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70 |
The Bend Sinister |  |
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| -Amazing Spider-Man Annual #14 | |||||
| Frank Miller draws this atmospheric and creepy tale written by Denny O'Neil about Doctor Doom and one of his lackeys attempting to open up something called the "Bend Sinister" in order to release the Dread Dormammu. The spell requires the sacrifice of the recently defeated Doctor Strange, Spidey is the good Doctor's only hope, and time is running out fast. Miller provides some stylish, grimy and ornate artwork | |||||
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69 |
A Night on the Town |  |
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| -Untold Tales of Spider-Man '96 Annual | |||||
| The "Untold tales of Spider-Man" series had writer Kurt Busiek filling in the blanks between the issues of the old Stan Lee and Steve Ditko run, with each issue carefully taking place during the interim periods. This is a fun little Annual that has Spidey jokingly asking the Fantastic Four's Invisible Woman out for a date just to annoy her brother, the Human Torch. Unbeknownst to Pete though, whilst he's coming up with this idea Sue and Reed have an argument, and to his shock she accepts and the two end up going on a date! of course things rapidly escalate. | |||||
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68 |
Funeral Arrangements |  |
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| -Spectacular Spider-Man #186-#188 | |||||
| The Vulture is dying and wants to settle old scores before the end, one of the things playing on his mind, surprisingly enough is the death of Aunt May's beau Nathan Lubensky, whom Vulture had inadvertently killed in the heat of the moment during the Return of the Sinister six arc. Vulture wants forgiveness from May in his final days, but will she be willing to give it? The story showed Aunt May as we've never seen her before, exploring new ground with both her, and the Vulture's characters. | |||||
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67 |
Return of the Sinister Six |  |
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| -Amazing Spider-Man #334-#330 | |||||
| After a long rest the Sinister Six made their big comeback in this early 1990s offering from David Michelinie. Doctor Octopus gets the band back together to bring his latest plot to fruition, lying to the rest of the gang to cover up his true intentions. The story gives you all of Spidey's biggest foes together in one place, has one of the more ludicrous super villain plots of all time (his dastardly plan concerns curing drug addicts so he can force them to pay to be un-cured!) and has some good progression for both Flash and Felicia and their relationship. | |||||
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66 |
The Woman Who Never Was |  |
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| -Marvel Team-Up #57, #74, #82-#85 | |||||
| This is a selection of interconnected Team-Up issues from famed X-Men writing expert Chris Claremont. The story concerns Silver Samurai and Viper's plan to attack and take control of a SHIELD Helicarrier, with Spidey, an amnesiac Black Widow and whatever misfits they can enlist (Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd appear in this story!) the only thing standing in their way. The story is action-packed and has a lot of twists and turns, and Spidey and Black Widow make for an engaging and likeable team. Unfortunately the wacky Saturday Night Live issue has been omitted from reprint volumes due to inevitable copyright problems. | |||||
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65 |
Bring Back My Goblin to Me |  |
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| -Amazing Spider-Man #26-#27 | |||||
| The Green Goblin and Crime Master are vying for control of the local gangs in this early Ditko era two-parter which raised the Goblin's renown to the next level. Intrigue about the two villains' secret identities builds up here with clues and hints dropped aplenty, and we get some memorable humour with Spidey having to purchase a store-bought Spider-Man costume after losing both his original and its spare in the prior issue. | |||||
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64 |
Maybe Next Year |  |
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| -Peter Parker: Spider-Man #33 | |||||
| This story focuses on Pete's relationship with his Uncle Ben whilst growing up, following their yearly trips to see the New York Mets play Baseball. The issue gives us a lot of insight into Pete's childhood and his Uncle's importance and influence on his character, and given that Ben didn't really get much time in the spotlight before his untimely death (boy is that an understatement) its just nice to see more of the two interacting. | |||||
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63 |
24/7 |  |
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| -Amazing Spider-Man #592-#594 | |||||
| Shock horror! after a long absence Pete returns to New York only to find that Jameson has been elected mayor! With his new found power Jonah immediately sets the city's law enforcement on Spider-Man. To Jonah's chagrin Spidey shows his defiance by going on an uninterrupted spree of helping people and crime-fighting for 24 hours whilst dodging Jonah's goons and gaining masses of positive exposure in papers in the process. During all of this, a grotesque new Vulture with a grudge against the local gangsters makes the scene. | |||||
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62 |
A Death in the Family |  |
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| Peter Parker: Spider-Man #44-#47 | |||||
| Here the Green Goblin attacks Spidey through Flash Thomson in order to try to manipulate him into working with him, the two have both become weary of going around in circles and are seeking some kind of resolution. Truth be told this story is pretty much a take on the famous Batman story "The Killing Joke", with Spider-Man playing the part of Batman and the Green Goblin playing the part of the Joker, this doesn't stop it from being interesting in its own right though. The artwork here is divisive, including work by Humberto Ramos before he toned his style down. Personally I really like his style (and especially the way he draws the Goblin) but others may find it ugly. | |||||
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61 |
The Punisher Strikes Twice |  |
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| -Amazing Spider-Man #129 | |||||
| Here we have the first appearances of both the Jackal, and the Punisher (yup he started out as a Spidey villain), a character who would go on to star in a solo comic and grow a large fanbase of his own. In the story the Jackal tricks Punisher, introduced here as a morally grey vigilante, into believing that Spider-Man is a villain. The two fight each other until Punisher realises the Jackal's betrayal. An important issue for who it introduces, with Gerry Conway creating a new type of opponent for Spider-Man, not strictly a bad guy, but too extreme to be a hero, opposing ethics are the main source of conflict. | |||||
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