Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best Spider-Man story ever vs. Doc Ock issues #31-33, 16 Nov 2002
By A Customer
Volume 2 of "The Essential Spider-Man" offers up issues #21-43 of the "Amazing Spider-Man" along with the original stories from Annuals #2 & #3. These are the issues that offer some big changes for both the character and the comic book. For the character, besides the introduction of new villains we see Liz Allen and Betty Bryant replaced in Peter Parker's affections by Gwen Stacy and (at long last) Mary Jane Watson. For the comic book it is artist John Romita (Sr.) taking over for Steve Ditko with issue #39, "How Green Was My Goblin." Of course, this is one of the most famous Spidey issues of all time as Spidey and the Green Goblin are both unmasked and things become very, very interesting. I understand why some would complain that these reprints are in black & white but I have discovered at least one benefit to reading these comics without color, and that is a greater appreciation of the artwork of Steve Ditko. When I was reading these comics in 1965-67, I was happy to see Romita replace Ditko as an artist. However, as I re-read the Spider-Man comics drawn by Ditko I realize that although his figures are not exactly drawn in the most realistic style, he is a master of composition and pacing. Just look at the cover of #24 for example, but leaf through any of his issues and study what he is doing and I think you will be as impressed as I am as you watch Spider-Man tackle the Beetle, the Clown and his Masters of Menace, Mysterio, the Crime Master, the Molten Man, the Scorpion, the Cat, Ka-Zar, the Rhino, and even J. Jonah Jameson and the first of his killer robots. Yes, the two-part confrontation between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin that begins Romita's tenure on the comic book is a classic story, which is at the heart of this summer's blockbuster movie (notice they do an homage to the cover of #39 in the film). However, I would make a case that this collection includes another of the greatest Spider-Man stories in issues #31-33. Peter Parker has parted ways with Betty Bryant and Gwen Stacy has appeared upon the scene, but that means nothing because Aunt May is very sick. Spidey gets Doc Connor to help with a formula that can save her life, but then it is stolen by the henchmen of Doctor Octopus. As the last of these three issues begins Spider-Man "is now trapped beneath tons of fallen steel, with the precious serum lying just out of reach, as the fatal second's tick by..." (quoting Stan Lee of course). But Spider-Man already is responsible for the death of his Uncle Ben and he is not going to fail Aunt May. There are other Spider-Man stories as good, but none better than this one, which finds both Lee and Ditko at their peaks.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Volume 2 : Changing of the guard !, 22 Sep 2002
We pick up just where we left off at the end of the superb volume 1. This book includes one of my personal favorite Spider-Man stories, the "Crime-Master" two parter, and two of the most defining stories in the whole Spider-Man mythology. The three part "Master Planner" saga, where Gwen Stacey is introduced for the first time as Peter Parker having now left high school, attends college. In the same story, Spider-Man faces the greatest challenge of his career to that point, against The Master Planner, (who is REALLY....ah, but that would be telling) while Aunt May lies close to death. Later in the book, we get the shocking "How Green Was My Goblin" - a story which propels The Green Goblin to the top of the A-list of Spidey's foes. A position that he will consolidate in Vol 6 if my calculations are right. (More on that as and when they publish Vol 6 !) The writing is as good as ever, the private life of Peter Parker providing a compelling soap opera contrast to the super-heroic exploits. In this book also, we witness the end of an era. Steve Ditko's run of drawing the strip concludes in this volume, and John Romita's starts. Just as Ditko's art defined the early to mid sixties Spider-Man, Romita's simpler style would carry him through the rest of that turbulent decade. The times, they were-a-changing.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Classic '60s web-slinging action, 14 Mar 2001
Essential Spider-Man Vol. 2 reprints the remainder of the classic Lee/Ditko strips, which see Peter Parker graduate from high school (he seems to have been at college ever since)and Spidey's definitive battles against the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus and others. Ditko's art has never been beaten and he reaches a peak around issue 33, 'The Final Chapter,' and Lee's script matches the melodrama, with the immortal lines 'A man may lose! A man may be defeated! It's no disgrace - so long as he doesn't give up!' Unfortunately six issues later the artist Steve Ditko did give up, leaving the title over an argument with Stan lee about the real identity of the Green Goblin, paving the way for the smoother lines of 'Jazzy' Johnny Romita, whose artwork fills up the remainder of this volume. While always decent enough (witness the way Romita turns Gwen Stacy from Ditko's snob into a blonde bombshell), some of the complexity and daring was lost. In contrast to Ditko, who created the vast majority of Spidey's major villains, Romita created just two. Nevertheless, the popularity of the strip went up. Still, excellent adventure for children and grown-up children alike, and this format is the least expensive way to collect the great '60s Marvels, so long as you can put up with the cheap paper and the black-and-white reprint.
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