The Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 4

The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) (Collected Editions) #14-15

by J. Michael Straczynski, Peter David, Reginald Hudlin

Trump Tower has nothing on Spider-Man Spinning out of the pages of New Avengers, you won't believe what the fickle hand of fate has in store for Peter Parker, Mary Jane, and Aunt May But even as Peter and his family adjust to their great new pad and cool new clique, the hordes of Hydra make a final push to take over the United States Will the Web-Head and the New Avengers stop the revitalized Hydra from bringing America to its knees? And if so, at what cost? And in THE OTHER, Spidey faces his biggest threat yet - a foe so insidious he can't hope to handle it alone. With friends like Reed Richards, Stephen Strange, and Hank Pym, he won't have to. But can even the world's greatest minds change the course of fate? And if they could, would they dare? Having finally accepted the truth, Peter Parker decides to put the red and blue tights in the closet and spend some quality time with Aunt May and MJ. But Morlun's got other plans - and this time, there's no Ezekiel to help the Web-Slinger. If he's going to have any hope to thwart Morlun's obscene mission, he's got two choices: Evolve or die... Collects Amazing Spider-Man #519-528, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1-4, Marvel Knights Spider-Man #19-22, the extras from Best of Spider-Man Volume 5 HC, and Spider-Man: The Other Sketchbook.

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

480 pages, Paperback

First published July 21, 2010

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]

One of the great things about the JMS run is, that there are no low points, it's just relentlessly good with a few super-good peaks. I read the comic books Amazing Spider-Man #519-528, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1-4 and Marvel Knights Spider-Man #19-22. A side note is that both Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and Marvel Knights Spider-Man are solid serials which I recommend. They are cross referenced above for 'The Other' event.

The Parker family living with the Avengers is such a great idea by the creative team, and it really gets its play in this volume. There's also some HAIL HYDRA, less Spider-Man-ing(!), there's plenty more Morlun, so much so that Spider-Man will need to 'evolve or die'! 8 out of 12

[Jordan Lahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good arc. The Other story line was very interesting, partly because I just haven't heard anything about it in the years since. I'm not sure if it'll wrap up in the next volume, because there were definitely some loose threads left over at the end.

[Etienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never was a big fan of the Spider-Man, but I have to be honest, this one was very good! There were good action, but what I like the most was really the story. Intense and profound, not too much of the childish-stupid-Spider-Man-joke he does sometimes in comic. I also like the presence of many good characters of the Marvel universe, like Wolverine, Captain America, Iron-Man, Hulk and others as well. A wonderful surprise!

[Stano Várady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parkerovci prichádzajú bývať do Avengers tower. Do toho prichádza Hydra. Do toho sa niečo deje so Spider-manom. Do toho sa vracia Morlun. Do toho prichádza nový záporák. A to sme zhruba v polovici. Neviem ako vy, ale od jedného story arcu, hoci je to slávny Evolve or die, by som uvítal aj menej.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a nice story, but it felt strangely unfinished. I mean... a new big bad emerges in the second-before-the-last issue and it is a villain that logically comes out of all the previous events, like this whole book was leading towards that villain... He is not defeated or dealt with by the end of the issue. And then the villain doesn't appear in the final issue at all, like it was never a big deal. It's just strange and I am not so satisfied with it.

Otherwise it was a great story, lots of great Spidey/MJ moments, cool cameos from Iron Man, Steve Rogers and Jarvis!

[Henry Blackwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. One of the worst comic books I’ve ever read. Both of these arcs seemed pointless and went no where. Especially considering what came before and after these events. It seems like Sins Past really started off a bad trend YET AGAIN in Spider-Man. One that looked like it was getting better in civil war as a last gasp until it died with One More Day. I know I’m not onto those stories just yet but I feel like this was the way it was going. The Ezekiel story was the last good Spider-Man thing I read. Everything I just read then was pointless and horrible.

The only two issues I liked (out of 18) was the Morlun fight (one of the better fight scenes I’ve read) and the last issue that wrapped up the Other and hinted heavily at the Iron Spider suit.

I mean the first trade in this collection edition being the Avengers stuff could’ve been cool but it just wasn’t. All that this trade did to move along the Spider-Man serial as a whole was to move Peter, MJ and May into the Avengers Tower for no good reason? My god why?

I feel like I made a big mistake buying these last two omnibus trades of the JMS run. I’m hoping the civil war stuff can make it up for me :(

[Ahmed Yasser · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best one in Straczynki's run so far It was a perfect ride, Spider-Man joined the new avengers, his home destroyed so he'll live with may and MJ on the avengers tower, but there's new villains in town as usual, but also, peter suffers a weird sickness that he don't understand and no one gets it, he's dying, and Morlun has returned from the dead and want to take his powers, The spider is conflicting with the man,Inside him he's not sure what he is anymore and what is happening to him, so will he evolve or die?

I loved the ending and the entire arc was perfect with 3 different comic styles and artists it was so entertaining and a great take on the character that focus on his powers and abilities more than we ever knew him.

[Muzaffer Gümüşsu · Rating 5 out of 5]

JMS'in efsane run'ının Other kısmını içeren cilt. Neredeyse tamamı Peter Parker'ın ölümden evrimleşerek geri döndüğü Other hikayesi üzerine kurulu. Nedense güçlerine gelen bu upgrade sonradan unutulmuş gibime geliyor. Ağların organikleşmesi ise özellikle hoşuma gitmeyen bir eksi. Keşke John Romita JR çizmeye devam etseydi. Zira neredeyse her sayıda değişen çizerlerin farklı tarzları yoruyor ve okumadan koparıyor insanı.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and new powers for spider-man too it, it was interesting seeing the parker family living in Avengers tower and is this the start of something between aunt may and Jarvis.im in the middle of a spider-man readathon now and can't recall seeing anything g more about his new powers years later so maybe the Other Storyline was wiped from memory

[Frank Jarome · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seeing Spidey as an Avenger was cool, and he has good interactions with the other members of the team. But The Other… yikes, what an awful jumble of a story. The wheels have definitely started to fall of this run now, and they’re not going to get any steadier in the last volume

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stories again, although The Other storyline never really gelled for me, as crossovers so rarely do.

[Jipi Perreault · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lackluster.
So much time spent on that storyline for so little payoff I believe. It's one of the most stationary "statu quo shattering event" I've ever read.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid collection, including the crossover event of whatever year that was.

[Daniel Farrelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best trade in the straczynski run so far. Loved all the avengers stuff and the cameos. No cringe like the other issues, and all the dying stuff was handled well for the most part

[Mateusz Nowowiejski · Rating 4 out of 5]

09.2024

[Marcin Wichowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

🕷️💪⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[_Liebert · Rating 1 out of 5]

i want to say something nice but

[Luis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collects issues from Amazing Spider-man ( #519-528) as well as issues from Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man (#1-4) and Marvel Knights Spider-man(#19-22). These last two series are included because of a crossover event( "The Other") that was told continuously through these three titles. These collections live up to the "ultimate collection" tag, because they're very chunky. If you are interested in collection Straczynski's complete run (he's often described as being one of the best Amazing Spider-man writers) I would suggest these collections. Volume five is heavily out of print but the first four are relatively easy to find cheaply on Amazon.
Volume Four picks up where Volume Three left off: with Aunt May's house completely destroyed. This deeply rattles Peter Parker because this destruction happened not because of Spider-man's mistakes but of his own. There is a very emotional moment between Aunt May and Peter as they go through the remains of their home. Wondering where they will live now, Tony Stark quickly offers them housing in the Avengers Tower. So throughout the issues we get to see Luke Cage, Spider-woman, Wolverine, Jarvis, Captain America and Iron Man. I wish we could have seen more members of the Avengers and having more of the team dynamic, because I felt that Peter rarely interacted with them as a team but to be fair this isn't an Avengers title.
The first story arc involves Hydra. Apparently around this time in Marvel's main continuity Hydra is a criminal organization that is mostly filled with gagsters, but now the true Hydra members have resurface and taken over to restore Hydra to it's proper glory. After a run in with with clones of Thor, Captain America, Hawk Eye and Iron Man with poorly duplicated powers, Spider-man realizes that there is more going on that meets the eye. This is a typical "superhero" story. Bad guys have an evil plan. Superhero tries to stop them. Bad guys execute the plan and the superhero seems to fail, but redeems himself at the end. It's alright.
On the other hand "The Other" which is the second story arc in this volume is amazing. Throughout this run, Straczynski brings up the notion that Spider-man's powers came from the spider that bite Peter and not from radiation or Oz formula. This arc is called the "The Other" because it brings up the idea that Peter Parker has two sides: his human side and his spider side, but he has never truly embraced his spider side because of his fear of leaving his human side. Peter Parker is dying. It never truly says what he has but it's implied that it's a form of cancer. It's interesting to see how this disease was foreshadowed in the previous arc. One of the problems I do have with it is that it has a slow beginning and it drags on in the middle with the fighting and the ending seems rushed. The best part are the heart felt moments with Peter Parker and MJ (who are married) and you can see why their relationship works. Aunt May also has some very deep conversations with Peter and various other members of the Avengers, which I enjoyed.
Ultimately, I give this collection three stars. The first arc was two stars. The second arc was four stars. So I think three stars is pretty fair.

[Harrison Delahunty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume shouldn’t be quite so rough as it is.

The first storyline, with the modern Hydra concept, is overall really well done all around—Straczynski’s writing is snappy and fun, and Deodato is firing on all cylinders.

The Other is an overwrought, horribly overlong, and wildly uneven mess.

Reginald Hudlin misses far, far more than he hits with both narrative and dialog. Pat Lee has one of the most uncomfortable art styles I’ve seen published in a comic. Mike Wieringo’s pencils are great but absolutely do not fit the story’s overdramatic tone. It’s just an ill-fitted hodgepodge of ideas that Straczynski clearly thought a lot more highly of than he should have. The only consistent highlight in all of the event is Deodato’s pencils, and even those are dragged down a bit by the weird pacing and uneven writing execution.

Especially with how much The Other is ignored (even immediately following it), you can really just read the Hydra storyline and skim the bits of The Other that Wieringo and Deodato did pencils on.

[Boz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite some hammy dialogue, this collection does a great job of humanizing the supporting cast of Amazing Spider-Man.

Aunt May's house burns down in the opening scene, and the cast is moved into the Avengers Mansion, where they have to acclimatize to living with larger-than-life heroes who - surprise! - are just like everyone else at the end of the day. In particular, there is a lot of focus on MJ and her relationship to Peter as someone she obviously loves, but who puts himself in truly mortal danger every day.

You've also got the appearance of a new villain, Tracer, and dealings with Hydra and Morlun. There's plenty of action, but this is more an introspection series than it is one of explosions and superheroes blasting bad-guys. So if you're a Spider-Man fan, it's worth a read.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This feels like kind of a hurry to Civil War. The developments that the author wants us to accept as the status quo kind of happen too quickly, I think.

[Jason Bowden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great! I’ve loved all these collections but I think this one was the best so far. Great story!