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The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) (Single Issues) #37-45
The Best of Spider-Man: Volume 2
The year's best Spider-Man stories, collected for the first time in one amazing volume.
What makes a great Spider-Man story? Start with a top-flight writer such as J. Michael Straczynski or Paul Jenkins, and then add the superb illustrations of a master artist such as John Romita Jr. or Humberto Ramos. Many Spider-Man comic books offer that much - but to be the best, the story must possess that undefined "something special" that will beg to be read and re-read for years to come. This is a collection of those very stories, each one hand-selected from an entire year's worth of Spider-Man issues.
From the mind of writer J. Michael Straczynski and the pencil of John Romita Jr. comes an all-new direction for Spider-Man. For years, Peter Parker has kept his heroic double identity a guarded secret from his beloved Aunt May. Now that she's finally learned the truth, how will May react to the shocking revelation? Plus: on a trip to California, Spider-Man takes on his classic foe, Doctor Octopus - the villain slated to star in the big-screen Spider-Man sequel.
Every great hero has an equally evil nemesis. For Spider-Man, that foe is the Green Goblin. In the wake of his seemingly miraculous return from the grave, Norman Osborn is more insane than ever. Since his son's death, Norman sees Peter Parker as Harry's replacement and has launched a twisted scheme to force Spider-Man to his side. The Spider-Man motion picture provided just a glimpse of the ongoing conflict between these two mortal adversaries; "Return of the Goblin," by writer Paul Jenkins and artist Humberto Ramos, features a battle like never before.
Plus, two selections from Spider-Man's Tangled Web:
Writer/artist Kaare Andrews presents a decidedly unique story seen through the eyes of two young boys who know Spider-Man only as a legend. Abandoned by their father, these two brothers have lost their faith in heroes. That is, until a heated battle between Spider-Man and Electro literally comes crashing through their apartment wall. With Spider-Man on the brink of defeat, one brother must learn what it means to really be a hero when it counts the most.
In a delightfully fun tale by writer/artist Darwyn Cooke, Peter Parker's got not just one but two dates lined up for Valentine's Day. Unfortunately for Peter, before he'll have to break someone's heart, the Vulture sets out to break Spider-Man's neck. Hailed by critics as a "deliciously entertaining read," this is one love story perfect for any Spider-Man fan.
Collecting Amazing Spider-Man #37-45, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #44-47, and Spider-Man's Tangled Web #10 and #11.
What makes a great Spider-Man story? Start with a top-flight writer such as J. Michael Straczynski or Paul Jenkins, and then add the superb illustrations of a master artist such as John Romita Jr. or Humberto Ramos. Many Spider-Man comic books offer that much - but to be the best, the story must possess that undefined "something special" that will beg to be read and re-read for years to come. This is a collection of those very stories, each one hand-selected from an entire year's worth of Spider-Man issues.
From the mind of writer J. Michael Straczynski and the pencil of John Romita Jr. comes an all-new direction for Spider-Man. For years, Peter Parker has kept his heroic double identity a guarded secret from his beloved Aunt May. Now that she's finally learned the truth, how will May react to the shocking revelation? Plus: on a trip to California, Spider-Man takes on his classic foe, Doctor Octopus - the villain slated to star in the big-screen Spider-Man sequel.
Every great hero has an equally evil nemesis. For Spider-Man, that foe is the Green Goblin. In the wake of his seemingly miraculous return from the grave, Norman Osborn is more insane than ever. Since his son's death, Norman sees Peter Parker as Harry's replacement and has launched a twisted scheme to force Spider-Man to his side. The Spider-Man motion picture provided just a glimpse of the ongoing conflict between these two mortal adversaries; "Return of the Goblin," by writer Paul Jenkins and artist Humberto Ramos, features a battle like never before.
Plus, two selections from Spider-Man's Tangled Web:
Writer/artist Kaare Andrews presents a decidedly unique story seen through the eyes of two young boys who know Spider-Man only as a legend. Abandoned by their father, these two brothers have lost their faith in heroes. That is, until a heated battle between Spider-Man and Electro literally comes crashing through their apartment wall. With Spider-Man on the brink of defeat, one brother must learn what it means to really be a hero when it counts the most.
In a delightfully fun tale by writer/artist Darwyn Cooke, Peter Parker's got not just one but two dates lined up for Valentine's Day. Unfortunately for Peter, before he'll have to break someone's heart, the Vulture sets out to break Spider-Man's neck. Hailed by critics as a "deliciously entertaining read," this is one love story perfect for any Spider-Man fan.
Collecting Amazing Spider-Man #37-45, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #44-47, and Spider-Man's Tangled Web #10 and #11.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published May 23, 2008
About the author
J. Michael Straczynski
1,374 books1,290 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 8, 2014
2002 must not've been a great year for Spider-Man, if this is "The Best" they had to offer. Whereas the first Best Of volume had a several fun one-off stories mixed in with a pretty solid start to J. Michael Straczynski's massive run on the character, this second outing was pretty lackluster overall.
JMS's storyline picks up right where the last one left off, with . This is the problem with comics focusing largely on a character who is attempting to hide his secret identity: anytime they're running out of story ideas, they can just have someone discover who they really are and then use that ad infinitum. I'll admit I feel like the consequences of this choice lead to some pretty realistic, human reactions from the various characters involved, but still, it feels like a massive waste of time to sit around having Secret Identity Problems instead of building a bigger story (which JMS does not do even remotely in this volume). After his story in the first volume, I was excited to see what he would do with the character, but it seems like he just took a year-long break after that great intro and took Spider-Man with him. There's a ton of coincidences that lead to fights, rather than any sort of building momentum, and it's just overall a little boring.
After this we get another story from Paul Jenkins, who wrote one of the more lackluster entries in the previous volume, and also the thoroughly bad Daredevil/Spider-Man around the same time. Gotta say, I'm not impressed with Jenkins in the least. He doesn't seem to have any idea what he wants to do with any given character or story. He writes in this kind of faux-noir style... sometimes? Then other times it just reads like really standard, cheesy superhero writing. In any case, in this volume he's crafted a Green Goblin showdown that I think is meant to make him truly fearful and insane, a madman bent on destroying Peter's life. The problem is, none of his plotting really makes any sense, and is all driven solely by "HE'S CRAZY!" motivations, which are simple, overdone, and far too easy. Additionally, Humberto Ramos's super ridiculous cartoony art style does not AT ALL fit a story about a madman trying to brutally murder innocents to get back at a superhero.
After this, we get a couple of single-issue stories from Spider-Man's Tangled Web, one by Kaare Andrews that I utterly hated due to its intense melodrama and crappy art. I cannot STAND comic book art that appears to just take actual photographs of people and then "toon 'em up" or whatever. It looks fakey and terrible, and that's all you get in this story.
The final Tangled Web story is by Darwyn Cooke, whose art I can always look at for hours. I love his style. When he's adapting Parker novels or drawing someone else's story, he's unstoppable. Unfortunately, though, I'm not a big fan of his writing. This is no exception. What ultimately ends up feeling pretty sexist (2 random women totally love and fight over Peter Parker with all their hearts and minds despite him standing them both up for a date, and all he has to do to make them forgive him is show up and be a man), is also just very corny to start.
Overall, this seems like a pretty missable volume of Best Of, but if you just want to read the entirety of JMS's run (as I do), it's not a complete waste of time.
JMS's storyline picks up right where the last one left off, with . This is the problem with comics focusing largely on a character who is attempting to hide his secret identity: anytime they're running out of story ideas, they can just have someone discover who they really are and then use that ad infinitum. I'll admit I feel like the consequences of this choice lead to some pretty realistic, human reactions from the various characters involved, but still, it feels like a massive waste of time to sit around having Secret Identity Problems instead of building a bigger story (which JMS does not do even remotely in this volume). After his story in the first volume, I was excited to see what he would do with the character, but it seems like he just took a year-long break after that great intro and took Spider-Man with him. There's a ton of coincidences that lead to fights, rather than any sort of building momentum, and it's just overall a little boring.
After this we get another story from Paul Jenkins, who wrote one of the more lackluster entries in the previous volume, and also the thoroughly bad Daredevil/Spider-Man around the same time. Gotta say, I'm not impressed with Jenkins in the least. He doesn't seem to have any idea what he wants to do with any given character or story. He writes in this kind of faux-noir style... sometimes? Then other times it just reads like really standard, cheesy superhero writing. In any case, in this volume he's crafted a Green Goblin showdown that I think is meant to make him truly fearful and insane, a madman bent on destroying Peter's life. The problem is, none of his plotting really makes any sense, and is all driven solely by "HE'S CRAZY!" motivations, which are simple, overdone, and far too easy. Additionally, Humberto Ramos's super ridiculous cartoony art style does not AT ALL fit a story about a madman trying to brutally murder innocents to get back at a superhero.
After this, we get a couple of single-issue stories from Spider-Man's Tangled Web, one by Kaare Andrews that I utterly hated due to its intense melodrama and crappy art. I cannot STAND comic book art that appears to just take actual photographs of people and then "toon 'em up" or whatever. It looks fakey and terrible, and that's all you get in this story.
The final Tangled Web story is by Darwyn Cooke, whose art I can always look at for hours. I love his style. When he's adapting Parker novels or drawing someone else's story, he's unstoppable. Unfortunately, though, I'm not a big fan of his writing. This is no exception. What ultimately ends up feeling pretty sexist (2 random women totally love and fight over Peter Parker with all their hearts and minds despite him standing them both up for a date, and all he has to do to make them forgive him is show up and be a man), is also just very corny to start.
Overall, this seems like a pretty missable volume of Best Of, but if you just want to read the entirety of JMS's run (as I do), it's not a complete waste of time.
June 11, 2012
I'm a big fan of Marvel comics compared to DC comics. The only DC comics I really like reading are good Batman and Superman stories. Yes I do also find the rest of the Justice League entertaining but only Batman and Superman really grab me. In the Marvel universe so many heroes grab me from Captain America, Hulk Wolverine and Iron Man to The Fantastic Four and the X-Men. I also love the villains from the Marvel universe more even though Batman and Superman have some truly twisted and evil psychotic adversaries. And who else swings through both targets that I love than Spiderman? Not only is he one of my favourite Marvel characters and one of the top three greatest superheroes after Superman and Batman he also has an impressive rogues gallery to boot.
This is a great selection of Spiderman stories that I believe someone only slightly acquainted with the canon could read and still understand. The plots are certainly open enough to invite a first timer to enter the world of Spiderman and they are also of a fairly high standard across the board. They are not of the highest standard for me to rate them five but they do provide the entertaining, hard-hitting storylines, great artwork and philosophical debate required of any great comic collection.
If you're looking for a fine collection of Spiderman stories I'd recommend this as a step in the right direction certainly. There are a few additions some purists might dislike vehemently but on the whole anyone looking for several hours of solid Spiderman stories would love this.
This is a great selection of Spiderman stories that I believe someone only slightly acquainted with the canon could read and still understand. The plots are certainly open enough to invite a first timer to enter the world of Spiderman and they are also of a fairly high standard across the board. They are not of the highest standard for me to rate them five but they do provide the entertaining, hard-hitting storylines, great artwork and philosophical debate required of any great comic collection.
If you're looking for a fine collection of Spiderman stories I'd recommend this as a step in the right direction certainly. There are a few additions some purists might dislike vehemently but on the whole anyone looking for several hours of solid Spiderman stories would love this.
July 29, 2012
I loved spider man as a kid. I had the Spider-man board game. He was my favorite part of the Electric Company.
According to my mom, I even had a pair of Spider-man underoos and used to walk around the house like Spider-man: half crouching, slow steps, arms outstretched.
True story.
According to my mom, I even had a pair of Spider-man underoos and used to walk around the house like Spider-man: half crouching, slow steps, arms outstretched.
True story.
August 23, 2022
I read this book in one day. Equal parts character and action and just solid Spidey storytelling.
April 23, 2021
I have always been intimidated to read comic books because there are so many issues in circulation with so many different possible series for a single superhero. I picked up The Best of Spider-Man Vols 2-4 at my local used book store because it was a very small financial investment and it seemed like a good way to figure out which Spider-Man series I like.
It is a compendium of the best issues published within a year. This volume contained issues from The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker Spider-Man, and Spider-Man's Tangled Web. My favorites were from The Amazing Spider-Man: they were classic Spidey story lines, similar to those used for the movies. Lots of drama, lots of action, and a good clear-cut hero vs bad guys plot. The story itself didn't require any previous knowledge of the Spider-Man Universe, so it was a good place to start. These ones also had my favorite art.
Peter Parker Spider-Man was darker than the Amazing Spider-Man with more internal monologue, and more complex emotions and relationships. The issues in the compendium featured green Goblin as the villain, and I knew some of the history with green Goblin from the movies, but there was definitely a lot of background I was missing. I didn't like the art at first because the artist made the characters features very sharp and angular which made them look mean, but it fit very well with the mood set in the issues, and it grew on me by the end.
The final two issues in the volume were from Spider-Mans Tangled Web, and these were very light-hearted and somewhat more childish than the other two. The art style was very different and one of the issues really reminded me of the way the old Archie comics were drawn, inked and written. They were one-off stories that didn't have much depth- these were my least favorite from the Volume.
I will be continuing on with volume 3, and I am happy to say that reading this helped me overcome some of that fear of diving into these huge comic universes.
It is a compendium of the best issues published within a year. This volume contained issues from The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker Spider-Man, and Spider-Man's Tangled Web. My favorites were from The Amazing Spider-Man: they were classic Spidey story lines, similar to those used for the movies. Lots of drama, lots of action, and a good clear-cut hero vs bad guys plot. The story itself didn't require any previous knowledge of the Spider-Man Universe, so it was a good place to start. These ones also had my favorite art.
Peter Parker Spider-Man was darker than the Amazing Spider-Man with more internal monologue, and more complex emotions and relationships. The issues in the compendium featured green Goblin as the villain, and I knew some of the history with green Goblin from the movies, but there was definitely a lot of background I was missing. I didn't like the art at first because the artist made the characters features very sharp and angular which made them look mean, but it fit very well with the mood set in the issues, and it grew on me by the end.
The final two issues in the volume were from Spider-Mans Tangled Web, and these were very light-hearted and somewhat more childish than the other two. The art style was very different and one of the issues really reminded me of the way the old Archie comics were drawn, inked and written. They were one-off stories that didn't have much depth- these were my least favorite from the Volume.
I will be continuing on with volume 3, and I am happy to say that reading this helped me overcome some of that fear of diving into these huge comic universes.
February 6, 2016
Straczynski is pretty clever here, but a bunch of these stories feel like sideshows for some reason.
The Paul Jenkins story, apparently published elsewhere as "Return of the Goblin," is a very, very poor man's "The Killing Joke."
Spider Man: Return Of The Goblin
Batman: The Killing Joke
It doesn't really make sense.
There's something weird about the art in all of these books. It's too jangly and off-kilter. It looks like wanted to make it feel like alternative book, but the result is that everything feels cartoony. It takes a lot of the punch out.
The Paul Jenkins story, apparently published elsewhere as "Return of the Goblin," is a very, very poor man's "The Killing Joke."
Spider Man: Return Of The Goblin
Batman: The Killing JokeIt doesn't really make sense.
There's something weird about the art in all of these books. It's too jangly and off-kilter. It looks like wanted to make it feel like alternative book, but the result is that everything feels cartoony. It takes a lot of the punch out.
December 23, 2012
The Straczynski stories are not bad. The rest are not good.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews