Spider-Man: The Next Chapter, Vol. 2

Spider-Man: The Next Chapter #2

by Howard Mackie, J.M. DeMatteis, John Byrne (Illustrator)

There may not be another "next chapter" in the life of the Amazing Spider-Man if the villains in this volume get their way! Featuring such classic antagonists as Kraven the Hunter, Dr. Octopus, the Vulture, and the Blob - not to mention alternate versions of Green Goblin, electro, and the red Skull - this riotous roster reads like a veritable "who's who" of Spider-rogues! Plus: the return of Venom!

COLLECTING: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1999) 7-12; PETER PARKER SPIDER-MAN 7-12, ANNUAL '99

Genres: Comics, Spider Man, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Comic Book, Science Fiction, Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published February 22, 2012

About the author

Howard Mackie is an American comic book editor and writer. He has worked almost exclusively for Marvel Comics.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's nice to be reminded how great of an artist John Byrne is. John Romita Jr.'s not too shabby either. Reading these older stories makes me realize how good of an idea it was to end Peter Parker's marriage to Mary Jane. There's so much boring melodrama between these two. Making Peter single has led to Spider-Man being fun again.

[Oneirosophos · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good: The return of Venom & the bomber stalker
The bad: eeeverything else!

Another chore...

[B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look, reading this book, there's the possibility that it's a work of genius. That all these threads (and there are at least a dozen vying to be the dominant one) will come together in one big climax. Or maybe it's possible the author wants to get at the meaningless of our lives in a really philosophical assertion that life is just one dumb thing after another.

But if neither of those are true, what we have on our hands is just a mess. There are a lot of things happening that don't really appear to be related. And if anything they're building to what looks like a dumb and unbelievable story surrounding the generally uninteresting and also unbelievable character of "Senator Ward." I have a strong hunch that there couldn't be a payoff for that story.

This may not be as bad as I rate it. But there's a real sense of bleakness here.

[Adam Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume feels like a book I should like. There's Mysterio's scheme and Flash Thompson finding himself in a world where he's superhero, the return of Venom and the Sinister Six and a good mystery to boot.

Yet, there's a certain joylessness about the whole affair that gets wearying and drags the book down particularly in the way that Mary Jane is written and her reaction to Peter's lie to her about Spider-man (a contrived problem meant to create drama) .

Thus you've got a more meh feel than the plot elements really would indicate. This isn't bad, but it's just not a fun read.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another interesting trip down memory lane, having not read these for almost 20 years. I didn't like that there was a crossover story that just had a page of text explaining the missing parts, but I got over it quickly.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first volume of this was a fairly average reversion to 70s/80s style in a late 90s comic. This second volume is unfortunately a step down.

Part of that is stylistic: Mackie and/or the editors could decide whether to strip stories between the two books (TASM & PP:SM) or run two issue stories side-by-side, which sounds minor, but means we lose the flowing continuity between the two separate comics.

Part of this is that the stories are almost entirely unmemorable, except maybe the two double-sized Sinister Six issues that close things out. But we also get a dull fight with the Blob, an impenetrable crossover, two inconclusive Venom issues, and who knows what else. (Generally, the use of Venom across 4 of these 13 issues suggests that Mackie had no idea what to do with him.)

And finally, these stories were unmemorable in part because Mackie almost totally drops sideplots and even basic human interactions other than the constant, annoying sideplot of Peter hiding being Spider-Man from MJ. Remember how Peter started to work at a new scientific job in V1? Mackie doesn't seem to, as he loses track of it until issue #9, returns just once more (I think), and omits almost all of the new characters there. Also MIA for the most part: Peter & MJ's apartment and the personal interactions we get there.

Overall, this is just bad writing, something that's made more obvious by the PP:SM annual instead by DeMattheis. Honestly, I'm not a fan of DeMattheis' writing, which is often overly spiritual/philosphical, and this is too, but the writing's a much higher caliber than the other 12 issues.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

While a definite step up from Larry Hama's tenure with the Spidery symbiote, this volume's Venom involvement is an exercise in frustration as the story sets a climactic battle between Venom and Spider-Man with J Jonah Jameson's life also hanging in the balance (hence the cover art), and then ... Venom just fucks off and leaves the story never to return. It's a baffling decision, and a disappointment to read. The very next issue moves on as though the events in the story Never Happened.

It's Highly skippable, if you're reading the book for a Venom story.

[Mike McDevitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Byrne & Romita bring top drawer art to a meandering, insubstantial tale of retcons that I suspect was later retconned. Oh, and the utterly unconnected annual with the all new albino Man-Thing was absolute craparoni.

[Joshua Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

JMS can not take this book over fast enough

[ilham · Rating 3 out of 5]

not gonna lie this felt all over the place

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art was actually pretty good, best of this run so far. I especially enjoyed how Byrne plays with the shadows to hide Venom in them. But that's the only good thing about this volume. While the first one held lots of promise and introduced several storylines that seemed to be going somewhere interesting, now that Peter's back in his costume, Mackie has decided that we're going to revisit the whole collection of Spider-Man foes without rhyme or reason. It's all pointless and, worse, boring.

I'll continue with this run even if it's only because I like continuity and I've heard really good things about the later comics written by Straczynski.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. This book serves as a textbook example why modern Spider-Man comics suck so bad. Real artwork. No bloated endless crossovers. The Sinister Six reassembled in one issue. I can imagine that one being done in even one trade nowadays. Then having the battle stretched out across a mini-series, one-shot, and an Annual.

Things start out slow. Amazing Spider-Man #7-8 are a Mysterio two-parter which feel more like a Silver Age DC comic than a Marvel one. At least they have John Byrne artwork. Byrne is one of my all-time favorite artists, and was my absolute favorite as a kid in the '80s. While this era is not his strongest, he still turned in good work when paired with a strong inker like Scott Hanna.

Next up is Peter Parker, Spider-Man #7-8, which is another two-parter, this one about vampires and the mob. Blade The Vampire Hunter (not Slayer- he was called Hunter at this time,) tries to stop them from opening a chest. I'm going to spoil the shit out of this one, folks, because inside that chest was my beloved Morbius The Living Vampire! John Romita, Jr. rules, and here he really, really rules. His artwork is incredible, and his take on the character is easily as good as Gil Kane's or Paul Gulacy's. Why on Earth can't Marvel let him draw a Horror series? I guess that that point is moot since he has left for DC after 36 years of service.

Peter Parker, Spider-Man Annual '99 is a middle of the road tale featuring a radically different, Alan Moore Swamp Thing-esque take on the Man-Thing and the Scriers. There was some Photoshop work in that issue that must have been impressive to the technologically oppressed neanderthals of 1999. My phone could probably do that stuff now, though.

Things begin building. Doctor Octopus and Venom return, even if Spider-Man doesn't directly deal with them...yet. Subplots begin piling on top of one another. Peter Parker's name appears on a list of survivors of the accident that made Doctor Octopus into, well, Doctor Octopus. In this tweaked and revised reboot era, it is that same accident which gave Spider-Man his powers via a spider bite. There are one or two continuity discrepancies, such as this and the fact that Spider-Man has claimed to never have seen a vampire before. Electro's redesigned costume is another part of this new, temporary alteration to the continuity. That said, pretty much everything else that occurs falls in line with what happened before. This gentle reboot pales in comparison to what would occur shortly after this over in Ultimate Spider-Man, but that is a different conversation altogether.

While this is building, things take a side trip into a, wait for it, crossover. The Eigth Day “only” runs across three other titles, though. I find crossovers to be insulting. Expecting, nay, demanding “kids” (I would like to think that kids still read comics, at least) to spend their allowance on other comics is a rub. I remember doing this for Secret Wars II in 1985, buying crap like Daredevil and Doctor Strange that I had no interest in at the time. Part 3 is collected in this book. There is a text recap page for parts 1 and 2 and another for part 4.

The book is capped off by a two issue double-sized extravaganza which runs across both titles. The return of The Sinister Six! This time with a twist, though, as they are going against Doctor Octopus. Joining the Sandman, Mysterio, the Vulture, Kraven The Hunter (II- Junior), Electro (in his horrid blue and white redesigned costume), and Venom.

These comics were so much more enjoyable than modern Spider-Man. It is not nostalgia talking; indeed, I read the first 7 or 8 issues of each title when I found them at a garage sale several years ago. I am simply comparing them to what is going on nowadays. This is the beauty of collected editions and back issues. Even if something is crapped up beyond redemption you can always go back discover “new” things to take it's place.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a lot to like, but some bad moments that stick out like a sore thumb. Like when Spider-Man questions George Stacey about why he needs to kill Senator Ward. Over and over Stacey says it’s better if you don’t know. Sometimes while the city is falling to pieces around him and Spider-Man.