The Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 2

The Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski: Ultimate Collection

by J. Michael Straczynski, John Romita Jr. (Illustrator), Fiona Avery

Marvel proudly presents another volume of Spider-Man tales by writer J. Michael Straczynski and artist John Romita Jr., featuring Spider-Man continuing to protect innocent citizens from harm as he struggles to keep his personal life together. Peter always believed the radioactive spider-bite that granted him his powers was an accident. Now, the mysterious Ezekiel offers a shockingly different explanation! Next, Peter's career as a teacher intersects with his life as Spider-Man in a touching story about family devotion. Then, the web-slinger teams up with Iron Man, Captain America and others to battle a group of monsters set on destroying New York City! Volume also includes the historic 500th issue featuring artwork by legendary Spidey artist John Romita Sr.! Collects Amazing Spider-Man #46-58, #500-502, and Best of Spider-Man Volume 3 HC, with extras.

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

424 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2009

About the author

Joseph Michael Straczynski is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series Babylon 5 (1993–1998) and its spinoff Crusade (1999), as well as the series Jeremiah (2002–2004) and Sense8 (2015–2018). He is the executor of the estate of Harlan Ellison.
Straczynski wrote the psychological drama film Changeling (2008) and was co-writer on the martial arts thriller Ninja Assassin (2009), was one of the key writers for (and had a cameo in) Marvel's Thor (2011), as well as the horror film Underworld: Awakening (2012), and the apocalyptic horror film World War Z (2013). From 2001 to 2007, Straczynski wrote Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man, followed by runs on Thor and Fantastic Four. He is the author of the Superman: Earth One trilogy of graphic novels, and he has written Superman, Wonder Woman, and Before Watchmen for DC Comics. Straczynski is the creator and writer of several original comic book series such as Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, Dream Police, and Ten Grand through Joe's Comics.
A prolific writer across a variety of media and former journalist, Straczynski is the author of the autobiography Becoming Superman (2019) for HarperVoyager, the novel Together We Will Go (2021) for Simon & Schuster, and Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer (2021) for Benbella Books. In 2020 he was named Head of the Creative Council for the comics publishing company Artists, Writers and Artisans.
Straczynski is a long-time participant in Usenet and other early computer networks, interacting with fans through various online forums (including GEnie, CompuServe, and America Online) since 1984. He is credited as being the first TV producer to directly engage with fans on the Internet and to allow viewer viewpoints to influence the look and feel of his show. Two prominent areas where he had a presence were GEnie and the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of this superbly crafted and drawn Spider-Man! Peter and MJ on the brink, Ezekiel, Anansi, future Spider-Man, Digger and more. I should add it is the fuller fleshing out of Mary Jane's and Aunt May's characters that are another stand out theme of this great run. 8.5 out of 12.

I read the comic books collected in this volume Amazing Spider-Man #46-58 and #500-502.

[Zuzanna Pietrzak · Rating 4 out of 5]

za wzmiankę o Gwen 4.5

[Muzaffer Gümüşsu · Rating 5 out of 5]

J. Michael Straczynski'nin, John Romita JR. ile birlikte yarattığı The Amazing Spider-Man serisi hala bana göre yazılmış en iyi düzenli örümcek serisi. Onun gibisi gelmedi yıllardır. Özellikle kendisinden sonraki, Joe Quesada ile başlayıp günümüze kadar uzanan Dan Slott dönemi genel perspektif itibarıyla Straczynski'ninkinden çok çok uzak, filmlerin getirdiği popülerlik nedeniyle düpedüz çocukça bile diyebiliriz.

Örümceğin iç dinamizmini çok iyi anlayan, Peter'ın duygusal çalkantılarını tatlı bir şekilde veren diyalogları ve kararında aksiyon sahneleriyle beş ciltlik bu Ultimate Collection'ı okumaya doyamıyorum desem yeridir. İstediğimiz yetişkin, duygusal, formunun zirvesindeki örümcek burada. Hem de paldır küldür Marvel event'leri yerine gerçekten naif sokak hikayeleriyle boğuşuyor. Straczynski'nin Sins Past gibi, May Yenge'nin örümcek kimliğini öğrenmesi gibi kabahatleri de var ancak kendisini takdir etmemek elde değil.

[Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

More excellent Spider-man work by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr. I am particularly enjoying JR Jr.’s artwork in this run. His lean and lithe Spider-man may well have been the inspiration for the look used in the recent animated film “Into the Spiderverse.” Issue 500 was a highlight in this collection, revisiting some of Spider-Man’s pivotal moments. Sometimes the stories in this book seem to drag a little, but that’s a minor complaint. Overall, this was first rate comic book storytelling. I look forward to continuing with this collection.

[Rodney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second volume focusing on J. Michael Straczynski's Amazing Spider-Man has more to do with the mythos of Spider-Man than the first volume. The stories are a tad more disconnected, but there are still some interesting queries for Spider-Man to solve, with an absolute highlight being #500 (but I am a sucker for retrospects).

The art is beautiful, thought a bit more inconsistent than in the first volume. Peter Parker is a great character and Straczynski does his utmost to create a fun and interesting storyline for the hero.

[Michael Secretan · Rating 5 out of 5]

More I really liked this one. After the first collection and how heart wrenching it was from the start, it was nice to see the "Parker luck" wasn't totally in effect.

[Saoki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved a few issues and was a bit bored by others, but I still like the way Straczynski writes people.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying the Straczynski run of Amazing Spider-Man. I just finished Volume II, and it has some great stories in it. I love how Straczyniski takes traditional Spider-Man elements (like the difficulty Peter Parker has balancing his personal life and life as Spider-Man, his anxieties about being unmasked, etc.) and mixes them with his own themes (like the idea that his powers may be more totemic than scientific, and the more mystic and mythic side of the character and the Marvel Universe). Can't wait for Volume III!

[Niels Juul · Rating 4 out of 5]

God Spiderman. Her er han voksen med ansvar. På hente siden er der en handling med at han er et slags totem dyr og at andre totem dyr jager ham. Lidt religiøst ig lidt for meget af det gode,af og til.
Til gengæld spiller hans tante og hans kæreste store roller og det har altid været styrken i Spiderman, at privatlivet skal kombineres med helte livet. Og det er bestemt med her.
Og så er tegningerne gode hele vejen igennem.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

J.M.S. no me ha decepcionado con su narrativa. Cómo es parte de una colección tan grande, no voy a poder hablar mucho sobre él. Ya que no he tenido tiempo para sentarme a analizarlo como se debe.

Me hizo sentir muchas cosas, especialmente entre Mary Jane y Peter. En particular el número 500 fue un fascinante viaje nostálgico.

[Caleb Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a great action packed collection with a really satisfying ending to the collection, it didn't leave you on a cliff hanger so you would have to spend forever trying to find the issue after the one with the cliff hanger

[Jipi Perreault · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sole presence of Amazing Spider-man #500 is worth those 4 stars. A touching moment meaningful to all the trials and tribulations of Spidey which concludes triumphantly with the final 4 pages drawn by Romita Sr.

[Daniel Farrelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the last one. All the story arcs were interesting and novel. There were less naked women which I appreciated, through the cover artist can't draw women faces. I liked how Ezekiel has become a reoccurring character, he makes a good addition.

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

More great stuff from JMS on this title.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great comic - wonderful, smart and above all - with a great heart!

It's just like a soft blanket you remember from your childhood - really, really nice.

Will read volume 3 soon!

[Ahmed Yasser · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lot better than the last book, really loved it and it is the most realistic story of peter parker, contain the best volume so far "happy birthday.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun, really enjoying re-reading these.

[Frank Jarome · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even better than the first volume. This was such a good run

[Anahi ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

La última parte es increíble, ver pasar a Spiderman a través de su historia y revivir la muerte de Gwen es genial.

[_Liebert · Rating 2 out of 5]

began this ages ago... deserving of faint praise
romita i think does well and straczynski can be really good but from my viewpoint he doesnt know how to laser in on whats good instead of whats not, though it work'd out overall

[Mateusz Nowowiejski · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 - 2023

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

eh

This seemed much more profound when I was a high schooler.

Not bad. Good to see him and MJ back together and Peter get some serious mythology going.

[ferran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Llegir una série recurrent de còmics se sent com vore séries com The Walking Dead: sas que estàs vegent relleno, i no per això es fa necessàriament avorrit, genera certa calma, i veus com s'asomen trames interessants, i en esta col·lecció han complit.

[Harrison Delahunty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Straczynski’s writing for this volume cuts a lot of the fat and gains more focus. Both the Peter Parker and Spider-Man sides of his storylines are consistently engaging, and Mary Jane and Aunt May get stronger focus and characterization.

Romita Jr.’s art is still consistent and high-quality here. Romita Sr. makes a brief, very welcome appearance in the fantastic ASM 500.

Overall, a great volume that builds on the first in satisfying ways. If I recall correctly, it’s also definitely the peak of JMS’s run, and it’s pretty downhill from here so I’ll enjoy it while I can.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

there's an attempt to turn full circle as there always is. this may be the most potent revisitation of the death of Gwen Stacy I've ever seen.

there's also a building on the "totem" story that seems too slow.

the zombie gangster story seems more like a Ghostbusters story than a Spider-Man story. it just acts as a kind of filler in the context of this book.

these characters all have strange rectangular eyes.

[Quinton Baran · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent combination of story telling and art. Straczynski knows how to bring Peter Parker to life, which is really what Spiderman is about. I really enjoyed the stories here where Peter is confronting new villains and also exploring more about how he got his powers and why.

[Jordan Lahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the stories about Peter reuniting with Mary Jane. I'm a sucker for stories about how superheroics impact real relationships. Some of the other stories were hit and miss.

[LBK · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this run of Spiderman