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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Jun 30, 2015 17:54:45 GMT -5
As a collector, I started with Amazing Spider-Man and right now, I have picked up all issues I can afford between #90-400. I have been wanting to get back to Spidey but aside from older issues (which I pick up from time to time because they tend to be pricey) I am not sure if I should step into the often hated Clone Saga issues.
My big question here, since I have not read anything beyond #400, is what was the biggest problem about the Clone Saga? Was it replacing Spidey? Was is the stories, the art? Everything? I am curious because it seems the more recent Spidey replacement, Miles Morales, went over better. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jun 30, 2015 18:16:17 GMT -5
It was just so over blown, and ran on for so long that even though it had some decent individual elements it's preponderance of convoluted nonsense just drags it all down. The story is just a textbook example of too many cooks in the kitchen, and none of them had a real idea of where the story should end because the top brass just kept telling them to keep it going because they liked the sales.
The Ultimate Clone Saga was much better in my mind, so I'd just read that instead.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 30, 2015 18:32:33 GMT -5
Am I missing anything if I never ever read an issue of Spider-Man published after, say, 1988?
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jun 30, 2015 18:43:37 GMT -5
Am I missing anything if I never ever read an issue of Spider-Man published after, say, 1988? Like most event comics the answer is, "Not really". About the only real story knowledge you need is the Night Gwen Stacy Died...but even then it sort of tramples over that so it's not wholly necessary. |
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Post by Pharozonk on Jun 30, 2015 19:26:20 GMT -5
I think the Clone Saga started out with a lot of promise, but quickly spun out of control around the time DeMatteis left the Spidey books.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 30, 2015 19:33:10 GMT -5
Am I missing anything if I never ever read an issue of Spider-Man published after, say, 1988? Like most event comics the answer is, "Not really". About the only real story knowledge you need is the Night Gwen Stacy Died...but even then it sort of tramples over that so it's not wholly necessary. I started reading Spider-Man in the mid-1970s, I think #151 or #152 was my first issue, but you could get bunches of beat-up back issues at used-book stores back then - two for a quarter! - so I had a number of issues between #111 (a cool Kraven story) and #149 (another key issue in the "Clone Saga"). I didn't read #121 until later, but I had a few issues in the #120s where they talked about it in the letter pages, plus there's numerous in-story references to Gwen Stacy back then.
And plus, Marvel Tales was still going strong, and I bought that religiously for a while, so I knew all about Gwen Stacy. (Heck, the originals weren't all that expensive back then. I think I got Gwen's first appearance (Spidey #31) for around $4.)
I lost interest in Spider-Man as it was approaching the #300 mark, but I don't remember why (I quit reading a lot of super-hero comics about that time). I've gotten back into new comics several times since then, but I read online stuff about what's happened to Spider-Man - Ben Reilly, Gwen's affair with Norman Osborne (blecch!), the return of Peter's parents, "One More Day" - and I find that I am just not interested.
They brought back Norman Osborne and made him into a major player in Marvel Universe villainy. It makes me wary of all Marvel Universe comics. I was flipping through an issue of Avengers a few years ago, and there was Norman Osborne! I put it back. Not interested in this particular unnecessary retcon.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jun 30, 2015 19:54:37 GMT -5
Like most event comics the answer is, "Not really". About the only real story knowledge you need is the Night Gwen Stacy Died...but even then it sort of tramples over that so it's not wholly necessary. I started reading Spider-Man in the mid-1970s, I think #151 or #152 was my first issue, but you could get bunches of beat-up back issues at used-book stores back then - two for a quarter! - so I had a number of issues between #111 (a cool Kraven story) and #149 (another key issue in the "Clone Saga"). I didn't read #121 until later, but I had a few issues in the #120s where they talked about it in the letter pages, plus there's numerous in-story references to Gwen Stacy back then.
And plus, Marvel Tales was still going strong, and I bought that religiously for a while, so I knew all about Gwen Stacy. (Heck, the originals weren't all that expensive back then. I think I got Gwen's first appearance (Spidey #31) for around $4.)
I lost interest in Spider-Man as it was approaching the #300 mark, but I don't remember why (I quit reading a lot of super-hero comics about that time). I've gotten back into new comics several times since then, but I read online stuff about what's happened to Spider-Man - Ben Reilly, Gwen's affair with Norman Osborne (blecch!), the return of Peter's parents, "One More Day" - and I find that I am just not interested.
They brought back Norman Osborne and made him into a major player in Marvel Universe villainy. It makes me wary of all Marvel Universe comics. I was flipping through an issue of Avengers a few years ago, and there was Norman Osborne! I put it back. Not interested in this particular unnecessary retcon.
Yeah, there's a whole lot of garbage though I did like Ben Reilly. |
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Post by Action Ace on Jun 30, 2015 20:22:29 GMT -5
Am I missing anything if I never ever read an issue of Spider-Man published after, say, 1988? Untold Tales of Spider-Man by Kurt Busiek and Pat Olliffe is set in Spidey's early Ditko days, but was published in the 1990s The Peter Parker version of Ultimate Spider-Man by Bendis and Bagley Dan Slott's Spider-Man/ Human Torch mini series spans the history of the characters and is a complete riot Paul Jenkins and Mark Buckingham's run on Peter Parker: Spider-Man As far as the Clone Saga goes, avoid at all costs. |
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sacorn
Junior Member
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Post by sacorn on Jun 30, 2015 20:26:23 GMT -5
I thought the clone saga was pretty good, particularly to start with. IT did start to drag on near the end though.
My problem during the time it was published was the upheaval at Marvel and all the shipping problems they were having. With the clone saga being over all/most Spidey titles at the time, I found my local comic shop not getting issues that should have come in and I ended up missing a number of parts that was very frustrating. That was my first the first time I made an exit from buying regular superhero comics, particularly Marvels.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jun 30, 2015 20:37:42 GMT -5
It was just so over blown, and ran on for so long that even though it had some decent individual elements it's preponderance of convoluted nonsense just drags it all down. The story is just a textbook example of too many cooks in the kitchen, and none of them had a real idea of where the story should end because the top brass just kept telling them to keep it going because they liked the sales. The Ultimate Clone Saga was much better in my mind, so I'd just read that instead. Ill agree with guardian. The thing to me AoA had over the Clone Saga is AoA's size and issue run seemed planned and well managed. Yes some of the titles were less needed than others, but at least 2-3 issues before the change Marvel had in house advertisements letting you know the plan. Clone Saga was in every Spider title with no hint or clue to its ending. If anything, before I gave up shortly after Amazing 400 as well, it tended to lie that ending was coming only to say "continued in ...." Edit: Ive had thoughts to read if again. But I haven't been buying comics much and it's such a huge amount of books. I've not seen the collections at the library. Id still like to see after all these years if that's the only thing I remember as a negative aspect. But it'd really have to fall in my lap. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 30, 2015 22:01:34 GMT -5
Dan Slott has generally has some good ideas for Spidey... not everything is a winner, but there's enough good in there to make it worth reading, IMO. I also really like Spidey in the FF.. that's the only thing Hickman's wrote that I could stand  |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Jun 30, 2015 22:14:39 GMT -5
Am I missing anything if I never ever read an issue of Spider-Man published after, say, 1988? The DeMatties/Sal Buscema run in Spectacular would be # 2 on my greatest Spider-man runs list. It's very different than previous Spider-man stories - Basically 2 years of thematic rumination on the nature and structure of familiar bonds. VERY smart stuff for a superhero book. I also really liked the Jenkins/Buckingham Spectacular run, where they tried (Stan style) to build Peter a new supporting cast from the ground up and did a damn good job of it. (I can't believe Kevin the Cheese never got his own book!) And "Anything that Marcos Martin drew" might be a little broad, but if you wanna narrow it down the "Unscheduled Stop" storyline with Mark Waid (Amazing 578-579) is an all-time top fiver in my book. And there are some fun little one offs. Peter Bagge, Sam Keith, and Bill Seinkiewicz, Darwyn Cooke and Paul Pope have all done cool, strange work on the character for an issue or two in that period. I'd say that 1988-2008 has a lot more (A) great work than the 1968-1988 period. (More total crap too, of course.) |
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