(I originally read these comics in mid May 2016)
Continuing with my post-clone Spidey read...
Any ongoing sub-plots that were distinct to each of the four main Spider-Man titles seem to have fallen by the wayside as the resurrected Norman Osborn muscling in on the Daily Bugle and using it to make Peter's life hell has come to dominate all. As a result of this, we've seen Joe 'Robbie' Robertson uhmm-ing and aah-ing over whether he can continue on as editor, amid pressure from his wife to quit. Spidey previously beat Osborn up - something which Norman engineered to use against him - and Osborn has recently framed Spidey for the murder of some lowlife mob skel. In the 'Spider Hunt' crossover he's now public enemy number one and has a five million dollar bounty on his head, severely impeding his ability to to be a hero. Norman has also employed a new Green Goblin to do his bidding but as yet his identity remains a mystery. Flash Thompson, meanwhile, is recovering from his bout of alcoholism and is employed as Norman's P.A.
Other plots include Tom DeFalco's inevitable return of Doctor Octopus in Amazing, after the many-limbed one's death during the Clone Saga, and DeMatteis building on the legacy of the villain he memorably killed off as Kraven the Hunter - actually his son Aloysha - makes his presence felt in the pages of Spectacular.
The two Spider-Man/Batman crossovers - the first published in 1995 - are written by DeMatteis and drawn by Mark Bagley and Graham Nolan, respectively. The second is marginally better than the first, though neither is as good as it should have been. The same can be said of the Spider-Man/Kingpin one-shot, touted as the return of the Stan Lee/John Romita team supreme, thirty years after their heyday. It's enjoyable enough, but Stan's script is somewhat corny (would heroes like Captain America and the Thing so readily assume Spidey had turned killer on the basis of such flimsy evidence?) and Romita's pencils would have benefited from a tighter inker than Dan Green.
And just so you're not kept awake nights wondering, the "mystery guest star" from Marvel Team-Up # 5 is everybody's favourite cosmic voyeur, the Watcher...
As an extra, here's the full gatefold cover of Spectacular Spider-Man # 250, by the father/son combo of John Romita and John Romita Jr.
Sensational Spider-Man (1996) # 19-24 are collected in:
Softcover:
Spider-Man by Todd DeZago and Mike Wieringo (US)
Spider-Man by Todd DeZago and Mike Wieringo (UK)
Spider-Man and Batman: Disordered Minds (1995) is collected in:
Softcover:
Spider-Man by Todd DeZago and Mike Wieringo (US)
Spider-Man by Todd DeZago and Mike Wieringo (UK)
Spider-Man and Batman: Disordered Minds (1995) is collected in:
Softcover:
Batman/Spider-Man (1997) is collected in:
Softcover:
Peter Parker, Spider-Man (1990) # 88-90, Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) # 254-256, Sensational Spider-Man (1996) # 25/26 and Amazing Spider-Man (1963) # 432/433 are collected in:
Softcover:
