Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus

The Spectacular Spider-Man Omnibus

by Roger Stern, John Romita Jr. (Illustrator)

Back in print at last! Because you demanded it! Mighty Marvel presents Roger Stern's celebrated 1980s run on Spectacular Spider-Man and Amazing Spider-Man in one sensational Omnibus edition! Paired with John Romita Jr. and a cast of other top art talents, Roger Stern reinvigorated the life of everyone's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Stern crafted definitive battles with the Juggernaut, the Vulture, and the Cobra & Mister Hyde -- devised a decidedly-different role for the Kingpin of Crime -- and wove the fan-favorite tales of "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man," the 1st appearance of Monica Rambeau (a.k.a. Captain Marvel), and the amazing introduction of the Hobgoblin!   This is Spider-Man -- and Peter Parker -- at his best! The lovely Black Cat, Amy Powell, and Mary Jane Watson are all vying for our hero's undivided attention. So now that we have your attention, reserve your copy today, True Believer!


Collecting: SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (1976) #43-61 & 85, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #206, 224-252 & AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL (1964) #16-17 ...plus material from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #15, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #3, WEB OF SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #3 and WHAT IF...? #34

Genres: Comics, Spider Man, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

1296 pages, Hardcover

First published March 26, 2014

About the author

Roger Stern is an American comic book author and novelist.

Reviews

[Sean Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spider-Man is just the absolute best (or a "pussywillow," as Aunt May might have said at one point ("You mean pussyCAT, Aunt May!"). And after reading 1,200+ pages of Roger Stern Spidey, I can definitely say that Stern rightfully deserves a place as one of the Spidey-writing greats.

[Nicolas Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing 58 issue run on the Friendly Neighbourhood webhead spanning Spectacular Spiderman (which focuses more on Peter's private life and his interaction with a delightful support cast) and the one and only Amazing main title where the classic tales are following each other, including a classic run on the Vulture, the first few steps of a terrifying Hobgoblin and, last but not least, the jewel that is The Boy That Collected Spiderman which is without a doubt one of the few very best stories ever told about our hero... A definite read for all fans and for the nostalgic of the 1980's way of storytelling!

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

So for few weeks probably seen me posting bunch of small reviews on issues. That's because a lot of what's collected here is only in issues and I had to remember everything that happened in this 50+ issue book.

So the legendary Roger Stern's take on Spider-Man is held up as one of the best. And you know what, for fans of this era (Late 70's, early 80's) It might just be. For me, who reads comics from all eras, I find some of the late 70's and early 80's extremely outdated, and even though Stern has a really good grasp on Spider-man and peter parker, his villains....save for Hobgoblin...are not as good.

Most of these are one shots. Some are pretty fun and Stern has Peter shoot out some really funny jokes. Some are really corny and not nearly as interesting. Hobgoblin is a great villain with a lot of mystery, and I also really enjoyed (I can't believe I'm saying this) Stiltman and Black Cat as supporting cast. However, most other villains like Thunderball sucked ass and made me roll my eyes.

I think this omnibus is fun, and I didn't hate reading it save maybe 5-6 issues out of the huge amount, but it was more of a up and down series. I don't think it's as good for me as a lot of people believe, but that's okay. It's not a product of my time, and this isn't my favorite era of comics either.

Saying that, Spidy fans should check it out. Atleast the Hobgoblin issues, those are mostly good-great.

A 3 out of 5.

[Jake Nap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh boy did this take me a while.

Read in chunks over the course of under a year, Roger Stern’s Spider-Man is sort of a mixed bag. At least for the Spectacular stuff. Those are pretty hit or miss based off the artist working on the issue, but that’s in line with the way marvel comics were made then. The general idea or plot of the issue could be pretty creative or interesting but the artist could just end up not doing anything remotely good with it. Back then, the artist had way more on their shoulders than they do now so reading these poorly laid out issues was a bit of a bummer. But when these issues were cooking, they were cooking. Stern showed his prowess on a few home run issues/arcs on Spectacular, so Marvel gave him the main book. What we got was glorious.

Roger Stern’s Amazing Spider-Man run has Stern’s lager turning plots paired with an artist that just gets it, John Romita Jr and several others that just end up delivering far superior work. There are fun stories featuring the Juggernaut, some one off character driven stories and new villains like the Hobgoblin introduced. All this done with a fantastic art team. Sometimes, Romita’s inker would be a little crappy but the ideas for the page are still there. It’s still interesting, it’s still kinetic when an inker unfamiliar with JRJR hops on. There are some Klaus Janson inks on a few issues which are spot on. He’s one of the most defined and unique inkers in the business and he shows that with this book. Klaus knows how to make the page pop.

Overall, this is a fantastic Spider-Man book. Once it hits Amazing Spider-Man it’s near perfect.

9/10

[Gareth Nang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh boy, I almost gave up on this book before the halfway mark. The Spectacular issues in the beginning are quite a slog to get through. Overly silly and simplistic villains and not much going on in Parker's personal life. But, if you stick with it, and you'll be treated to some of the very best, top-notch Spider-Man comics ever, in the Amazing issues with JRJR. Far better villains, more excitement, more drama. Stern gets into his groove and writes some absolute classics.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent run by Roger Stern. Though nowhere near as great as his run on Avengers. We also have a sizable amount of John Romita, Jr.'s early Spider-man work. It's fun to see him go from House-style to his personal signature style which is nearly emerging in the final chapters. All of this was new to me so it was great fun to read. Must reading for all Spidey fans and easily worth the price of the Omnibus.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we have the start of my favorite era of Spider-Man comics - The 80's. This is what I imagine when I think of Spider-Man: mid-20's, grad school, juggling his life as Peter with his life as Spidey, trying to be his own man without the safety and familiarity of his childhood or teenage years. Mature, but still fun and exciting. Adult, but still colorful and fantastical. This is also a Spider-Man who has already had many of seminal moments with his supporting cast and his villains. Gwen is dead, Green Goblin is dead, Harry Osborn is married and finally happy, he and MJ have dated, broken up, and are now platonic friends with just a bit of tension and baggage between them. Aunt May is in a new era of her life, defining what she'll be without her son to look after all the time. The baby bird has left the nest, and it turns out the world is dangerous- who knew?

Roger Stern's writing absolutely shines here. He tells episodic stories, while also weaving in long-running plots and subplots for both Peter and Spidey. Some of the best are of course "Nothing Can Stop The Juggernaut", "The Kid who Collects Spider-Man", and the ongoing mystery of the Hobgoblin and his identity. Stern also keeps Peter's life interesting as his grad school studies pile up on him, his income from the Daily Bugle always seems to be in jeopardy, and his love life stays complicated. Peter's evolution from wallflower nerd to confident lover is long complete, and here we see him able to navigate romance like a man, thinking clearly about who and what he wants, and even growing tired of games other people play. On that same note, he's also been on both sides of heartbreak, having lost Gwen, turned down women like Betty Brant, and has his proposal for marriage rejected by Mary Jane once. He feels like he's growing, and it's awesome to read that. I haven't read all of the Silver and Bronze Age comics that preceded this, but I will eventually, and I'm already feeling the joy of seeing Peter grow over time that I imagine fans must've felt reading this as it came out.

The Hobgoblin Saga is one of the most talked about additions Stern made to Spider-Man lore and it starts off really well. We have a mystery man who's face is always in shadow taking up Green Goblin's gear and enhancing it, becoming even stronger and deadlier. Hobgoblin often feels like a way bigger threat than Green Goblin ever was. He's not a madman, he's thinking and behaving exactly as he intends to. He always has a plan and always manages to one-up Spidey. He's also a competent schemer, setting up several people as his decoys and throwing off the police and Spidey when they come to close to revealing his identity. Unfortunately that very identity went from an intriguing mystery to a huge mess. That mess doesn't really hurt Stern's stories as much as the stories that came after it, but it's worth mentioning that Hobgoblin went from the best new Spidey villain in years to a cycle of teasing and identity-swapping and it harmed the character. All in all, Stern's time on both books is still great and worth reading, and it deserves its spot among the best Spidey runs.

[Michael Emond · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the end this was a fun read by one of the better writers of comic books. Although it didn't live up to the hype I hear from fellow collectors ("Best Spider-man omnibus") I enjoyed it. I suspect some of their love is because this is the Spider-man they grew up with and it has a lot of good childhood memories associated with it.

It is a BIG omnibus so I won't summarize it all but I will give a few thoughts:
Roger Stern gets better as a writer as the omnibus moves along. The first few issues were rather bland and forgettable but it works up the climax of Hobgoblin. Roger's stories and his handling of Parker's private life get stronger and stronger.
Speaking of Hobgoblin - that saga wasn't nearly as cool as I would have thought. This is my first time reading it and he wasn't that great a villain. I also was irritated that his identity is never revealed AND (I read wikipedia) the original idea for his reveal was changed by the writer who replaced Stern.
Also the Juggernaut tale is another one of those "best Spider-man stories" I never read until now and again I was a little disappointed. I guess, like a lot of things in life, you build up these expectations and reality doesn't live up to it.
John Romita JR gets a lot better as an artist as this moves along and wish we could have had a few more issues with him at his peak. I suspect the inkers helped elevate his art near the end but also I see the more minimalist and thicker outlines I associate with the best of JR JR's art. The art throughout is good but aside from those last issues when JR JR hit his stride there was not outstanding art.

Overall - these are fun tales of Spider-man. I guess I still love the original Ditko/Lee tales the best but no doubt that is because those are the first tales I read. But I would also say I love the Dan Slott era. Mostly because I feel in both those eras Spider-man relied a lot more on his brains and clever inventions to help him defeat villains. My fav stories are when he comes up against a new villain - gets trounced - goes back to his home and comes up with an idea to defeat the villain and then defeats the villain. Corny maybe - but I prefer those stories over "Spider-man punched villain hardest to win battle". Probably why one of my favorite heroes is Adam Strange who ALWAYS had to rely on his brains to win the day.

[Jeff Hudec · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roger Stern is one of my favorite comic book writers. He shows a great skill here in capturing Peter Parker's/Spider-man's voice as well as the voices of the supporting characters around him. This omnibus was a nostalgic joy for me to read. It brought me back to the fun I had reading these stories originally when I was in high school in the late 70's and early 80's. It takes Stern a few issues to get his story-telling rhythm going, but once he does, around the start of his run on the Amazing title, this book simply soars highly into the fun zone. Great read for Spider-man fans and fans of good comic book story-telling over all.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

A massive and massively disappointing omnibus that took me months to read since, in particular, the early Spectacular Spiderman issues can be a chore to get through. Not that anything here is bad, per se, indeed looking back I'd say that I flat-out enjoyed more than I didn't, it's just that this isn't the groundbreaking character-defining run I've so frequently seen in painted as. Stern writes spiderman well, for sure, but he doesn't exactly do anything with him that feels essential in the grand scheme of the character and the notorious hobgoblin arc which takes up a lot of the back-end of this volume, whilst enjoyable - and I do like the concept (and appearance) of the Hobgoblin as a villain - isn't that interesting as an ongoing story if you don't have that month to month social question of "who is the hobgoblin". Actually the story barely poses that question to the extent that a list of suspects is never drawn up and no sleuthing done; as a mystery story there's no mystery.

My favourite story here was the Juggernaut 2-parter which provided some real peril and Juggernaut's abbility to just keep going felt genuinely terrifying and I was also smitten with the fool-killer, a unique villain and a story which provides both a lot of laughs and a clever resolution. Elsewhere I enjoyed Peter's dalliances with the Black Cat as well as the return of MJ, although both provided story threads in search of a real story and ultimately like everything else, Peter's love life builds to nothing in this volume.

I don't regret having this tome on my shelf, it's an important part of Spidey history and Romita Jr's art certainly does provide the goods and the story feels alive and bright whilst he's drawing. It's a spiderman volume I could easily recommend, but not recommend as an essential set of stories in its own right.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel lucky to have been a 9.5 year old kid on that cold morning of January 9, 1983, when my mom let me get one of those Whitman three-packs of Marvel Comics at Farmer Jack (RIP). I didn't realize that I was witnessing the dawn of a villain who would go on to dominate the next four years of the title, or that I was reading something by a writer whose run would go down in history as one of the best in the history of the character. I was just a kid who liked reading comics and was bit by the collector bug that day.

Stern starts off slow over in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man, but over the course of his 19 issue run he finds his voice with the character. By the time he gets promoted to the flagship title, The Amazing Spider-Man, he has shifted into high gear. We see the rebirth of The Vulture, an outstanding issue with the Foolkiller, and a two-part Black Cat story which would set the stage for what Al Milgrom would build on over in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man.

Stern did lots of two-parters. 229-230 are the legendary Nothing Can Stop The Juggernaut, which are possibly the most inspiring underdog comic books of all time. I am sucker for the Cobra/Mr. Hyde two-parter (231-232) ever since I got a quarter box copy of 231 back in 1983. 238 and 239 were the introduction of The Hobgoblin, with 240 and 241 showing the Vulture as a major contender, something not truly seen since the '60s.

After that Stern plays it a little looser, running subplots behind the main issue's action, all building toward #250. Then Stern decided to jump ship for reasons I'm unsure of. Tom DeFalco comes on board without missing a beat, and his run is as much a favorite of mine as Stern's.

[Oğuz Gürlük · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never thought I would enjoy a Spider-Man run before diving into the comics. When I checked some one-shots or Dan Slott’s run (I haven’t read the Superior run yet), I didn’t like them much, and they didn’t match my expectations. So I kind of gave up.

Later, I decided to explore some of the best old runs—like Thor by Walter Simonson, X-Men by Claremont, and Daredevil by Miller. I also wanted to check out old Spider-Man comics to see what they were like. Surprisingly, I enjoyed them. Don’t get me wrong, they were not perfect or the best ever, but it was still a nice way to see your childhood superhero’s origins in comic form. In my opinion, the movies still do a much better job, because the writing in comics hasn’t aged very well.

After a few issues, I reached Roger Stern’s run—and that completely changed my opinion! The first couple of issues were not the best and felt a bit silly, but as the run went on, it became amazing (just like Amazing Spider-Man, haha). His writing improved over time, and the artwork is some of the best from that era. For me, there is no better art in Spider-Man comics until Ultimate Spider-Man. Some issues, like Hobgoblin’s origin, The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man, and Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut, are among the best Spider-Man stories ever.

After Stern’s run, I tried reading Spider-Man Adventures but it wasn’t to my taste. They also ruined his Hobgoblin storyline—except for Hobgoblin Lives, which was fantastic and saved his villain’s story.

Next, I plan to read Birth of Venom, Kraven’s Last Hunt, The Wedding, Lethal Protector, and Maximum Carnage. After that, I can finally check out the Ultimate Spider-Man and JMS runs.

[Andrew Seaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know I'm being a little harsh here because truth be told, I really do think this is one of the best Spider-Man runs, including both writer and artist. The problem I have with this is the mapping. I get that they wanted to make a complete Roger Stern book, but by doing so they cut out some absolutely integral issues that make a lot of the second half of this book lacking. This would have been much better served splitting this into two books, and adding in those issues for context.

I don't mind when every once in awhile there's an editor's caption relating what happened in a previous issue, usually it's welcome. But when dozens of issues in a collected edition reference the same event(s) that were not included, that really irks me.

Still, if you like Spider-Man, pick this up if it's available, it's one of the best runs out there.

[Bruno Poço · Rating 3 out of 5]

#224 - 227 (roger stern e jrj) o retorno do abutre , o matador (de idiotas 😃), começo da relação atribulada com a gata negra

#228 (jan strnad e rick leonardi) aranhas assassinas em história de crime e mistério

#229 - 236 (stern e jrj) madame teia e o imparavel fanático, o cobra , mister Hyde , o tarântula e a vingança do fogo fátuo

#237 (bill mantlo e bob Hall) o renovado metaloide

#238 - 250 (stern e jrj) o nascimento do duende macabro , novamente o abutre com mais informações sobre a sua origem , o pensador louco , o retorno de mj , o vilao “o maça “ da gangue da demolição, o rei do crime ajuda o aranha contra o duende macabro

#251 - 252 (stern e ron frenz) o final do arco do duende macabro e o retorno do aranha do evento guerras secretas com o uniforme negro

Spectacular Spiderman:

#43 (stern e mike zeck) madame beladona

#44 (wolfman e steve leiloha) gangues e o abutre

#45 (stern e zeck) o cobra

#46 (stern e severin)o gatuno e beladona

#49 (stern e mooney, jrj , severin , rick Leonardi, luke mcdonnell , jim shooter , john byrne , ed hannigan) o smuggler(o contrabandista) , os minions do tinkerer , mysterio, o tigre branco surge baleado e o aranha enfrenta gideon mace , o tinkerer , o aranha tem de salvar o contrabandista que afinal é um velho conhecido dos vingadores, o nitro , o Halloween, o killer shrike , The ringer (fraude) , o besouro e o gibão contra o aranha , a rocha lunar

Annual #16 (stern e jr mais jrj) a origem da capita Marvel (Mónica)

#17 (stern e bill mantlo) história envolvendo o rei do crime e antigos colegas de colégio de peter parker

O (+) o garoto que colecionava homem aranha , a origem da capita Marvel

O (-) os spectacular spiderman são histórias fracas com milhentos artistas

[Akbar Hasan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's always fun reading great spiderman stories. Hobgoblin is such an underrated villain, and I dug his concept; a man who stumbles upon a former villain's base and improves upon the old villain's powers and weaknesses. It made him more threatening and he got the upper hand so many times because he was cautious. The whole mystery behind his identity was pretty intense as well.

Skipped the issues that focused on side villains, didn't find most of them interesting. Besides Stilt-Man of course.

[Max Koh · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the beginning, I wasn't sure about reading comics from the Bronze Age - but oh boy, this was such a good read. Roger Stern has such a good voice for both Peter Parker/Spider-Man and the quips here from the latter was especially witty and funny.

JRJR's art was really amazing (ha) - especially in the ASM issues vs. PPSPM.

The best stories here are definitely the whole Hobgoblin saga (now I need to hunt for a copy of The Hobgoblin Lives), the battle vs. Juggernaut, The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man, and Daydreamers. Also loved the stories with The Black Cat and the return of MJ.

[Harrison Delahunty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really fantastic collection of college-era Spider-Man stories, with the few really weak points falling more heavily in the earlier issues with Spectacular. The Amazing issues are consistently quite great, with some great storylines and some all-time classics.

Real highlights here are “Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut”, “The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man”, the Hobgoblin storyline, and the return of Mary Jane Watson.

[Mysticreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book! Granted, some of the earlier issues weren't very memorable, but nothing that wasn't entertaining, and when Black Cat was introduced, it was just so incredible that it was hard to put down. Now i have some new favourite stories and a better knowledge of the character regarding college life, plus the amazing stories that are nothing can stop the juggernaut and the boy who collects Spider-Man.

[Traumal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bylo to jako na houpačce. Ale nad průměrem to držely hlavně příběhy s Juggernautem a hobgoblinem. Dost tomu ubližuje jak tehdejší vydavatel předpokládal že čtenář čte obě spider-manovské řady a čtenář má u sebraných Sternových čísel pocit že minul něco důležitého.
Od oldschoolových omnis si asi chvilku odpočinu... Ba ne, mám na cestě Simonsonova Thora, sakra!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most omnibuses like this, it's a bit of a mixed bag, bit it's overall pretty great. Roger Stern is definitely one of the best Spider-Man writers of all time.

[Tim Rooney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Among the best Spider-Man comics ever made.

[Matthew Kennett-ny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I'd read this book I'd only read Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus Vol 1 -3. So there was a big gap of over 100 issues between that and this book. Felt a bit weird at first to skip all that, but after a couple issues of Spectacular Spider-Man you kinda forget about that as you're caught up on where Petter is in his life.

That aside. It was simply phenomenal. I'd heard lots about Roger Sterns wrting and damn does he deserves all of the praise he gets. Certainly up there along side Stan Lee as being one of the Spidey writer greats.

The book starts of with his run on The Spectacular Spider-Man which focuses more on Peters private life and his interaction with a delightful support. After his 17 issue run he's than asked to write The Amazing Spider-Man, this is where he truely hits his stride. He introduced new characters whilst bringing back some classics, but his pride and joy is the magneficint, yet sly Hobgoblin. He had raided the Green Goblins old secret hideouts and taken his old gear and journals, which he used and perfected to become the misterious Hobgoblin.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very slow and mediocre start with all types of B villains, its get much better the second half and has even some fantastic moments, but it takes alot of pages to get to the good stuff.