Last time, in our review of what is in my opinion the consistently greatest super-hero comic book of all time, I talked about the lowest point for the book: The clones had killed the joy in one of Marvel’s longest-running titles, The Amazing Spider-Man, and that, coupled with the company’s creative dearth and legal problems in the 1990s led the company to cancel the book.  This post will be my last one in this series, and will take us to the present day.  Here’s all the others:

THE HISTORY OF THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, PART ONE: THE STAN LEE YEARS

THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, PART TWO: CONWAY, WEIN AND WOLFMAN

THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, PART THREE: MEET ROGER STERN, THE GREATEST SPIDER-MAN WRITER OF ALL TIME

THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, PART FOUR: THE 1990s, AND THE “END” OF THE TITLE

So what are you waiting for?  Hit the break!

The official relaunch of Amazing Spider-Man was in 1999—right after Joe Quesada became the new editor-in-chief—with Howard Mackie, who had wrote several Venom and Spider-Man books in the early 1990s.  It didn’t really pan out—he killed Mary Jane but then had to resurrect her when the fans went ballistic, which he did in his last Spider-Man book, The Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2000.  I haven’t read most of these issues—I’ve been warned to stay away.  For true fans of the book, the reboot didn’t really start until 2001.  I’m not grading this run because, again, I haven’t read it.

ISSUES 471-545: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI SAVES THE DAY (2001-2007)

I’ve written about J. Michael Straczynskiseveral times in the past, mentioning how brilliant this run is.  It was so good that Marvel reverted to its original numbering.  The title returned to greatness, with art by John Romita, Jr and later by the great Mike Deodato, Jr.  In his very first issue, JMS told us this was going to be different; titled, “Transformations: Literal & Otherwise,” Peter got a new job and began to learn that there might have been more to his origin story than he suspect.  This “totem” storyline extended throughout JMS’ run, but never really got resolved.  However, it exemplifies why JMS’ run is the most interesting one since Stan Lee created Spider-Man.  JMS took existing legend and, rather than re-imagine it, he added to it.  Nothing he did can be called revisionist—it’s not Brian Michael Bendis revising Avengers history to fit in Jessica Jones, or even Joe Quesada using a deus ex machine to return Peter Parker to the status quo in Brand New Day (see below).  JMS was filling in gaps, and focusing on questionable parts of the existing myth in an almost philosophical manner.  You can read his run over and over and still find undeveloped elements.  He clearly left too soon—and under far too acrimonious circumstances.

JMS knew how to blend humor, action, and genuine sentiment

High points of this run are almost too numerous to mention: The totem stories, obviously; the 9/11/2001 tribute issue; “The Conversation” (#38, in which Aunt May confronts Peter about being Spider-Man); the reuniting of Peter and MJ (#50–as touching an issue of comics as I’ve ever read); #500 (in which JMS and John Romita, Jr., go over just about every major event in Spidey’s 40-year career); and the art, the art, the art.

Low points: None, in my opinion.  But see the very next part of this post . . .

Overall grade: A+.

ISSUES : 544-647 ONE MORE DAY/BRAND NEW DAY (2007-2010)

You all know about this, right?  JMS split the series when Joe Quesada insisted on a different ending, but JMS was still a major part of One More Day, in which the wonderful, rich tapestry of JMS’ run is erased by Mephisto and Dr. Strange.  Whatever your thoughts about it, it’s undeniable that the nature of the book The Amazing Spider-Man had changed radically under JMS, and probably there was nobody other than him who could weave personal issues, humor, tragedy, and all-out superbrawling together so seamlessly.  In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a writer in comic books who succeeded in this kind of a “complete” storytelling to this extent.  So you knew when he left, the book would change.

And it did.  Brand New Day was published weekly (with one dark week each month) and had a rotating creative staff.  It was a true reboot, transforming the book into a far more playful one.  Clearly contained arcs would bleed over only ever-so-slightly, so new readers could come on board any time they liked, and all of the tales were more traditionally fit the Amazing Spider-Man mold.  I’ve written (and praised) this period extensively, and I’ve already opined about the best arcs in this run.  So I won’t go into it any further.

Suffice to say, the run gets a B+/A-: Just about every arc is a fun read, and some are simply spectacular.  Uh, I mean “amazing.”  Let’s arbitrarily say 50 issues were an A-, 25 were a B+, and there about five A+ storylines tucked away in there as well.

ISSUES  #648-PRESENT: BIG TIME

Called “Big Time” because Peter Parker finally gets a job that pays well and recognizes his remarkable intellectual abilities, this phase is Dan Slott all the way, with several artists.  I have to say, thus far—only about twenty issues deep—it’s a very good run.  Too early to pass final judgment, but so far I’m giving it a B+.

And there you have it.  All of the issues of The Amazing Spider-Man.  How did it do?  Well, with the math skills of a blogger, and rounding to the nearest ten, we have 165 A+ issues and a total of about 265 issues in the “A” scale.  That means you’ll hit an “A” issue about one-third of the time that you read the book.  That’s pretty damn impressive for a book with this kind of longevity!