Essential Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 5

Essential Amazing Spider-Man #5

by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, John Romita

Granted amazing, arachnid-like abilities by the bite of an irradiated spider, Peter Parker has vowed to protect his fellow man! In this volume: the return of the diabolical Doctor Octopus! A side trip to the SavageLand that time forgot! The first appearance of Morbius the Living Vampire! The death of Captain Stacy! Plus: the wall-crawler's climactic confrontation with the grinning Green Goblin! Collecting AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #90-113.

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

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

With Stan Lee at the helm, and John Romita Sr. and Gil Kane drawing this volume that covers the final Silver Age Spider-Man comic book runs, they collaborated to produce this humdinger period with some truly comic book legends with the debuts of the Gibbon, the (modern) Black Widow and Morbius. On top this period also covered the first ever Spider-Man un-maskings, some manic Doc Ock battles, the return of the Goblin and sense shattering death of Captain Stacy - a truly classic Spidey era! Although the weaker story arcs in this volume bring down my overall rating to 7 out of 12.

2014 review

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume marks a major milestone in the history of everybody's favourite wall-crawler in that it covers the issues where Stan Lee (Spidey's co-creator, for the benefit of those of you living under rocks in the DC Universe) stops writing the book.

The issues where the flame is passed are a little ropey; Spidey seems out-of-character in places and we get some of the sillier events in Spidey's career, such as when Pete tries to cure himself of his Spider-powers so he can live a normal life and ends up giving himself four extra arms instead!

Don't let this put you off picking up this volume, though, as there's much more good than bad. There are also some seminal Spidey tales included here including the death of Captain George Stacy and Harry Osborn's experimentation with illegal drugs (a story that Marvel wanted to tell so much that they ran the issues concerned WITHOUT the approval of the Comics Code Authority; this was unheard of at the time!) There's also a load of great, classic John Romita (Sr.) artwork to feast your eyes on.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

These essential Marvel collections in a B?W delivery are more my nostalgic lookback on the time when I still read these comics. This collection brings me the death of Gwen Stacy's father, several fight with Doc Octopus, Kraven the hunter, Hobgoblin,and as always Spiderman himself. He was always conflicted about his gift and his private live. And of course Jonah Jameson the newspaperman with the little Hitler moustache who made Spiderman's life far more difficult than he deserved.

The new Marvel universe is something I gave up with since it has become far to rebootish, this is the Spiderman when I guess the wold was less digital and far easier to enjoy. Perhaps for me and other old time lovers of the comic a nice way to enjoy Spiderman, my Spiderman anyhow as the split up versions kinda make me fall out in love with any comic.

Well worth your time if you are like me nostalogic to the older comics when their adventures were still understandable and less spread over the various titles of the Marvelverse. A Spiderman who I enjoy and can actually follow.

[Bianca Klein Haneveld · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Essential Amazing Spider-Man volumes keep getting better and better. When I read the first volume I thought the plotting was a bit formulaic. Every episode Spider-Man fought another bad guy and none of them had an interesting backstory.
That is totally different in this fifth volume. Bad guys are three-dimensional characters with interesting motives and fully realised backgrounds. And Peter Parker himself has a more complicated life and more realistic relationships.
I loved the bad guys in this volume. Especially Morbius was a favorite of mine.
All in all I really enjoyed reading this volume.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spider-Man storms into the 1970s in this collection of twenty-three issues of 'The Amazing Spider-Man'.
Peter Parker's personal life is tested to the limits as Captain Stacy is killed, Gwen flees to England and Aunt May disappears under mysterious circumstances. Meanwhile, as Spider-Man, he has to fight villains such as Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, the Beetle, Kraven the Hunter and a new foe; Morbius the Living Vampire.

There's a really interesting tonal break in the middle of this book that caused me to taker a wider look at where Spider-Man is, narratively-speaking, at this point.
Stan Lee's run on the series is broken up by a few issues in which Roy Thomas takes over the writing and what we get for those few issues include Peter sprouting extra limbs, the introduction of Morbius and an impromptu trip to the Savage Land to fight dinosaurs and an alien giant called Gog. These whacky and bizarre stories are totally different to the ones either side of them and it made me realise something significant: Lee's writing had gotten stale.
Now, the more over-the-top stories don't fit with the more grounded street-level adventures of Spidey that we're used to but it's clear here that the narrative mileage of having Spidey beat up random hoodlums or have overly-familiar run ins with his more famous foes had run out by this point.

The out-of-nowhere detour to the Savage Land shows this best. Whilst it's corny and I'm not at all okay with the fact that Jameson invites Gwen along so she can lounge around in a bikini for photos (dirty old perv), there's a great sense of fun to the story.
Also it was the most interesting use of Kraven the Hunter I've read so far, having the character try to carve out a kingdom in the Savage Land in opposition to Ka-Zar. This is further highlighted later in this book when Kraven returns in a Lee-penned story that feels actively regressive for the character.

If you want any further proof that Lee was past his A-game by this point, I will direct you to his creation of what was clearly intended to be the next great Spidey villain; the Gibbon! Never heard of him? Exactly.
However, this is not all to say that there's not still great Spidey stories on offer here, they just tend to be the ones not penned by the character's co-creator sadly.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *

[Perry Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last of the Stan Lee issues. I think the writing actually gets better when Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway take over. Not surprising. Stan was writing the entire line by himself for a decade. He did a great job. But things got better when he divided the workload.

[Christopher Litsinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's f-ing Spider-Man, do you really need a review?

[Juan Jose · Rating 4 out of 5]

gets me to infancy!

[Peter Derk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huge, giant review here because I'm too lazy to post pictures on goodreads:

http://www.helpfulsnowman.com/?p=5579

[Skjam! · Rating 4 out of 5]

It turns out I’ve never reviewed a Spider-Man comic book on this website before, so let’s quickly go over his origin. Peter Parker is a nerdy high school student, bullied by the “popular kids.” One day while visiting a science exhibit, Peter is bitten by a radioactive spider. Because this is comic books, the irradiated venom gives Peter superpowers. Peter sews his own costume and makes webshooters to eject a web-like substance he’s created in his spare time.

Peter decides he can best use his new Spider-Man persona to make big bucks as a celebrity. This has some initial success, and goes to his head. As a result, he doesn’t bother stopping a thief being chased by a guard. But when Peter arrives home hours later, he discovers that his beloved Uncle Ben has been murdered. Tracking down the murderer, Spider-Man is shocked to discover it’s the same burglar he could have stopped earlier.

“With great power–must come great responsibility!” Spider-Man’s career path becomes that of the superhero, but it will never be easy for him.

Volume Five collects Amazing Spider-Man #90-113, a pivotal time for the series. It opens with a rematch against Dr. Octopus that isn’t going so well because Spider-Man’s out of web fluid. Spidey barely escapes and has to go lie down for a while to recover from the beating. Peter is helped out by Police Captain George Stacy, father of his current girlfriend Gwen Stacy. The way Captain Stacy talks, though, makes Peter suspect the policeman may have realized his secret identity.

Peter adjusts his next batch of web fluid with an extra compound that somehow blocks Dr. Octopus’ mental link with his metal tentacles, making them go wild. As an unplanned side effect, one of the tentacles smashes into brickwork, sending it hurtling toward the civilians below. Captain Stacy, on the scene, sacrifices his own life to save a child. With his dying breath, the old man reveals that he in fact knows that Spider-Man is Peter Parker, and asks him to look after Gwen.

Naturally, most people just assume that Spider-Man directly killed Captain Stacy, rather than being indirectly responsible. Publisher J. Jonah Jameson uses his control of the Daily Bugle newspaper to call for Spidey’s head. Politician Sam Bullitt makes capturing Spider-Man the centerpiece of his mayoral campaign, and Gwen (who definitely does not know Peter’s secret) joins the bandwagon despite knowing her father hated Bullitt.

Bullitt’s actual “law and order” agenda turns out to be more influenced by racism than by hatred of Spider-Man, and this is exposed. Gwen decides to head for England for a while.

Meanwhile, Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn are having some difficulties in their own relationship. MJ is flirting with Peter now that Gwen’s out of town, and Harry is succumbing to the stress of college and not being able to trust his girlfriend. It doesn’t help that Harry’s father Osborn abruptly remembers that he’s the supervillain Green Goblin.

Harry overdoses on drugs (in an issue that didn’t have the Comics Code stamp, one of the first cracks in their system) but does not die. Norman returns to his amnesiac state, and Gwen finally returns to New York.

Issue 100 has Peter decide that he can’t trust his current good situation will continue, and try a new serum to cure himself. Instead, it gives him four extra arms!

Roy Thomas takes over writing chores for the next few issues, as our newly weird hero battles Morbius the Living Vampire (first appearance) with the help (kind of) of Dr. Curt Connors, the Lizard. Cured of the extra arms, Peter joins an expedition to the hidden Savage Land in Antarctica.

Stan Lee took back the reins for a reappearance by Professor Smythe and his Spider-Slayer robot, this one enhanced by a network of computer-controlled cameras installed by the police. (An idea whose time had not fully come yet.)

Flash Thompson (Peter’s bully in high school) came back from Vietnam a much better person than when he left, but with a dangerous secret that needs Dr. Strange to help out.

After that was the first appearance of the Gibbon, a sad sack character who the universe hates even worse than Peter Parker.

Gerry Conway became the new full-time writer, and brought back Dr. Octopus for the first time since Captain Tracy died. After a hard-fought battle with no civilian casualties, Spider-Man finally defeats the mad scientist, but now must face…Hammerhead!

John Romita and Gil Kane produce some stellar art.

While the through-line is strong, there tends to be severe tonal shifts between stories, especially when the writers swap out. The tendency towards long-running subplots increased in this time period.

This large, inexpensive black and white reprint volume is well worth looking up in your local library, or buying if you really like it.

[Henry Arrambide · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Morbius Arc alone is standout, the horror undertones of Spider-Man making the vampire fertile foil. With an Issue #100 delivering the silliest imagery, a Six-Armed Peter, what we get is a Bat vs. Spider piece of pop-camp that throws in The Lizard as well, three pests let loose from containment on to a world so adapted at this point to Super-Hijinks that the story can sustain some comedy rather than just gawk at catastrophe, these monsters stumbling about stupidly, more a harm to themselves than anyone else, Post-Industrial Frankenstein's Monsters. While the tangibles could be described in a manner that sounds redundant with this branch of the run - lots of Villain of the Month rhythms familiar in summary - tonally a marked shift is occurring, the silver age was coming to an end.

[Adam Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book collects Issues 90-113 of the Amazing Spider-man and is notable for being the last issues of Stan Lee's incredible run with most of the book by Lee (90-100, 105-110) with the other 1/4 being by Roy Thomas (101-104) and Gerry Conway (111-113)

Volume 4 had ended with the return of Doctor Octopus and Issue 90 picks that up with Peter continuing to fight Doctor Octopus but in Issue 90, Captain George Stacy gives his life saving a child endangered in the crossfire. The death of Captain Stacy was a benchmark in the Spider-man universe with great consequences. It had been hinted that Stacy knew of Peter's true identity and in Issue 90, Captain Stacy actually confirms that's the case.

Peter Parker was in love with Gwen Stacy, who blamed Spider-man for the death of her father. The incident was used by a corrupt candidate for District Attorney to further his own campaign (91-92) and media cover led X-men charter member Iceman to attack. Issue 93 had Spider-man attacked by the Prowler leaving Peter unable to get to Gwen in time. Issue 94 saw Peter ready to hang up the Webs until the Beetle makes a big mistake. Issue 95 has Peter going to London and try and speak to Gwen but Spider-man has a supervillain he has to fight.

This mini-arch around the Death of Captain Stacy was superb, leading to some very good stories where Peter Parker's emotions and conflicts are portrayed realistically and great humanity. I loved Spidey in London.

Issues 96-98 were another landmark in the series featuring the return of Green Goblin, but also Peter discovering that his best friend and roommate Harry Osborn had a drug problem. The last two issues were printed without Comic Book Code approval and was a true landmark with Lee discussing a vitally important issue in a way that was not too preachy and also very human with Peter Parker getting into action against a band of drug dealers.

At the end of that arch, Gwen Stacy returned and the two are quite a couple. Issue #99 was more forgettable with its focus on prison reform which seemed less like Spidey. Issue 100 was a great retrospective on Spidey with Peter deciding to quit being Spider-man and take a concoction that he thinks will cure him of his Spider-powers. Instead, it gives him six arms. This issue is hard to hate because the six-arms thing is so iconic though Spidey deciding to quit comes out of nowhere because he's with his girlfriend, he's got a job staff photographer, and his problems are limited.

This leads into Roy Thomas' mini-run. Issues 101 an 102 resolve the six arms issue while also introducing Morbius the Vammpire who ends up fighting the Lizard. Issues 103 and 104 has J Jonah Jameson responding to fall circulation numbers by taking Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy (in a bikini) to the Savage Lands, where they meet Ka-Zar who ends up fighting Kraven the Hunter and a creature named Zog.

Thomas is a good writer and these are fun stories. However Thomas' weakness (particulary in the second arch) is that he seems to forget, this is supposed to be the magazine about Spider-man as Spidey becomes an after thought in his own magazine.

Issues 105-107 feature the return of the Spider Slayers, a story arch that causes some reviewers to roll their eyes as it was the third appearance of Professor Spencer Smythe and his robots. I liked the arch because the robots are far more menacing than the silly things that showed up back in Amazing Spider-man #25. Plus there are additional elements that are nice to see such as Smythe using anti-crime big brother cameras that he'd been contracted by the city to install and service to commit crimes. Issues 108 and 109 are a story about Flash being haunted for something that occurred in Vietnam and it's a memorable serial that has a good reason for featuring a cameo by Doctor Strange.

Also in Issue 109, Gwen Stacy finally tells Aunt May that she's been babying Peter too much and acting like he's an infant. May reacts like a mature elderly woman would: she runs away from home.

Issue 110 is unfortunate in that it's Stan Lee's last issue and it introduces the weak character of the Gibbon, a hair guy who was such a fan of Spider-man that he wanted to be Spidey's sidekick. Spidey blows him off while searching for Aunt May leading to him to become a villain.

This is consummated in Issue 111 under the tutelage of an A-list Spidey villain who had been thought dead. Unfortunately, both the villain's return and Conway's first issue were wasted by his plot.

Issue 112 sees Spidey running away from fighting crime so he can find Aunt May, and the newspaper labels Spidey as a coward which hails back to Issues 15 and 16 of the story and feels kind of tired but ends on an upswing as Spidey ends the book where he began it: forced to confront Doctor Octopus.

Despite the last few issues, most of these stories stand up pretty well with the Death of Captain Stacy, the Return of the Green Goblin (with Anti-drug message), and Stan Lee's last spider-slayer story being strong highlights. Conway's issues are a bit of a tease as we begin to get an idea of what his era (which would reshape Spider-man) would be like. It's telling that these last three issues feature very little of Gwen showing from the beginning struggled with what to do with the character. He would decide what to do with the character in the next Essential.

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

The classic issues of Spider-Man continues in this volume though, Stan Lee's epic run comes to an end.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Less enjoyable than the last volume, but I give leeway since this is where writers started to change. Naturally they need time to find their motion. 4/5.

[Algali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magnificent

[Username · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read 96-98: Harry Osborn & drugs, issue without comics code approval by Stan Lee and Gil Kane
105-107: against the Spider-slayer Lee, Kane , Romita
108-109: Romita's favorite issues Comics Creators on Spider-Man
110-113: The origin of the Gibbon, Gerry Conway takes over scripting, Story and art by Romita.

[Josh Vanecko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since I was a child I loved reading spider-man. It gave me dreams as a child. I decided to re-read all the comics again. Let me tell you, this one is my second favorite. Because it always keeps you hooked. I mean Peter is going through many struggles and at the same time having to fight villains. Not only that but he has to worry about his love life, finances, and Aunt May. In this series Peter doesn't want to be spiderman. But, he knows he has to. You can not put this book down. I read it 5 straight hours losing track of time. Its cliff-hanger after cliff-hanger. Then when it looks like everthing is going well, he is framed for murder. So the police are after him. Gwen stacy's dad dies and Spider-man is blamed for it. Unfortunately, media doesn't help him either for ever since spidey came into the crime fighting business, J. Jonah Jameson has put him down. As you read this you begin to want to make choices for him, but it always goes wrong. You may like the happy superheros that get everything they want and are rich. If you like that type of comic, then this isn't for you. You see this comic is not fake, it shows what struggles people actually go through. So we can actually relate to him. Thats what so good about this series. Thats why I love this and I recommend this book to anyone of all ages!

[Zack! Empire · Rating 4 out of 5]

These Essential books get better and better the more of them I read. After reading this one I've read over 100 issues of Spider-Man, all in a row, and that really pays off as the reader. You just really get to know the characters after so long. Mostly I feel like an observer when I read comics, but with Spider-Man I really feel like I'm a part of that world.
It's also great to be reading comics I've only heard about, or knew from other things. In this volume we get the death of a major character, the Harry Osborn drug trilogy, and the issues where Peter gives himself three arms. I mostly knew of that stuff through different avenues that were not the comics themselves, so I'm glad I was able to finally read them.
The art is mostly by either John Romita Sr., or by Gil Kane. I love John Romita's work. When I think of Spider-Man it's his version I think of. Gil Kane I don't feel as strongly about. It's not that I don't like his art, but he tends to make the characters look older. There are parts of the book where Peter looks like he must be in his mid-forties, but he is still a young man. It just took me out of the story.
Over all the Spider-Man title is still going really strong and I'm glad to be reading these Essential collections.

[Sam Poole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but falls victim to stan lee and his awful and grating writing ticks. Parts of this are truly great and there is excellent development here and exploration of drug culture, white privilege, urban plight, PTSD, student protest etc. Then there are boring and stupid stories about the savage land and Peter Parker growing four more arms (LOL). Overall the development of the female characters stagnates horribly but that's unfortunately to be expected in a lot of ways. No single issue really stood out, though the death of captain stacy, the gibbon issues (seriously good and show peters shifting morality), the issue where spidey stands up for prisoners rights and the return of doc ock were all good. Fine issues- can't wait for Stan to finally leave though.

[Sylvester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, there are several arcs in this volume. Stan Lee had to explain the story in elaborated boxes in the multiple issue arcs. Gwen went to London briefly but her relationship with Peter got stronger, although she did a few horrible things. Mary Jane floats around a bit, the Green Goblin was back but pacified again. Many villains broke out of prison to fight Spidey. The 60s stuff keep being added as plot devices which were annoying but otherwise not too bad of a volume although there was little plot progress.

[Kyle Berk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Issues 90-113 aren’t the best in the early days but issue #100 is great and the continuing never ending onslaught of bank robbers and crime bosses never gets old.

It’s great pulpy fun.

You get four armed Spidey, what else could you want.

[Shane Findlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing like old school Spidey! =)