A week or so ago I got the old comic collection from my parents house, and after reading some of my old favorites I just have to start reading and collecting again.   As my favorite hero from the start, I enjoyed Spider-Man comics on a fairly consistent basis from the mid-80's through the end of the clone saga.   It's been a great week as I've been skimming some of my favorite storylines like Maximum Carnage(can't find the last issue of arc though-isn't that always how it goes), Torment(that storyline and those cool covers made me a huge MacFarlane fan and I was also a collector of his other titles for years as well), and of course the life and times of Ben Reilly (I wasn't a clone saga hater, nice arc just a bit long).   So, after some google searching I ended up here at Comic Vine in an effort to get back into the swing of things and see what my favorite web-slinger is up to these days. So please forgive me for staying away so long, and help guide me as I catch up to the modern day incarnation of Peter Parker.   Here are some of the questions I have right off the bat:
 
If my memory serves correctly, Peter and MJ had a baby as I stopped reading.  Is the kid still around? is he showing signs of powers?
I heard Parker's identity was revealed in some large arc.  What arc is that? Also, what issue does J Jonah Jameson react in?  I bet that is a classic moment and I wanna get that one for sure!
Since'96, any artists or writers blow you away with their takes on Spidey?
What do you think are the must read arcs and the feel free to skip arcs since 96?
 
Thanks a ton in advance for any responses, I am looking forward to becoming a part of the community here. 

-Mary Jane's baby died courtesy of Norman Osborn.  
-He joined the Avengers, along with Wolverine
-Spider-man developed organic web shooters, a second set of powers in "the other story arc"  including stingers 
-when he revealed his identity in civil war, Jameson sued and  it also resulted in Kingpin almost killing his aunt may, Spidey then made a deal with Mephisto (a devil of sorts) to save his aunt mays life, but at the cost of his marriage to Mary Jane being wiped from existence. 
- This also resulted in everyone forgetting his secret identity, the loss of his "the other story arc" powers and the resurrection of Harry Osborn 
-The scorpion is now the host to the venom symbiote, carnage is dead and eddie brock is now "anti venom'"  
-Jameson is mayor of new york  
 -Norman Osborn became a media darling and donned Iron Man armour as the Iron Patriot, but has since fallen from power 
-The lizard killed his own son 
 
That is everything I can think of

-Also Norman fathered two children with Gwen Stacy-Sarah and Gabriel
-Gabriel was the Grey Goblin

Wow, Thanks for the update seems alot has happened.  Looks like it's time to go raiding some back issue bins.

" -Mary Jane's baby died courtesy of Norman Osborn.  -He joined the Avengers, along with Wolverine-Spider-man developed organic web shooters, a second set of powers in "the other story arc"  including stingers -when he revealed his identity in civil war, Jameson sued and  it also resulted in Kingpin almost killing his aunt may, Spidey then made a deal with Mephisto (a devil of sorts) to save his aunt mays life, but at the cost of his marriage to Mary Jane being wiped from existence. - This also resulted in everyone forgetting his secret identity, the loss of his "the other story arc" powers and the resurrection of Harry Osborn -The scorpion is now the host to the venom symbiote, carnage is dead and eddie brock is now "anti venom'"  -Jameson is mayor of new york   -Norman Osborn became a media darling and donned Iron Man armour as the Iron Patriot, but has since fallen from power -The lizard killed his own son  That is everything I can think of "