{"id":31265,"date":"2025-01-06T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T09:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=31265"},"modified":"2025-01-03T19:22:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T19:22:13","slug":"amazing-spider-man-masterworks-volume-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/01\/06\/amazing-spider-man-masterworks-volume-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazing Spider-Man Masterworks volume 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Marv Wolfman<\/strong>, Bill Mantlo<\/strong>, J<\/strong>im<\/strong> Starl<\/strong>in<\/strong>, Ross Andru<\/strong>, Keith Pollard<\/strong>, Sal Buscema<\/strong>, Scott Edelman<\/strong>, J<\/strong>oh<\/strong>n Byr<\/strong>ne<\/strong>, Mike Esposito<\/strong>, Bob McLeod<\/strong>, Frank Giacoia<\/strong>, Jim Mo<\/strong>oney<\/strong>, John Romita Jr.<\/strong>, & various (MARVEL)
\nISBN: 978-1-3029-0028-1 (HB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

Peter Parker<\/em> was a smart yet alienated kid when he was bitten by a radioactive spider during a school science trip. Developing astonishing arachnid abilities – which he augmented with his own natural chemistry, physics and engineering genius – the boy did what any lonely, geeky nerd would do with such newfound prowess: he tried to cash in for girls, fame and money.<\/p>\n

Making a costume to hide his identity in case he made a fool of himself, Parker became a minor media celebrity – and a criminally self-important one. To his eternal regret, when a thief fled past him one night, the cocky teen didn\u2019t lift a finger to stop him. When Parker returned home he learned that his beloved guardian uncle Ben Parker<\/em> had been murdered.<\/p>\n

Crazed with a need for vengeance, Peter hunted the assailant who had made his beloved Aunt May<\/em> a widow and killed the only father he had ever known, finding, to his horror, that it was the self-same felon he had neglected to stop. His irresponsibility had resulted in the death of the man who raised him, and the traumatised boy swore to forevermore use his powers to help others…<\/p>\n

Since that night he has tirelessly battled miscreants, monsters and madmen, with a fickle, ungrateful public usually baying for his blood even as he perpetually saves them.<\/p>\n

By the time of the tales in this 18th<\/sup> fabulous full-colour hardcover compendium\/eBook of web-spinning adventures the wondrous wallcrawler was a global figure and prime contender for the title of the World\u2019s Most Misunderstood Hero. Spanning June 1978 to May 1979 whilst chronologically re-presenting Amazing Spider-Man <\/strong># 181-192 and excerpts from Annual<\/strong> #12, the transformative tales are preceded by appreciative appraisal and reminiscence from writer\/editor Marv Wolfman in his Introduction \u2018Amazing Not Quite Adult Spider-Man\u2019 <\/em>before the action kicks off with #181\u2019s sentiment-soaked recapitulation of all Parker has endured to become who he now is. Crafted by Bill Mantlo and artists Sal Buscema & Mike Esposito, \u2018Flashback!\u2019<\/em> not only acts a jumping on point but also sets up a major change unfolding over the upcoming months, before soap opera shenanigans and the era\u2019s tacky silliness converge as Marv Wolfman takes up the typewriting, artisans Ross Andru & Esposito reunite and Spidey learns motorised mugger \u2018The Rocket Racer\u2019s Back in Town!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

The techno-augmented thief is embroiled in a nasty extortion scheme too, which impacts fast fading, hospitalised May Parker and burst into full bloom in #183…<\/p>\n

After finally proposing to Mary Jane Watson<\/em>, Peter is swifty distracted by more mechanised maniacs (courtesy of a subplot building the role of underworld armourer The Tinkerer<\/em>) as Bob McLeod inks \u2018…And Where the Big Wheel Stops,\u00a0 Nobody Knows!\u2019<\/em> with Rocket Racer getting his just deserts and MJ giving Peter an answer he wasn\u2019t expecting…
\n\"\"
\nOld girlfriend and current stranger Betty Brant-Leeds<\/em> returns with a dying marriage and nostalgic notions next, making Parker\u2019s social life deeply troubling as he prepares to graduate college. Meanwhile, JJ Jameson<\/em> has another fringe science secret to hide and Peter\u2019s student colleague Phillip Chang<\/em> reveals a hidden side of his own when Chinese street gangs target him for their flamboyant new lord in \u2018White Dragon! Red Death!\u2019<\/em>, leading to a martial arts showdown with the wallcrawler playing backup in ASM #185\u2019s \u2018Spider, Spider, Burning Bright!\u2019<\/em> Happily, the ferocious fiery furore is fully finished by the time second feature \u2018The Graduation of Peter Parker\u2019 <\/em>highlights the Parker clan\u2019s big day and reveals why and how it all goes so terribly wrong…<\/p>\n

At this time a star of (1970s) live action television, Spider-Man\u2019s adventures were downplaying traditional fantasy elements as Keith Pollard became penciller for #186. \u2018Chaos is… the Chameleon!\u2019<\/em> sees the devious disguise artist seeking to discredit the webslinger even as DA Blake Tower<\/em> works to dismiss all charges against him, and is followed by a moody tale of lockdowns and plague as Spider-Man and Captain America<\/strong> unite to stop the voltaic villain inadvertently using \u2018The Power of Electro!\u2019<\/em> (Wolfman, Jim Starlin & McLeod) to trigger a biological time bomb…
\n\"\"
\nRuthlessly violent thugs are on the rampage next as ASM<\/strong> #188 depicts \u2018The Jigsaw is Up!\u2019<\/em> (Pollard & Esposito) after the river party cruise Peter, his pals and increasingly insistent Betty are enjoying is hijacked. Jameson\u2019s secret then gets out to inflict \u2018Mayhem by Moonlight!\u2019<\/em> in a sharp two-part shocker limned by John Byrne & Jim Mooney. Exploited by malign and dying science rogue Spencer Smythe<\/em>, Jonah is abducted by his own monster-marked son John <\/em>leaving the wallcrawler \u2018In Search of the Man-Wolf!\u2019<\/em> Forced to witness the supposed death of his child at his worst enemy\u2019s hands leads to a savage confrontation with Smythe\u2019s Spider-Slayer robots in \u2018Wanted for Murder: Spider-Man!\u2019<\/em> (#191 by Pollard & Esposito) before all Jonah\u2019s debts are paid and another death results after Spidey and Jonah are inescapably bound to the same bomb and granted \u201824 hours Till Doomsday!\u2019<\/em> ….
\n\"\"
\nAlso included in this hefty tome are Byrne\u2019s cover to Amazing Spider-Man Annual<\/strong> #12 as well as the framing sequence to the reprint it contained as drawn by star in waiting John Romita Jr. and veteran Frank Giacoia and the contents of the all-Spiderman \u2018Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar 1978\u2019<\/em>, with art from Romita Sr., Al Milgrom, Jack Kirby, John Verpoorten, Paul Gulacy, Pablo Marcos, Larry Lieber, Giacoia, John Buscema, Joe Sinnott, Gene Colan, Sal Buscema, Gil Kane, George P\u00e9rez, Andru & Esposito and Byrne, plus original art, promo material from F.O.O.M.<\/strong> #18 (June 1978), house ads, and a Kane\/Joe Rubinstein pin-up from Marvel Tales<\/strong> #100.<\/p>\n

With covers throughout by Kane, Andru & Esposito, Ernie Chan, Pollard, Giacoia, Starlin, Dave Cockrum, Terry Austin, Byrne, McLeod, Milgrom, these yarns confirmed Spider-Man\u2019s growth into a global multi-media brand. Blending cultural veracity with superb art, and making a dramatic virtue of the awkwardness, confusion and imputed powerlessness most of the readership experienced daily resulted in an irresistibly intoxicating read, especially when delivered in addictive soap-styled instalments, but none of that would be relevant if Spider-Man\u2019s stories weren\u2019t so utterly entertaining. This action-packed collection relives many momentous and crucial periods in the wallcrawler\u2019s astounding life and is one all Fights \u2018n\u2019 Tights fanatics must see\u2026
\n\u00a9 2016 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Marv Wolfman, Bill Mantlo, Jim Starlin, Ross Andru, Keith Pollard, Sal Buscema, Scott Edelman, John Byrne, Mike Esposito, Bob McLeod, Frank Giacoia, Jim Mooney, John Romita Jr., & various (MARVEL) ISBN: 978-1-3029-0028-1 (HB\/Digital edition) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. Peter Parker was a smart yet alienated kid when he … <\/p>\n

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