Customer Reviews

Essential Spider-Woman, Vol. 2 (Marvel Essentials) (v. 2)

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

 

 

If you are a fan of Spider-Woman, but you do not want to spend months, even years, tracking down every single issue of her series in the back issue bins of comic shops & conventions, this is definitely a collection for you. As someone who spent his high school & college years in the 1990s doing just that for any number of series, the Essentials are definitely a fantastic format. And we get to see all of the artwork from those back issues in glorious black & white, the detail and craftmanship of the artists unobscured by the low quality color printing comic books were burdeoned with in those days.

Certainly there's some great art in the stories reprinted here, most if it done by the very talented Steve Leialoha, as well as a handful of issues pencilled by the underrated Brian Postman, plus fill-ins by Carmine Infantino, Ernie Chan, and Jerry Bingham.

The writing is also top-notch, enjoyable, and fun. This volume sees the conclusion of Michael Fleisher's stint as writer, the entirety of Chris Claremont's run (featuring appearances by the X-Men, Juggernaut, Morgan le Fay, Madame Hydra, and the introduction of mutant mainstay Siren) and the four issue wrap-up penned by Ann Nocenti.

My only criticism is that this collection omits Avengers issue #s 240-241, a siginificant two-part epilogue to the Spider-Woman series finale that wraps up several loose ends from that title. Instead, this collection features a reprint of Uncanny X-Men #148, a story in which Spider-Woman appears in a minor capacity. Considering #148 has already been reprinted in Essential X-Men volume 3, it would have made more sense to include the two Avengers issues, which are much more significant for the character, and which have never previously been reprinted.

In any case, that one point aside, this collection is definitely still worth getting. Afterwards, just keep an eye out for those two Avengers back issues.

If you like Chris Claremont's early work, then you will like this book. I hate how he wrote in the late '70s and early '80s, so I found myself cringing half the time. The art is okay. Claremont didn't write all of the issues in this book, the rest were written by Ann Nocenti and Mike Fliescher. None of the stories are very good. I think the first volume is much better than the second, but neither of them should replace Lee/Kirby/Ditko books on your shelf.

Not as bad as the '70s She-Hulk book.

This second batch of Spider-Woman wraps up her original series of stories in the Marvel Universe. She evolves out of her bounty-hunting persona throughout and truly becomes a hero by the end. I agree with another reviewer that they should have included the two issues of The Avengers where the Morgan LeFay storyline is wrapped up. Luckily I had them and was able to re-read them after finishing this collection. The last four issues by Ann Nocenti and Brian Postman are especially crisp and fun to read. If you read the first volume, you should definitely read this one as well!

The second volume of the Essential Spider-Woman concludes the series and if you've already bought the first book then you should absolutely get the second. The artwork continues to look fantastic and I only wish there were more issues to read but this is it. There is a newer series but I prefer this older one and recommend it to fans who like reading 80's comics.

This is a surprisingly good read at an even more surprising value. The art is black and white, but it looks clear and clean, and great. The paper is lower quality then what you'll find on modern Marvel/DC tradepaper backs but it seems no worse then the kind of paper you get in most Vertigo trade paper backs. And there are a truckload of issues collected.
The stories are really cool and entertaining and stand well on their own despite the fact that most of the action takes place on the West Coast (L.A, San Fran) (ie. Super-star guest appearances by, say, Spider-man show up but mostly the title remains A-list free seeing as how everyone A-list in Marvel was born, raised, educated and live/work/die in New York City).
Of course when Chris Claremont takes over, prepare for some good X-men fest thrown in though.

The art by Leiloha on a whole is fantastic. The stories are more enjoyable then the First Spider-Woman Essential. The stories are more intense with real and serious threats from the villians. Great book.