Customer Reviews

Essential Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials)

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I enjoyed these Spider-Man tales when they were new, and I'm happy to see them available again. Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (PPtSSM) was fresh and new, and it invigorated Spider Man's character, bringing a younger group of readers to Spider Man's other titles.

Someone may be interested in this book to follow the development of the storyline of Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (PPtSSM), or interested simply because it's Spider-Man. Particularly hot at the time were the Carrion issues.

A correction on the editorial description: The first issue of PPtSSM was dated December 1976 and this is when the title began, not 1968.

They have confused this title with two issues printed in 1968 called "The Spectacular Spider Man (tSSM)." Those two issues are rare collectibles and are not reprinted in the "Essential Peter Parker," but the second issue of tSSM is classic Spider-Man and Green Goblin - as well as Norman Osborn and Peter Parker at Thanksgiving dinner.

From out of Marvel's celebrated vault of past titles comes the Essential Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Volume 1. As a fan of the Essential line, I had been looking forward to some more vintage web-slinging action, although future installments of the original Amazing Spider-Man (if numbers 5 and 6 are any indication) will probably only come out the same weeks as future movies. So imagine my surprise when I learned that January 2005 would see the release of the earliest issues of 1976's popular follow-up series (the first 31 in fact).

In his first spectacular outings, ol' web-head meets up with plenty of old foes (the pointy-toed Tarantula, the cadaverous Vulture, Kraven, Morbius, Scorpion, and even the long-not-really-awaited return of the Enforcers) as well as new ones like the photogenic Lightmaster, the psychedelic Hypno-Hustler (who has the 70's written all over him), and the trigger-happy Hitman (whose second and probably last appearance I had already seen in Essential Punisher). Some memorable storylines include Spidey teaming up with a neophyte hero from Arkansas in a pig costume (it's better than it sounds), assisting two former X-Men through the final chapter in the ill-fated history of the Champions supergroup (and why can't they have an Essential), a throwdown with the Maggia with the mysterious Moon Knight at his side, and a guest appearance by Daredevil who assists Spidey after the Masked Marauder blinds him (and how could horn-head POSSIBLY understand what he's going through?). The Spectacular series does a good job at keeping itself seperate from the Amazing series with unique story elements such as Flash Thompson's new romance with his savior from Vietnam, Sha Shan (see Essential Spider-Man 5) and the arrival of the White Tiger, a castoff from the discontinued black-and-white Deadly Hands of Kung Fu series (why doesn't it have an ... well you know).

At least I think that the storylines are seperate. The one thing that got in my way of totally enjoying these tales is that they constantly make reference to other series that I just don't know anything about. The only other Essential line in this time period currently is Howard the Duck and the X-Men (see reviews on this site for their fifth Essential for complaints about a similar problem) and many story threads just feel disconnected. The biggest offender by far is the climactic battle with Carrion, which spun from and basically spoils the ending to events from Amazing Spider-Man #'s 147-151, which I would imagine would be in the seventh Essential (so when's that third movie coming out?).

Nonetheless, these issues show the works of the best of Marvel's bullpen (Archie Goodwin, Bill Mantlo, Chris Claremont) and are known for being definite high points in an era that many have told me was fairly lean in good comic tales. Spidey fans will definitely want to swing on by the comic shop and pick this one up.

[Final note: I was finishing this book on a lunch break last week when one of my co-workers saw me and enquired about my latest, as he says, "phonebook of comics". I told him about the Amazing and the Spectacular series of Spider-Man and he asked me this question, "Why would they put out two different comics about the same character?". After much introspection I responded with my hypothesis: "Because Spider-Man's ... cool?".]

This book collects the first 31 issues of Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, which debuted in 1976 as companion to the character's main series. It's hard to imagine now, but because Spider-Man was also in Marvel Team-Up there was some concern at the time about overexposure! So Peter Parker was pitched as a series focusing more on his college days and friends, and in that sense it worked wonderfully. The stories have a clean freshness to them and almost all of them have held up well over the years. The series did a great job of mixing long-established villains such as the Beetle, Vulture, Morbius, with more recent ones like the Tarantula and Hitman, and also served to introduce the White Tiger to Marvel's comic-book universe after his introduction in its black-and-white magazines. There's a few clunkers that reflect the late 1970s, like a CB radio superhero and a disco super-villain, but Bill Mantlo, who wrote most of the stories in this collection, did a great run of stories, ending this volume with the multi-part introduction of Carrion. I think this is a great book for any Spider-Man fan. For more in-depth book reviews I've done, search for goldenrulecomics on the Squidoo website.

Seeing as I have read all the Amazing Spider-Man volumes in print, I decided to pick up the next set: Essential Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man vol. 1.

This volume is a collection of the first 31 comics in The Spectacular Spider-Man line. The stories are typical Spider-Man - where things never go the way Parker plans and the villains just aren't up to par with the classic Amazing villains.

The biggest addition to these comics is the references to other comics published during the same time. You will see a number of references to Amazing Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The Champions and other comics in each Spectacular comic.

This is a brilliant ploy to get readers to purchase the other comics - because you have to follow up with the story!

The titles in volume 1 are:

"Twice Stings The Tarantula!" (part 1)
"Kraven Is The Hunter!" (part 2)
"...And There Was Lightmaster!"
"The Vulture Is A Bird Of Prey!" (part 1)
"Spider-Kill!" (part 2)
"The Power To Purge!"
"Cry Mahem..Cry Morbius!" (part 1)
"...And Only One Shall Survive!" (part 2)
"...Like A Tiger In The Night!" (part 1)
"Tiger In A Web!" (part 2)
"A Life Too Far"
"Brother Power, Sister Sun!" (part 1)
"...The Coming of Razorback!" (part 2)
"Killing Me Softly...With His Hate!" (part 3)
"The Final Rage!" (part 4)
"The Beetle and The Badge!"
"Whatever Happened To The Iceman?" (part 1)
"My Friend, My Foe?" (part 2)
"Again, The Enforcers!"
"Where Were You When The Lights Went Out?"
"Still Crazy After All These Years!"
"By The Light Of The Silvery Moonknight!" (part 1)
"Guess Who's Buried In Grant's Tomb!" (part 2)
"Spider-Man Night Fever"
"Carrion, My Wayward Son" (part 1)
"Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" (part 2)
"The Blind Leading the Blind" (part 3)
"Ashes to Ashes" (part 4)
"Dust to Dust" (part 5)
"Secret as the Grave!" (part 6)
"Till Death Do Us Part!" (part 7)

You'll find classic characters like, Daredevil, The Scorpion, and Kraven the Hunter. You're introduced to The White Tiger, Brother Power, Sister Sun and the huge arc of Carrion!

While the stories may be lacking compared to the past, it's still nice to have all the comics in one collection.

This "Marvel Essential" volume collects black-and-white reprints of the first 31 issues of "Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man" with original cover dates from December 1976 to May 1979. Marvel created this second Spider-Man title in 1976 after the continued success of its flagship "Amazing Spider-Man" series. ASM-writer Gerry Conway wrote the first two issues, and Bill Mantlo wrote the bulk of this collection (issues #9-10, 12-15 and #17-31), and would continue for a seven year run on the title. Archie Goodwin wrote four issues and Jim Shooter, Chris Claremont and Elliot Maggin plotted one each.
Sal Buscema penciled most of these issues (#1-5, 7-10, and 12-20) and Jim Mooney and Frank Miller also penciled multiple issues.
In the first stories Spidey battles The Tarantula, The Vulture, and Lightmaster. Issue #6 is a reprint of Marvel Team Up #3 with the Human Torch and Moribus, The Living Vampire, leading into a two-part Moribus story in #7-8. #9-#10 feature campus protests at E.S.U. and the introduction of the Latino superhero The White Tiger.
Issues #12-#15 comprise the "Brother Power, Sister Sun" story arc, a highlight of this collection. #16 is a strong one-shot with The Beetle and a hero detective torn between his dangerous pursuit of justice and his wife's fears for his safety.
#17-#18 feature original X-Men Angel and Iceman and explain the dissolution of The Champions, a short-lived Los Angeles supergroup whose mid-1970s Marvel title lasted just seventeen issues. #19-#21 include the returns of The Enforcers, Lightmaster, and The Scorpion, respectively. Moon Knight guest-stars in the next two issues. Issue #24 features the ridiculous but fun story of "The Hypno Hustler", a rock bandleader resembling Sly Stone who hypnotizes and robs his audiences. The collection ends with a seven-part story guest-starring Daredevil and featuring the debut of the Carrion, starting with #25: "Carrion, My Wayward Son".
Among the supporting characters, Flash Thompson pursues the mysterious Sha Shan, a woman he loved during his service in Vietnam. After rejecting Peter's marriage proposal (in the pages of ASM), Mary Jane realizes that she and the recently separated Betty Brant Leeds are in competition for Peter's affections. Peter's neighbor Glory Grant gets a job at the Daily Bugle.
The stories in this book run parallel with the comics collected in other Marvel Essential Spider-Man titles Essential Amazing Spider-Man Volume 8 and Essential Marvel Team-Up Volume 3. 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.

This book is a great collection of Peter Parker issues from the 70's. Awesome stuff! 1976-9 collecting 'Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man' issues 1-31. Spider-Man faces some long forgotten foes such as- Tarantula, Lightmaster, Hitman, and Hate Monger. With guest-stars such as the Fantastic Four, Razorback, Black Bolt, and Daredevil. 18 issues penciled by Sal Buscema. And one of my favorite artists Jim Mooney and two issues penciled by the legendary Frank Miller! Also a bonus appearance by X-men writer Chris Claremont. An excellent addition to any comic book fans collection. All interior pages are black and white which are an excellent resource of reference for aspiring pencilers and inkers.

I always tended to think of the Spectacular Spider-Man series as the "little brother" to Amazing Spider-Man and assumed the stories must not be as good. Well let me tell you the stories in this collection are as good as anything in Amazing Spider-Man during the same time period! This collection features great art by Sal Buscema, Jim Mooney and even Frank Miller. The climactic battle with Carrion ranks up there with the most memorable Spider-Man stories I've ever read.

When I found this entry in the Marvel Essential series, I had to have it. This is about the era when I started reading Spider-Man, and this is the version that has stuck with me over the past 30 years. In retrospect, this is not the best that Marvel put out and was obviously a ploy at making more money, but there is some good material in here and really focuses on Peter more, especially as he attempts to balance college with the rest of his hectic life.