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The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) (Collected Editions) #16-18
The Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 5
Concluding his historic run on Spider-Man, JMS takes our hero to new highs and new lows-setting the stage for an era of Spidey unlike any other! This volume has it all: Spider-Man in his new red armor, Spider-Man back in his black costume and Spider-Man unmasked to the public! Spidey fi ghts on both sides of the Civil War!And when Aunt May gets shot by one of the Kingpin's henchmen, how far will Peter go to save her? Witness the final days of Peter and Mary Jane's marriage! COLLECTING: Amazing Spider-Man #529-545, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24, Sensational Spider-Man #41, Spider-Man: One More Day Sketchbook, Marvel Spotlight: Spider-Man - One More Day
536 pages, Paperback
First published November 24, 2010
2 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
About the author
J. Michael Straczynski
1,372 books1,281 followersJoseph 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 17, 2023
I read the comic books Amazing Spider-Man #529-545, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24, Sensational Spider-Man #41 and the One More Day specials. What a way to go, and a fitting finale for such an awesome run, so no spoilers will just mention the story names:
Parker Goes to Washington - in which Parker gets a new suit supports the law at a Senate Committee hearing in some of the best plotted Spider-Man comics in history!
The War At Home - The Civil War from Parker/Spider-Man's perspective where J. Michael Straczynski immediately surpasses the previous amazing story penning one of the best plotted Spider-Man comics in history!
Back In Black - where Aunt May is in trouble, Spidey's back in black, and one of his worse enemies is back. After the last story line, there was nowhere to go, although this is still very good.
One More Day - I can never decide if I like how this all ended, but I do know it was very well plotted again, thank you J. Michael Straczynski
9 out of 12 overall. Plotting masterclass Four Star read.
2014 and 2012 read
Parker Goes to Washington - in which Parker gets a new suit supports the law at a Senate Committee hearing in some of the best plotted Spider-Man comics in history!
The War At Home - The Civil War from Parker/Spider-Man's perspective where J. Michael Straczynski immediately surpasses the previous amazing story penning one of the best plotted Spider-Man comics in history!
Back In Black - where Aunt May is in trouble, Spidey's back in black, and one of his worse enemies is back. After the last story line, there was nowhere to go, although this is still very good.
One More Day - I can never decide if I like how this all ended, but I do know it was very well plotted again, thank you J. Michael Straczynski
9 out of 12 overall. Plotting masterclass Four Star read.
2014 and 2012 read
March 24, 2015
I'm glad I finally finished this series. Can't say I enjoyed all of it. Especially towards the end it got very heavy, and it seemed like Peter spent too much of his time wringing his hands and worrying about the people around him. The only other Spider-Man I've read is the current Dan Slott stuff and Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man, which I find much more fun and carefree. I can't stand John Romita Jr's art style, but Mike Deodato's art was fine here. I think the story in this collection was fine: at least initially it avoids the supernatural Mumbo-Jumbo of the earlier arcs, and focuses on the build up to and fallout from Civil War, which remains one of my favorite events. Ultimately though the fallout takes Peter to such a dark place that there really was no choice but to "reboot" the character. I won't bother criticizing the One More Day conclusion. Everyone has already said plenty about that. Ultimately, I think as bizarre as it is it seems like the only way to get Spider-Man out of the corner they'd written him into, and looking back on it I'm glad they returned Peter to the carefree single guy he was before his marriage. I can certainly understand why people who were attached to the Peter-MJ relationship would be upset though.
Overall, glad I read this series, but glad I'm finally finished. It was good, but eventually I just got tired of reading it.
Overall, glad I read this series, but glad I'm finally finished. It was good, but eventually I just got tired of reading it.
November 11, 2021
Good art, intense story. I didn't like the events, especially
April 10, 2023
*Cracks nuckles* get ready for some spicy, original takes.
- the lead up to civil war is really well done, but all the best moments were in the dedicated event comics and not in ASM
- Back in Black is a fantastic storyline
- One More Day was a mistake and meddling by the higher-ups at Marvel, mandating that spider-man stays the same forever in order to be relatable, holds the character back.
Straczynski really did great work on this run. Going to keep reading until we get to the Dan Slott run, and if I remember correctly there are some dark (aka, boring) times ahead. If it hadn't been for meddling by editors, this would have been near perfect.
- the lead up to civil war is really well done, but all the best moments were in the dedicated event comics and not in ASM
- Back in Black is a fantastic storyline
- One More Day was a mistake and meddling by the higher-ups at Marvel, mandating that spider-man stays the same forever in order to be relatable, holds the character back.
Straczynski really did great work on this run. Going to keep reading until we get to the Dan Slott run, and if I remember correctly there are some dark (aka, boring) times ahead. If it hadn't been for meddling by editors, this would have been near perfect.
September 19, 2020
Spidey sa tu od Civil War po Back in Black iba brodí bahnom a na One More Day si pamätám ešte z čias Keramových prekladov, kedy to tu nenávidel asi každý. JMS sa lúči vo veľkom a pokiaľ ani vás kontinuita netrápi, tak si to užijete rovnako ako ja.
December 30, 2021
This run was so good in the early stages, decent in the middle… and then crap at the end. Civil War really wrecked this book, as it did so many others. And then the infamous One More Day… ick. Just ick.
March 13, 2022
One of the best spidey stories ever (back in black), with one of the worst comic stories of all time. God I feel so conflicted about this book. Anyway I love back in black so much, rather think of the positives.
June 21, 2025
I'll forever stand by my opinion that One More Day as a story was very well-done, even if many dislike it's impact. That being said, it's been almost 2 decades and people really need to get over it, retconning One More Day does not immediately make ASM better
August 13, 2019
Civil War Spider-Man was fantastic and worth four stars on its own. The other two arcs were horrible. Back in Black was pointless and One More Day is the worst Spider-Man Story I’ve ever read.
November 12, 2021
Great but controversial end to Straczynski’s run.
Read
May 18, 2022Not half bad
This was not as bad as everyone says it is. Really good civil war tie in. Back in black is OK and the ending really isn't that bad.
This was not as bad as everyone says it is. Really good civil war tie in. Back in black is OK and the ending really isn't that bad.
October 8, 2018
Civil War tie-ins were almost worth 5 stars, Back in Black had no stakes maybe 3 stars, One More Day/Brand New Day was the worst arc I've read in the last 5 volumes of Sraczynski's amazing and long run on Amazing Spider-Man and brought the entire trade down to a 2 for me. Very disappointing ending to a very enjoyable run and seems to be largely due to Marvel editorial which is a shame. #1 reason why I can't stand Marvel Comics is their constant need to intervene and reboot their titles.
December 3, 2011
First, I haven't read the previous volumes, so some of my opinions might be affected by missing those previous chapters. But I think this was a (partially) well-written Spiderman book. I tend to be wary of Spider-man, but because so much has been done with him over the years. This book has four main arcs:
1. The pre-Civil War arc. Decent, but it seems like a filler between whatever was going on before and the actual Civil War stuff. Decent, but nothing great, although the relationship between Peter and Tony Stark is a nice point.
2. Civil War itself. I've read most of the Civil War graphic novels, and this was definitely one of the strongest. Because it has plenty of room, we really get to see Peter struggling with the moral/legal issue instead of just fighting people (although there's a lot of that, too.) It's also nice to see the supporting cast getting so involved in his decisions. This section has a nice plot arc and character development, and a strong, emotional ending.
3. Back in Black. This is an ok arc, exploring the revenge theme, and seeing Peter's spiral into illegality is nice, but the arc really just felt like a holding pattern again--I'm just waiting for the real fireworks of One More Day.
4. One More Day. This represents everything horrible about comics--that nothing ever has lasting consequences, and things can be just retconned in deus-ex-machina fashion, with no thought to the actual effects it would have. Having said that, I thought this was really a surprisingly touching piece. The first half has some sort of wheel-spinning while the writers try to convince us Peter's tried everything, but the whole deal-with-the-devil second half actually works surprisingly well on an emotional level. (Particularly the multiple pages with Peter and Mary Jane just sitting in the dark with each other--a rare moment of stillness for a superhero comic.) This was a rare bit that I expected to hate but actually thought was pretty good. I still hate it plot-wise, but while reading it I rather enjoyed the heart of it. But I'm going to stick with terrible, overall.
Overall, this book does a nice job of breaking up the repetitive six-issue arc storyline, has some good if never really amazing art, and some excellent funny moments. But overall, I have to say that it really manages to capture the emotion of the characters surprisingly well.
[Also, this book showcases Peter sticking to a wall while wearing boots and blue jeans. My suspension of disbelief allows him to stick to walls with his suit on, because surely it's some kind of specially designed....super.... material, or....something. But the whole blue jeans and boots thing is really, really jarring. As soon as I see it, I'm no longer reading the comic, I'm just trying to think of some way to explain this satisfactorily. I never could.]
1. The pre-Civil War arc. Decent, but it seems like a filler between whatever was going on before and the actual Civil War stuff. Decent, but nothing great, although the relationship between Peter and Tony Stark is a nice point.
2. Civil War itself. I've read most of the Civil War graphic novels, and this was definitely one of the strongest. Because it has plenty of room, we really get to see Peter struggling with the moral/legal issue instead of just fighting people (although there's a lot of that, too.) It's also nice to see the supporting cast getting so involved in his decisions. This section has a nice plot arc and character development, and a strong, emotional ending.
3. Back in Black. This is an ok arc, exploring the revenge theme, and seeing Peter's spiral into illegality is nice, but the arc really just felt like a holding pattern again--I'm just waiting for the real fireworks of One More Day.
4. One More Day. This represents everything horrible about comics--that nothing ever has lasting consequences, and things can be just retconned in deus-ex-machina fashion, with no thought to the actual effects it would have. Having said that, I thought this was really a surprisingly touching piece. The first half has some sort of wheel-spinning while the writers try to convince us Peter's tried everything, but the whole deal-with-the-devil second half actually works surprisingly well on an emotional level. (Particularly the multiple pages with Peter and Mary Jane just sitting in the dark with each other--a rare moment of stillness for a superhero comic.) This was a rare bit that I expected to hate but actually thought was pretty good. I still hate it plot-wise, but while reading it I rather enjoyed the heart of it. But I'm going to stick with terrible, overall.
Overall, this book does a nice job of breaking up the repetitive six-issue arc storyline, has some good if never really amazing art, and some excellent funny moments. But overall, I have to say that it really manages to capture the emotion of the characters surprisingly well.
[Also, this book showcases Peter sticking to a wall while wearing boots and blue jeans. My suspension of disbelief allows him to stick to walls with his suit on, because surely it's some kind of specially designed....super.... material, or....something. But the whole blue jeans and boots thing is really, really jarring. As soon as I see it, I'm no longer reading the comic, I'm just trying to think of some way to explain this satisfactorily. I never could.]
August 16, 2016
I've seen some of this before indirectly in the Civil War trade and more directly in
The Amazing Spider-Man, 12: Back in Black
Most of it makes sense in the context of the Civil War, but then it gets dark and unnecessary.
"One More Day" is one of the most hated Spider-Man stories in history. Even the laudatory essays in this collection basically say, "Well, it was an editorial decision and we were really invested in resetting this aspect of Spider-Man's life because we thought we would allow us to tell simpler stories."
It's also way too cosmic/mystic for a major Spider-Man story (although JMS's run had actually been trending that way). It feels artificial even in a world of suspended disbelief.
It's interesting that no one's finally and once and for all reversed "One More Day."
The Amazing Spider-Man, 12: Back in Black
Most of it makes sense in the context of the Civil War, but then it gets dark and unnecessary.
"One More Day" is one of the most hated Spider-Man stories in history. Even the laudatory essays in this collection basically say, "Well, it was an editorial decision and we were really invested in resetting this aspect of Spider-Man's life because we thought we would allow us to tell simpler stories."
It's also way too cosmic/mystic for a major Spider-Man story (although JMS's run had actually been trending that way). It feels artificial even in a world of suspended disbelief.
It's interesting that no one's finally and once and for all reversed "One More Day."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2013
I wasn't really interesting in Spider Man, but I flipped through this collection at the library and there was something about the artwork that just was... pervasive, or something like that. I couldn't not read it.
I'm glad I did. I fell in love with Spider Man. I love how it deals with the politics, and the questions of what is right. I love, love, love how it quotes/references both Mark Twain and Euripides. I love how these Comics are so smart. There is witty comebacks, and action, balanced with emotion, and philosophical-type questions.
I am excited to read about Captain America and the Fantastic Four and so many other characters that I wasn't sure about before, but I want to know how they all fit in together.
There's just so much good in these. If anyone ever tells me comic books are not literature I will ask them nicely to define their terms and then I'll hand them this collection and ask them to please, please, try to broaden their definitions of what literature is.
I'm glad I did. I fell in love with Spider Man. I love how it deals with the politics, and the questions of what is right. I love, love, love how it quotes/references both Mark Twain and Euripides. I love how these Comics are so smart. There is witty comebacks, and action, balanced with emotion, and philosophical-type questions.
I am excited to read about Captain America and the Fantastic Four and so many other characters that I wasn't sure about before, but I want to know how they all fit in together.
There's just so much good in these. If anyone ever tells me comic books are not literature I will ask them nicely to define their terms and then I'll hand them this collection and ask them to please, please, try to broaden their definitions of what literature is.
August 9, 2013
A not-so-good conclusion to an otherwise spectacular run by JMS. Story arcs:
Mr. Parker Goes to Washington: 4/5
Civil War tie-in - "The War at Home": 3.5/5
Back in Black: 3/5
One More Day: 1/5 - you know why...
Although I started my Amazing Spider-Man journey and read from Brand New Day (#546) to Ends of the Earth (#687), I decided to go back and read the JMS issues since I heard great things (#471-545). There have been more highlights (the 9/11 issue, "The Conversation" and "'Nuff Said") than lowlights (the aforementioned One More Day). So congratulations to JMS on a great run!
Mr. Parker Goes to Washington: 4/5
Civil War tie-in - "The War at Home": 3.5/5
Back in Black: 3/5
One More Day: 1/5 - you know why...
Although I started my Amazing Spider-Man journey and read from Brand New Day (#546) to Ends of the Earth (#687), I decided to go back and read the JMS issues since I heard great things (#471-545). There have been more highlights (the 9/11 issue, "The Conversation" and "'Nuff Said") than lowlights (the aforementioned One More Day). So congratulations to JMS on a great run!
June 4, 2016
Really weird ending. One of those "where the heck are they going to go with this" kind of things.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews