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A review by ponch22
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 2 by Stan Lee
4.0
Forgot to cancel my free month of ComiXology Unlimited after reading [b:Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 1|35896249] so I decided to get a little ahead of a new podcast I’m listening to—Screw It, We’re Just Gonna Talk About Spider-Man—by reading [b:Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 2|489552|Marvel Masterworks The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 2|Stan Lee|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1350629237s/489552.jpg|743162].
This graphic novel picks up where Vol. 1 left off, collecting the original Amazing Spider-Man comics written by [a:Stan Lee|10303] & drawn by [a:Steve Ditko|10298] starting with ASM #11 and going through ASM #19, with the first ASM Annual thrown in for good measure. These stories, published from April 1964 through December 1964 feature several returning villains, a few new foes, several Marvel crossover cameos, and even introduces a new team of baddies—the Sinister Six!
ASM #11’s cover tells of “the long-awaited ‘Return of Doctor Octopus!’” while the inner splash page warns that Peter may “lose Betty Brant, the girl he loves” (but didn't they just start dating in ASM #9?! Things sure do move fast in comic book land!). Seems Betty’s brother is a lawyer who got mixed up with the wrong clients. After Doc Ock is released from prison for good behavior, he has Betty drive him to Philly to break a gangster, one of her brother's clients, out of jail. Spidey follows but during a battle at the docks, Betty’s brother is killed and she blames Spider-Man for his death. Doctor Octopus escapes and Peter heads back to NYC, all alone.
ASM #12 features more Doc Ock, who has been traveling the country trying to get Spider-Man to attack him. He returns to NYC & takes Betty Brant hostage, hoping she’ll act as bait for Spider-Man again. But when Spider-Man attacks, he’s easily defeated and unmasked because Peter had the flu (or something). Luckily, everyone thinks Peter was just pretending to be Spider-Man *eye-roll*, and after a good night’s rest, he’s as strong as ever and defeats Doc Ock (after battling some animals released from the zoo).
ASM #13 introduces a new villain, Mysterio. Spoiler, he’s a movie stunt man who figured out how to replicate all of Spidey’s special powers, and then pretended to be him while pulling off crimes all over the city. He makes New York hate Spider-Man & love Mysterio, until Spidey defeats him & gets his confession on tape.
ASM #14 introduces the Green Goblin, without giving anything away about his backstory. All we know is GG has recruited the Enforcers (recently released from jail) & roped them into some crazy scheme that involves a movie shoot in the desert. Spider-Man agrees to be in their movie for the money (and because he thinks they're actors who look like the Enforcers), but the bad guys try to take him out during the first day of shooting. Unfortunately, their battle rolls into a desert cave where the Hulk sleeps, and so Spidey (and eventually the baddies) all fight the Hulk. In the end, the movie is canceled and Peter gets just enough money to travel back to NYC.
ASM #15 introduces another new baddie—Kraven the Hunter—and brings back one of the dumbest villains ever—The Chameleon. Seems Chameleon hired the greatest hunter in the world so he can hunt the one thing he hasn’t captured yet—Spider-Man! The hunter gets close to Spidey and poisons him, making him weak and shaky, but in the end, Spider-Man wins in Central Park even with Chameleon dressed up as a faux Kraven.
The first Annual features a double-long story where Doc Ock gathers Sandman, Mysterio, Kraven, Electro, and the Vulture to join forces as the Sinister Six to defeat Spider-Man. His “brilliant” plan is to capture Betty Brant (again) and lure Spider-Man to his defeat. However, Aunt May gets kidnapped too and Doc Ock places all six villains in different parts of the city, so Spider-Man fights them one by one. There are also at least half a dozen cameos from other Marvel superheroes, each with their own editorial plug for their comics (I suppose this is what all Annuals do? Plug each other’s work?). The best part about the silly plot is we’re treated to six full-page action shots of Spidey battling each foe individually.
The rest of the Annual has one-page features of every villain Spider-Man has battled so far, several pages detailing the secrets of Spidey’s powers, some of the side characters, and even a tongue in cheek look at how Lee tortures Ditko with his ideas & how they “collaborate” together each month...
ASM #16 features a villain previously defeated by The Hulk—The Ringmaster. He draws a sell-out crowd to his circus by promising Spider-Man will also be there and plans on hypnotizing the entire crowd with his big hat. When Spidey shows up to this circus where he's supposed to be, Ringmaster hypnotizes him and the entire crowd, except for one person—blind superhero, Daredevil. We get a pretty neat battle between hypnotized Spider-Man and Daredevil, but eventually, the spell is broken and Spidey defeats all the circus baddies.
ASM #17 features the return of the Green Goblin & return cameo of the Human Torch. Peter’s longtime bully, Flash Thompson throws an epic Spider-Man fan club event that GG crashes. He fights Spider-Man until Peter hears that Aunt May is sick and runs away. Torch picks up where he left off, but the whole city thinks Spider-Man is a coward.
ASM #18 is touted as the only time a “hero ha[s] no actual fight with any foe” because all issue, Peter avoids fights with the Vulture and Sandman because he’s too worried what would happen to Aunt May if he did get hurt. Flash even goes so far as to dress up as Spider-Man (again!) and gets beat up for his trouble.
ASM #19 has Aunt May return to good health, so Spider-Man returns to beating up bank robbers (and J. Jonah Jameson is humiliated for celebrating how cowardly Spider-Man was). Then Sandman and the Enforcers team up to defeat all costumed heroes, starting with a weakened Human Torch (seems Strange Tales #127 was tough on the Torch). Spidey has to battle all four to rescue Torch, and the two do some fighting side by side. The issue ends with a cliffhanger of someone in the shadows tailing Peter for some mysterious reason. Guess I’ll be reading [b:Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3|754024|Marvel Masterworks The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 3|Stan Lee|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347634823s/754024.jpg|740143]
I think I enjoyed these stories more than the first ten, but still there are some silly plot lines or contrived setups to keep it from being a full 5*. Also, this Marvel Masterworks collection feels a little weaker than Vol 1—there was still a silly introduction from Mr. Stan Lee himself but there was only one original sketch at the end unlike the pages of extra content in Vol. 1.
I am glad that we finally got some mentions of Mary Jane Watson—but I’m still surprised she hasn’t actually been introduced yet. I guess with Pete and Betty on the rocks, maybe she’ll come into his world next volume? And the cliffhanger in Vol #19 is the perfect end for this collection—it really makes me want to read #20 right away. Is that JJJ paying someone to tail Peter because he suspects Pete’s actually Spider-Man? Or is it someone else entirely? Can’t wait to find out!
This graphic novel picks up where Vol. 1 left off, collecting the original Amazing Spider-Man comics written by [a:Stan Lee|10303] & drawn by [a:Steve Ditko|10298] starting with ASM #11 and going through ASM #19, with the first ASM Annual thrown in for good measure. These stories, published from April 1964 through December 1964 feature several returning villains, a few new foes, several Marvel crossover cameos, and even introduces a new team of baddies—the Sinister Six!
ASM #11’s cover tells of “the long-awaited ‘Return of Doctor Octopus!’” while the inner splash page warns that Peter may “lose Betty Brant, the girl he loves” (but didn't they just start dating in ASM #9?! Things sure do move fast in comic book land!). Seems Betty’s brother is a lawyer who got mixed up with the wrong clients. After Doc Ock is released from prison for good behavior, he has Betty drive him to Philly to break a gangster, one of her brother's clients, out of jail. Spidey follows but during a battle at the docks, Betty’s brother is killed and she blames Spider-Man for his death. Doctor Octopus escapes and Peter heads back to NYC, all alone.
ASM #12 features more Doc Ock, who has been traveling the country trying to get Spider-Man to attack him. He returns to NYC & takes Betty Brant hostage, hoping she’ll act as bait for Spider-Man again. But when Spider-Man attacks, he’s easily defeated and unmasked because Peter had the flu (or something). Luckily, everyone thinks Peter was just pretending to be Spider-Man *eye-roll*, and after a good night’s rest, he’s as strong as ever and defeats Doc Ock (after battling some animals released from the zoo).
ASM #13 introduces a new villain, Mysterio. Spoiler, he’s a movie stunt man who figured out how to replicate all of Spidey’s special powers, and then pretended to be him while pulling off crimes all over the city. He makes New York hate Spider-Man & love Mysterio, until Spidey defeats him & gets his confession on tape.
ASM #14 introduces the Green Goblin, without giving anything away about his backstory. All we know is GG has recruited the Enforcers (recently released from jail) & roped them into some crazy scheme that involves a movie shoot in the desert. Spider-Man agrees to be in their movie for the money (and because he thinks they're actors who look like the Enforcers), but the bad guys try to take him out during the first day of shooting. Unfortunately, their battle rolls into a desert cave where the Hulk sleeps, and so Spidey (and eventually the baddies) all fight the Hulk. In the end, the movie is canceled and Peter gets just enough money to travel back to NYC.
ASM #15 introduces another new baddie—Kraven the Hunter—and brings back one of the dumbest villains ever—The Chameleon. Seems Chameleon hired the greatest hunter in the world so he can hunt the one thing he hasn’t captured yet—Spider-Man! The hunter gets close to Spidey and poisons him, making him weak and shaky, but in the end, Spider-Man wins in Central Park even with Chameleon dressed up as a faux Kraven.
The first Annual features a double-long story where Doc Ock gathers Sandman, Mysterio, Kraven, Electro, and the Vulture to join forces as the Sinister Six to defeat Spider-Man. His “brilliant” plan is to capture Betty Brant (again) and lure Spider-Man to his defeat. However, Aunt May gets kidnapped too and Doc Ock places all six villains in different parts of the city, so Spider-Man fights them one by one. There are also at least half a dozen cameos from other Marvel superheroes, each with their own editorial plug for their comics (I suppose this is what all Annuals do? Plug each other’s work?). The best part about the silly plot is we’re treated to six full-page action shots of Spidey battling each foe individually.
The rest of the Annual has one-page features of every villain Spider-Man has battled so far, several pages detailing the secrets of Spidey’s powers, some of the side characters, and even a tongue in cheek look at how Lee tortures Ditko with his ideas & how they “collaborate” together each month...
ASM #16 features a villain previously defeated by The Hulk—The Ringmaster. He draws a sell-out crowd to his circus by promising Spider-Man will also be there and plans on hypnotizing the entire crowd with his big hat. When Spidey shows up to this circus where he's supposed to be, Ringmaster hypnotizes him and the entire crowd, except for one person—blind superhero, Daredevil. We get a pretty neat battle between hypnotized Spider-Man and Daredevil, but eventually, the spell is broken and Spidey defeats all the circus baddies.
ASM #17 features the return of the Green Goblin & return cameo of the Human Torch. Peter’s longtime bully, Flash Thompson throws an epic Spider-Man fan club event that GG crashes. He fights Spider-Man until Peter hears that Aunt May is sick and runs away. Torch picks up where he left off, but the whole city thinks Spider-Man is a coward.
ASM #18 is touted as the only time a “hero ha[s] no actual fight with any foe” because all issue, Peter avoids fights with the Vulture and Sandman because he’s too worried what would happen to Aunt May if he did get hurt. Flash even goes so far as to dress up as Spider-Man (again!) and gets beat up for his trouble.
ASM #19 has Aunt May return to good health, so Spider-Man returns to beating up bank robbers (and J. Jonah Jameson is humiliated for celebrating how cowardly Spider-Man was). Then Sandman and the Enforcers team up to defeat all costumed heroes, starting with a weakened Human Torch (seems Strange Tales #127 was tough on the Torch). Spidey has to battle all four to rescue Torch, and the two do some fighting side by side. The issue ends with a cliffhanger of someone in the shadows tailing Peter for some mysterious reason. Guess I’ll be reading [b:Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3|754024|Marvel Masterworks The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 3|Stan Lee|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347634823s/754024.jpg|740143]
I think I enjoyed these stories more than the first ten, but still there are some silly plot lines or contrived setups to keep it from being a full 5*. Also, this Marvel Masterworks collection feels a little weaker than Vol 1—there was still a silly introduction from Mr. Stan Lee himself but there was only one original sketch at the end unlike the pages of extra content in Vol. 1.
I am glad that we finally got some mentions of Mary Jane Watson—but I’m still surprised she hasn’t actually been introduced yet. I guess with Pete and Betty on the rocks, maybe she’ll come into his world next volume? And the cliffhanger in Vol #19 is the perfect end for this collection—it really makes me want to read #20 right away. Is that JJJ paying someone to tail Peter because he suspects Pete’s actually Spider-Man? Or is it someone else entirely? Can’t wait to find out!