The Amazing Spider-Man #800

Another comics I picked up at Merrymac Games and Comics this past summer.

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man
Issue: 800
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: July 2018
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Nick Bradshaw, Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, Guiseppe Camuncoli, Cam Smith, Stuart Immonen, Wade von Grawbadger, Marcos Martin
Colorist: Edgar Delgado, Java Tartaglia, Marte Gracia, Muntsa Vicente
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Cover: Humberto Ramos, Edgar Delgado
Editor:Kathleen Wisneski, Nick Lowe, Devin Lewis

Did I mention that I love collecting these big round-number issues? So here we have Amazing Spider-Man #800. It's interesting to contrast this with Action Comics #1000 (I reviewed it here). For Action Comics, DC went with a mostly-out-of-continuity tribute anthology, celebrating Superman and the idea of inspiration, with only a short final segment as a tease of actual future in-continuity action.

Marvel takes the opposite approach here. This is a single story concluding a major story arc, with big impacts on storyline continuity, including the death of a major character who has been there for most of those 800 issues.

The scenario has Spidey up against what could be his ultimate nemesis: The Red Goblin. That would be the Green Goblin attached to the Carnage symbiote.

Of course, given the momentous occasion, this story is absolutely loaded with nostalgia. There are a bunch of appearances by classic members of Peter Parker's supporting cast, not to mention tribute scenes that evoke some of the most emotional moments of past stories, particularly from Peter's past clashes with Normal Osborne.

This was a pretty good story with a lot of twists and action. There were some moments where it just felt like it had too many moving parts, but the finish came down to Spider-Man vs. (Red) Goblin like it needed to.

The throwback sequences were fun to spot, but they also had the unfortunate effect of reminding me that Spider-Man has had some truly awesome, emotional moments, and this story, while good, never really reaches the level of those classics.

This was satisfying, and it felt important, but at times it was trying too hard to look backward and trying too hard to be all things in a single issue.

Rating: 6/10

The Amazing Spider-Man 275

One of the older books in the random to-read stack. No idea where I got this one.

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man
Issue: 275
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: April, 1986
Writer: Tom DeFalco, Stan Lee
Artist: Ron Frenz, Josef Rubinstein, Steve Ditko
Colorist: Nel Yomtov
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Jim Owsley

From right in the midst of the original black-costume era, this story pits Spider-Man against the Hobgoblin, but more importantly, it pits Peter Parker against his own self-doubt.

It also includes a complete reprint of the original Spider-Man origin story by Lee and Ditko from Amazing Fantast #15 in 1962. In this case, the retelling of the origin is framed as a flashback related to Mary Jane Watson by Peter Parker, who is seriously questioning his second life as Spider-Man.

There is also a major soap-opera going in with Flash Thompson (presented here, disturbingly, as a domestic abuser), Sha Shan, Betty Leeds, and Ned Leeds. It is complicated, and melodramatic, and before the issue is over, the lives of these characters will collide with the lives of Spider-Man and Hobgoblin (well, it's hinted that there may already be a connection there).

Peter Parker's concerns about collateral damage, and his own failings, felt very real, and the discussion with Mary Jane about whether he should continue on as Spider-Man had no real straightforward answers, and writer Tom DeFalco did an especially good job of acknowledging Mary Jane's very mixed feelings.

Hobgoblin, meanwhile was in classic villain mode, operating as an enforcer for the Rose, who is preparing to challenge the Kingpin for control of New York's underworld, while really obsessing over his next encounter with Spider-Man.

It takes a while to get to the action, but once it gets going, the fight between Spider-Man and Hobgoblin is excellent.

This issue has a lot going on, most of it very good, a little bit of it cringe-inducing (Flast Thompson's scenes). The reprint is shoehorned in somewhat awkwardly, but it's hard to complain about getting one of the  greatest comic stories of all time as a backup feature, no matter how many times I've read it.

Rating: 7/10

The Amazing Spider-Man: Free Comic Book Day 2011

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man: Free Comic Book Day 2011
Date: 2011
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Dan Slot
Penciler: Humberto Ramos
Inker: Carlos Cuevas, Victor Olazaba
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Editor: Ellie Pyle, Stephen Wacker

Spider-Man brawls with Spider-Woman, who is under the control of the (extremely annoying) Mandrill. Mandrill's power is mind control over females only, which is probably exactly what the world of comics needed (not) after SDCC 2011 and that now-famous Batgirl cosplayer asking about the lack of female creators in the "New 52". So, yeah, Mandrill's deal is that he's basically a sexist concept (women can't resist his animal magnetism), but that's okay because he gets punched out in the end, right?

You know what would be more okay? If Mandrill never appeared in another story.

Fortunately, this story gets a bit better as it goes. Following the Mandrill idiocy, we have a guest appearance by Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, who ends up training Spidey (who has lost his spider-sense to a heavyhanded plot device).

One exchange that was really great here: Peter Parker taking a scientific view of martial arts, contrasted with Shang-Chi's more spiritual view. Very cool.

The end of the issue is previews, starting with a little teaser for the Spider Island storyline. To finish up the book, there is a five-page preview of Fear Itself, with Sin getting her own personal magical hammer. It's not horrible, but it could easily have been told in 2-3 pages without losing anything.

There were a lot of attempts at humor in the main story, and some of them worked. I don't find Mandrill or his power funny, so some was lost on me, but Peter Parker trying out his official status as an Avenger to get himself out of legal entanglements was pretty amusing, as were some of the interactions between Parker and Shang-Chi.

Rating: 4.5/10

30 Day Comic Challenge Day 13

Day 13 - A Book You’ve Read More Than Five Times.

I'm not lucky enough to own the original printing, but I've read Amazing Fantasy #15 many, many times in various reprint editions. It was one of the first comic book stories I read as a kid when I used to pour over my copy of Marvel's Origins of Super-Heroes (along with the classic collections Son of Origins, Bring on the Bad Guys, Marvel's Greatest Superhero Battles and The Superhero Women). I've read it as recently as a couple of years ago when early issues of Spider-Man were reprinted as part of a newspaper promotion.


What makes the Spider-Man origin great is that the character doesn't just gain super-powers. Peter Parker goes through a transformation of character through a tragic lesson that takes him from being a normal teenager who's looking out for number one just like everyone else to a character who truly feels a calling to do good with the gifts he's been given. It's the change in the character of Peter Parker that really makes the origin of Spider-Man resonate. Compare it to the Fantastic Four: They start out as a group of adventure-seekers who are trying to do good for humanity even before they get their powers. Peter Parker's story is the story about a young man who makes a terrible mistake and has the courage to decide he's going to try to do better in the world. Most of us can relate to that in some way.

From My Creations

I Believe is a quick read. It's just a little collection of things that cats believe in. Gynn did it as a 24-hour comic and it was published in the 24-Hour Comic Day 2005 anthology. We sell the minicomic for $1. It's Dandelion Studios' best-selling product. I've read it dozens of times. Sometimes you just need some cats in your life.


The 30 Day Comic Challenge Page on Facebook is here. Here is the complete list of daily topics:

30 Day Comic Challenge
Day 01 - Your first comic book.
Day 02 - Your favorite character.
Day 03 - A comic that is underrated.
Day 04 - Your guilty pleasure comic or character.
Day 05 - Comic character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 06 - Most annoying character.
Day 07 - Favorite comic couple.
Day 08 - Best series being published right now.
Day 09 - Most touching comic book/comic book scene.
Day 10 - Dream versus match.
Day 11 - Favorite comic book cartoon series.
Day 12 - A comic everyone should read.
Day 13 - A book you’ve read more than five times.
Day 14 – Most awesome single comic book image
Day 15 - A Picture from the comic you’re reading right now.
Day 16 - Funniest comic book/comic book scene.
Day 17 - Most useless Villain.
Day 18 - Favorite B-list character.
Day 19 - Comic book city/universe you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite super power or skill.
Day 21 - Favorite writer.
Day 22 - A series that you liked but stopped reading
Day 23 - Your favorite artist.
Day 24 - Dream character team up.
Day 25 - A book you plan on reading.
Day 26 - A comic you wish they would make into a movie.
Day 27 - Favorite comic book movie.
Day 28 - Favorite comic publisher.
Day 29 - A comic you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite run or series of all time.

The Amazing Spider-Man: Grim Hunt: The Kraven Saga

We had technical problems last night. Here's yesterday's review. This is a Marvel freebie from last year that I picked up in my Free Comic Book Day haul.

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man: Grim Hunt: The Kraven Saga
Date: May, 2010
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Joe Kelly
Penciler: Michael Lark
Inker: Stefano Gaudiano
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: VCs Joe Caramagna
Editor: Stephen Wacker, Tom Brennan

This is a promo for the Grim Hunt story arc in the Spider-Man titles. It starts with an eight-page preview from the series, which features some great artwork, especially on a two-page spread on the Sinister… um… well, I was going to say the Sinister Six, but there are actually seven dudes facing Spidey down (Sandman, Lizard, Rhino, Vulture, Electro in new non-goofy costume, Doc Ock, and Mysterio). I think that was Doc Ock anyway. Different costume, same tentacles.

Unfortunately, almost all of the action takes place in a dream sequence generated by Madame Web, who is a captive of Kraven's Daughter (if this was DC, she'd turn out to be Duela Dent!). Spider-Girl is also being held captive, and seems to serve the primary purpose protesting uselessly while we get plenty of images of her in bondage. Madame Web is actually the more scrappy of the two. Also, she's actively trying to do something about their situation. So of course she's in for some off-panel torture to further convince us that the bad guys (girls, actually: Kraven's daughter and her mom) are, indeed, bad.

Spidey, meanwhile does not much of anything.

This is then followed by a brief sketchbook feature and then a very comprehensive index to every appearance of Kraven in the Marvel Universe with bits of the original art. This was fairly interesting to the nostalgia buff in me, and it was particularly fun to see some of Kraven's encounters with other Marvel characters like Beast, Ka-Zar, and Tigra. The book ended with Handbook of the Marvel Universe style entries for Karaven and the Chameleon. These were both a bit redundant with the timeline feature from earlier in the book.

Overall, this was a fun look back, but it didn't make me want to read the new storyline.

Rating: 5.5/10

Spider-Man Collectible Series #24

Title: Spider-Man Collectible Series
Issue: #24
Date: 2006
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Steve Ditko
Inker: Steve Ditko
Letterer: Sam Rosen

This is one of a series of newspaper freebies that reprinted early Spider-Man stories. In this case, this issue reprints the second half of Amazing Spider-Man #11 from 1964. This is a fun story involving Betty Brant and her brother, who has gotten involved in organized crime. Peter Parker's relationship with Betty had been deepening, and he was considering revealing his second life as Spider-Man to her, but she was suddenly caught up in her brother's criminal dealings.

To make matters worse, Doctor Octopus has just been released from prison, and he's got revenge on his mind. Everything comes to a head aboard a tramp freighter ship, and Spider-Man must fight on one leg after he sprains his ankle tripping on a rope while boarding the ship. No, really! How often does THAT happen in comics these days? It actually makes for a really fun, um, twist, as a fight against random thugs becomes at least challenging for Spidey, and the fight against Doc Ock gets downright desperate. The action is fast and furious, and it's all pretty logically thought out once you accept the fact that Peter's spider-sense failed to warn him that he was about to trip on that rope.

There's an extremely melodramatic conclusion to Betty Brant's subplot, but a final epilogue scene makes it at least somewhat reasonable, and it serves to add plenty of tension to the story.

Doc Ock is a great villain here, and he really comes off as someone who could beat Spider-Man and would have fun doing it.

A lot of comic fans are familiar with the first two or three Spider-Man stories. This reprint series was a great chance to go a little bit deeper into that initial Lee/Ditko run, and it's definitely worth a look.

Because these books each contained half an issue's worth of story, they alternated between the original cover art and new covers commissioned for the reprint series. This issue has one of the new covers which is, unfortunately, uncredited.

(I'll offer a free comic to the first person who can find me the correct cover art credit for this book!)

Rating: 7.5/10