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Friday, August 23, 2013

SPIDER-MAN BY ROGER STERN OMNIBUS

Art by John Romita, Jr.
No, I'm not announcing a new review series... yet.  But come next Spring, that may change.  Earlier this week, a ghost listing was discovered on Amazon for a SPIDER-MAN BY ROGER STERN OMNIBUS, ostensibly to be released next April, just in time for THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 in May.

I've bought a lot of this material before.  I own a mix of original issues and MARVEL TALES reprints of the full run, plus a 1992 ORIGIN OF THE HOBGOBLIN trade paperback.  I have a trade called SPIDER-MAN VS. THE BLACK CAT from around 2005 or so, reprinting a 2-parter from Stern's run.  I have SPIDER-MAN VISIONARIES: ROGER STERN volume 1, sadly the only volume in the series, presumably due to low sales -- it started chronologically with the comparatively weaker SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN material.  The Stern Juggernaut 2-parter, along with a few other stories from his AMAZING run, is reprinted in a recent hardcover collection.  And Marvel reissued ORIGIN OF THE HOBGOBLIN just a year or so ago, with a little more material than the 90s version, so I bought it again.

Art by John Romita, Jr.
But even so, this omnibus is an instant pre-order item for me.  I regard Stern's Spidey, especially the AMAZING portion, as the indispensible textbook on how a solo superhero series should be done.  The juggling of sub-plots and supporting cast, ongoing storylines, and done-in-one (and two) adventures is pitch-perfect, and Stern's grasp of Spidey's personality and voice is second only to Stan Lee himself.  So having Stern's full, original Spider-Man run, including both the SPECTACULAR and AMAZING segments, in one handsome hardcover volume, is a double (or triple) dip I will happily take.

I cannot wait to get this book into my collection.  It will be a crown jewel on my bookcase.

2 comments:

  1. I may just have to pick this up as well. Like you, I have a smattering of Stern's run in various places, but having never read it in its entirety, it would be nice to have the whole thing, from both titles, in one volume to read straight through.

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  2. Awesome, I hope you do snag one. I know I've recommended before that you check out the full Stern run, and this would certainly be the best way to do it!

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