The reason I ask is that I’m getting my little brother into comics, and he wants to read Spider Man.
He’s already got the trade reprinting the first Venom Issues, and I’m thinking of giving him my trade that reprints Amazing Fantasy 15, and the first six issues of “Amazing”.
If he doesnt mind black and white, get the Essential Spiderman trades.
Each has 20 or so issues of amazing spiderman in order for 18-20 bucks each
Or if hes into comics on a pc, get the amazing spiderman complete DVD rom. All of the issue sof Amazing 1-520/30 or so one DVd for like 50 bucks.
Anyway here are some of my favorites stories.
Amazing Spiderman 121-122. The night Gwen Stacy Died.
2)Amazing spid 31-33/ -spidey goes on a rampage to get a vital treatment for his aunt.
Amazing spiderman 50 - gives up being spiderman, itnro of kingpin
Kravens LAst hunt- a more dark/moody story. is in a trade. 6 issues
Death of Jean de wolf-- 4issue trade of spec spidey. sin eater goes crazy. Daredevil features into the story when a judge/mentor of Matt murdock gets gunned down.
Like Catholic Light mentioned, in the long run getting this will be a hell of a lot cheaper than getting old essentials / TPBs. Most comic book shops carry it too. 575 comics, can’t beat that.
Favorite storylines for me are the Who is the Hobgoblin arc, Gang War, Death of Gwen Stacy, Venom anything so long as he’s a villian, Kraven’s Last Hunt, Cosmic Universe Spider-Man, Carnage’s origin and Maximum Carnage.
The entire Lee / Ditko run is golden and it’s amazing how much of it still holds up to this day.
Ditko was never good at dressing young people, so the clothes worn by the teenagers in his comics were never ever worn by teenagers ever lol! Not a complaint, just a cool thing to point out, like one of the artist’s quirks.
Oh and he mapped out his own personal city structure for streets and buildings for his personal comic book New York City, yet no one ever noticed.
Paul Jenkins’ run on Peter Parker, Spider-Man is also excellent. Those are in TPBs. My favorite is Return of the Goblin. Jenkins wrote a couple of classic one-off issues, as well. Anyone else remember this old school Spider-Man issue called, “The Boy Who Collected Spider-Man”? Some of Jenkins’ issues had that contemplative, unforgettable quality to them.
I also think Spider-Man’s Tangled Web is one of the best Spider-Man comics ever. It lasted 22 issues (all in TPBs), and I say that all but 2 of those issues are golden. The series tended to focus more on Spider-Man’s world than Spidey himself, but most of the issues had something real to say about Spidey. Plus, a lot of DC writers wrote issues for it…
And, for the budget-minded… Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus: Negative Exposure. Only one volume, but oh so satisfying. Brian K. Vaughan, baby!! He never does wrong.
Ditko’s teenage clothing worked about as well as Lee’s teenage dialogue. But it all has its own charm, anyway.
Ditko’s New York was so amazing. I hate the way most modern comic artists draw cities, because they try to do photo-real buildings. The magic of seeing a character flying over rooftops primarily made up of shapes whizzing by in a blur is almost extinct.
The ORIGINAL Clone Saga with the Jackal, looking and acting like a Dr. Seuss character is a good read. If only to see where they pissed all over it in the 90’s clone saga. Although compared to Catholic Light’s recommendations, it is nothing to go out your way for.
Jenkins is probably the only writer to write the Green Goblin post ressurection in a Spidey book and have me like him. No, retreading storylines or bullshit retcons. The only other decent GG appearances was that first arc of the Pulse and his current involvment in Thunderbolts.
Taichi, I think Barnes and Nobles or some book store actually has a large collector hardcovers available for under $50 that collect maybe 5 Ultimate Spidey arcs. I’d keep an eye out for it if you want to keep picking up Ultimate Spiderman.
“Revenge of the Sinister Six” is one of my old faves. Erik Larsen wrote and drew it. There is an old trade collecting it you can find on ebay. Guest stars included The Fantastic Four, Hulk, Solo, Ghost Rider, Deathlok, and Sleepwalker(!).