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Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man #18
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 18
Together with Ross Andru, Keith Pollard and guest artists including John Byrne and Jim Starlin, Marv Wolfman will prove why Spidey has become the world's favorite super hero. Sure, there's tenacious villains to fight: Electro, Jigsaw and the Spider-Slayer. And there's unlikely enemies to face: Rocket Racer and the Big Wheel. And J. Jonah Jameson is going to have an even sharper axe to grind with Spidey after their latest encounter with the Man-Wolf. But the true drama comes from the life of Peter Parker. Aunt May is hanging on by a thread. Will Mary Jane accept his proposal for marriage? When Betty Brant walks back into his love life, what's a Parker to do?
COLLECTING: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) 181-193; MIGHTY MARVEL COMICS CALENDAR 1978; AND MATERIAL FROM ANNUAL (1964) 12
COLLECTING: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) 181-193; MIGHTY MARVEL COMICS CALENDAR 1978; AND MATERIAL FROM ANNUAL (1964) 12
272 pages, Hardcover
First published December 27, 2016
About the author
Marv Wolfman
2,283 books309 followersMarvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 11, 2019
Spider-man was such a marvel mainstay I always waited for his stories to grow and boring. While, like any comic, the series had some bad issues i was always impressed that Marvel kept the character interesting and evolving. Good story and art. Recommended
June 11, 2024
Marv Wolfman takes over this title and does a pretty good job. We get some silly and fun new villains, the return of some older characters, and a lot of good moments for Peter Parker and his supporting cast. Ol' JJJ gets some nice character stuff, as does Robbie and Aunt May.
November 9, 2024
Presents ASM #181-#192 and a cover and page from annual #12. My favorite storyline was a two parter to close the book in which SM and JJJ are not only shackled together but with a bomb set to go off in a 24 hour time limit and having to contend with the villain The Fly. Writer Wolfman really throws a lot at our hero and amps up the drama involving the cast of characters like MJ, Betty Brant, Aunt May, and others.
May 31, 2021
The first issue collected in this volume is a recap of Spidey's story-thus-far, but after impatiently skimming through that, I enjoyed the rest of the collection.
The villains start off being unremarkable, but get better as the volume unfolds. Early stories feature Rocket Racer and a new bad-guy named Big Wheel, but then we move to White Dragon who has a cool costume even though he's just a glorified Tong leader. I'm not a fan of the Punisher's nemesis Jigsaw, but when he shows up he's portrayed as such a humorous coward that I enjoy him. Chameleon, Electro, and Man-Wolf also show up and I like all three of those guys.
What's a little underwhelming is that all of these villains are hired or otherwise set in motion by a mysterious mastermind who's identity is extremely disappointing when it's finally revealed. After issue upon issue of setup and teasing, he turns out to be the guy Jonah Jameson hired to create the first few Spider-Slayer robots. He's become lethally sick from the materials he used and now blames both Jameson and Spidey for his impending death. And of course we get yet another Spider-Slayer robot that fails as miserably as all the previous versions.
The Man-Wolf story works really well thanks to its effect on Jonah Jameson and how he thinks about Spider-Man (and, in a rare moment of introspection, himself). I also really dug revisiting the Electro story with Captain America as guest-star, which was probably the first Spider-Man comic I ever read as a kid. There's some lovely introspection in that issue too, this time by Spidey himself.
One of the big developments in Peter Parker's personal life this volume is that he rushes his relationship with Mary Jane by proposing to her. She turns him down (harshly!) just in time for Betty Brant to return from Paris after leaving her new husband Ned Leeds. She wants to restart her relationship with Peter, which sounds like a horrible idea since a) she's still married and b) she and Peter were terrible together the first time around. What I like though is that Peter seems to realize this, just as he also realizes that MJ was smart to reject his proposal, even if the way she did it emphasizes a character flaw that she's going to have to work through as well. It's all very smart and thoughtful, as opposed to the melodramatic, hyper-emotional Peter of the early issues.
Not that Peter doesn't still have emotional moments, but they work for me in this volume. Like when Aunt May's doctor - who has always been super critical and belittling of Peter - finally gets the pushback he's deserved for years. I admit that when writer Marv Wolfman reintroduced him and Betty to the series, I was worried that it was just to bring back some old personal favorite characters, but Wolfman is intentional with them, letting Peter finally deal with some stuff that's been simmering for way too long.
The villains start off being unremarkable, but get better as the volume unfolds. Early stories feature Rocket Racer and a new bad-guy named Big Wheel, but then we move to White Dragon who has a cool costume even though he's just a glorified Tong leader. I'm not a fan of the Punisher's nemesis Jigsaw, but when he shows up he's portrayed as such a humorous coward that I enjoy him. Chameleon, Electro, and Man-Wolf also show up and I like all three of those guys.
What's a little underwhelming is that all of these villains are hired or otherwise set in motion by a mysterious mastermind who's identity is extremely disappointing when it's finally revealed. After issue upon issue of setup and teasing, he turns out to be the guy Jonah Jameson hired to create the first few Spider-Slayer robots. He's become lethally sick from the materials he used and now blames both Jameson and Spidey for his impending death. And of course we get yet another Spider-Slayer robot that fails as miserably as all the previous versions.
The Man-Wolf story works really well thanks to its effect on Jonah Jameson and how he thinks about Spider-Man (and, in a rare moment of introspection, himself). I also really dug revisiting the Electro story with Captain America as guest-star, which was probably the first Spider-Man comic I ever read as a kid. There's some lovely introspection in that issue too, this time by Spidey himself.
One of the big developments in Peter Parker's personal life this volume is that he rushes his relationship with Mary Jane by proposing to her. She turns him down (harshly!) just in time for Betty Brant to return from Paris after leaving her new husband Ned Leeds. She wants to restart her relationship with Peter, which sounds like a horrible idea since a) she's still married and b) she and Peter were terrible together the first time around. What I like though is that Peter seems to realize this, just as he also realizes that MJ was smart to reject his proposal, even if the way she did it emphasizes a character flaw that she's going to have to work through as well. It's all very smart and thoughtful, as opposed to the melodramatic, hyper-emotional Peter of the early issues.
Not that Peter doesn't still have emotional moments, but they work for me in this volume. Like when Aunt May's doctor - who has always been super critical and belittling of Peter - finally gets the pushback he's deserved for years. I admit that when writer Marv Wolfman reintroduced him and Betty to the series, I was worried that it was just to bring back some old personal favorite characters, but Wolfman is intentional with them, letting Peter finally deal with some stuff that's been simmering for way too long.
September 27, 2022
A fine entry in the Spider-Man comics backlist! There were some interesting villans included in this one, so it might not be my favorite. But we get to see Peter Parker propose; it was fun to read that. Slowly but surely making my way through all of these older issues; I will get there eventually!
March 13, 2018
A strictly meh volume, with few memorable villains or stories.
June 29, 2021
#181 (estreia bill mantlo e sal buscema) peter visita o túmulo de seu tio e faz uma retrospectiva do seu trajecto desde jovem até agora
#182 - 185 (estreia de wolfman e andru) retorno do rocket racer e peter pede MJ em casamento , o surgimento do dragão branco
#186/188/191 - 192 (wolfman e keith pollard) o camaleão tenta incriminar o aranha que acaba de ser ilibado pelo estado , volta do retalho , novo robô Caça aranha , a última cartada de smythe e a volta do mosca
#187 (wolfman e jim starlin) mistério envolve uma usina eléctrica protegida pela Sheild e capitão América contra electro
#189 - 190 (wolfman e byrne) homem lobo
No geral baixou um pouco o nível dos anteriores runs
Nota se bem que nesta fase não havia uma certeza do que fazer com a vida amorosa de peter pós gwen , entra mj , sai mj , entra do nada betty…..
#182 - 185 (estreia de wolfman e andru) retorno do rocket racer e peter pede MJ em casamento , o surgimento do dragão branco
#186/188/191 - 192 (wolfman e keith pollard) o camaleão tenta incriminar o aranha que acaba de ser ilibado pelo estado , volta do retalho , novo robô Caça aranha , a última cartada de smythe e a volta do mosca
#187 (wolfman e jim starlin) mistério envolve uma usina eléctrica protegida pela Sheild e capitão América contra electro
#189 - 190 (wolfman e byrne) homem lobo
No geral baixou um pouco o nível dos anteriores runs
Nota se bem que nesta fase não havia uma certeza do que fazer com a vida amorosa de peter pós gwen , entra mj , sai mj , entra do nada betty…..
December 13, 2022
Overall, to be honest, not especially engaging. The villains were a little lack-lustre, and Peter's journey in his personal life seemed to mostly stall.
March 20, 2017
Most of this is all new to me. Looks like its going to be a great collection. A Jim Starlin ish and a couple by John Byrne! Finally read the one where Peter pops the question to Mary Jane. Always wondered when that had happened. Mostly from 1979 and into 1980.
Aside from a Byrne ish and the Starlin ish it's not memorable material. The Roger Stern run is just around the corner so I guess that's why we're getting the first volume of Peter Parker Masterworks soon as I can't see Amazing continuing for much longer. Get us into the Stern Omnibus and then end is that the plan? I'd think so.
Aside from a Byrne ish and the Starlin ish it's not memorable material. The Roger Stern run is just around the corner so I guess that's why we're getting the first volume of Peter Parker Masterworks soon as I can't see Amazing continuing for much longer. Get us into the Stern Omnibus and then end is that the plan? I'd think so.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews