Where do you start reading Spider-Man comics? And other recommendations.

[Duy]

Totally agreed except I think hangmanjury is referring to ASM 655 in his last sentence; that is the highly acclaimed Slott/Martin issue. 654 is great also---heck, you should just get a complete run of #648 right up to to present if you can, but #655 is a modern classic!

Yep, I meant 655! Thanks bro!

[Comic Zone UK]

I started reading Spider-Man with Todd Mcfarlane's Spider-Man #1 The Torment story. Great place to start reading Spidey if you can find the Trade copy

[ngroove]

Hey everyone! Originally a watcher of Spider-Man: the Animated Series back in my February 1995 childhood, my first Spider-Man comic I've gotten in earnest, was Spectacular Spider-Man #225; one of the full premiere introductions to the Phil Urich Green Goblin!

My recommendations for the "new": Mostly, from 1962-2007; as my personal opinion / advise would be to avoid BND Spidey at all costs, like a plague! That said;

1. Essential Spider-Man #1-4: YES, aware they are "black&white", but for starters, for story / content / budget; great Lee/ Ditko / Romita / Buscema reads there!

2. Marvel Tales - AS MANY OF THEM AS YOU CAN! Cheap, color reprints of classic Spidey stories, many can found for a dollar each in your local comicbook shop back issue bins. I've gotten my fix of 70s Gibbon / Hammerhead / Jackal / Punisher / Man-Wolf / Tarantula / Grizzly / Spencer Smythe this way!

3. Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin trade. Classic Spidey / Goblin battles there. Out of print, as originally published mid-nineties. But I'm sure, one can find generous prices out of Amazon, eBay, or maybe a used graphic novel section, or even a Half-Price Books!

4. Spider-Man: the Wedding. Yes, in my "continuity"; Peter Parker & Mary Jane's marriage EXISTS. Really; it's a great story, coupled with Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives. Both are out of print also; same deal; Amazon, eBay, used graphic novels, Half-Price Books....

[argon31pf]

You know what the perfect jumping off point is if you don't want to buy a lot of backissues and don't want to get lost in ongoing story arcs? Amazing Spider-Man issue 655. This is when Spidey becomes a member of the FF.

[ngroove]

You know what the perfect jumping off point is if you don't want to buy a lot of backissues and don't want to get lost in ongoing story arcs? Amazing Spider-Man issue 655. This is when Spidey becomes a member of the FF.

A huge part of becoming a serious, commited ( not just casual) Spider-Man reader is buying said backissues, studying up on history.

[Mister Mets]

You know what the perfect jumping off point is if you don't want to buy a lot of backissues and don't want to get lost in ongoing story arcs? Amazing Spider-Man issue 655. This is when Spidey becomes a member of the FF.

I assume you mean "jumping on point".

A jumping off point would be the best issue to leave a book.

But you're right, that is an excellent first issue for any new reader.

[Mister Mets]

A handful of posts about the best stories involving new villains were moved to an existing thread.

[The Invincible Spider-Boy]

I'm new to Spider-Man comics too... I was thinking about starting at 659 with the infested arc and moving on from there...



Is this a good idea?

[ngroove]

I'm new to Spider-Man comics too... I was thinking about starting at 659 with the infested arc and moving on from there...



Is this a good idea?

If ya' wanna read Spidey now - what are you waiting for? Personally myself, I would not buy the latest issues ( for myself, from the last three-and-a-half-years), but it's your decision on that, your taste, prerogative whether you'll like em' or not.

However; my most serious advise; study, absorb! Maybe start your studies with the first volume of Spider-Man Masterworks ( his first appearance, ten issues, color), or first volume of Essential Spider-Man ( his first appearance, twenty issues + 1st annual, B+W) along with find this somewhere, possibly dwelling in the back issues of your comic book store, under various Spider-Man titles / minis: Spider-Man Saga. Quite a picture-filled and informative history of Spider-Man's first twenty-six years told in four issues.

The first Spider-Man Masterworks ( well, atleast the paperback, first appearance, five-issue version) and the first issue of Spider-Man saga, sure helped me when I was a kid, on my path on learning about Spider-Man's history.

[totalcomicmayhem]

I started getting into Spider-Man when Todd McFarlane was just beginning to pencil for Amazing Spider-Man. But...the Kraven storyline "Kraven's Last Hunt" Amazing Spider-Man #293-294, Web of Spider-Man #31-32, & Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132 is a great, great read. It was this cover that made me had to find out what the hell was going on...I know it ain't McFarlane, but it's still badass...

[Mister Mets]

I'm new to Spider-Man comics too... I was thinking about starting at 659 with the infested arc and moving on from there...



Is this a good idea?

It's an okay starting point. It's also the beginning of a two-part Spider-Man/ Future Foundation story.

It might be worth picking up 657 and 658, as these are earlier, mostly self-contained, stories with Spider-Man joining the Fantastic Four.

[kidnicky]

I stopped reading after Civil War,allthough I read and hated scans of OMD. I picked up a couple floppies over the last couple months and liked them,but I'm not going to keep buying 4 dollar pamphlets. My question is,What is the most recent TPB and can I read it cold or do I need to start further back to get caught up? Should I go all the way back to BND or what?

[Duy]

Start from the Big Time HC. It starts a new direction that is only 12 issues (and, more importantly to your wallet, two HCs) long so far. The other HC is Matters of Life and Death, which — and I cannot stress this enough — has one of the greatest and most amazing issues ever, art-wise, in the history of comics (ASM #655).

That's only two; they're very new-reader-friendly, and very accessible. Have fun!

[The Jersey Patriot]

I'm looking into getting the back issues. I was wondering whether I should start with One More Day or Brand New Day?

I figure BND would be a better jumping on point since its the start of Spidey's current direction. But I just want some conformation from people who've read both.

[Mister Mets]

I'm looking into getting the back issues. I was wondering whether I should start with One More Day or Brand New Day?

I figure BND would be a better jumping on point since its the start of Spidey's current direction. But I just want some conformation from people who've read both.

OMD's more of a deck-clearing exercise, so it's really only recommended if you want clues as to how characters got from Point A to Point B. It isn't referenced again for another 80+ issues, and serves as the conclusion to a sixty issue run.

BND's a good place to start.

But another new direction started somewhat more recently with Amazing Spider-Man #648, collected in "The Big Time" hardcover. So it could make sense to start there, and slowly work your way backwards.