Essential Spider-Man

(Marvel, 1996-2005)
™ and © 2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.

As Midtown High’s resident social outcast and 98-pound weakling, science nerd Peter Parker spends his days dodging bullies and being the apple of his Uncle Ben and Aunt May’s eye, until Destiny intervenes. After several decades, we all know the drill: Peter observes a experiment with radiation, is bitten by an irradiated spider, gains super-powers based on the arachnid’s natural abilities, cashes in on his newly acquired skills as an entertainer, fails to stop the thief who will eventually murder his Uncle Ben, learns that “with great power comes great responsibility,” captures his uncle’s killer, and turns to fighting crime as The Amazing Spider-Man. Of course, reading Spidey’s earliest adventures can be a fairly expensive pursuit — if you want the originals or even the hardcover Marvel Masterworks editions. Fortunately, the House of Ideas has offered up The Essential Spider-Man, a sequential reprinting of ol’ Web-Head’s escapades in thick, black-and-white trade paperbacks that assemble a ton of great stories in each book. Volume 1 collects The Amazing Spider-Man #1-20 and Annual #1 for the wallet-friendly cover price of a mere $14.95. That’s a lotta Spidey for not a lotta green!

— Thomas Moudry

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