Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
John Romita (Sr.) own take on Spidey's classic villains, 16 Nov 2002
By A Customer
John Romita (Sr.) took over the penciler chores for "The Amazing Spider-Man" with issue #39, the famous issue where the Green Goblin found out Spidey's secret identity. Volume 3 "The Essential Spider-Man" covers issues #44-68 as Romita and writer Stan Lee try to find a way to follow up that most memorable beginning. What you will find within these pages are more of the multiple-issue story lines that proved so successful in the previous year with Spider-Man taking on the Lizard (#44-45), Kraven the Hunter and the new Vulture (#47-49), the Kingpin (#51-52, 59-60), and Doctor Octopus (#53-56), the new and old Vultures (#63-64), and Mysterio (#66-67).Looking back at these comic books from 1967-69 from the perspective of the 21st century, it becomes clear that there is a major changing of the guard regarding Spider-Man's main villain. Granted, the Green Goblin is always number one on the list, but he has that amnesia problem. But in this third volume we see what is arguable the last of the great Doc Ock stories (the good doctor takes a room with Aunt May and Spidey ends up with amnesia), and the big debut of the Kingpin, who is featured in five of these issues. Eventually the Kingpin would become the most formidable foe of Daredevil, but at this point in his evolution he is New York City's new crime boss. Stan Lee had come up with several wannabe crime lords for the Big Apple over throughout the Sixties but none of them really worked (remember Fearless Fosdick?). With the Kingpin, Lee and Romita strike the mother lode (and I whole heartedly look forward to see Michael Clarke Duncan play the Wilton Fisk in the Daredevil film). Besides the standard fare of J. Jonah Jameson's pathological hatred of Spider-Man and Aunt May's continual frail health, the new element in the world of Spider-Man is the emergence of Gwen Stacy as Peter Parker's love interest. Of course, we know what happens to Gwen down the road and what ultimately happens with Mary Jane Watson, but that does not detract from all the soap opera fun this time around. I always think of this as sort of the Archie period for Spider-Man, with Peter as Archie, Gwen and Mary Jane as Betty and Veronica, Harry as Jughead and Flash as Reggie. Think about it, people, it is not that farfetched an interpretation. Note: Pay attention to the evolution of how Romita draws Gwen. There is a as big a difference from what you see of the rather severe looking Miss Stacy in issue #44 and mega-babe who feels weak as a kitten in Peter's presence by issue #68. When it came to drawing the ladies in the Marvel Universe, Gene Colan was always my favorite (especially when he did the Black Widow), but Jazzy Johnny Romita (Sr.) was always a close second.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
The lull before the storm, 10 Nov 2002
As I continue my reading of the whole "Essential Spider-Man" series (see my reviews of vols 1&2) I can't help but notice that this volume covers a pretty lean period in the strip's history. We cover the mid to late sixties here, which heralded several stylistic changes in both pacing of scripts and the artwork.
Gone are the meticulously drawn panels of Steve Ditko, which averaged about 12 panels per page, and in comes a flashier, bolder drawn 6 panel style which moves the story along faster. One of the artists responsible is Don Heck, whose work has never particularly appealed to me from the "Avengers" "Thor" and "Iron Man" days, as it always seemed dull, plain and uninteresting. However, as his involvement with the strip was not long lasting, this is a small complaint.
Peter Parker's life seems to have taken a turn for the better, though his endless introspective maudlin regarding Gwen Stacey and Mary Jane Watson gets monotonous at times. You almost wish there was a character conflict with somebody like Flash Thompson to add a little zest, but in an attempt to reflect the times, Flash is packed off to Vietnam. In another attempt to reflect the times, Parker, Gwen Stacey, Mary Jane and Harry Osborne adopt a "hip" sixties slang way of speaking which has dated really, really badly.
On to the stories, again this is a time of slim pickings. Nothing major happens, no major story arcs play out. The major events of the volume are that we see the introduction of "The Kingpin" and the fact that the volume ends with "Crisis on the Campus" which is the first story in the long lasting and immensley satisfying "Tablet of Time" arc (more of that in Vol 4). Other stories in this volume include a by-the-numbers "Dr Octopus" three parter, a by-the numbers outing for "Kraven, the Hunter" and an above average story involving "The Vulture".
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutly Brilliant, 8 Aug 2002
Brilliant Absolutly brilliant, the whole series is. I have been a big Spiderman fan for a long time and have always wanted to get hold of the first strips he was in and now I can at a very low prce. There is one problem with this series though, they are printed on cheap paper and are in black and white.
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by Jack Kirby
by Steve Ditko
by John Romita Sr.
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