Only I'll talk about the stint of a specific artist or writer. Like the Reagan years of the Truman years. I just realized I associate comic book time the same way most old folks associate real-time. I was at one time a very big fan of Spider-Man. In all my years reading and collecting comics, I've never been a big fan of Spider-Man. Comic books have once again become a prominent part of my life, and thankfully Magic has not. Magic: the Gathering took over that role from 14-17. Comic books ruled my life from age 8 until 14. You decide which of these things is that thing. I'm going to say one embarrassing thing here. All very centered and enjoyable from page to page. He's down on his luck, pursued by authority forces, identity is secret, and the bad guys get multiple one ups because of Spider-Mans own screw ups. Though despite this all the elements for a classic Spider story are all still in place. When I first read this I'd been reading issue to issue continuity wise on Marvel Unlimited from 1999 until here so I knew all the pieces offhand but now I'm a few years from that first reading and read everything after this so readjusting myself to those details took a bit of time, and for a new reader it'd be jarring in some of these details, like for example the scorpion is venom at this point in time. Readers will know Carlie Cooper but she has a very different set of circumstances. Harry is doing something very different in the year 2021 then he was here as is Norman and Peter. The issue with this story that has me cautious to recommend it to just anyone is just how steeped in continuity it is, a lot of these elements are years removed at this point. Not everything is paid off as the identity of the menace isn't revealed explicitly here but overall it's one in a long line of many classic Spider-Man stories Dan Slott wrote.Īnd it's illustrated by John Romita Jr who is always in top form on Spider-Man. I think everything in this story comes together in the end. It's also probably my own personal favorite Goblin story Dan Slott wrote. New Ways to Die is a hallmark of Spidey's Brand New Day era.

The amazing spider man dan slott