New JL 52

Completed the enite World War Hulk (Planet Hulk, World War Hulk, Hulk Aftersmash) and wow was it good. the entire story was just so moving and i have never understood the hulk's point of existance in comics till now.

I must admit they way it meshed with the civil war was also wow - how do those guys do it? i mean i would kill to be in one of Marvels storyboard meetings.

starting with DC Marvel Cross over

New Dead Pool series, not bad

Finished The Sandman #3: Dream Country.
Awesome, awesome books. So unbelievably good, this is pretty much required reading, comic fan or not.
This particular volume was just made up of stand alone stories, so not part of the continuing story arch.
The first, Calliope, is about a struggling actor who discovers a muse, one of 7 (?) immortal sisters. She becomes magically bound to him and he uses her to become insanely successful. A+
The second, A Dream of a Thousand Cats, is considered a favorite amongst Sandman fans. A cat tells a story to other house cats of a dream she had, where the dream king (Morpheus in cat form), shows her a world where cats ruled and humans were their slaves. A++
The third, A Midsummer Nights Dream, shows the bard and his troupe making their way through the countryside, then having to perform as a favour to Morpheus to the fairy king and his people (the subject matter of the play). A
The last, Facade, is about a girl bestowed with powers by the Sun god Ra, who lives as a recluse, but yearns to meet people and ultimately decides to take her own life. A++ (and an extra + for featuring Death, Dream's sister. Looooooove her.)



Lastly, read ASM #699, 2nd last issue of Amazing Spider-Man. Less of a shocker than #698, but still has some interesting revelations, and sets the stage nicely for #700.

SurrealTiggi said ...


Lastly, read ASM #699, 2nd last issue of Amazing Spider-Man. Less of a shocker than #698, but still has some interesting revelations, and sets the stage nicely for #700.

When will issue #700 be out??
& from what issue should i start reading to get the full story in issue #700?

@KF: First printing of #700 (+ variants) is out December 26th. Most local comic shops are also on par with the US so we get it released same day. If you want a copy though I'd recommend phoning now to reserve one (if they haven't got them fully booked for already).

As for where to start from? Boy, that's a hard question to answer. There are a few points that you can jump on from.

Ultimately, #700 is supposed to be the end of the Amazing Spider-Man book, to be relaunched as Superior Spider-Man in Jan' 2013. Emphasis on the word "relaunch", it's not a reboot, but Marvel has basically said it's the end of the Peter Parker era. Whatever happens in #700 will introduce a new Spider-Man in Superior. Think of it as a continuation with a new numbering scheme as opposed to a total relaunch. Though frankly I wouldn't be surprised if Pete returns sometime down the line.

That being said, you can either pick it up from Superior Spider-Man #1, or from ASM #698-700. Then you'll at least understand the setup for Superior.
Or you can start from ASM #600. They've said that the story concluding in #700 has actually been planned since as far back as #600, bits of pieces of a larger plot interspersed throughout the book since then.
Or you can start from the Big Time arc. This is when Dan Slott (current writer) officially took over, and he's been praised for writing the best run of ASM since the Golden Age.
Or you can start From Brand New Day, the pseudo-reboot that Marvel did as a new jumping point for new readers.
Or you can start from the start of the regular TP prints circa 2001, Volume 1: Coming Home was the first.

Goes without saying that you should still have a rough idea of the history of the character irrespective of where you start from. I used to read a lot of Spidey in the 90s, dropped it after the Clone Saga, and picked it up again from Coming Home.

So in summation

* Superior Spider-Man #1
* ASM #698 - Dying Wish
* ASM #648 - Big Time
* ASM #600 - Died In Your Arms Tonight
* ASM #546 - Brand New Day
* ASM #30/471 - Coming Home (reason for double numbers is they tried to renumber it from #1 but eventually reverted back to the original sequence)

Wikipedia has a nice chronological list of all trades printed in order.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Amazing_Spider-Man_issues#Collected_editions

@SurrealTiggi Thanks
I think i will start from around #698 up to #700! Just really want #700 for collectors proposes, but would also like to know a little of how it all ends!
Will go this weekend to my local comic store & ask them to reserve a copy for me & see if they still have those other issues!

Do webcomics count? If so then:
Las Lindas
iMew
The eye
Carribean Blue
The Draconia chronicles
Anthronauts
(The above are all katbox comics by various artists)
Cotton-Star (good ol SA comic)
Twokinds
Gia
LeastICouldDo

And various manga on mangarush

@Mael
Don't see any problems with webcomics included, especially since some of them do get printed, like Least I Could Do.

HOT DAMN!!!
Spidy has been in some jams before, but THIS!!! I dont know how hes gana get out of this one!!




TP. Awesome



TP. Also not bad!

Amazing Spider-Man #700. The final ASM issue.

Ummm, wow, I'm pretty speechless.



Avenging Spider-Man 15.1

Bridges the gap between #700 and Superior Spider-Man #1 coming in January.
I wouldn't say it's necessary reading, but it does provide a nice short follow up after the events of #700.


I'm gobsmacked, sad, and excited all at the same time.

Ja, issue 700 was a real shocker...

Started with the Red Robin mini series.

Spiderman GN - Kraven's last hunt.

The complete set of Brightest Day - Deadman became a White Lantern

SurrealTiggi said ...


Amazing Spider-Man #700. The final ASM issue.

Ummm, wow, I'm pretty speechless.



Avenging Spider-Man 15.1

Bridges the gap between #700 and Superior Spider-Man #1 coming in January.
I wouldn't say it's necessary reading, but it does provide a nice short follow up after the events of #700.


I'm gobsmacked, sad, and excited all at the same time.

Can't say I liked it much. Especially since it now impacts the entire Marvel line, and I was reading Avenging Spider-Man because it was a fun comic book, a throwback to old Spider-Man comics. What's even worse is that somewhere along the line you know Marvel will find a way to restore the status quo so it will become another in a long line of pointless story arcs.

Also the Superior Spider-Man costume looks crap.

@DG: yeah there's definitely a small chance that they'll restore it to normal eventually. I'm still quite happy with the outcome, Dan Slott's execution of it felt genuine and poignant, rather than gimmicky for sake of shocking readers.

I love Peter Parker as much as the next guy (and then some), but I think it's a commendable move that Marvel has made. Huge possibility for some new, fresh material. The larger the impact the better.

As for the costume, I'm 50/50 about it. I mean if you look at the original costume, it's an absolute classic. In 50 years, it hasn't strayed at all since the character was originally introduced, which is a testament to its amazing (pun intended) design.
I'm glad they've kept with the same basic idea, I like the new color scheme, but I'm not a fan of the ninja feet or the lenses. The claws I can deal with since it reminds me of Miguel O'Hara's Spidey 2099.

@Surreal
Let's not forget the poignant manner in which they killed of Johnny Storm and had one issue dealing with the fallout. And then brought him back less than a year later.

I don't mind them killing off Parker, Ultimate Spider-Man did it really well and it's working. But the way this was done, and the doors left open for bringing him back. . . Just rubbish, as is who the new Spider-Man actually is. One incredible turn around from been who he was before to honoring Parker's memory.

@DG: I haven't read Johnny's death so can't comment on that. But I mean you always have to take character deaths with a pinch of salt.

Watched an interesting interview with Kevin Smith where he describes it quite nicely. To paraphrase, this isn't the end of Peter Parker, because comic books (of this type) have only one beginning and no end, it's all just stories set perpetually in the middle.

Ultimately I think the real test of #700 will be in the aftermath. They got their controversial event, now they need to show us how they can continue with the story.

Besides, as adamant as they are that they won't reverse what's happened, I guess we'll see if their tune changes when the new movie comes out in 2014

@Surreal
I remember how adamant they were that Marvel 616 and Ultimate universe would never meet, then bang, 2012's Spider-Men.

The thing is, with Marvel especially, character death's are more sales driven than anything else, and usually when a book starts to suffer from the changes they made, they backpedal like mad to restore the status quo. Once again, Johnny's Death, Civil War, One More Day, Brand New Day and the horrific Straczynski run and all that animal totem crap. Where is any of that now?

I suppose I'm also annoyed at the poor writing of Avenging Spider-man, how easily the "new" spidey's character flip-flopped so quickly. It feels like Marvel may use that as a new gimmick like they doing it on Scarlet Spider. I was so and so and I need to stop been a hero but wait Im the only guy who can do this. Repeat every issue.

@DG: Maybe I'm just slightly more forgiving then.
I don't mind gimmicks provided they birth good stories. I will agree, One More Day is probably the worst possible decision they made in ages, but it's largely stuck and we've gotten some good stories since then.
For every Clone Saga, there's a Kraven's Last Hunt.

Was this particular move purely sales driven? Probably, but such is business. For every angry fan they lose, I wouldn't be surprised that they gain a few more.
Marvel is doing it now (although not really a reboot, and excuse the pun), DC did it last year (and other times before), it's just how the industry works.

Also, goes without saying that I'm really just expressing my own viewpoints and we are bound to disagree, but I didn't mind Straczynski's run. Yeah, the totem idea was silly, but an interesting view.
Heck, I look forward to having a laugh when I eventually read "The Other" properly
The great thing about having arcs in such a long running comic is that they may add to the mythos (as much as some may be hated), but still largely stand alone, especially when writers get swapped back and forth, and it can hurt a mainstream title but then you just wait for the next writer to come in and save it.

I just feel like in this day and age, you have to just go with it rather than throw your toys. Sure some stories will suck, but you can't keep everyone happy.

edit: Oh and can't really comment on AVSM. I'm only reading the main series, only read 15.1 to get the whole story, but I can see how it can be a bit weird having everything fine the one issue and then all topsy turvy the next.

Jaw on the floor!!!!!!!!
NEVER saw that coming!!!! Still very good, but Parker will be back! Dont know how or when though!
New costume is okay!