In January 2012, several folks at a comic book message board convinced me to check out Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man. It was, well, amazing! I was hungry for more, so I decided to go back to the beginning of Brand New Day to check out the scope of things. I've been reading trades of BND like a man possessed by the Green Goblin himself. As I read the trades, I will rank them accordingly.
New Ways to Die had great talent in spades. Slott, Romita Jr., Waid, and Granov together? That pretty much means it's going to be at least good. Fortunately for us all, they bring their A-game introducing Anti-Venom and bringing tons of classic Spider-Man action with them.
I was impressed with this volume. A great re-introduction to Amazing Spider-Man after having been a lapsed reader since the mid-1990s. The brain trust really nails down the essence of Spider-Man. While I was one of those folks who disliked the marriage ending, I have to admit that I was digging Ultimate Spider-Man for all the reasons they dissolved the marriage. The methodology was bad, but the end result was well worth it. The dossier at the back from Tom Breevort that acts as a Bible for BND and is a great read as well.
I sort of judged this book by its covered. No, I'm not a foaming-at-the-mouth Obama hater (quite the opposite, really). I had just seen this volume circling the Books-a-Million and Barnes & Noble clearance aisle drain for a while now. I assumed that this meant that this volume was particularly bad. I was very, very wrong. They should have titled this "Major Resolutions" because this ties up a ton of strings that were first introduced in volume 1 of Brand New Day. The presidential issue is kind of cheesy, but this book delivers a huge payoff for fans.
American Son brings Spider-Man face-to-face with the villain that helped make him the star he is today: Norman Osborn! Of course, this story takes place during Marvel's Dark Reign period, so Norman's not exactly the Goblin we all know and love/hate. The story is violent as violent and dark as promised, featuring Spider-Man's torn allegiance to good and knowing that Osborn should be taken out permanently. Taking on a more serious tone, there are plenty of great moments that make this a compelling story. It can be a little soap opera-like at times, but it fits well within the confines of the story. There is a lot of connection here to BND vol. 1 and Election Day as well. The relationship between Menace and Harry takes center stage in the struggle between Spider-Man and Norman Osborn.
Another "bang for your buck" volume featuring five stories. I've always loved good Spider-Man team-ups, especially those dealing with Fantastic Four's Human Torch. The team-up here was a fun romp that also reconnected Spidey with the FF post-BND. The premise behind the final three issue deal with the 24/7 story where Spider-Man goes on a helping spree to spite Mayor Jameson. All told, this volume was just a blast to read!
An average trade with a killer Punisher story. Bachalo's art and the always uninteresting Hammerhead weigh this down. But don't necessarily count it out. The Punisher story is probably one of the best Punisher/Spidey team-up stories out there.
While this trade started off slowly with two or three specious stories, the actual two issues of Amazing Spider-Man presented in this trade were very good. Issue #600 featured the always entertaining talents of Dan Slott and John Romita Jr. behind the creative helm. The story sparkles with humor and action. It's pretty much a perfect issue of Amazing Spider-Man. It was good to see Mary Jane return for a brief moment in this trade. With half of the book being very good and the other half being pretty bland, I won't be revisiting this trade often. There are many fine talented people who worked on this book. While those talents are appreciated, much of the material is bland. However, issue #600 stands as one of the best Spider-Man stories I've ever read.
A nice volume featuring five stories dealing with the Blank, the Shocker, newbie hero Jackpot, Harry Osborn's dicey past, and the friendship between Betty Brandt and Peter Parker. Five stories in one volume? Not bad for both quantity and quality. Nothing feels exceptionally heavy, but this does good in the "bang for buck" department.
Spider-Man has always been a great mix of super heroics and Peter Parker's life. The relationship stories in this book took full center stage over the super heroics. That's not to say that this volume was lacking super heroics, but romance (or the lack thereof) eclipsed everything else. Overall, Red-Headed Stranger felt like the middle part of the story rather than a whole story. Focusing on telling little stories here and there with no clear conclusion on the Chameleon story left me feeling sort of empty after reading. While it was an entertaining it read, it failed to tell one complete story, which was disappointing.
This volume introduces us readers to a new Kraven. While there's nothing "bad" to be found here, this volume doesn't stand out to me as being especially memorable either. The art also seems rushed at times.
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