Earlier this year I made it a goal to read every Amazing Spider-Man comic in existence.
So far, progress has been slow, I have to admit.
One question that comes to mind: Am I missing a lot reading these in black and white instead of color?
The Marvel Essential volumes (and DC Showcase, for that matter) were a great idea. WERE. Because, let’s be serious, the story of Amazing Fantasy 15 is not worth the price. Neither are the first 55 issues or so with a couple exceptions, take my word for it on this one.
Something you notice about these early issues, a lot of this going on:
For some reason, it’s almost like they didn’t have comic books quite figured out yet. The words and the pictures, instead of complimenting each other, basically said the same stuff. You see Spider-Man webbing up the pin, AND he makes sure to remind us in the text as well. Not the most egregious comic book problem of all time, but it does make it clear (to me, at least) that they’re being written and drawn by separate people here.
There’s also a lot of this:
Okay, thanks for explaining the plan in detail. I did see a man with metal extend-y arms trashing the whole scene, but if I hadn’t known about the bulletproof glass and whatnot, I would have had an awful lot of questions about the realism of this scene, buddy.
Anyway, as someone who is far more a reader of comics than a collector, I was super-pumped when Marvel started putting out the Essential volumes in the mid 90’s. Finally I’d be able to read all those early stories without paying big bucks. Comics were no longer for those rich fucks who could afford to pay a couple million for a goddamn baseball every so often. That aspect of it was excellent, and well thought out if you ask me. The price to page ratio was pretty good for the time too. Long live the commie comic revolution.
Buuut, part of the issue is that I had never actually read these stories in color, so I never knew what I was missing. Potentially, I won’t find out until issue 210, which according to my calculations, is when the essential volumes run out and I’ll be in somewhat of a desert for most of the 200’s. But comparing the color to the grayscale version of the same panels, you can see there’s something lost in the translation here.
The whole Essential thing, for me, is less a choice than a lack of options. There’s always the Marvel Omnibus, which is great except that it currently goes up to Amazing #38, about twenty issues behind where I’m at. That Marvel is always one step ahead/behind.
Progress is slow, but steady. And, breakthrough, I’ve given up on my self-image enough to read these volumes in the break room at work and the local Starbucks. Should help progress some.
I haven’t quit yet. With great power comes great responsibility. As any good rule, the converse is also true, and so in my case, with No power comes No responsibility, and therefore plenty of time to read comics.
.
.
Plus, I got this rad patch which I will sew to my motorcycle jacket as soon as I finish. A Nerd merit badge, if you will. It’s only a matter of time before my toughness is recognized and I am courted by any number of motorcycle gangs.
If that’s not motivation, pointing out to the world that I devoted a shitload of time to reading muddy-paged reprints of comics where the Scorpion looks like he’s wielding a giant dildo that was attached to his back for some reason, I don’t know what is.