody has ever detailed that before in all these years.
One more issue contains a bunch of short stories and vary in quality from average to pretty good, detailing mainly Peter's supporting cast. One issue I had was small continuity glitches such as saying Spider-Man has never captured this villain before when he just did in the previous issue. The art is all over the place too with a wide variety of styles, not many to my liking.
The main story arc is by Mark Waid, and this is the 2nd or 3rd arc he's done during this run (post OMD) of Spider-Man and they have all been outstanding. Spider-Man tries to save a baby while being pursued by his entire rogue's gallery, then something happens causing him to go on a rampage. It's Spidey at his best, emotionally torn, inventive under pressure, and just a plain superhero.
There's an additional story by Slott detailing some of the childhood of Doctor Octopus. I believe this starts us on the long road to Superior Spider-Man and I really enjoyed the background on him because I don't think anybody has ever detailed that before in all these years.
One more issue contains a bunch of short stories and vary in quality from average to pretty good, detailing mainly Peter's supporting cast. One issue I had was small continuity glitches such as saying Spider-Man has never captured this villain before when he just did in the previous issue. The art is all over the place too with a wide variety of styles, not many to my liking.
September 22, 2013
The art in the majority of this book is TERRIBLE. It looks amateurish, and I don't mean that as a compliment. Peter Parker looks like a fat tourist, none of the characters look right, everything is just enough to distract from the story, which is also pretty stupid.
Menace (Harry Osborn's ex-fiancee) is giving birth to Norman Osborn's baby and all the bad guys want it, because the freaky new-look Doc Ock wants it to get the blood of the baby to experiment with. Cue excuse for every bad guy to take a shot at Spidey.
The only good parts were a short Flash Thompson story with him and Spider-Man together, just having a conversation after Flash fights off some muggers. Also, I liked the breakdown of everything that's happened since the deal with Mephisto to save Aunt May, because it just seems like everyone is a character or hero or baddie now, and there's way too many people to keep track of.
Usually I like Mark Waid somewhat, so this was a bit of a let down. Maybe if the art was better I'd have been less likely to notice some of the silly plot stuff...
Not an important collection.
Menace (Harry Osborn's ex-fiancee) is giving birth to Norman Osborn's baby and all the bad guys want it, because the freaky new-look Doc Ock wants it to get the blood of the baby to experiment with. Cue excuse for every bad guy to take a shot at Spidey.
The only good parts were a short Flash Thompson story with him and Spider-Man together, just having a conversation after Flash fights off some muggers. Also, I liked the breakdown of everything that's happened since the deal with Mephisto to save Aunt May, because it just seems like everyone is a character or hero or baddie now, and there's way too many people to keep track of.
Usually I like Mark Waid somewhat, so this was a bit of a let down. Maybe if the art was better I'd have been less likely to notice some of the silly plot stuff...
Not an important collection.
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November 13, 2019Brand New Day Dönemi (101) sayı boyunca en iyi hikayeler Mark Waid - Zeb Wells birazda Guggenheim. Big Time dönemin de Mark veya Zeb Wells'i görmek isterdim baş yazar koltuğunda. Unutmadan en kötü hikaye (101) sayı içinden tabi ki yine Joe Quesada'nın.
October 13, 2016
Αδιάφορη πλοκή, κακό artwork, ένα τεύχος που θα μπορούσε να ήταν Batman αντί για spider-man.
Κακοκακοκακό
Κακοκακοκακό
December 11, 2016
I figured out why these stories need an end. They have to keep doing wacky things to keep the story going and it feels silly. A 3 part story arc and then your done - all you need. This was silly.
January 18, 2023
Çizim kalitesi fazla dalgalı. Genel olarak zaten pek hoş olmayan çizimler kendi içlerinde dahi belirli bir standardı yakalayamıyor.
Hikaye oldukça düz ve basit. Lily Norman'dan olan bebeğini doğuruyor. Bu iki goblin kanı taşıyıcısının çocuğu tamamen yeni bir tür olacak. Bu yeni türün peşinde Doc Ock var. Bebeği getiren süper kötüye inanılmaz ödüller vereceğini ilan ediyor, tüm kötüler de bebeğin peşine düşüyor. Spidey bir elinde bebekle oradan oraya kaçıyor. Her şey beklenebileceği şekilde yaşanıyor. Şaşırtması gereken anlar dahi fazla basit. Çok çarpıcı olmasına gerek olmasa da biraz daha süslenebilirmiş.
Doc Ock'un geçmişini anlatan bölüm güzeldi. Aile ilişkilerini, okul hayatını kısa ve öz olarak gördük. Tabii hayata bakışının şekillenişini en çok da.
Spider-Man'in "Yeni Bir Gün" dönemi sona eriyor bu hikayeyle. Pek beğenilmeyen hikayelerle dolu bu dönemin ardında yazar koltuğuna Dan Slott geçiyor. Sonraki ciltler için daha umutluyum.
Hikaye oldukça düz ve basit. Lily Norman'dan olan bebeğini doğuruyor. Bu iki goblin kanı taşıyıcısının çocuğu tamamen yeni bir tür olacak. Bu yeni türün peşinde Doc Ock var. Bebeği getiren süper kötüye inanılmaz ödüller vereceğini ilan ediyor, tüm kötüler de bebeğin peşine düşüyor. Spidey bir elinde bebekle oradan oraya kaçıyor. Her şey beklenebileceği şekilde yaşanıyor. Şaşırtması gereken anlar dahi fazla basit. Çok çarpıcı olmasına gerek olmasa da biraz daha süslenebilirmiş.
Doc Ock'un geçmişini anlatan bölüm güzeldi. Aile ilişkilerini, okul hayatını kısa ve öz olarak gördük. Tabii hayata bakışının şekillenişini en çok da.
Spider-Man'in "Yeni Bir Gün" dönemi sona eriyor bu hikayeyle. Pek beğenilmeyen hikayelerle dolu bu dönemin ardında yazar koltuğuna Dan Slott geçiyor. Sonraki ciltler için daha umutluyum.
March 18, 2021
A breakneck pace with nonstop action for the main story “Origin of the Species.” A self contained tale so you don’t have to know tons of Spidey knowledge going into it. And a complete tale so there’s no loose ends at the end; you’re not compelled to pick up the next volume to find out what happens next if you don’t want to.
The art is decent. I like Azaceta’s layouts and panel compositions. The action seems fluid. Sadly I don’t like his depiction of Spider-Man.
A handful of unrelated short stories fill out the rest of the volume. Some character bios and a cover gallery are bonus material.
The art is decent. I like Azaceta’s layouts and panel compositions. The action seems fluid. Sadly I don’t like his depiction of Spider-Man.
A handful of unrelated short stories fill out the rest of the volume. Some character bios and a cover gallery are bonus material.
January 1, 2018
Origin of the Species Review
Origin of the Species was a very interesting read and had a few twists in the story that I honestly didn't see coming. It was a great story and some of the random side comics were interesting as well.
Origin of the Species was a very interesting read and had a few twists in the story that I honestly didn't see coming. It was a great story and some of the random side comics were interesting as well.
May 3, 2025
3/5
Individual issues rated below -
The Amazing Spider-Man #642: 2.5/5
The Amazing Spider-Man #643: 3/5
The Amazing Spider-Man #644: 3.5/5
The Amazing Spider-Man #645: 4/5
The Amazing Spider-Man #646: 3.5/5
The Amazing Spider-Man #647: 2.5/5
Individual issues rated below -
The Amazing Spider-Man #642: 2.5/5
The Amazing Spider-Man #643: 3/5
The Amazing Spider-Man #644: 3.5/5
The Amazing Spider-Man #645: 4/5
The Amazing Spider-Man #646: 3.5/5
The Amazing Spider-Man #647: 2.5/5
March 19, 2024
Serves as a great ending for the Brand New Day era of Spider-Man comics. Lots of iconic villains getting cool little moments, and as always the soap opera is dialed up to 11. Exactly what I expect from a Spider-Man story.
July 29, 2016
Unworthy of the trees that died to make it. This is one of those graphic novels that has 25% of its space devoted to recaps of other storylines, if that tells you anything. It's assembled with a bunch of it-doesn't-fit-anywhere-else 6-page stories by unprofessional artists who aren't even in the business three years later.
Main story involves Spidey swinging around trying to protect a baby who happens to have a bounty on its head. That's it. Expect 40 pages of the same stuff. The villains who show up to collect the bounty are characterless clods who all happen to repeatedly ram themselves into a building as Spider-Man darts out of the way. It doesn't keep happening because it's funny or entertaining...but rather because the writer just didn't give a shit, figuring this will keep the retards happy until the next Wolverine movie comes out.
You know when someone should have wondered if this was a good story? Back when they were writing it. Before anyone penciled it, before they inked it, before they colored it, before it went to the printer, before it was shipped to the distributor and to the comic shops...someone should have asked, 'Do babies talk?' Because, no, babies don't talk, or do much of anything other than sleep. So putting Spidey in a position where he is swinging around with a 7lb. mute cabbage for an entire graphic novel does not make for good reading subject matter.
The art in the main story, in the opinion of my kid, is 'Poop'...and the kid ain't wrong.
This graphic novel is SO bad that I would recommend that you spend the $20 bucks that you would have spent on it to do something else ... pay your Netflix bill, go to a movie, rent a video game. Yes, this graphic novel is so bad that I am actually suggesting that you use the time and money you would have spent on it to do illiterate things. This is the anti-graphic novel of graphic novels. It should very likely be on the list of 100 Graphic Novels to Avoid, whenever anyone gets around to writing that. You have been warned.
Main story involves Spidey swinging around trying to protect a baby who happens to have a bounty on its head. That's it. Expect 40 pages of the same stuff. The villains who show up to collect the bounty are characterless clods who all happen to repeatedly ram themselves into a building as Spider-Man darts out of the way. It doesn't keep happening because it's funny or entertaining...but rather because the writer just didn't give a shit, figuring this will keep the retards happy until the next Wolverine movie comes out.
You know when someone should have wondered if this was a good story? Back when they were writing it. Before anyone penciled it, before they inked it, before they colored it, before it went to the printer, before it was shipped to the distributor and to the comic shops...someone should have asked, 'Do babies talk?' Because, no, babies don't talk, or do much of anything other than sleep. So putting Spidey in a position where he is swinging around with a 7lb. mute cabbage for an entire graphic novel does not make for good reading subject matter.
The art in the main story, in the opinion of my kid, is 'Poop'...and the kid ain't wrong.
This graphic novel is SO bad that I would recommend that you spend the $20 bucks that you would have spent on it to do something else ... pay your Netflix bill, go to a movie, rent a video game. Yes, this graphic novel is so bad that I am actually suggesting that you use the time and money you would have spent on it to do illiterate things. This is the anti-graphic novel of graphic novels. It should very likely be on the list of 100 Graphic Novels to Avoid, whenever anyone gets around to writing that. You have been warned.
February 27, 2021
I had previously read most of this collection as single issues (only the "Saga" part was new to me and I enjoyed it. Nice recap of stuff couldn't fully remember after all these years.) and must say that I am still not impressed. I am not saying the artwork is horrible but if you cannot even recognize the book's main character something is off.
The issues in here follow the cringe-worthy One Moment In Time and highlight many of the mistakes of the Brand New Day phase of Spider-Man history (most of which later will be resolved in almost an identical fashion to the previous instance editorial felt the need to put Spider-Man "back to basics" and remove Mary Jane from his life.)
Once again Peter is broke and out of work and on the run from a multitude of his villains who mostly get in each other's way instead of actually pooling their resources, so he can defeat them all even though his web-fluid runs out again, too. The villains want the new-born baby of Harry Osborn's ex-fiance, Menace, on the assumption that it must be special with both parents having been changed by the goblin-serum of Norman Osborn who is also supposed to be the infant's father.
SPOILER: Baby McGuffin is not only revealed to be Harry's (not Norman's), but also to be not special at all (yeah, yeah, I know - "All children are special!"). So no "Origin of the Species", after all...
The are some cool moment in here, too, almost all of them Harry Osborn-related (including the Chameleon AS Harry), which leads me to wondering how the pretty decent characterization of post-BND Harrey will be made to mesh with how Kindred is portrayed in current issues of Amazing Spider-Man. (Unless he is not actually Harry Osborn there. I'm still holding out for the possibility Kindred is actually Gwen Stacy...)
The issues in here follow the cringe-worthy One Moment In Time and highlight many of the mistakes of the Brand New Day phase of Spider-Man history (most of which later will be resolved in almost an identical fashion to the previous instance editorial felt the need to put Spider-Man "back to basics" and remove Mary Jane from his life.)
Once again Peter is broke and out of work and on the run from a multitude of his villains who mostly get in each other's way instead of actually pooling their resources, so he can defeat them all even though his web-fluid runs out again, too. The villains want the new-born baby of Harry Osborn's ex-fiance, Menace, on the assumption that it must be special with both parents having been changed by the goblin-serum of Norman Osborn who is also supposed to be the infant's father.
SPOILER: Baby McGuffin is not only revealed to be Harry's (not Norman's), but also to be not special at all (yeah, yeah, I know - "All children are special!"). So no "Origin of the Species", after all...
The are some cool moment in here, too, almost all of them Harry Osborn-related (including the Chameleon AS Harry), which leads me to wondering how the pretty decent characterization of post-BND Harrey will be made to mesh with how Kindred is portrayed in current issues of Amazing Spider-Man. (Unless he is not actually Harry Osborn there. I'm still holding out for the possibility Kindred is actually Gwen Stacy...)
June 6, 2012
Ugh. Once again Waid proves himself as the most overrated writer in comics, only this time with really bad art to go along. Didn't Spidey just spend 20 issues fighting these villains? Now he can take them out in one? Crikey. I did like Pete and Carlie finally hooking up. Here's hoping Carlie ditches the lesbian cut soon though. On a side note, Geoff Johns would be an awesome Spidey writer because he would think of new cool things for Spidey's instead of making them rose or making up his own villains. The comic world would be a better place if Johns would just write Flash and Amazing, the books he is suited for much better than Green Lantern. Sigh.
May 28, 2013
Wow, what a brutal way to treat Peter Parker *and* Spidey. Waid really piles it on our hero in this book, putting him through as heavy a wringer as I could imagine - the only part he skipped was dropping an anvil on his head.
I liked where Spidey went with it when things turned very bad, and I was sad to see it resolve so quickly thereafter (or did it?).
The art was pretty terrible - consistent, so it didn't look like a rush job so much as a style I can't get into, but just looked sloppy and not in a stylish way.
I liked where Spidey went with it when things turned very bad, and I was sad to see it resolve so quickly thereafter (or did it?).
The art was pretty terrible - consistent, so it didn't look like a rush job so much as a style I can't get into, but just looked sloppy and not in a stylish way.
March 8, 2019
Reprints Amazing Spider-Man (2) #642-647, Web of Spider-Man (2) #12, and Spider-Man Saga (November 2010-December 2010). Menace is about to give birth to her child, and the son of Menace and Norman Osborn could be a biological combination that could be sold to the highest bidders. With the baby targeted and only Spider-Man able to defend it, Spider-Man finds himself the target the media who thinks he is somehow the real threat to the child…but Spider-Man could make another discovery that could change everything.
Written by Mark Waid with back-up stories by Roger Stern, Fred Van Lente, Zeb Wells, Bob Gale, Joe Kelly, Marc Guggenheim, and Dan Slott, Spider-Man: Origin of the Species is a Marvel Comics superhero comic book. Following Spider-Man: One Moment in Time, the collection features art by Paul Azaceta, Matthew Southworth, Philippe Briones, Max Fiumara, Michael Del Mundo, Karl Kesel, J.M. Ken Niimura, Paul Azaceta, Graham Nolan, Mark Pennington, and Adam Archer.
At this point, Spider-Man has been kind of hit or miss. It doesn’t necessarily feel like “my” Spider-Man, but it also isn’t as bad as some of the storylines that cropped up in the ’90s (especially in Amazing Spider-Man’s spin-off titles). Spider-Man: Origin of the Species just feels like another typical story.
Both Brand New Day and One Moment in Time were rather controversial Spider-Man storylines and this volume tries to rebound from the story by telling a more traditional Spider-Man tale. Though it is not written by Slott, it is generally a real continuation of Slott’s storyline and characters that he helped create and round. The story essentially serves as a mean to wrap-up the Harry Osborn story for the time being.
Though I kind of liked the idea of Spider-Man’s biggest villains teaming-up under the control of Doctor Octopus, I felt that the ending of the collection was kind of a cop-out. Throughout the story, Spider-Man is trying to keep a newborn infant safe while swinging through the city. Rightfully so, people take notice of the event and accuse him of child endangerment. The ending just has Captain America saying a few words and everything goes away…it isn’t that different from Mephisto changing reality because it also doesn’t seem that realistic.
This collection ends up being essentially a filler story. Fortunately, if you read Spider-Man as a monthly comic at the time, you probably wouldn’t know this, but if you are playing “catch-up”, the story takes a big turn next volume and has Peter getting his life together. The wrap-up of the Menace-Harry Osborn-Norman Osborn story was necessary, but aspects seemed unsatisfying. The next collection of Spider-Man changes things again by bringing back Dan Slott as the full time writer and launching the Big Time storyline which runs for a number of issues. Spider-Man: Origin of the Species is followed by Spider-Man: Big Time.
Written by Mark Waid with back-up stories by Roger Stern, Fred Van Lente, Zeb Wells, Bob Gale, Joe Kelly, Marc Guggenheim, and Dan Slott, Spider-Man: Origin of the Species is a Marvel Comics superhero comic book. Following Spider-Man: One Moment in Time, the collection features art by Paul Azaceta, Matthew Southworth, Philippe Briones, Max Fiumara, Michael Del Mundo, Karl Kesel, J.M. Ken Niimura, Paul Azaceta, Graham Nolan, Mark Pennington, and Adam Archer.
At this point, Spider-Man has been kind of hit or miss. It doesn’t necessarily feel like “my” Spider-Man, but it also isn’t as bad as some of the storylines that cropped up in the ’90s (especially in Amazing Spider-Man’s spin-off titles). Spider-Man: Origin of the Species just feels like another typical story.
Both Brand New Day and One Moment in Time were rather controversial Spider-Man storylines and this volume tries to rebound from the story by telling a more traditional Spider-Man tale. Though it is not written by Slott, it is generally a real continuation of Slott’s storyline and characters that he helped create and round. The story essentially serves as a mean to wrap-up the Harry Osborn story for the time being.
Though I kind of liked the idea of Spider-Man’s biggest villains teaming-up under the control of Doctor Octopus, I felt that the ending of the collection was kind of a cop-out. Throughout the story, Spider-Man is trying to keep a newborn infant safe while swinging through the city. Rightfully so, people take notice of the event and accuse him of child endangerment. The ending just has Captain America saying a few words and everything goes away…it isn’t that different from Mephisto changing reality because it also doesn’t seem that realistic.
This collection ends up being essentially a filler story. Fortunately, if you read Spider-Man as a monthly comic at the time, you probably wouldn’t know this, but if you are playing “catch-up”, the story takes a big turn next volume and has Peter getting his life together. The wrap-up of the Menace-Harry Osborn-Norman Osborn story was necessary, but aspects seemed unsatisfying. The next collection of Spider-Man changes things again by bringing back Dan Slott as the full time writer and launching the Big Time storyline which runs for a number of issues. Spider-Man: Origin of the Species is followed by Spider-Man: Big Time.
January 8, 2021
Origin of the Species is an extremely average Spider-Man collection brought down by some very Brand New Day-era choices.
The "Origin of the Species" story arc in itself isn't really terrible, but it is certainly protracted and is a rather bizarre send-off for the Brand New Day era as a whole. It doesn't really feel like it's capping anything off, and the only real change to the status quo present is that we find out that Harry has another son now. The ending to this arc especially feels extremely unearned, and tacked-on simply because this was the end of an era.
What really brings this collection down, though, is the final issue of the Brand New Day period, being ASM 647. It certainly is a Brand New Day issue, all right: rife with idiotic choices and elevating characters that no one really cares about whatsoever, just to stomp on what makes Spider-Man interesting or good in the first place. Carlie is made into a raging, narcissistic person who seems to think Peter owes her a relationship; Norah Winters is casted as this amazing, needed reporter out of nowhere; we pretend Overdrive is at all an important member of the Spider-Man rogues' gallery for a minute; and Peter just doormats everything and lets everyone else walk all over him, as was his wont during this entire stretch of horrible BND stories.
Read only if you're a completist. Thank God this era ended before it could ruin everything about the character (not that Dan Slott didn't try).
The "Origin of the Species" story arc in itself isn't really terrible, but it is certainly protracted and is a rather bizarre send-off for the Brand New Day era as a whole. It doesn't really feel like it's capping anything off, and the only real change to the status quo present is that we find out that Harry has another son now. The ending to this arc especially feels extremely unearned, and tacked-on simply because this was the end of an era.
What really brings this collection down, though, is the final issue of the Brand New Day period, being ASM 647. It certainly is a Brand New Day issue, all right: rife with idiotic choices and elevating characters that no one really cares about whatsoever, just to stomp on what makes Spider-Man interesting or good in the first place. Carlie is made into a raging, narcissistic person who seems to think Peter owes her a relationship; Norah Winters is casted as this amazing, needed reporter out of nowhere; we pretend Overdrive is at all an important member of the Spider-Man rogues' gallery for a minute; and Peter just doormats everything and lets everyone else walk all over him, as was his wont during this entire stretch of horrible BND stories.
Read only if you're a completist. Thank God this era ended before it could ruin everything about the character (not that Dan Slott didn't try).
April 25, 2024
The main arc by Mark Waid is solid stuff, even if the artwork by Paul Aazteca is merely competent. It's not horrible, but I feel that Marvel's flagship title and character should have top level talent on it. Someone like Marcos Martin, Pablo Rivera, Alan Davis, John Romita, Jr., or any other artist of that caliber.
This arc marks the end of the Brand New Day era of Amazing Spider-Man, which lasted for 102 issues. While this era has been among the most polarizing in Spider-Man's career, I have enjoyed it immensely. I feel that the 'Spidey Brain Trust' really got to the core of what this character is about. There has been plenty of heart, character development both for Peter Parker as well as Spider-Man, and a supporting cast that I actually cared enough about to remember their names.
There are more editors on Marvel Comics than there are creators these days. Whatever happened to having an editor and an editor-in-chief? Now there are six or so editors. Ridiculous. Speaking of ridiculous, look at the asinine variant covers in the back of the book. Vampire variants? Superhero Squad variants? Terrible. Variants are lame, because they are listed as “incentives” for retailers who make their order numbers. They usually fall in the 1:50, 1:100, or 1:200 range, and the dealers jack up the prices on these variants and throw the rest of their excess stock in their dollar boxes at conventions.
This arc marks the end of the Brand New Day era of Amazing Spider-Man, which lasted for 102 issues. While this era has been among the most polarizing in Spider-Man's career, I have enjoyed it immensely. I feel that the 'Spidey Brain Trust' really got to the core of what this character is about. There has been plenty of heart, character development both for Peter Parker as well as Spider-Man, and a supporting cast that I actually cared enough about to remember their names.
There are more editors on Marvel Comics than there are creators these days. Whatever happened to having an editor and an editor-in-chief? Now there are six or so editors. Ridiculous. Speaking of ridiculous, look at the asinine variant covers in the back of the book. Vampire variants? Superhero Squad variants? Terrible. Variants are lame, because they are listed as “incentives” for retailers who make their order numbers. They usually fall in the 1:50, 1:100, or 1:200 range, and the dealers jack up the prices on these variants and throw the rest of their excess stock in their dollar boxes at conventions.
August 22, 2025
"IT'S HOTTER THAN THE HINGES ON THE GATES OF HELL OUTSIDE! OH, AND SATAN SAYS HELLO AND HE MISSES YOU, BY THE WAY!"
- Peter reporting the weather to his favorite roommate Michelle.
"WISCONSIN CHEESE IS OVERRATED."
- Spider-Man. A basic New Yorker.
Harry Osborn's crazy super-villain ex(?)girlfriend, Lily "Menace" Hollister, is pregnant with Norman Osborn's baby. A terminally-old Doctor Octopus sends every bady guy in Spider-Man's rogues gallery to get that baby, the moment it's born. Spidey gets to be a midwife.
Doc Ock retelling his origins.
Then, an entire issue of shorts: Peter loses his spidey suit and has to wear a "Spider-Man Halloween costume." Pete's former roommate, Vin, finally gets out of jail, but something unexpected happened to him. Harry beats someone's ass. Mayor Jameson passes a stupid law. Norah Winters decides to leave NYC, or does she? Flash beats some ass, from his wheelchair. And we get some more of that girl who tried to seduce Peter back in issue #546.
And we close with an illustrated "saga" of everything that's happened to Spidey, and cast, since One More Day. In the unlikely event that you DIDN'T read the whole series straight through.
Consistently good stuff. Four stars.
- Peter reporting the weather to his favorite roommate Michelle.
"WISCONSIN CHEESE IS OVERRATED."
- Spider-Man. A basic New Yorker.
Harry Osborn's crazy super-villain ex(?)girlfriend, Lily "Menace" Hollister, is pregnant with Norman Osborn's baby. A terminally-old Doctor Octopus sends every bady guy in Spider-Man's rogues gallery to get that baby, the moment it's born. Spidey gets to be a midwife.
Doc Ock retelling his origins.
Then, an entire issue of shorts: Peter loses his spidey suit and has to wear a "Spider-Man Halloween costume." Pete's former roommate, Vin, finally gets out of jail, but something unexpected happened to him. Harry beats someone's ass. Mayor Jameson passes a stupid law. Norah Winters decides to leave NYC, or does she? Flash beats some ass, from his wheelchair. And we get some more of that girl who tried to seduce Peter back in issue #546.
And we close with an illustrated "saga" of everything that's happened to Spidey, and cast, since One More Day. In the unlikely event that you DIDN'T read the whole series straight through.
Consistently good stuff. Four stars.
May 4, 2020
I've been all over the place with this particular run of the Amazing Spider-Man title, but this book nicely brought things home in terms of what we expect from Spider-Man and elevated a lot of the twists and turns of the past volumes into clever innovations in this book. Sure, the everyone-against-Spider-Man bit is a little old hat and has a tendency to go crazy, but this volume managed to balance things in a manner that was entertaining and not necessarily overwhelming.
Things wrapped up with an odd annual issue, but just as well I suppose. It's not an amazing book, but it's a good one and it certainly helped things move forward.
Things wrapped up with an odd annual issue, but just as well I suppose. It's not an amazing book, but it's a good one and it certainly helped things move forward.
November 15, 2023
2.5 stars total.
3.5 stars = story
1.5 stars = art
Story is very basic Spidey. All the Parker bad luck.... lady troubles.... financial troubles.... low self- esteem...etc. HOWEVER picks up when Spidey hits the wall and just gets pissed it becomes very interesting as his fisticuffs become brutal. He even snaps one villain's wrist bone.
The art is just not good. My eyes struggled to make sense of any flow of action as well as difficult to recognize who was who.
If you are looking for a good Spidey read, I would pass on this unless you are a completist.
3.5 stars = story
1.5 stars = art
Story is very basic Spidey. All the Parker bad luck.... lady troubles.... financial troubles.... low self- esteem...etc. HOWEVER picks up when Spidey hits the wall and just gets pissed it becomes very interesting as his fisticuffs become brutal. He even snaps one villain's wrist bone.
The art is just not good. My eyes struggled to make sense of any flow of action as well as difficult to recognize who was who.
If you are looking for a good Spidey read, I would pass on this unless you are a completist.
May 11, 2022
This trade just bored me and the stuff that wasn’t boring was just unnecessary fluff (looking at you last issue full of side stories).
I’m done with this group of friends. Vin, Michele, Carlie. They all seem like they do the same thing every issue.
Also, Spider-Man swinging around with a Lily’s baby? It sounds like I’m making up something wacky but that actually happens.
My journey through Amazing continues but this trade was not for me.
For these reasons, I’m giving this 2 stars.
I’m done with this group of friends. Vin, Michele, Carlie. They all seem like they do the same thing every issue.
Also, Spider-Man swinging around with a Lily’s baby? It sounds like I’m making up something wacky but that actually happens.
My journey through Amazing continues but this trade was not for me.
For these reasons, I’m giving this 2 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2018
I love Spiderman so this was very enjoyable. Some of the quotes in here were so cheesy and bad in a good way :P I was kind of bored with the storyline, but the pictures and the characters kept me interested enough. I did not like the art style for the last story, so I didn't read that one, but the rest were beautiful in terms of art style.
December 22, 2018
Horrendous. The storyline is terrible; I couldn't read it. I tried for a few pages, then started skimming, but at no point did it interest me enough for me to resume reading.
The back of the book condenses the "Brand New Day" storyline into 15 pages, starting with the end of Civil War.
The back of the book condenses the "Brand New Day" storyline into 15 pages, starting with the end of Civil War.
January 6, 2019
The season finale of the Spidey Brain Trust era, and a very good one at that. Feels like what The Gauntlet and Grim Hunt should've been - a dense, wearying chase as Spider-Man is beset all sides by pretty much his entire rogues' gallery. Snappy writing and great art throughout. Just really enjoyable comic-book-ass comics!
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