spider-man recomendations?

[rggkjg1]

hi, i have bought dc comics for years now and i never bought any marvel releated heros. well i was an idiot because i said dc was better than marvel for so long. well i came to realize that its based on personal choice, there both the same to me. so i pick up the free spider-man comic that was offered on free comic day and i read it. not bad. i also liked the comic offered at the wizard east con. i was thinking on starting my spider-man collection with issues done by frank miller. is this a good or bad idea? any other good issues?

p.s. if i cant get a hold of the frank miller spider-mans, i know i'll be getting all of the kevin smith ones.

[Cogliostro]

I can't really help you with the Frank Miller Spidey stuff but I just want to say glad to see you trying Marvel. I'm more of a Marvel fan but I get DC to when something interest me...

[JL Man]

I wouldn't really try to get comics by a certain writer. If you collect titles everything will make so much more sense.
Spidey reccomendations are:
Amazing SpiderMan
Peter Parker, SpiderMan
Ultimate Spider-Man (Keep in mind USM is not the same continuity as the above two titles.)

Other solid titles are:
Ultimate X-Men
the Ultimates
Daredevil
Elektra ( Mature Readers)

The only DC titles I'm getting are Green Lantern every month starting with 150, JLA starting with Obsidian Age, and Batman #605 ( need I say why.)

[Reed Richards]

As a longtime spiderman fan, let me make some recomendations to you

1. Pick up the Marvel Knights Daredevil/Spiderman TPB-- very well done.

2. Read up on Spidey on the internet. With roughly 50 years of stories under his belt, Spidey has a large rouges gallery and a deep, rich history-- most of it can be found online. This should give you a leg-up and allow you to jump in on some of the current storylines running.

3. BUY AMAZING SPIDERMAN. I cannot stress enough how good this book is right now.

4. BUY ULTIMATE SPIDERMAN. Ditto, but in its own way even more entertaining than ASM-- and you can read issue 1-19 or so at www.marvel.com by donwloading their dotcomics player.

5. BUY SPIDER GIRL-- i know its not spidey but its every bit as good.

6. Buy Daredevil. go. now. buy it. better than almost anything on tv thats for sure....

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

The problem with grabbing the Frank Miller Spider-Man TPB is that the issues they collect feature Miller as the artist, not the writer. Some of the stories in there are rather good (I'm fond of the Doc Ock/Punisher story), but if you were expecting a Miller story, you're going to be sadly disappointed.

Some of my favorite Spidey stories (all of which are collected in TPB format):

- The Death of Gwen Stacy: Probably the best known Spider-Man story, and a definitive moment in his life. Take with an appropriate amount of salt, considering the issues were printed in the early 70's.

- Kraven's Last Hunt and Soul of the Hunter: This is a rough equivalent to The Dark Knight Returns for Spider-Man. What else can you say about a story where Kraven the Hunter shoots Spider-Man, buries him alive, and takes his place to prove he's better than "the Spider?" The follow-up one-shot is a coda to the original work, written for reasons which are made clear in the intro to the first TPB (which, by the way, you should NOT read until AFTER you've read the story).

- Coming Home: This is the first collection of J. Michael Straczynski's Spider-Man run. Truly great stuff, and his work is just getting better and better.

- Spider-Man's Tangled Web: These stories are interesting, in that Spider-Man is often a peripheral character in them. There are 2 TPBs out there; the first is pretty good, but the second has spectacular contributions by Kaare Andrews, Bruce Jones, and Darwyn Cooke.

I know a lot of people like the Peter Parker: Spider-Man stories by Paul Jenkins, on the stands now and collected in 2 TPBs. I haven't read them in person, but they sounded interesting.

As far as monthlies, I don't think you can go terribly wrong with any of the regular Spider-Man books (Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker: Spider-Man, and Ultimate Spider-Man). The one-shots and limited series are more hit-or-miss.

Hope this helps!

-- Ed/Ace

[Christopher N. Denner]

Pick up Untold Tales of Spider-Man if you can. Classic style comics for the modern age, and at a buck a pop you couldn't go wrong.

:D

[rggkjg1]

thanks for your recomendations. did marvel ever do a crisis on infinite earths thing? and i remember some thing called maximum carnage? is this a major story line? is there any other major story lines? and if i see the movie, will that help me understand and learn some things? i heard that movie was alot like the comic. is it?

[Ed Liu]

Howdy again,


Originally posted by rggkjg1
thanks for your recomendations. did marvel ever do a crisis on infinite earths thing?


Nope. The closest you'll get are the "Ultimate" lines of comics, which are re-writes/updates of classic Marvel heroes, but do not affect the current comics continuity. Thus, you should be able to read "Ultimate Spider-Man" with no knowledge of Spider-Man at all, while the other Spidey books may refer back to events in the past.


and i remember some thing called maximum carnage? is this a major story line? is there any other major story lines?

Yes, sort of, and yes, respectively. I'd hit the titles others have recommended, since I think most of the important ones have been covered already. You can also visit www.spiderfan.org to attempt to catch up on Spider-Man history.

Augie De Blieck also wrote up an intro to Spider-Man comics in his "Pipeline" column on Comic Book Resources. You can read it at http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=pipeline&article=1307 . I more or less concur with everything he says, but I'd advise avoiding the Spider-Man books written by Todd McFarlane like the plague. I think they're awful.


and if i see the movie, will that help me understand and learn some things? i heard that movie was alot like the comic. is it?

I thought the movie was very like the comic in spirit, although many of the details are very different. It's a fine, fun, summer-popcorn movie, though, and (IMO) worth seeing whether you're a Spider-Man fan or not.

-- Ed/Ace

[rggkjg1]

thanks for the help.