Customer Reviews

Essential Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Vol. 2 (Marvel Essentials)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All right, now for a little "voice of reason" after a few five star reviews. Spectacular Spider-Man was always the "runner up" Spidey title and this volume showcases that well. Although it does focus more on Pete and his college teaching career, the supporting cast of characters are none of the familiars--Mary Jane, Flash Thompson, Liz Allen and the like. They are all relative unknowns who fell away into obscurity when this cycle of stories were over. Anybody out there remember Debra Whitman or Philip Chang? Didn't think so. The stories are also second tier with a gaggle of villains that border on the ridiculous. The Iguana. The Schizoid Man. The Vulture as a mob boss. Madame Belladonna, the fashion designer turned super villain who attacks with a deadly perfume gas (she is the main villain in 3 of these stories). Come on! Oh, and let's not forget when Spidey was transformed into the terrible Spider-Lizard (I guess that's what happens when you are Curt Connor's teaching assistant). The inconsistent art is passable in some places and outright bad in others with way too many artists represented. Even the stories by folks that later turned out some fabulous comic art like Mike Zeck, John Romita Jr. and Rick Leonardi really look like green rookies in the art presented here. In comparison, the best issues in this collection are the two that were NOT part of the series--Amazing Spider-Man Annual #13 and Fantastic Four #218. The writing is much better and both sport cool John Byrne art so you see how deficient the Spectacular stuff really is. You need to buy this anyway to keep the collection complete but don't expect to be bowled over by the comics presented here. The good news is that Volume #3 gets much better with more "important" stories, better characters (Black Cat, Cloak and Dagger, The Kingpin) and more consistent art (Frank Miller covers and some nice experimental Ed Hannigan pencil work). Slough through this one to get to that one.

Look at this list of spectacular (get it?) talent featured in this collection: Roger Stern, Bill Mantlo, Jim Mooney, Mike Zeck, Frank Miller, John Romita Jr., Marie Severin, Al Milgrom, Frank Springer, Tom DeFalco, Marv Wolfman, John Byrne, Rick Leonardi, Sal Buscema and more! If that's not enough, classic villains such as the Lizard, the Tinkerer, Morbius, Doctor Octopus, the Vulture and Mysterio lurk within these pages! Little used villains like the Smuggler, Swarm and Belladonna make memorable appearances. These Late 70s to early 80s comics are from the time period where Peter Parker was serving as a graduate student teaching assistant at Empire State University and working for the Daily Globe (mostly) rather than the more familiar Daily Bugle. Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Robbie Robertson and other familiar supporting cast members show up along side the likes of Debra Whitman and Hector Ayala (better known as the White Tiger). Don't overlook these stories!

For being a second title Peter Parker The Spectular Spider-Man isn't that bad. The villains aren't really that great though, I mean Spider Man fights Ninjas for god sakes. The arc where Spider Man became the lizard is awful. The art is terrible and the pages are messy and unclear so its not even worth reading. Its not bad and the art is usually good but its diffidently a side book

This "Essential" trade paperback collects black and white reprints of Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #32-53 & Annuals 1-2, plus Amazing Spider-Man Annual #12 and Fantastic Four #218. The original cover dates are July 1979 to April 1981. Most of the issues were written by either "Boisterous" Bill Mantlo (#32-34, Ann 1, 38-40, 42, 53 & FF 218) or Roger Stern (#43, 45-52). Marv Wolfman wrote two issues (#44, ASM Ann 13), and Tony Isabella (#35), Tom DeFalco (#40) and Ralph Macchio (Ann 2) wrote one each. Jim Mooney penciled a plurality of these issues; the long list of pencilers includes John Byrne, Sal Buscema, John Romita Jr., Steve Leialoha, Marie Severin, Denys Cowan and Mike Zeck.
Multi-issue story lines include: Curt Connors/The Lizard with "The Iguana", Spidey battling "The Swarm" made of bees, the pair of Annuals with Doctor Octopus (probably this run's highlight) , a crossover with the Fantastic Four, the hidden crime boss Belladonna, plus classic villains Electro, The Sandman and Mysterio. A backup story featuring Bill Mantlo/George Perez co-creation The White Tiger starts in #49 and converges with the main plot by #52. Superfans will note the first appearance of Roderick Kingsley in #43.
The stories in this book run parallel with the comics collected in Essential Amazing Spider-Man Volume 9. The PP:SSM series ran for 268 issues until 1998 and further Essential volumes are available. Unfortunately, the series has not yet been collected on a full-color DVD-ROM like "Amazing". The Marvel Essentials series offers convenient and inexpensive access to these 30-year old Spider-Man comics, though the black and white format resembles newspaper comic strips instead of full-color comic books.

THIS ESSENTIAL PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN WAS ONE OF THE BETTER VOL. OF STORYS THAT I HAVE READ IN SO TIME. WHEN WAS YOUNGER I HAD STOP READING SPIDER-MAN STORYS, THIS KIND OF BRING ME BACK TO THE 80'S.