Book Review: The Amazing Spider-Man vol #7

Book: The Amazing Spider-Man volume #7: The Book of Ezekiel (issue #503-508) by J. Michael Straczynski with Fiona Avery with illustrations by John Romita Jr. and color Matt Milla

Source: Library

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

In this group of issues Spider-Man had his hands full going up against magical foes and surprisingly getting help from Loki in the first two issues.

In the first story (issues #503-504), Loki's daughter was possessed by the sorceress Morwen and to save her Spider-Man and Loki teamed up. And as expected that team up had problems, Loki's not exactly someone you can trust but that didn't stop the two from enjoying a little down time getting hot dogs (not that Loki enjoyed them).

In issue #505, Mary Jane Watson was having a difficult time trying to enter the world of acting. She wanted to find roles where she could showcase her skills and be taken more seriously. MJ had traveled to L.A. for a big audition but after overhearing some disappointing information, she left. MJ didn't have the heart to tell her husband the truth about how lousy the people were to her. Meanwhile back in NY, Spider-Man was helping the police to stop a bike thief but Peter did more than just stop a thief he stopped a kid from trying to do something bad just to prove to others that he was cool.

The last three issues (#506-508), focused on Ezekiel's trip to NY and told of how he got his powers which were similar in nature to Peter's although he received them through a mystical way. It also continued to focus on Mary Jane's attempts to further her acting career this time with some good advice from May Parker.

Ezekiel's presence in NY was bringing more than just good memories for Peter. A mystical force was stirring up the city and bring out every spider in the city which of course had Spidey's no. #1 fan J. Johan Jameson telling the world that Spider-Man is to blame for the spider's.

I enjoyed this group of stories because no matter what Spider-Man is a hero and he's not used to going up against magical foes but he will try his best to do as much as he can by helping those in need and trying to stop the villain. I also love that in these stories that Mary Jane was given a good amount of focus and not to mention I love the banter between her and Peter.

Book Review: The Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives

Book: The Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives (Marvel Graphic Novel #46) written by Gerry Conway with illustrations by Alex Saviuk and Andy Mushynsky and color by Bob Sharen

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

This was just a wonderful story that showed the lives of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Peter transformed from a shy and nerdy guy into Spider-Man while Mary Jane was trying her best to hide her pain behind a "party girl" image until she learned how to sort out her life. This covers many years of their lives, the good and the bad. The villain Doc Ock is also included in this tale.

There is something amazing about reading these older stories because they're not so dark and dreary like so many of the comics out now. This story was a fun read and I love the artwork, it's bright and colorful.

What I love about this story was you really got to see and understand what Peter and Mary Jane were feeling and what they were going through. Neither of their lives were perfect but they were always trying to look on the bright side. In a way they both were wearing masks hiding who they really were from the world until they found each other and they could finally be themselves.

This was published back in 1989 but I bought it from a comic book store a couple of years ago. After reading this today, I think despite being 24 years old this book is still a good read.

Book Review: The Amazing Spider-Man #10

Book: The Amazing Spider-Man #10 written by Stan Lee with illustrations by Steve Ditko

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

I told you I love reading these old issues of Spider-Man. They're just such a fun read. This issue found Spidey going up against the criminal master mind the Big Man and The Enforcers. This story also had May Parker recuperating in Florida after Peter donated blood for her.  J. Jonah Jameson was also in this doing his standard "Spider-Man is really the crook" speech. He's so set on making Spider-Man the villain that he couldn't bother to assist the police with putting a real article on the crime wave in the paper to let readers know to contact the police about anything suspicious. He'll probably never see Spidey as anything other than a crook.

There was also something going on with Betty Brant, who too ashamed to tell Peter she had borrowed money from the Big Man, had took off before Peter could find out the truth. Another reason she took off was she didn't want The Enforcers to hurt Peter since she really cares about him.

Spider-Man had a difficult time going up against the criminals and so he figured out a plan to try to get to the Big Man especially since he had a theory to who might be person calling all the shots. As Peter Parker he set up a trap to get himself caught. Something that actually surprised me about this story was that Flash Thompson actually seemed concerned for Peter after he was going around saying he knew who the Big Man really was (for his plan).

Once the Big Man got wind of Peter's plan, he was promptly abducted and taken to the criminal hideout. Once he was locked up, Peter changed into Spider-Man to try to see if he could capture the crooks and after a rather strenuous fight with a large group of criminals he was able to get them arrested by the police. However the only failure to his plan was the ring leader got away.

Thinking he knew exactly who he was, Spidey headed over to where he thought the crook would be. The Big Man turned out to be someone he didn't even suspect. Even I didn't see that person as being leader. Which was good twist to the story.

On the cover, it stated that readers will learn why J. Jonah Jameson really hates Spider-Man. The reason wasn't that hard to believe, it actually makes perfect sense. It definitely makes me look at that loud mouth jerk in a different light.

This ended with both Betty and Peter wondering about the other and in the next issue it will explain what's really going on with Betty. It's interesting that you can see that the both of them really care for each other. I know how fans always say that Gwen Stacy was Peter's first love but I would say it was actually Betty especially with the way he talks about her.

Book Review: The Silver Surfer #9 and The Amazing Spider-Man #9

I just love reading these classic comics you don't find stories like these anymore.

Book: The Silver Surfer issue #9 - To Steal The Surfer's Soul! by Stan Lee and John Buscema

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

This story is a continuation from the last issue. The action started pretty quick in this with The Flying Dutchman battling The Silver Surfer to try to get The Surfer's soul for Mephisto. This fast paced story had the two fighting throughout the city, even though The Surfer tried to take the fight away from the area.

I loved how The Surfer figured out a way to end the fight and not only save himself but also help The Flying Dutchman.

This was a good issue.

Book: The Amazing Spider-Man #9 - The Man Called Electro! by Stan Lee

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

Spider-Man had his work cut out for him when he had to go up against Electro but that wasn't the toughest thing he had to deal with. Peter had to deal with his Aunt May needing surgery and trying to find the money to pay for it. Peter came up with a rather questionable way of getting the money but he redeemed himself later on for it.

This was another really good issue. It had a good story and good action. Spider-Man continues to use his brain over brawn to figure out a way to stop Electro. It's interesting the fans always mention Gwen Stacey as being Peter's first love but it seems like Betty Grant was his first love. J. Johan Jameson continues to be a jerk this time thinking Electro is none other than Spider-Man. Only Jameson would think that.

Book Review: The Amazing Spider-Man #8

Book: The Amazing Spider-Man #8 by Stan Lee

Rating: 4 stars (for the first story)

Review:

This issue featured two stories. The first story had Peter Parker and the rest of his science class watching a demonstration of a super intelligent robot. While this was going on Peter and Flash got into an argument. Tired of those two arguing, the teacher had them settling their disagreement in the school's boxing ring. Which was fine by Peter he was tired of Flash bullying him and wasn't going to take it anymore.

As the fight was going on, two crooks tried to steal the robot but inadvertently caused the machine to go haywire. The robot rampaged all over the school, leaving Spider-Man to stop it.

I like this story because Peter was tired of pretending to be weak in order to hide the fact that he's Spider-Man. Not only did Peter win the fight but he got back at Flash at the end of the story.

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Now the second story, I really didn't like that one. It had Spider-Man rudely interrupting a party then getting into a fight with The Human Torch as well as the rest of The Fantastic Four. I thought Spidey was a jerk in this story. He showed up at a party that no one seemed interested in him attending all so he could try to show up The Torch.

If I could, I would rate the second story 1 star, I didn't think it was good.

Book Review: The Amazing Spider-Man #7

Book: The Amazing Spider-Man #7 written by Stan Lee with illustrations by Steve Ditko

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

I thought this was another good issue. Something I love about reading these old comic books, the story was contained to one issue. You didn't have to read five issues just to complete a story.

For this issue it's Spider-Man vs The Vulture again. And this time The Vulture has improved his wings so that the invention Spidey used the last time won't work. The first fight didn't last too long for Spider-Man and in fact Peter wound up getting injured. But there's no down time for a hero, and despite being injured, Peter had to stop The Vulture as the villain tried to rob the Daily Bugle payroll.

Even with an injury Spidey was at his best. From the snarky jokes to using his intellect to try to capture The Vulture. Peter might have been a bit over confident in the beginning but he learned from that unlike The Vulture who continued to believe he was better than everyone.

Aside from being a hero, Peter continues to have to deal with that annoying jerk Flash Thompson at school. But he patience is starting to wear thin and sooner or later he's not going to back down the next time Flash insults him. Something interesting that I noticed in this issue was Peter didn't show any interest in Liz instead he finally started to break out of his shell and flirt with Betty Brant. I really don't understand why Peter even liked Liz, she was always joining Flash and the other jerks when they were bullying Peter.

Looking forward to reading the next issue.

Book Review: The Amazing Spider-Man #6

Book: The Amazing Spider-Man #6 by Stan Lee

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

This was a really fun read. The story started out with The Lizard terrorizing the Florida Everglades. As the news starts to spread, J. Jonah Jameson eventually gets wind of and decides to garner a little publicity by baiting Spider-Man with The Daily Buggle headline "The Bugle Challenges Spider-Man to Defeat The Lizard".

Jameson doesn't really believe the story of The Lizard is true he's just trying to bolster his news paper. Peter Parker wanting to find out the truth behind The Lizard story decides to try to convince Jameson to send him to Florida on the guise that he will be taking pictures of the fight between Spider-Man and The Lizard. Poor Peter, this quote by him says it all "Some superhero I am! Too broke to buy a plane ticket to meet a new enemy!" Peter got his wish but unfortunately J. Jonah Jameson will be going with him.

Once they got to Florida, Peter ditched Jameson with a clever excuse and went to check out the rumors. After finding out the rumors were true, Spider-Man met his match going up against The Lizard.

I enjoyed reading this, it was really well written and funny plus had a good amount of action. So far each issue The Amazing Spider-Man has been quite good. I'm looking forward to the next issue.

Book Review: The Amazing Spider-Man #5

Book: The Amazing Spider-Man issue #5

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

I love reading these older Spider-Man comics.

In this issue Doctor Doom figuring Spider-Man was considered an outlaw in NYC would consider teaming up with him as his partner in crime. For someone who thinks their a genius, why would he even think Spider-Man would want to join up with him and once his offer was rejected, Doom decided to take his revenge. There were a lot of good action scenes between Spidey and Doom that showed how evenly matched they were in both intelligence and strength.

In this story, not only did Peter have to deal with Doctor Doom, he had to rescue the annoying Flash Thompson who dressed as Spider-Man was abducted by Doom. Doom thinking he captured the real Spider-Man was going to attempt to capture the Fantastic Four by having them surrender themselves to save Spidey. I thought Flash sort of got what he deserved because he was planning on pulling a prank on Peter to scare him. But being the hero that he is Peter went to save Flash (despite the brief moment he thought about just letting Doom have Flash so he'd be rid of the jerk). I thought Peter's excuse to get out of the house was a little funny. His Aunt May, didn't want him to leave the house so he made it seem as if lights in the house went out so he could run out to get more fuses.

In the end, despite nearly stopping Doom, Spidey didn't get any of the credit because the villain ran off as soon as the Fantastic Four showed up. Spidey also didn't get the satisfaction of showing up Flash because he had to hurry up home before his Aunt started to worry. But what really annoyed me was even though Flash was really scared, he ended up making it seem like he hadn't been scared and that he even stopped Doctor Doom himself. All the kids at school thought he was this big hero. Poor Peter he's the only one at school that knows how scared the big jerk really was and can't tell anyone the truth.

This was a really fun read.

Book Review: The Silver Surfer #3 and The Amazing Spider-Man #4

Book: The Silver Surfer issue #3 by Stan Lee

Rating: 4 stars

My Review:

I have really enjoyed reading these issues of The Silver Surfer and issue #3 was even better than the last.

Finally fed up with people of Earth treating him unjustly The Silver Surfer takes his revenge by darkening the Earth. Norrin is such a good person that even his revenge wasn't too severe. He had cut off all the power and released a dense fog to cover the cities. He hoped that the people of Earth would learn to change after perhaps a little suffering. However, unbeknownst to The Surfer, an evil being on another planet called Mephisto senses the disturbance regarding the Earth. Mephisto has a vested interest in the evils of mankind and doesn't want The Surfer interfering with man's progress (or lack of).

Concerned with the unwavering goodness found within The Silver Surfer, Mephisto sets out to destroy him. But first Mephisto needed to acquire one thing for his plan, The Surfer's girlfriend Shalla Bal whom he placed on a space ship heading towards Earth. He knew The Surfer would regret his revenge and as soon as The Surfer was restoring the power and lifting the fog, the space ship showed up. Fearing the planet was under attack, militaries launched missiles at the ship. Not knowing who was in the ship only that it was from his home planet The Surfer went about trying to save it.

Once the ship crashed, The Surfer was finally reunited with his girlfriend but it was short lived because Mephisto appeared but quickly disappeared along with Shalla Bal. After locating Mephisto's planet, The Surfer was soon tested by Mephisto. Not succumbing to the likes of greed and lust, The Surfer fought with the evil alien to free Shalla Bal. This ended with The Surfer tricking Mephisto into freeing Shalla Bal. I'm glad they didn't get kill her off (which is something they do way to often now in comics) but she did get sent back home, which left The Surfer alone in the our hostile world without the love of his life again.

I really did like this, it was very entertaining to read. Reading these old issues of The Silver Surfer makes me miss how simple yet interesting comics used to be. Can't wait to read the next issue.

Book: The Amazing Spider-Man issue #4 by Stan Lee

Rating: 5 stars

My Review:

Now this was a good issue, Peter had a real challenge trying to stop the Sandman. So far, I think the Sandman has been Spider-Man's toughest villain because how can you stop someone who is truly hard to capture.

Spider-Man first went up against the Sandman as the villain was on his way to rob a bank. The fight didn't go too well for Spidey who inadvertently tore his mask and had to escape before the Sandman could see who he was.

I love the scene that takes place after that because while the Sandman was busy robbing the bank, Peter was at home trying to sew up his mask that is until his doting Aunt May entered his room. Peter had to quickly grab his robe (he still had his costume on) and pretend he was sick to keep his Aunt from becoming suspicious of him. This whole scene was really funny, but it also showed how much his Aunt cared for him.

The next day wasn't going too well for Peter, first he took a chance and went to get an advance payment from Mr. Jameson (he should have known that wouldn't have gone well), then at school he had to cancel a date with Liz, who was not too happy about it (aww, poor guy, he thought he would be too busy trying to capture the Sandman to go on his date but he couldn't tell her that of course). Not to mention he also had to deal with a bunch of jerks including Flash Thompson teasing and bullying him. And, lastly he had to stop the Sandman who wound up at the school after trying to escape the police.

Well at least Peter got a second chance to stop the Sandman, he had to use his brain to figure out a quick solution because his strength wasn't working since the Sandman could counter that. Peter might not have resolved his issue with Liz but at least his got his money from Mr. Jameson (minus a developing fee, that Jameson is such a jerk but not as much of a jerk as Flash was in this issue).

As I said this was such a good issue. It was a fun read and had Peter working hard trying to stop the Sandman. It also showed how crappy his school and work life can be sometimes.

Book Review: The Amazing Spider-Man #1

Book: The Amazing Spider-Man issue #1 written by Stan Lee

Rating: 4 stars

My Review:

Thanks to a Goodreads.com friend who graciously decided to share these amazing comics for the group to read and review through downloads. I was able to read the first issue of Amazing Comics that featured Spider-Man for the first time (Amazing Comics #15, I'll post a review for that too).

This "Amazing Spider-Man" issue #1, was Spidey's first solo series and it featured two Spider-Man stories for the whole price of 12 cent. Couldn't beat that price, now comics cost the average of $3-4 dollars or more.

Now on to my review.

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Poor Peter, trying to raise some money for him and his aunt, he goes back into entertainment with a paying performance. If only he had the hindsight to have had that check addressed to May Parker instead of Spider-Man (he had an awful time trying to get it cashed). Spider-Man should have mention that he recently caught the mugger who murdered Ben Parker and wanted to give the money to the widow and that would have solved some of his money issues.

It's not hard to feel bad for Peter when you have the worst journalist in the business going after him. J. Jonah Jameson is supposed to be non-biased but all he does is spend his time going after Spider-Man.

And it got worse after Spider-Man risked his life to save Jameson's son. Spider-Man should have been called a hero but Jameson turned it around and made it seem like Spidey manufactured the whole incident just for publicity and turned the mindless public against him.


The second story featured the Fantastic Four and was just as interesting as the first story. Like with most comics all five heroes start out fighting before the FF know the reason for Spidey to be at their residence.

The main focus of the second story was Spider-Man dealing with the Chameleon. Spidey had to stop the Chameleon who tried to frame him for stealing missile plans.

Another thing I found interesting was that Stan Lee made a mistake with Peter's last name. Peter Palmer, not very catchy, I'm glad it didn't stick.

Overall, I would say this was a good issue.