502

I am a great fan of Straczynski's Spider-Man stories, and this one is in the middle of a great set of them. But writing such an important comic (this trade features issue number 500) can be difficult, in that you know a lot of people are going to be picking up Spidey for the first time in years, or maybe ever.

Mark Waid handled the challenge well in his UNTHINKABLE story arc in Fantastic Four, but Straczynski falters a little here. It's not that the story was bad, it's just that it was so rushed. Spidey is forced to look back over his career from the present, knowing everything he knows now. Interesting, and the death of Gwen Stacy could have been a tear-jerker (again!). But instead we go through an event a page, never lingering long enough to really muse upon what had happened.

I rank it low in comparison with other Straczynski comics, but that still ranks higher than the average graphic novel. All of these Spidey books are worth getting. ( )

A fine collection of the "Amazing Spider-Man" books from Issues #500 to 502, and then (Volume 2) #57-58. In the main story, Spider-Man inadvertently gets in the line of a battle between Doctor Strange and Dormannu, and is sent down a space-time vortex that sends him to his own beginning and end. To get back to Doc Strange and his own time, he must re-fight some of his hardest battles. In the end the good guys win, and Doctor Strange gives Peter a birthday gift that allows him to spend a touching and well-written five minutes with Uncle Ben. There are a couple of additional shorter stories, and all are marked by fine writing and artwork, and the humor that is Spider-Man's hallmark has never been sharper. A good collection that is filled with many moments of emotional resonance. ( )