So when should I stop reading Amazing Spider-Man?
I've read Ditko's run probably a dozen times in the last decade but I never really continued after the Goblin reveal just because I grew up with those comics and I figured no one else could compare. Should I read the Romita run or maybe skip forward to the high profile Conway or Stern runs?
Only people who have actually read these comics need reply.
>>80648730
Read the full Lee run, and don't stop there. Spider-Man was consistently good until the 90s.
ASM is predictably and samey at worst until Venom. It's only once MacFatlane takes hold that things start to crumble.
>>80648730
>when should I stop reading Amazing Spider-Man
Back in Black. After that skip ahead to Gauntlet.
Also don't forget to read Spectacular. There's some good stuff in there.
>>80648808
>Spider-Man was consistently good until the 90s
Not quite sure on this one anon
>>80649299
Because you didn't read it faggot.
Spider-Man more than any other character outside of the F4 and maybe post-Miller DD has the issue of attempting to live up to the original stellar run. Way too many writers try to emulate the tone and style of the Ditko comics without getting it right. Ditko created an immortal classic villain almost every month for the first two years on that comic. Every writer since has just mined those exact same characters without really adding anything new to them.
>>80648730
>I only read the ORIGINAL CREATOR'S RUN
Okay, perfectly valid choice there, but it's also a totally arbitrary way to limit yourself from experiencing the best runs a character has. Ditko's Spidey is great, but it's also very dated and mostly historically interesting. It's like reading 1940s Batman. It has a special kind of charm, but it's by far not the be-all, end-all of the character.
I've understood these super arbitrary decisions people make with shared universe characters.
>>80650434
But there are times when that attitude is correct. Kirby's F4 and Ditko's Spidey are the best those characters will ever be. Arbitrarily saying a run is not the best because it's the original is just as idiotic as arbitrarily deciding to never read anything after the original run. Kirby and Ditko are not great historically, they're great because they're great.
>>80651163
>Ditko's Spidey are the best those characters will ever be.
This is wrong though. There's a reason nobody uses the Ditko characterization anymore, and it's because reading about an angry school shooter waiting to happen isn't that great. Ditko had some amazing issues like 33, but other people probably handled the character better.
>>80651163
Spider-Man became much more popular after Ditko left, so this is a super hipster attitude to take. I mean I can understand why you'd say it, but it's like saying "I only like Spider-Man before he became popular".
Also Ditko and Kirby art don't really hold up by modern standards, so it's still more of a historical interest. By the standards of the silver age, awesome though.
>>80651310
>Reading about an angry school shooter waiting to happen isn't that great.
>Reading about an angry, bitter teen who chose to be a superhero out of guilt isn't that great
>Reading about an astoundingly interesting premise isn't that great
>I'm a fucking idiot
Few Spidey writers have actually gotten near what Ditko and Stan achieved, and to suggests its only worth is in the novelty of its history shows an astounding lack of taste.
>>80651384
>I personally find Ditko too dated so you must only think its the best for hipster reasons
That's a real nice argument you have there.
>>80651384
>Also Ditko and Kirby art don't really hold up by modern standards, so it's still more of a historical interest.
This is why we need a board for people who read comics and a board for people who watch movies based on comics...
>>80651310
That's a far more interesting character than this shitty shonen jump protagonist characterization most use.
>>80651431
>Reading about an astoundingly interesting premise isn't that great
It's not astoundingly interesting to watch some asshole teenager think about how everyone will get theirs every issue in my opinion. I think Ditko did some great things here and there with it, but it's nowhere near as good as the stuff he did with Strange's ongoing plotline, and I also think that a person who's down on their luck struggling to be the best they can be is a better concept than someone who's just angry at the world.
I didn't like Ditko's Question and the beginning of Beware the Creeper for the same reason, somebody saving people and then having an internal monologue going "These fools don't know I'm the only one protecting them from the dangers that lurk the streets. They should be licking the ground I walk on, the pathetic vermin." is just a bit too silly for me to take seriously. I like his themes of a man against the world like he did with Strange and the latter half of the Creeper during the hunt for Proteus, but when it's just a character internally berating most of the supporting cast I can't take it seriously.
>>80651384
>Also Ditko and Kirby art don't really hold up by modern standards, so it's still more of a historical interest.
you'd prefer Carlos Pacheo and Paco Medina (just picking random current average artists) to Ditko/Kirby?
If yes end your life
>>80651632
>I also think that a person who's down on their luck struggling to be the best they can be is a better concept than someone who's just angry at the world.
He is both of these things. Did you actually read the run?
>These fools don't know I'm the only one protecting them from the dangers that lurk the streets. They should be licking the ground I walk on, the pathetic vermin.
Considering there's nothing like this at all, I'm guessing you haven't. Are you sure you didn't confuse that one Spider-verse horror issue for the whole of the Ditko run?
The thing to remember is that Spider-Man only became a Marvel super-hit after Ditko left. While quirky and appealing to a lot of future comic book pros, Pete didn't really cross over into becoming the face of Marvel comics until his life became 60s teenybopper: the soap opera: the comic with Stan and Jazzy John. Of course people always regarded the first run as very classic, but it wasn't the one that sold the most copies or made the most money. And money is what talks, after all.
As a side note, Ditko's other major Marvel strip at the time, the Dr Strange run in Strange Tales, also didn't sell as well. From letters columns at the time, it seems there was some significant reader dislike with his art style and complaints that Kirby should have handled it. even then, in 1963, Kirby was stealing Ditko's thunder.
>Also Ditko and Kirby art don't really hold up by modern standards
>>80650434
Ditko's Spider-man is actually good besides the old-timey dialogue. Good teen drama, good villains, Jameson is already the GOAT character.
>>80651766
None of this has anything to do with the quality of work. Most of it is due to comic industry trends that have nothing to do with quality. Spider-Man was a sleeper hit that continually grew in popularity due to Ditko's art and plotting.
>>80651773
>>80651719
>Considering there's nothing like this at all
That's more reflective of the Question and the Creeper which were basically the same thing at the start of both where it was a TV reporter having internal monologues like that toward his boss for not letting him talk about mob corruption. Especially the Question in Mysterious Suspense. Point is Ditko characterization is really abrasive, I want the former without as much vindictiveness.
>>80651384
>Also Ditko and Kirby art don't really hold up by modern standards, so it's still more of a historical interest
Anon, your opinion is wrong. Ditko and Kirby's art is what fucking inspired every modern artist. To say that it doesn't hold up to modern standards is like saying that anything Picasso's done isn't a good example of abstract art
>>80652071
You're a pretty boring person then. Why don't you just go read some shonen?
>>80648730
Lee and Romita kept the quality going besides Peter having a dullard damsel in distress for a girlfriend. pic related is my favorite issue from the run. Savor Romita's art, because they will get plenty of artists after that will ape his style but will never come close to how well he could draw.
>>80652102
>Ditko and Kirby's art is what fucking inspired every modern artist.
>>80652213
issue I meant to post.
>>80651857
>Spider-Man was a sleeper hit that continually grew in popularity due to Ditko's art and plotting
Not really. The Romita run was the one that made Spidey Marvel's top character. He surpassed the FF in popularity and sales around 1967-68 and kept rising (which was of course excarbated when Kirby left the FF).
As I said, the Ditko fascination was more of a thing for people who wanted to be artists or writers themselves, not the people actually buying the comics at the time.
>>80652258
What is incorrect about this as far as cape comics go? Kirby essentially rewrote the book for the visual language of superheroes. The man invented the splash page for fuck's sake.
>>80652135
I'm not too into shonen either. I just don't think Ditko does good character work, when he's really allowed to write his protagonists just overreact to any small antagonizing and seem like a step away from Stardust level revenge fantasies.
They're definitely entertaining like when Vic Sage grabs a flying villain by the ankles and then just starts beating him down in the middle of a charity auction. Yeah seeing a loose canon like that is kinda fun to read, but it's not something I'd good character work or something I can really take seriously.
>>80648730
Did you download that 8GB 1-700 torrent too?
I'm at issue 260 and it's still really good.
Gerry Conway is massively underrated, and the early Romita Jr stuff is fantastic too, it's really fun seeing his style evolve.
I'm at 1985 and I'm scared of the impending 90's.
>>80653210
I downloaded up until 350. I figured that would be a good cutoff for a while. I tried to do all of Claremont's X-Men and I got burned out.
>>80648730
>So when should I stop reading Amazing Spider-Man?
Read up to One More Day and then drop it hard.
>>80651384
>Also Ditko and Kirby art don't really hold up by modern standards
The hell are you on about? They both look better than everyone Marvel is publishing now
>>80653210
>Gerry Conway is massively underrated
Amen. Elevated Mary Jane as a character too.
>>80648874
>Back in Black
That was great, though. Why would anyone want to skip that?
>>80654626
Yeah, it's easy to do. I keep a folder of What If to read on the side to prevent that.
>>80651163
>Kirby's F4 and Ditko's Spidey are the best those characters will ever be
Why did you have to be wrong
>>80656279
I'm curious about what incarnation of FF you think is better than Kirby.
That way I can go read it.
>>80656279
Great arguments there shitbrain
>>80656279
Spider-Man is debatable, but Lee/Kriby F4 is the best. Better than Byrne or Simonson's runs.
>>80648730
I would say you should keep reading and stop when you hit the 90s.
Romita, Conway and Stern runs are quite good.
But in my opinion you're not going to find something so unique like the original Ditko run but each team is good by their own reasons. Anyways you can read always read the JMS run, is good overall but listen to this, stop after Romita Jr leaves the comic, otherwise you are going to be in a world of pain(this is the reason why you should skip everything after JrJr is gone until Back in Black).
>>80656660
I plan on delving into the Day-Glo darkness of the 90's.
>>80656994
Good luck
