What do you think?
Rate this book
The Amazing Spider-Man: The Complete Alien Costume Saga
The Amazing Spider-Man: The Complete Alien Costume Saga, Book One
Collects Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #252-258, Marvel Team-Up (1972) #141-145 And Annual #7, And Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #90-95.
When Spider-Man returns from the Secret Wars with a snazzy new black suit, he’s faster and stronger — and has an unending inbuilt supply of webbing! All the better for tussling with foes such as the Rose, Black Fox, Red Ghost, Jack O’Lantern, Puma and the Blob! Not only that, but he’s dressed to impress the Black Cat, too — much to Mary Jane’s dismay. But there’s something about Peter that’s not quite right. Curse that ol’ Parker luck, the black costume just happens to be a hungry alien symbiote — and it’s grown very attached to him! Savor a chronological retelling of Spider-Man’s epic wardrobe malfunction, told across the three Spidey titles of the era!
When Spider-Man returns from the Secret Wars with a snazzy new black suit, he’s faster and stronger — and has an unending inbuilt supply of webbing! All the better for tussling with foes such as the Rose, Black Fox, Red Ghost, Jack O’Lantern, Puma and the Blob! Not only that, but he’s dressed to impress the Black Cat, too — much to Mary Jane’s dismay. But there’s something about Peter that’s not quite right. Curse that ol’ Parker luck, the black costume just happens to be a hungry alien symbiote — and it’s grown very attached to him! Savor a chronological retelling of Spider-Man’s epic wardrobe malfunction, told across the three Spidey titles of the era!
488 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 1984
20 people are currently reading
125 people want to read
About the author
Tom DeFalco
2,479 books108 followersTom DeFalco is an American comics writer and editor, well-known for his association with Marvel Comics and Spider-Man.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
December 15, 2015
This book starts with Spidey in Battleworld, during the original Secret Wars, with a need for costume repair...he mistakenly uses the wrong machine, and ends up with a living costume with a mind of its own, that follows his will...to begin with...
Some of the actual story lines are ho hum, but there's a lot of team ups (Daredevil, Black Widow, Alpha Flight, Captain Marvel (the shit one) Starfox, Cloak and Dagger, Jim Rhodes Iron Man, Moon Knight) and they're mostly pretty fun, and written to not be totally unbelievable.
There's also a lot of villains here: Kingpin, Hobgoblin, Jack O'Lantern, the Blob, the Collector, Silvermane, the Answer, The Rose, Puma, Blacklash- former Whiplash, Red Ghost.
This is 3 titles in one; ASM, Peter Parker: The Sensational Spider-Man and Marvel Team-Up, over a 4-5 month stretch, the beginnings of the Tom DeFalco run.
So much happens here, in fact, I didn't know this stuff was over 30yrs ago...Harry Osborne is sane and married, Spidey and Black Cat are hooked up, and Mary Jane only appears near the end of the book. Flash Thompson is having problems, JJJ has given the editorship of the
Bugle to Robbie, Peter has dropped out of grad school and as a result, Aunt May won't talk to him.
The most interesting stuff is the change in Peter, more confident, fewer jokes, more aggressive, and the new costume. His Black Cat romance is odd because she hates Peter, only liked Spider, and refers to herself as Cat, never Felicia....she's also hiding that she made a deal with Kingpin to get super powers in exchange for helping him when he wants....
One of the more interesting team ups is with Moon Knight, and a solid storyline there.
The curio is JiM Rhodes as Iron Man, but that issue is more about the tragicomic life of the Blacklash villain, and his insanity, sadness and how being crazy and a supervillain has screwed his life. I'm impressed at the maturity level of a lot of stories here, in mid 1984, and I can see how Spidey was the standard barer of Marvel.
The coolest bit? The end has Peter finally go to the FF and have Reed examine his suit...they remove it from him using pulse gun tech, and when he leaves, he had to borrow an old FF outfit and a paper bag on his head, along with a "Kick Me" sign courtesy of Johnny. This explains the character in Marvel Puzzle Quest! I love it.
4.5 stars for awesomeness and historical significance...
Some of the actual story lines are ho hum, but there's a lot of team ups (Daredevil, Black Widow, Alpha Flight, Captain Marvel (the shit one) Starfox, Cloak and Dagger, Jim Rhodes Iron Man, Moon Knight) and they're mostly pretty fun, and written to not be totally unbelievable.
There's also a lot of villains here: Kingpin, Hobgoblin, Jack O'Lantern, the Blob, the Collector, Silvermane, the Answer, The Rose, Puma, Blacklash- former Whiplash, Red Ghost.
This is 3 titles in one; ASM, Peter Parker: The Sensational Spider-Man and Marvel Team-Up, over a 4-5 month stretch, the beginnings of the Tom DeFalco run.
So much happens here, in fact, I didn't know this stuff was over 30yrs ago...Harry Osborne is sane and married, Spidey and Black Cat are hooked up, and Mary Jane only appears near the end of the book. Flash Thompson is having problems, JJJ has given the editorship of the
Bugle to Robbie, Peter has dropped out of grad school and as a result, Aunt May won't talk to him.
The most interesting stuff is the change in Peter, more confident, fewer jokes, more aggressive, and the new costume. His Black Cat romance is odd because she hates Peter, only liked Spider, and refers to herself as Cat, never Felicia....she's also hiding that she made a deal with Kingpin to get super powers in exchange for helping him when he wants....
One of the more interesting team ups is with Moon Knight, and a solid storyline there.
The curio is JiM Rhodes as Iron Man, but that issue is more about the tragicomic life of the Blacklash villain, and his insanity, sadness and how being crazy and a supervillain has screwed his life. I'm impressed at the maturity level of a lot of stories here, in mid 1984, and I can see how Spidey was the standard barer of Marvel.
The coolest bit? The end has Peter finally go to the FF and have Reed examine his suit...they remove it from him using pulse gun tech, and when he leaves, he had to borrow an old FF outfit and a paper bag on his head, along with a "Kick Me" sign courtesy of Johnny. This explains the character in Marvel Puzzle Quest! I love it.
4.5 stars for awesomeness and historical significance...
October 22, 2014
As most collections of classic stories are, this group of stories set just after Spidey gets his notorious black costume are indicative of the era, but enjoyable enough. There's a palpable difference in tone between the three titles, with Amazing being the more straight forward superheroics, Spectacular dealing a lot more with the Black Cat, and Team-Up, the weakest of the three, being the more farfetched and 'out there' with regards to plots. Spectacular takes the crown for most of the book, though the final few Amazing issues bring the Black Costume story to a head and leave you wanting more so they're a standout too, whilst most of the Team-Up issues are at best forgettable and at worst over-exposited borefests like the annual.
April 6, 2019
This book collects about six months worth of Spider-man comics across three titles when he returned from the Secret Wars saga with an alien costume.
The actual costume is in all three books but doesn't play as major a role as you would expect, particularly if you grew up on Spider-man stories where the Black costume enhanced his powers. None of that is represented here. The suit is there, but the real twist doesn't come up until the last two issues of Amazing in the book and a little in the last Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man story. Since the storyline didn't cross much, the best way to look at by is according to the particular magazine:
Amazing Spider-man #252-#258: It begins with Spidey's triumphant return from the Secret War, where all those returning have agreed not to tell the rest of humanity what happened but to tease it at lot so the readers would go out and buy Secret Wars. #258 is a great start to Tom DeFalco's full-fledged on Amazing. However, the book follows with more seeming random villain of the month stuff as Spidey encounters a Football tempted to go crooked in #253, battles the Jack-o-Lantern #254, and faces off against the Red Ghost in #255. There is some connection between these and the ongoing which begins to emerge with #256 when the new Supervillain the Rose hires the Puma to assassinate Spider-man which conflicts with what Kingpin's doing in Petar Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man. We also see Mary Jane re-asserting herself and get a shocking revelation from here. The real core of addressing the costume itself, comes in about half of Issue #258, though that does have some iconic art and it also features the disturbing image of the costume taking Spider-man's body out webslinging without his knowledge.
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man (#90-#95); To me, this is the most interesting magazine in the book. The key point is that in order to pull her wait as part of a team with Spider-man, Black Cat acquired superpowers and she got them from the Kingpin. Her powers allow her to change the luck of anyone who attacks her. However, she's keeping a secret from her erstwhile lover Spider-man. The Kingpin is really working a plan, though we don't get to see how it all plays out in this book, but he's manipulating so many figures and is aided by the Answer, a guy who makes a superb henchman known as the Answer. Cloak and Dagger become involved and we leave with the story not quite resolved.
Marvel Team-Up (#141-145 and Annual #7): The Spider-man team-up book is the weak link. Not only doesn't the title address the costume much, it's clear that this team-up title has become obligatory more than anything else. That's not to say the stories are all bad, but qualitywise, it's a bit of a crapshoot. There's a pretty good team up with Daredevil, though it seems to be continuing from previous stories. There's a decent two-parter between Spider-man and Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) and Star Fox to save the World and then save an Avenger. Then, there's a fair team-up with Moon Knight. The last Annual with Alpha Flight is a bit dull and tedious, and the final team-up between Spider-man and Jim Rhones which is actually a story to make us feel bad for wailed villain Whiplash is painful to read.
Overall, though the goodness of Amazing and Spectacular covers for the lackluster team up and this is a very solid era for Spidey comics even if the Alien costume seems tenuous at best.
The actual costume is in all three books but doesn't play as major a role as you would expect, particularly if you grew up on Spider-man stories where the Black costume enhanced his powers. None of that is represented here. The suit is there, but the real twist doesn't come up until the last two issues of Amazing in the book and a little in the last Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man story. Since the storyline didn't cross much, the best way to look at by is according to the particular magazine:
Amazing Spider-man #252-#258: It begins with Spidey's triumphant return from the Secret War, where all those returning have agreed not to tell the rest of humanity what happened but to tease it at lot so the readers would go out and buy Secret Wars. #258 is a great start to Tom DeFalco's full-fledged on Amazing. However, the book follows with more seeming random villain of the month stuff as Spidey encounters a Football tempted to go crooked in #253, battles the Jack-o-Lantern #254, and faces off against the Red Ghost in #255. There is some connection between these and the ongoing which begins to emerge with #256 when the new Supervillain the Rose hires the Puma to assassinate Spider-man which conflicts with what Kingpin's doing in Petar Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man. We also see Mary Jane re-asserting herself and get a shocking revelation from here. The real core of addressing the costume itself, comes in about half of Issue #258, though that does have some iconic art and it also features the disturbing image of the costume taking Spider-man's body out webslinging without his knowledge.
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man (#90-#95); To me, this is the most interesting magazine in the book. The key point is that in order to pull her wait as part of a team with Spider-man, Black Cat acquired superpowers and she got them from the Kingpin. Her powers allow her to change the luck of anyone who attacks her. However, she's keeping a secret from her erstwhile lover Spider-man. The Kingpin is really working a plan, though we don't get to see how it all plays out in this book, but he's manipulating so many figures and is aided by the Answer, a guy who makes a superb henchman known as the Answer. Cloak and Dagger become involved and we leave with the story not quite resolved.
Marvel Team-Up (#141-145 and Annual #7): The Spider-man team-up book is the weak link. Not only doesn't the title address the costume much, it's clear that this team-up title has become obligatory more than anything else. That's not to say the stories are all bad, but qualitywise, it's a bit of a crapshoot. There's a pretty good team up with Daredevil, though it seems to be continuing from previous stories. There's a decent two-parter between Spider-man and Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) and Star Fox to save the World and then save an Avenger. Then, there's a fair team-up with Moon Knight. The last Annual with Alpha Flight is a bit dull and tedious, and the final team-up between Spider-man and Jim Rhones which is actually a story to make us feel bad for wailed villain Whiplash is painful to read.
Overall, though the goodness of Amazing and Spectacular covers for the lackluster team up and this is a very solid era for Spidey comics even if the Alien costume seems tenuous at best.
September 26, 2023
God bless Marvel's collected editions program. If you sit back and look you can see the pieces of the puzzle being assembled across multiple formats. The Spider-Man By Roger Stern Omnibus bumps right up to these two chunky trades which bump into the Epic line. You can get almost four straight years of Amazing Spider-Man, with the gaps before and after those years being rapidly filled in.
Back in 2003 I stumbled upon the Essential line at the now-defunct Borders Books And Music in Oakland Mall. I dreamed of owning the entire run of Amazing Spider-Man in such a format. Within the next few years we will likely have the first 30 years of Amazing Spider-Man completely restored and available in collected editions.
Journey into nostalgia with me as we head back to the magical land of 1984, where a 10 year old kid was spinning the spinner rack at 7-11 around on a cold wintry day that February and stumbled upon a bizarre cover: Amazing Spider-Man #252. Try to imagine (or remember if you are old enough) a world with little access to the Direct Market (comics specialty shops as they were referred to at the time), no real media hype or interest when changes happened to canonical characters, and actual honest to gosh surprise when you saw the issue cover and had no idea what was about to happen. It was magic. Each issue was the moment that you lived in. No past, no future, only the current issue on the spinner rack determined if a series lived or died.
I read all of the new Amazing Spider-Man issues dozens of times in 1984. I started picking up Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man with #92 and read it monthly through 1989. Aside from the Annual, all of these Marvel Team-Up issues were new to me. I wouldn't pick that series up until #147 that fall.
I loved watching the entire saga unfold, with Peter learning about the costume along the way. #258 blew my mind when it came out. I was also reading Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars back then. Many people erroneously claim that Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars #8 was the first appearance of the black alien costume symbiote. This is false. ASM #252 was the first issue that the costume appeared in.
Puma was a favorite of mine when he was introduced. I loved watching The Answer/Black Cat/Kingpin/Silvermane/Cloak And Dagger saga unfold over in Peter Parker,The Spectacular Spider-Man. These are some of my all-time favorite comic books even if I realize that they are not among the greatest comic books ever made in a big picture sense.
The solitary nature of this hobby circa 1984 is something a fan could never have today. Spinner racks with no Previews (or even Marvel Age, which at the time was a comic shop exclusive), no Internet to discuss and speculate, only the imagination of a 10-going-on-11 year old kid driving things. While I love the Internet and interacting with other fans, I really feel that this hobby (and the world in general) traded off a lot of things in the process for better and sometimes worse. It is what it is, but I'm glad that I was a kid in the old world. And I am glad that I was there when these comic books were originally released.
Back in 2003 I stumbled upon the Essential line at the now-defunct Borders Books And Music in Oakland Mall. I dreamed of owning the entire run of Amazing Spider-Man in such a format. Within the next few years we will likely have the first 30 years of Amazing Spider-Man completely restored and available in collected editions.
Journey into nostalgia with me as we head back to the magical land of 1984, where a 10 year old kid was spinning the spinner rack at 7-11 around on a cold wintry day that February and stumbled upon a bizarre cover: Amazing Spider-Man #252. Try to imagine (or remember if you are old enough) a world with little access to the Direct Market (comics specialty shops as they were referred to at the time), no real media hype or interest when changes happened to canonical characters, and actual honest to gosh surprise when you saw the issue cover and had no idea what was about to happen. It was magic. Each issue was the moment that you lived in. No past, no future, only the current issue on the spinner rack determined if a series lived or died.
I read all of the new Amazing Spider-Man issues dozens of times in 1984. I started picking up Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man with #92 and read it monthly through 1989. Aside from the Annual, all of these Marvel Team-Up issues were new to me. I wouldn't pick that series up until #147 that fall.
I loved watching the entire saga unfold, with Peter learning about the costume along the way. #258 blew my mind when it came out. I was also reading Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars back then. Many people erroneously claim that Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars #8 was the first appearance of the black alien costume symbiote. This is false. ASM #252 was the first issue that the costume appeared in.
Puma was a favorite of mine when he was introduced. I loved watching The Answer/Black Cat/Kingpin/Silvermane/Cloak And Dagger saga unfold over in Peter Parker,The Spectacular Spider-Man. These are some of my all-time favorite comic books even if I realize that they are not among the greatest comic books ever made in a big picture sense.
The solitary nature of this hobby circa 1984 is something a fan could never have today. Spinner racks with no Previews (or even Marvel Age, which at the time was a comic shop exclusive), no Internet to discuss and speculate, only the imagination of a 10-going-on-11 year old kid driving things. While I love the Internet and interacting with other fans, I really feel that this hobby (and the world in general) traded off a lot of things in the process for better and sometimes worse. It is what it is, but I'm glad that I was a kid in the old world. And I am glad that I was there when these comic books were originally released.
July 13, 2020
El título podría ser engañoso. Cuando uno piensa en el traje negro de Spider-man, piensa en Venom también. Y piensa en aquella relación simbiótica entre spidey y su traje. En este primer extenso tomo, vemos las primeras aventuras del traje de Spidey.
Si quieres realmente el origen del traje, sucede en Secret Wars, pero este tomo nos presenta las páginas dónde eso sucede. Y después de eso se arranca directamente con el regreso de Peter tras los sucesos de Battleworld. Este tomo trae como 19 números y aunque son historias entretenidas donde vemos a spidey hacer team up con otros personajes y enfrentarse a varios villanos, no lo vemos lidiar realmente con su traje.
Los últimos números fueron mis favoritos porque vemos el retorno de Mary Jane, vemos a Spidey acercarse al secreto de Black Cat, vemos a Kingpin enfrentarse con La Rosa, vemos un poco más de la Respuesta y de Puma y vemos el retorno triunfal de Hobgoblin.
Además de que es en el último número dónde finalmente Spidey decide analizar su traje y saber qué está sucediendo. Es en este número dónde se crea The Amazing Bagman y eso fue entretenido de ver y es un pedazo de historia graciosa de los cómics.
Todo apunta a que en el segundo tomo es dónde sucederá realmente las cosas que sabemos que pasan con Eddie Brock, espero porque nunca he leído esa historia y de verdad me gustaría verlo.
La relación con Mary Jane también parece que va a suceder en el siguiente tomo y eso siempre es bueno de ver.
En general me entretuvo, es pesado de leer porque tiene muchos diálogos como es costumbre de estos cómics de los 80s, pero las historias me mantuvieron entretenido y es bueno presenciar ese suceso histórico del cambio de traje porque son muy pocas veces que vemos un cambio tan radical en un personaje tan protagónico y famoso como lo es Spiderman.
Si quieres realmente el origen del traje, sucede en Secret Wars, pero este tomo nos presenta las páginas dónde eso sucede. Y después de eso se arranca directamente con el regreso de Peter tras los sucesos de Battleworld. Este tomo trae como 19 números y aunque son historias entretenidas donde vemos a spidey hacer team up con otros personajes y enfrentarse a varios villanos, no lo vemos lidiar realmente con su traje.
Los últimos números fueron mis favoritos porque vemos el retorno de Mary Jane, vemos a Spidey acercarse al secreto de Black Cat, vemos a Kingpin enfrentarse con La Rosa, vemos un poco más de la Respuesta y de Puma y vemos el retorno triunfal de Hobgoblin.
Además de que es en el último número dónde finalmente Spidey decide analizar su traje y saber qué está sucediendo. Es en este número dónde se crea The Amazing Bagman y eso fue entretenido de ver y es un pedazo de historia graciosa de los cómics.
Todo apunta a que en el segundo tomo es dónde sucederá realmente las cosas que sabemos que pasan con Eddie Brock, espero porque nunca he leído esa historia y de verdad me gustaría verlo.
La relación con Mary Jane también parece que va a suceder en el siguiente tomo y eso siempre es bueno de ver.
En general me entretuvo, es pesado de leer porque tiene muchos diálogos como es costumbre de estos cómics de los 80s, pero las historias me mantuvieron entretenido y es bueno presenciar ese suceso histórico del cambio de traje porque son muy pocas veces que vemos un cambio tan radical en un personaje tan protagónico y famoso como lo es Spiderman.
August 29, 2018
I decided to read this series in an attempt to learn more about the origin of Venom. It was pretty fun (over 500 pages!). Spider-Man was always a childhood favorite of mine; I loved the super hero that had to struggle with paying his rent, repairing his equipment, and general day to day issues that arise when you have family and significant others.
The stories are fairly simple, with any number of helpful super hero cameos and a list of villains that's just as long. I can't say that these are moving or powerful tales, but instead they are easy places to escape to. The good guy always wins.
I am continuing my quest, and reading the second volume.
The stories are fairly simple, with any number of helpful super hero cameos and a list of villains that's just as long. I can't say that these are moving or powerful tales, but instead they are easy places to escape to. The good guy always wins.
I am continuing my quest, and reading the second volume.
November 16, 2022
The Complete Alien Constume Saga is a edge of the seat ride from the start! The Complete Alien Constume Saga is filled with heroics, eye popping visuals, daring do, aliens, characters popping up everywhere, relentless pacing, great panels, world building, outrageous great humour, three-dimensional characters, great art, alien conspiracies, nosy landladies, rocket packs, journalism, social goings on, old and new plots, alien constumes, reporting, cunning twists, easter eggs, cinematic vistas, web swinging, full on adventure and action! Brilliant and highly recommended! Crisp high five! Get it when you can! :D
May 22, 2017
Spider-Man is easily my favourite super-hero, but boy, did it seem like it took forever for his series' writing to evolve. It's very much a strange mish-mish of silver age styling with bronze age storytelling. If you're very interested in the Alien Costume, pick this up, if you're just in it for Spider-Man and his supporting cast like MJ, wait for the Epic Collection that will cover these issues. If you don't particularly care for Black Cat or don't have any patience for Aunt May being held up as a saint when she's a judgmental busy body? Avoid at all costs.
May 1, 2023
I love the Alien Costume but had never gotten all of it in one place before, so it was great to read it all from beginning to end. My one complaint, which I understand was necessary given the original format, is that it gets SUPER old reading "This suit is amazing because... and Reed Richards said... and I got it on an alien planet*... *see Secret Wars!" in the first couple panels of every. single. issue. :)
May 7, 2023
Spidey at his darkest
This collection tells the earliest tales of the Black suit. Some oddities, but mostly hits! Great artwork throughout, plus the introduction of the Puma (a personal favorite).
An epic and necessary read!
Cloak, Dagger, Black Cat, Hobgoblin, MJ, The Rose, Kingpin, Daredevil, Black Widow, Moon Knight, so many amazing characters in this run, you gotta check it out!
This collection tells the earliest tales of the Black suit. Some oddities, but mostly hits! Great artwork throughout, plus the introduction of the Puma (a personal favorite).
An epic and necessary read!
Cloak, Dagger, Black Cat, Hobgoblin, MJ, The Rose, Kingpin, Daredevil, Black Widow, Moon Knight, so many amazing characters in this run, you gotta check it out!
October 24, 2021
Es genial poder leer la saga del traje alienigena por primera vez. Se siente increíble poder leer al Peter Parker más clásico, con todos sus problemas, así como el origen del simbionte Venom. Gracias a este libro definitivamente me dan ganas de leer todas las aventuras de Spiderman desde sus inicios.
Read
January 27, 2025So the symbiote doesn't change the users mood in the original run? Interesting. I like how the suit is just more convenient for Peter so he ignores how sentient it is until he finds out it's alive because it looks cool (I'd do the same)
December 12, 2025
This one has more of a high sentimental value for me since it was a gift but it’s not the type of story I would usually go for. I thought that for a 70s comic book it was not as dated as I expected! It’s a cool book to own.
May 6, 2017
Classic!
Must-read for all Spidey fans!
Must-read for all Spidey fans!
May 30, 2019
There’s nothing like good ol’ Spidey’s comics. Amazingly spectacular.
February 3, 2020
Both books. 3.5 stars
December 14, 2020
An enjoyable anthology of Spider-Man comics. I love older comics because they have great stories and really amusing text. Favorite line from this one? "I'll be an eight ball's uncle."
July 13, 2022
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
April 8, 2024
Even with cool new sentient threads Peter Parker can't catch a break.
October 14, 2015
The Good: The full story of the alien symbiote featured in the last of the Tobey Maguire Spidey films is told here...and what a story it is! Between the wall-crawler's increased strength, his love affair with the Black Cat, Aunt May's new beau, and team-ups with other Marvel heroes, ranging from the infamous Fantastic Four to the little-known StarFox, who is not the intergalactic animal featured in countless Nintendo games. A bit of old-school fun, these are from the days when comics were more innocent--no profanity, only slight blood, etc.--instead of the filth that tends to get published far too often today. Spider-Man fans will definitely enjoy this.
The Bad: As good as this is, a scene or two did bother me a bit. One heroine was wearing a rather buxom outfit, and some of the villains were rather freaky. Then again, that's small potatoes, especially in today's entertainment industry.
Conclusion: If the only stories you know of Peter Parker and his arachnid alter ego are from the movies...you're missing out! While seeing superhero battles on the big screen is awesome, it's also fun to see where those stories got started: in the comics! Spidey fans would do well to check out any of the Marvel collections of old-school comics; despite their age, they have a timeless appeal.
Score: 4/5
The Bad: As good as this is, a scene or two did bother me a bit. One heroine was wearing a rather buxom outfit, and some of the villains were rather freaky. Then again, that's small potatoes, especially in today's entertainment industry.
Conclusion: If the only stories you know of Peter Parker and his arachnid alter ego are from the movies...you're missing out! While seeing superhero battles on the big screen is awesome, it's also fun to see where those stories got started: in the comics! Spidey fans would do well to check out any of the Marvel collections of old-school comics; despite their age, they have a timeless appeal.
Score: 4/5
October 25, 2014
Some of this material is also in "Spider-Man: Birth of Venom." I'm sure it's elsewhere.
It's kind of a weird "story" because most of the elements of the story as it's been retold are missing. Basically there are two things worth discussing about the symbiote as it stands today:
(1) It makes you really powerful.
(2) It makes you amoral.
Neither of those elements were really present here. The costume, to the extent it featured as an actual element in the stories, was mildly sinister, but not for any clear reason. And Spider-Man actually appears weaker than usual, through the over-foreshadowed Black Cat subplot.
Most of the self-contained stories are kind of fine at most. Nothing exciting here.
It's kind of a weird "story" because most of the elements of the story as it's been retold are missing. Basically there are two things worth discussing about the symbiote as it stands today:
(1) It makes you really powerful.
(2) It makes you amoral.
Neither of those elements were really present here. The costume, to the extent it featured as an actual element in the stories, was mildly sinister, but not for any clear reason. And Spider-Man actually appears weaker than usual, through the over-foreshadowed Black Cat subplot.
Most of the self-contained stories are kind of fine at most. Nothing exciting here.
April 1, 2024
In the aftermath of Marvel’s huge Secret Wars event, Spider-Man got a notorious wardrobe change: a sleek black suit with a large white spider symbol done in jagged, villainous lines. In the new suit, Peter is stronger, faster, no longer needs to bother with recharging his webs (running out of web fluid was ever the easy way to write in a little tension to steepen the odds against webhead). But the black suit may be (read: definitely is) a cursed gift. This big collection, like any thick trade of multiple classic comics, is a bit of a mixed bag but keeps it fun.
February 10, 2015
A great look back at the classic Marvel style and a wonderful way of experiencing the interlinked Marvel comics as they would have been read by a subscriber of the era. I'll be ordering Book 2 as soon as it comes out.
February 10, 2016
Great read. I think that it is the first time that I have read many of these titles.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews