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Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man #24
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 24
The rumors are true! Spider-Man came out swinging in 1984 in a new black costume that rocked the comics industry and changed the way Marvel viewed its most famous iconography! The Marvel Masterworks launches into this historic era of Spidey history with a collection that showcases top-shelf work from the creative team of Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz. They ask, who is the Rose and why has he picked Spidey as his target? Then, the Red Ghost and Jack O’Lantern return, while the Puma debuts. Meanwhile, the Hobgoblin goes on the hunt for Norman Osborn’s most dreaded secrets and has Liz and MJ in his sights. Plus: Stan Lee returns to script a double-sized Annual showdown with Scorpion!
COLLECTING: Amazing Spider-Man (1963) 252-262, Annual (1964) 18
COLLECTING: Amazing Spider-Man (1963) 252-262, Annual (1964) 18
376 pages, Hardcover
Published December 13, 2022
14 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Tom DeFalco
2,484 books109 followersTom DeFalco is an American comics writer and editor, well-known for his association with Marvel Comics and Spider-Man.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 20, 2025
4.75 stars
May 27, 2025
Some peak Spidey right here.
I can imagine the behind the scenes chaos that Stern caused when he left the book and DeFalco picks it back up almost flawlessly.
The material in here has previously been reprinted in like a million other TPB and Omnis, but with good reason: this is some iconic Spider-Man stuff, not only do you get the introduction of the Symbiote into Spidey's mythos, but also an awesome exploration of MJ's character that shows why she’s the best love interest for Peter. Not to mention some solid and fun character work for Peter himself.
The introduction of The Rose and return of Hobgoblin are also super fun, even barring the behind the scenes mess that was Hobbie's identity after Stern left, but barring that, this is just purely uncut and utterly fun and awesome Spider-Man goodness.
My only real issue comes from the need to create artificial drama between MJ and Peter, it indulges in a lot of really lame characterization from Peter after MJ drops a bombshell regarding something she’s known for years, and also there’s some artificial and unnecessary drama between him and Black Cat (but I didn’t like that relationship anyways, so I at least like it as an excuse for them to break off, even if it’s cliché and just clumsy).
I’m also not the biggest fan of the Aunt May drama subplot, it feels like it’s getting dragged out too much without much of substance.
But overall, this is still Spider-Man at his peak still.
I can imagine the behind the scenes chaos that Stern caused when he left the book and DeFalco picks it back up almost flawlessly.
The material in here has previously been reprinted in like a million other TPB and Omnis, but with good reason: this is some iconic Spider-Man stuff, not only do you get the introduction of the Symbiote into Spidey's mythos, but also an awesome exploration of MJ's character that shows why she’s the best love interest for Peter. Not to mention some solid and fun character work for Peter himself.
The introduction of The Rose and return of Hobgoblin are also super fun, even barring the behind the scenes mess that was Hobbie's identity after Stern left, but barring that, this is just purely uncut and utterly fun and awesome Spider-Man goodness.
My only real issue comes from the need to create artificial drama between MJ and Peter, it indulges in a lot of really lame characterization from Peter after MJ drops a bombshell regarding something she’s known for years, and also there’s some artificial and unnecessary drama between him and Black Cat (but I didn’t like that relationship anyways, so I at least like it as an excuse for them to break off, even if it’s cliché and just clumsy).
I’m also not the biggest fan of the Aunt May drama subplot, it feels like it’s getting dragged out too much without much of substance.
But overall, this is still Spider-Man at his peak still.
January 2, 2023
This is an excellent collection of stories that follow the events of Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars, and give us the continuation of the Hobgoblin, the mystery of The Rose, the birth of Harry & Liz’s son, the return of Mary Jane Watson, the Wedding of J. Jonah Jameson, and a lot of character development.
There was an editorial effort to make each issue a “complete unit of entertainment”, which is to say, each issue should be self-explanetory if not self-contained.
There are a great many editorial footnotes giving referrence to the companion titles Spectacular Spider-Man and Marvel Team-Up, as well as connecting to Fantastic Four.
The development of the Alien costume which leads to Venom is well-crafted here.
I read these stories originally in single-issue format back in 1984. The challenge was in compiling all the separate chapters from the multiple titles, when also following such dense stories as Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor. It was a good year overall.
There was an editorial effort to make each issue a “complete unit of entertainment”, which is to say, each issue should be self-explanetory if not self-contained.
There are a great many editorial footnotes giving referrence to the companion titles Spectacular Spider-Man and Marvel Team-Up, as well as connecting to Fantastic Four.
The development of the Alien costume which leads to Venom is well-crafted here.
I read these stories originally in single-issue format back in 1984. The challenge was in compiling all the separate chapters from the multiple titles, when also following such dense stories as Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor. It was a good year overall.
January 23, 2023
This one didn’t start off so good (bad artwork), but it quickly got back on track. Lots of interesting bad guys mixed in with the human side of Peter Parker.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews