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Essential Amazing Spider-Man #4
Essential Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 4
After being bitten by an irradiated spider, young Peter Parker learned he had gained the proportional strength and agility of a spider. Combined with a keen "spider-sense" that warned him of danger, Peter became the hero we all know and love...Spider-Man! In this great volume, Peter will face some of his greatest challenges and overcome some of his most harrowing foes. Adventure at its best, true believer!
Contains twenty-five Spider-Man adventures authored by Stan Lee. Originally published in 1969 and 1989.
Collects: Amazing Spider-Man #66-89 and Amazing Spider-Man Annuals #5.
Contains twenty-five Spider-Man adventures authored by Stan Lee. Originally published in 1969 and 1989.
Collects: Amazing Spider-Man #66-89 and Amazing Spider-Man Annuals #5.
616 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
7 people are currently reading
259 people want to read
About the author
Stan Lee
7,566 books2,334 followersStan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 23, 2023
The John Romita Sr. & Stan Lee Silver Age run continues, with debuts for African-American characters Randy & Martha Robertson (this in the 1960s), Man Mountain Marko, Silvermane, Big C, the Prowler (another African American), the Kangaroo, the Schemer and Vanessa Frisk. Pete's a dating Ms Gwen Stacey! This book has the bizarre mix of 'groovy' mainstream teenagers (see pic below), hellish villains and the dire life of Peter Parker essential trying to function as a vigilante!
God knows how many comics Stan was writing at this stage, but he still manged to give Spidey good story and good continuity. I read reprints of the comic books Amazing Spider-Man #66-89 and Amazing Spider-Man Annuals #4-5. 6 out of 12, Three Star read :)
2014 read
God knows how many comics Stan was writing at this stage, but he still manged to give Spidey good story and good continuity. I read reprints of the comic books Amazing Spider-Man #66-89 and Amazing Spider-Man Annuals #4-5. 6 out of 12, Three Star read :)
2014 read
August 5, 2020
Satn Lee & John Romita continue their work in this essential collection of the Amazing Spiderman 66-89 with Annuals 4 & 5 in a b/w paperback release.
In this collection we see Peter Parker aka Spiderman battle various classic baddies like Kingpin, Doctor Octopus, the Shocker, the black Widow, the prowler to name a few. He also gets plenty attention from the fair ladies Gwen Stacy & MJ Watson, and of course Captain Stacy & JJ Jameson the newspaper man who considers Spiderman his personal mission to stop.
Really great tales that can be enjoyed without a lot of background information as the Marvel Universe at this time was fairly straightforward and good ole Spidey has yet to be gobbled up by the spaghetti like mess called Marvel history. Here it is still mostly Spiderman vs the baddies.
In this collection we see Peter Parker aka Spiderman battle various classic baddies like Kingpin, Doctor Octopus, the Shocker, the black Widow, the prowler to name a few. He also gets plenty attention from the fair ladies Gwen Stacy & MJ Watson, and of course Captain Stacy & JJ Jameson the newspaper man who considers Spiderman his personal mission to stop.
Really great tales that can be enjoyed without a lot of background information as the Marvel Universe at this time was fairly straightforward and good ole Spidey has yet to be gobbled up by the spaghetti like mess called Marvel history. Here it is still mostly Spiderman vs the baddies.
September 11, 2013
It only took 2 years. But I finished this bad boy. Although I suppose if you read these in real time as monthly issues it would take about that long anyway. Or that's what I tell myself as an excuse.
The sad truth?
Well, when these Essential volumes first came out I was in nerd heaven. Which resembles regular hell in a lot of ways, mostly humidity and odor. But that was a long time ago, before damn near everything was printed in full color glory and on paper that's better than what's used to print phone books and bibles, the only two books that are so overprinted that you have to actively avoid them.
So at the time, it was great. Because as a reader of comics and non-collector, the chance to even READ Amazing Fantasy 15 (first appearance of spider-man for those of you who were more aware of your genitals in middle school) was, well, Amazing. Because I didn't have a couple thousand bucks, and even if I did it would have felt like a total waste because, let's face it, the first couple dozen issues if Amazing Spider-Man were less than, uh, Amazing? No, the word I was looking for was Acceptable. Sorry, confusing my A-words here.
What Marvel did with these volumes was to set up a way for readers like me to spend almost nothing to read some seriously hard-to-find comics. Which is a great thing.
Now, however, they've released full-color, gigantic collections that even include peripheral materials like letters pages. It's very cool. It's more pricey, but still pretty damn cool.
And having read four of these volumes and some issues in color...I miss the color. I really do. I thought I'd be a more serious reader for whom the color almost didn't matter. But it turns out I'm not a serious reader. A serious reader of vintage comic books. And I miss the color.
With that out of the way, a few observations from this book:
-What happened to the police offering a few thousand bucks for the apprehension of a criminal?
This happens in comics, but was it ever real? Because on the one hand, I kind of like it. Bring this guy in, get paid. It seems like you could have a really good shitty TV series about a group of ultimate fighters who catch criminals in their spare time. On the other hand, I do fear that it'd be a little bit easy to take a WANTED poster, cut out the face and put my face in there. And then I'd get beat up by ultimate fighters just trying to get by. So there's a definite negative possibility there.
-When did the word "boner" come to mean...boner?
Because they use the word to mean a goof-up, but I can't help but giggle. I mean, come on. It's like if a really big financial gain used to be called a "Big Erect Nipple" back in the day.
-In one panel, Spider-Man is alarmed as a villain swings a "sword-like rod" at him.
What, exactly, is the difference between a sword and a sword-like rod? Because I didn't sleep last night trying to puzzle that one out.
-Why exactly do people have such a problem with Spider-Man?
I swear to god, he swings down in one issue to free a bus that's stuck in the snow. He lifts the back end of the bus, and the bus driver leans out the window and says, "My god! Spider-Man is trying to hijack the bus!" Really? REALLY? It's almost like the entire city of New York is playing some elaborate prank to see who can do the most obtuse burn on Spider-Man. If he picks up a bag of money dropped by a criminal during a heist, someone will say, "My god! Spider-Man is stealing money!" And if he hands it to a cop, they'll say, "Dear Lord! Spider-Man is trying to beat that cop to death with a bag of money!" And if he rescues a kitten from a tree, someone will say, "He's almost certainly going to have sex with that kitten. When will this madman be stopped?!"
I can see how it might be creepy. But doesn't everyone work with AT LEAST one total creep? Aren't we used to it to some extent? If a total creep wants to save my life by saving me from a much worse asshole creep with lizard powers, I think I could find a way to make peace with that.
I'm a little surprised there aren't more complaints about Spider-Man leaving footprints and crazy webs all over the goddamn place. It can't be cheap to get your windows done in a Manhattan highrise, so having a Spider-Man walk right over the top of them while wearing a costume he had in the sewer minutes before has to be kind of a bummer.
-What was going on at parties in the 60's and 70's?
And I mean parties where they weren't getting drugged up and wasted. Because in these books, it appears that someone would play an acoustic guitar and people would dance. This is most assuredly the most horrific thing I can imagine. It's hard enough in 2013 when I can stand next to a wall that I assume is out of the way and inevitably isn't, thumb through my phone like I'm finishing up some important crap before kicking into high gear party mode, and then basically keep recalculating how long it is until I can drive home after one beer.
-Finally, there's something weird going on with Peter Parker's "girl problems."
It's like the Betty/Veronica thing. "I have the two hottest babes ever who both want me. This is terrible." Yes, I really feel for you. We've AAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL been there.
The sad truth?
Well, when these Essential volumes first came out I was in nerd heaven. Which resembles regular hell in a lot of ways, mostly humidity and odor. But that was a long time ago, before damn near everything was printed in full color glory and on paper that's better than what's used to print phone books and bibles, the only two books that are so overprinted that you have to actively avoid them.
So at the time, it was great. Because as a reader of comics and non-collector, the chance to even READ Amazing Fantasy 15 (first appearance of spider-man for those of you who were more aware of your genitals in middle school) was, well, Amazing. Because I didn't have a couple thousand bucks, and even if I did it would have felt like a total waste because, let's face it, the first couple dozen issues if Amazing Spider-Man were less than, uh, Amazing? No, the word I was looking for was Acceptable. Sorry, confusing my A-words here.
What Marvel did with these volumes was to set up a way for readers like me to spend almost nothing to read some seriously hard-to-find comics. Which is a great thing.
Now, however, they've released full-color, gigantic collections that even include peripheral materials like letters pages. It's very cool. It's more pricey, but still pretty damn cool.
And having read four of these volumes and some issues in color...I miss the color. I really do. I thought I'd be a more serious reader for whom the color almost didn't matter. But it turns out I'm not a serious reader. A serious reader of vintage comic books. And I miss the color.
With that out of the way, a few observations from this book:
-What happened to the police offering a few thousand bucks for the apprehension of a criminal?
This happens in comics, but was it ever real? Because on the one hand, I kind of like it. Bring this guy in, get paid. It seems like you could have a really good shitty TV series about a group of ultimate fighters who catch criminals in their spare time. On the other hand, I do fear that it'd be a little bit easy to take a WANTED poster, cut out the face and put my face in there. And then I'd get beat up by ultimate fighters just trying to get by. So there's a definite negative possibility there.
-When did the word "boner" come to mean...boner?
Because they use the word to mean a goof-up, but I can't help but giggle. I mean, come on. It's like if a really big financial gain used to be called a "Big Erect Nipple" back in the day.
-In one panel, Spider-Man is alarmed as a villain swings a "sword-like rod" at him.
What, exactly, is the difference between a sword and a sword-like rod? Because I didn't sleep last night trying to puzzle that one out.
-Why exactly do people have such a problem with Spider-Man?
I swear to god, he swings down in one issue to free a bus that's stuck in the snow. He lifts the back end of the bus, and the bus driver leans out the window and says, "My god! Spider-Man is trying to hijack the bus!" Really? REALLY? It's almost like the entire city of New York is playing some elaborate prank to see who can do the most obtuse burn on Spider-Man. If he picks up a bag of money dropped by a criminal during a heist, someone will say, "My god! Spider-Man is stealing money!" And if he hands it to a cop, they'll say, "Dear Lord! Spider-Man is trying to beat that cop to death with a bag of money!" And if he rescues a kitten from a tree, someone will say, "He's almost certainly going to have sex with that kitten. When will this madman be stopped?!"
I can see how it might be creepy. But doesn't everyone work with AT LEAST one total creep? Aren't we used to it to some extent? If a total creep wants to save my life by saving me from a much worse asshole creep with lizard powers, I think I could find a way to make peace with that.
I'm a little surprised there aren't more complaints about Spider-Man leaving footprints and crazy webs all over the goddamn place. It can't be cheap to get your windows done in a Manhattan highrise, so having a Spider-Man walk right over the top of them while wearing a costume he had in the sewer minutes before has to be kind of a bummer.
-What was going on at parties in the 60's and 70's?
And I mean parties where they weren't getting drugged up and wasted. Because in these books, it appears that someone would play an acoustic guitar and people would dance. This is most assuredly the most horrific thing I can imagine. It's hard enough in 2013 when I can stand next to a wall that I assume is out of the way and inevitably isn't, thumb through my phone like I'm finishing up some important crap before kicking into high gear party mode, and then basically keep recalculating how long it is until I can drive home after one beer.
-Finally, there's something weird going on with Peter Parker's "girl problems."
It's like the Betty/Veronica thing. "I have the two hottest babes ever who both want me. This is terrible." Yes, I really feel for you. We've AAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL been there.
November 11, 2017
I do love the Marvel Silver Age, but must admit there are some titles that are harder to get through then others. Not so with Spider-Man! The Amazing Spider-Man is consistently excellent!
April 18, 2008
Don't get me wrong -- I love Spider-Man. It used to be the only cool thing in the newspaper comics, especially after Calvin and Hobbes wound down. And Spider-Man 2 is one of the best movies of all time. Peter Parker is a great guy.
But here's the one AMAZING thing YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW about this particular collection of comic books...
(End my review.)
(Begin next week's review)
The one AMAZING thing YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW is that these comics all end just one page into the next issue's grand problem. Every single one is a cliffhanger ending. Like the time when Peter grows FOUR MORE ARMS...
(End my review.)
(Begin next week's review)
AND KEEPS THEM! Until he finally gets rid of them, near the end of the episode.
I just wanted to read whole stories that start and finish.
Especially because I enjoyed them so much! The insane villains, the bizarre ease with which people acquire and lose powers, the oh-so-dramatic tension with Gwen, who we all know is bound to lose out to the surprisingly floozy MJ... It's Amazing!
But here's the one AMAZING thing YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW about this particular collection of comic books...
(End my review.)
(Begin next week's review)
The one AMAZING thing YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW is that these comics all end just one page into the next issue's grand problem. Every single one is a cliffhanger ending. Like the time when Peter grows FOUR MORE ARMS...
(End my review.)
(Begin next week's review)
AND KEEPS THEM! Until he finally gets rid of them, near the end of the episode.
I just wanted to read whole stories that start and finish.
Especially because I enjoyed them so much! The insane villains, the bizarre ease with which people acquire and lose powers, the oh-so-dramatic tension with Gwen, who we all know is bound to lose out to the surprisingly floozy MJ... It's Amazing!
December 19, 2015
Most of these issues are just bad. Peter goes out of his way to reveal his identity, and how does he go about it, out of the uniform he just walks in and is like "hey, I'm Spider-Man!" like anyone would believe that. Gwen and Peter's relationship woes are dragged out horribly and everyone is either stupid or an asshole. I did like Peter getting sick of Jonah, but the way that played out felt like a horrible cop-out.
February 27, 2021
Twenty-two issues of classic Spider-Man stories from the 1960s and 70s.
Here Spider-Man battles foes such as the Kingpin, Shocker, the Lizard, Chameleon, Electro and Doctor Octopus, as well as tangling with a new costumed adventurer walking the line between hero and villain; the Prowler.
Whilst Spider-Man's adventures remain entertaining overall, this is definitely weaker than the preceding two volumes of these collections, showing the noticeable shift away from Spidey's peak in the 1960s.
By this point co-creator Steve Ditko had long-since left and Stan Lee had taken a less-involved approach thanks to the so-called 'Marvel Method', giving this a very different feel to earlier stories of the Wall Crawler.
Among the missteps on offer here are the introduction of several new supervillains who just don't have the same iconic quality of the most famous members Spider-Man's rogues gallery. The two main examples here are the appallingly badly-named Man-Mountain Marko (although I'm sure Lee was pleased with the alliteration) and the Kangaroo.
Yep. The Kangaroo.
Who gained superhuman jumping powers by... living with kangaroos. And whose motivation for villainy is that people make fun of him (for some unknowable reason).
I hope Marvel wrote an apology to the entire nation of Australia for this character.
Really, what saves this book overall from being a massive slump is that an element of social commentary is introduced that wasn't there to any great extent before.
Here the writers address the issues of the civil rights movement, primarily through Daily Bugle editor 'Robbie' Robertson and his student son, two black men. We get to see a frank dialogue between these characters as they explore the concepts of whether Robbie's influential position is a victory or a result of him collaborating with the white supremacist system, as well as whether the son's desire to literally fight for black people's rights is what is needed for true social change.
To the writers' credit, they don't try to draw any conclusions on behalf of these black characters, they simply air the grievances openly and sympathetically. Which in America at that time was (depressingly) a brave thing for any popular media organisation to be doing, especially in their biggest-selling title.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *
Here Spider-Man battles foes such as the Kingpin, Shocker, the Lizard, Chameleon, Electro and Doctor Octopus, as well as tangling with a new costumed adventurer walking the line between hero and villain; the Prowler.
Whilst Spider-Man's adventures remain entertaining overall, this is definitely weaker than the preceding two volumes of these collections, showing the noticeable shift away from Spidey's peak in the 1960s.
By this point co-creator Steve Ditko had long-since left and Stan Lee had taken a less-involved approach thanks to the so-called 'Marvel Method', giving this a very different feel to earlier stories of the Wall Crawler.
Among the missteps on offer here are the introduction of several new supervillains who just don't have the same iconic quality of the most famous members Spider-Man's rogues gallery. The two main examples here are the appallingly badly-named Man-Mountain Marko (although I'm sure Lee was pleased with the alliteration) and the Kangaroo.
Yep. The Kangaroo.
Who gained superhuman jumping powers by... living with kangaroos. And whose motivation for villainy is that people make fun of him (for some unknowable reason).
I hope Marvel wrote an apology to the entire nation of Australia for this character.
Really, what saves this book overall from being a massive slump is that an element of social commentary is introduced that wasn't there to any great extent before.
Here the writers address the issues of the civil rights movement, primarily through Daily Bugle editor 'Robbie' Robertson and his student son, two black men. We get to see a frank dialogue between these characters as they explore the concepts of whether Robbie's influential position is a victory or a result of him collaborating with the white supremacist system, as well as whether the son's desire to literally fight for black people's rights is what is needed for true social change.
To the writers' credit, they don't try to draw any conclusions on behalf of these black characters, they simply air the grievances openly and sympathetically. Which in America at that time was (depressingly) a brave thing for any popular media organisation to be doing, especially in their biggest-selling title.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *
April 24, 2020
Essential Spider-Man Volume 4 as with the proceeding volumes contain classic issues of the comic Amazing Spider-Man in chronological order. This volume covers # 66 - 89 and Annual #5. Rather than going into in depth analysis of the stories within I've opted to do simple break down of whats between the covers so you can make a decision whether it's for you or not.
First appearances from; Man-Mountain Marko, The Night Prowler and The Schemer
Who else makes an appearance? Mysterio, Kingpin, Quicksilver, The Shocker, The Lizard, The Human Torch, The Chameleon, Electro, The Black Widow and the return of Doctor Octopus.
Issues/arcs covered; We have comics that cover topics of the time racism and the 'nam war. Story Arcs we see the truth of Parker's parents in a super length Annual #5, the Petrified Tablet arc and Peter Parker reveals to his friends his secret identity in the back end of the volume (you have to read it to see how that pans out!).
It's not as thick as most other volumes of Essential Amazing Spider-Man and it's still in black and white but still worth a read and a must own piece of Spider-Man history.
First appearances from; Man-Mountain Marko, The Night Prowler and The Schemer
Who else makes an appearance? Mysterio, Kingpin, Quicksilver, The Shocker, The Lizard, The Human Torch, The Chameleon, Electro, The Black Widow and the return of Doctor Octopus.
Issues/arcs covered; We have comics that cover topics of the time racism and the 'nam war. Story Arcs we see the truth of Parker's parents in a super length Annual #5, the Petrified Tablet arc and Peter Parker reveals to his friends his secret identity in the back end of the volume (you have to read it to see how that pans out!).
It's not as thick as most other volumes of Essential Amazing Spider-Man and it's still in black and white but still worth a read and a must own piece of Spider-Man history.
June 12, 2024
While the Lee Romita run hits what feels like an almost over-familiar groove structure wise, it's characters like Captain Stacey that keep the wheels spinning, by this point the loops of Parker's individual drama so known that re-treading would be tiresome - here's what's wonderful about that: these loops are built of psychology established through the motions of the serial itself. Uncle Ben Great Power Great Responsibility thematics elsewhere are constantly hammered and reiterated to establish character fast whenever a movie or cartoon pops up, but skipping straight from that to MJ sidesteps how much of Amazing Spider-Man is Robbie, Captain Stacey, JJ, three old men wrangling with what the wall crawler to them signifies about the state of society and how to be a most responsible member of it.
Oh but they do introduce The Prowler and Hobie rules.
Oh but they do introduce The Prowler and Hobie rules.
September 2, 2019
I'm continuing to re-read all the comic books I read as a child/teenager, at the rate of roughly one issue per day, starting with the Spider-man comics.
They're good, though not as good as I remembered. Obviously, things are apparent to me now that I couldn't see when I was young. Still, I think Stan and the boys did a great job considering how much material they had to create on a tight schedule.
Most of the issues in the first four volumes I read in reprints, mostly in Marvel Tales, or in back issues I traded for or bought at the Flea Market. It wasn't until the cover price said 20 cents that I began buying stuff as it came out. I will reach that point in volume five.
They're good, though not as good as I remembered. Obviously, things are apparent to me now that I couldn't see when I was young. Still, I think Stan and the boys did a great job considering how much material they had to create on a tight schedule.
Most of the issues in the first four volumes I read in reprints, mostly in Marvel Tales, or in back issues I traded for or bought at the Flea Market. It wasn't until the cover price said 20 cents that I began buying stuff as it came out. I will reach that point in volume five.
July 7, 2020
Romita’s art is great but the series loses something without Ditko. Some of these issues are a real slog even as they intro mainstays of the series.
October 16, 2021
Relive your youth via the Essentials Marvel books. Love this era of Spider-Man - had read these in the 70s through Marvel Tales reprints.
August 17, 2013
This collection actually has an epic feel to it. It starts out with a two part Mysterio story, which isn't bad at all, but after those issues things really take off. First we get the Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine number two, which has a giant 58 page story where Norman Osborn remembers that he is the Green Goblin. This really scares Peter since Norman knows his secret identity. There are some really great scenes of Peter freaking out over every little thing since he doesn't know when the Goblin will strike. There are some great parts where both Peter and Norman are pretending everything is normal while trying to mess with each other by shaking hands too tightly, or "playfully" hitting each other on the back.
Then it's Amazing Spider-Man King-Size Special number 5, which finally tells the story of what happen to Peter's parents. It starts off with Peter fighting some goons, and nearly losing his life! While he recovers he thinks back on how he found out his parents were branded as traitors, and he can't believe it. He is determined to clear their names, or find out the truth, whatever it may be! He ends up in a battle with the Red Skull, and he does clear his parents, though it's in a rather silly silver age kind of way. One thing of note is that the story was drawn by Larry Lieber, who I've always thought of as a shitty artist, but he doesn't a pretty good job on this story. There's one panel of the Red Skull that I particular liked.
After that things really get crazy as we get a very long story about the Tablet of Time. It starts off with the Kingpin trying to steal it from a collage campus, where a giant protest is happening. Spider-Man manages to stop him, but things just keep getting crazier and crazier and more and more people are trying to get there hands on the Tablet. This is one long story broken up into different stories. Spidey has to deal with the Kingpin, Shocker, Man-Mountain Marko, Silverman, and finally the Lizard! It's a huge story! Those issues alone are worth checking out.
After that it's mostly one and done stories. There is even a note during the Prowler story line about how they had wanted the story to be longer, but people were complaining about the long stories, so they decided to cut back the issue count. These stories are fun to read, but it doesn't take long before they are back to doing two or three praters, which is what I really enjoy.
The book ends with a Doc Ock story, and it's actually a cliffhanger, so I guess I'll have to wait till I get the next one to see how it ends.
This is a great collection. I'm loving how the Spider-Man universe is just growing and growing. More villains are be introduced, and more relationships are developing. I'd love to collect all of the Spider-Man essentials, and this hasn't changed my mind at all.
Then it's Amazing Spider-Man King-Size Special number 5, which finally tells the story of what happen to Peter's parents. It starts off with Peter fighting some goons, and nearly losing his life! While he recovers he thinks back on how he found out his parents were branded as traitors, and he can't believe it. He is determined to clear their names, or find out the truth, whatever it may be! He ends up in a battle with the Red Skull, and he does clear his parents, though it's in a rather silly silver age kind of way. One thing of note is that the story was drawn by Larry Lieber, who I've always thought of as a shitty artist, but he doesn't a pretty good job on this story. There's one panel of the Red Skull that I particular liked.
After that things really get crazy as we get a very long story about the Tablet of Time. It starts off with the Kingpin trying to steal it from a collage campus, where a giant protest is happening. Spider-Man manages to stop him, but things just keep getting crazier and crazier and more and more people are trying to get there hands on the Tablet. This is one long story broken up into different stories. Spidey has to deal with the Kingpin, Shocker, Man-Mountain Marko, Silverman, and finally the Lizard! It's a huge story! Those issues alone are worth checking out.
After that it's mostly one and done stories. There is even a note during the Prowler story line about how they had wanted the story to be longer, but people were complaining about the long stories, so they decided to cut back the issue count. These stories are fun to read, but it doesn't take long before they are back to doing two or three praters, which is what I really enjoy.
The book ends with a Doc Ock story, and it's actually a cliffhanger, so I guess I'll have to wait till I get the next one to see how it ends.
This is a great collection. I'm loving how the Spider-Man universe is just growing and growing. More villains are be introduced, and more relationships are developing. I'd love to collect all of the Spider-Man essentials, and this hasn't changed my mind at all.
August 14, 2012
Not a lot really happens in this volume: Norman Osborn realizes he is the Green Goblin and then forgets, Flash heads off to Vietnam, we have the first appearance of the Prowler, lots of villains reappear, and Peter and Gwen break up and make up.
But here's what struck me....
1) Harry Osborn grows a Fu Manchu mustache. That's right --- the Marvel non-superhero character with the single strangest hairdo grows a Fu Manchu.
2) Spider-man constantly proves his forgetfulness. On the Lizard: "Whew! Should have remembered the power of his tail!" On Electro: "I forgot how fast he can be... moving on his own blasts of current." On the Kingpin: "I forgot... how fast he can move!!" Spidey never learns.
3) We have campus protest and hippies! Well, not really, because the protests are over the Dean's refusal to convert a building to low-rent dorms, except that what's he wanted to do all the time, but didn't tell anybody. And we have protests over a character called General Su, but we never say why we might be protesting him. It's all pretty straw man, but we do get the chant "Cook an egg... cook your goose! Turn the demonstrators loose!" We also get a nearly afterschool-special serious lesson about why violent protest is wrong, wrong, wrong....
4) Stan Lee writes the following dialogue for a father and son. Son: "I can come back later if you're uptight, dad!" Father: "I've always got time for my outrageous offspring! What's on your mind, man-child?"
But here's what struck me....
1) Harry Osborn grows a Fu Manchu mustache. That's right --- the Marvel non-superhero character with the single strangest hairdo grows a Fu Manchu.
2) Spider-man constantly proves his forgetfulness. On the Lizard: "Whew! Should have remembered the power of his tail!" On Electro: "I forgot how fast he can be... moving on his own blasts of current." On the Kingpin: "I forgot... how fast he can move!!" Spidey never learns.
3) We have campus protest and hippies! Well, not really, because the protests are over the Dean's refusal to convert a building to low-rent dorms, except that what's he wanted to do all the time, but didn't tell anybody. And we have protests over a character called General Su, but we never say why we might be protesting him. It's all pretty straw man, but we do get the chant "Cook an egg... cook your goose! Turn the demonstrators loose!" We also get a nearly afterschool-special serious lesson about why violent protest is wrong, wrong, wrong....
4) Stan Lee writes the following dialogue for a father and son. Son: "I can come back later if you're uptight, dad!" Father: "I've always got time for my outrageous offspring! What's on your mind, man-child?"
November 7, 2015
So good. Still- damn it Stan your inability to treat wkmen in your books is horrifying. Every deeply inventive moment, 7 parts story (!!!!!!), romance and soap opera, teen drama comedy superhero book melding is marred by your uhh....suspect writing and "females are emotional". Some really powerful stuff in her- spidey loving Medicaid, confessing in a feverish sequence his identity, and the prowler- a legitimately interesting character. It's hard to say this isn't flawless but the flaws it does have are glaring. Spider-Man also starts to address current issues which really is amazing to see, considering 50 years later many major comics publishers still shy away from the sort of commentary prevalent in here.
November 21, 2016
The same contriving story gets round and round in circles. The tablet arc spanned 7 issues, I just couldn't stand how there was some unrelated plot line about civil rights movement, Ditko would have been mad for this inclusion. J.J. Jameson was even more insufferable and Aunt May continued to be sick, it's getting too annoying. I did enjoy the annuals however, we learn about Peter's parents and had a crossover with Human Torch.
Read
March 16, 2011So, the art, script and storytelling in Essential Spider-Man are one of the reasons I draw comics today. I've pretty much worn out my copy, so I did an official Quick Review over at Stately Stupendo-Dog Manor:
CHECK IT HERE!
CHECK IT HERE!
January 3, 2010
Crazy cool if you love comic books!!!
April 14, 2013
Enjoyable. I especially enjoyed the story about Peter's parents in the 5th annual.
January 17, 2014
This book collects Amazing Spider-man issues 66-89 Annual #5.
Issues 66 and 67 feature a battle with Mysterio that's basically just a typical Mysterio story.
Amazing Spider-man Annual #5 begins in medias res with Spider-man battling bad guys in Algeria and then flashes back to Peter Parker discovering a newspaper article that indicated his parents were traitors. He tries to ignore it, but isn't able to and sets out to prove them innocent, and he travels to Algeria to do so with aid from Mr. Fantastic. However, to succeed, he'll have to go through the Red Skull.
The problem with this story is that even a double sized annual didn't have enough space to tell it right. The story begins strong with the initial fight scenes and the pathos of thinking his parents traitors and then is rushed towards the conclusion with some unbelievably convenient plot contrivances. This would have worked better as a three part story in the magazine.
The back up features for the annual are solidly enjoyable including an amusing story, "Here We Go-A-Plotting" which portrays Stan Lee and John Romita and Larry Lieber trying to brainstorm a Spidey plot.
Issues 68-74 are tied together loosely by the Tablet of Time beginning with the Kingpin's attempted theft of it. During this plot arc, Spidey thinks about keeping it once he's accused of stealing it, finally has enough of J Jonah Jameson and finally belts the editor, and ends up battling Shocker, Man-Mountain Marko, and finally the tablet in the hands of SIlver Mane. This story has its flaws, but its definitely a Spider-man classic.
The Tablet of Time story leads into Spidey encountering the Lizard for the third time. It's hard to differentiate a whole lot about this battle versus the prior two. The big difference though is that a crucial point, the Human Torch flies into save the day just when Spidey was about to neutralize the Liard, and now Spidey has to get the Torch to back off so he can handle the Lizard his way, which was kind of interesting for pointing out that sometimes interferring superheroically can actually be a bad thing.
Issues 78 and 79 focuses on Hobie Brown, a black youth who wants to be a superhero, decides to temporarily become a supervillain to get more cash and ends up fighting Spider-man. This series was cut short due to Marvel's very short-lived decision to stop multi-party stories.
Issue 80 followed with a nice one-shot story with the Chameleon. Issue 81 introduced the Kangaroo, and Issue 82 was a so-so story with Electro which built up to an easy victory for Spider-man, albeit a Pyrrhic one.
How short lived was Marvel policy on Muli-part stories. Issue 83-85 featured the Schemer, a villain determined to take down the Kingpin. The story ends in a bizarre melodramatic way.
Issue 86 is the weakest in the book as Black Widow fights Spider-man to see if she can beat him and force him to tell her the secret of powers. Really, the magazine is an advertisement for the Black Widow getting a solo strip in Marvel Tales.
Issue 87, the book picks up again as Peter reveals his secret identity to a room full of people believing he's dying.
Issue 88 has Doctor Octopus escaping prison and hijacking an airliner. In Issue 89, only Spidey is smart enough to figure out that Ock isn't dead and the issues ends on a cliffhanger with Spidey falling and the words, "Next Issue: And Death Does Come." And that's how the trade ends. Really Marvel? Really?
In the end, this book is enjoyable but it's not as great as the prior volumes. In earlier volumes, Stan Lee was coming up with epic stories, characters, and dilemmas for our heroes. Here he's settled into a comfortable pace. The stories are still good, just not great. The status quo essentially remained the same for nearly two years of this book.
My edition could have benefited by having Spectacular Spider-man #2 but even that couldn't have made this a five-star volume if for no other reason than the ending.
These are good Spider-man stories no doubt, but a bit of letdown after the greatness of the first sixty odd issues.
Issues 66 and 67 feature a battle with Mysterio that's basically just a typical Mysterio story.
Amazing Spider-man Annual #5 begins in medias res with Spider-man battling bad guys in Algeria and then flashes back to Peter Parker discovering a newspaper article that indicated his parents were traitors. He tries to ignore it, but isn't able to and sets out to prove them innocent, and he travels to Algeria to do so with aid from Mr. Fantastic. However, to succeed, he'll have to go through the Red Skull.
The problem with this story is that even a double sized annual didn't have enough space to tell it right. The story begins strong with the initial fight scenes and the pathos of thinking his parents traitors and then is rushed towards the conclusion with some unbelievably convenient plot contrivances. This would have worked better as a three part story in the magazine.
The back up features for the annual are solidly enjoyable including an amusing story, "Here We Go-A-Plotting" which portrays Stan Lee and John Romita and Larry Lieber trying to brainstorm a Spidey plot.
Issues 68-74 are tied together loosely by the Tablet of Time beginning with the Kingpin's attempted theft of it. During this plot arc, Spidey thinks about keeping it once he's accused of stealing it, finally has enough of J Jonah Jameson and finally belts the editor, and ends up battling Shocker, Man-Mountain Marko, and finally the tablet in the hands of SIlver Mane. This story has its flaws, but its definitely a Spider-man classic.
The Tablet of Time story leads into Spidey encountering the Lizard for the third time. It's hard to differentiate a whole lot about this battle versus the prior two. The big difference though is that a crucial point, the Human Torch flies into save the day just when Spidey was about to neutralize the Liard, and now Spidey has to get the Torch to back off so he can handle the Lizard his way, which was kind of interesting for pointing out that sometimes interferring superheroically can actually be a bad thing.
Issues 78 and 79 focuses on Hobie Brown, a black youth who wants to be a superhero, decides to temporarily become a supervillain to get more cash and ends up fighting Spider-man. This series was cut short due to Marvel's very short-lived decision to stop multi-party stories.
Issue 80 followed with a nice one-shot story with the Chameleon. Issue 81 introduced the Kangaroo, and Issue 82 was a so-so story with Electro which built up to an easy victory for Spider-man, albeit a Pyrrhic one.
How short lived was Marvel policy on Muli-part stories. Issue 83-85 featured the Schemer, a villain determined to take down the Kingpin. The story ends in a bizarre melodramatic way.
Issue 86 is the weakest in the book as Black Widow fights Spider-man to see if she can beat him and force him to tell her the secret of powers. Really, the magazine is an advertisement for the Black Widow getting a solo strip in Marvel Tales.
Issue 87, the book picks up again as Peter reveals his secret identity to a room full of people believing he's dying.
Issue 88 has Doctor Octopus escaping prison and hijacking an airliner. In Issue 89, only Spidey is smart enough to figure out that Ock isn't dead and the issues ends on a cliffhanger with Spidey falling and the words, "Next Issue: And Death Does Come." And that's how the trade ends. Really Marvel? Really?
In the end, this book is enjoyable but it's not as great as the prior volumes. In earlier volumes, Stan Lee was coming up with epic stories, characters, and dilemmas for our heroes. Here he's settled into a comfortable pace. The stories are still good, just not great. The status quo essentially remained the same for nearly two years of this book.
My edition could have benefited by having Spectacular Spider-man #2 but even that couldn't have made this a five-star volume if for no other reason than the ending.
These are good Spider-man stories no doubt, but a bit of letdown after the greatness of the first sixty odd issues.
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