Random Runs of Spidey Archive

One of the things I keyed in on during my write-up of the first arc of “Brand New Day” was how the storyline was brimming with youthful energy. While the arc that led us to the doorstep of “Brand New Day” (“One More Day”) was extraordinarily controversial and ill-conceived/executed,

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The new year has long been a time for new beginnings and resolutions. So with that in mind, I thought I would kick off 2015 with a serial lookback at one of the most controversial and dramatic new beginnings in Spider-Man history: “Brand New Day.” Unless you’re someone who

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After formally reintroducing the clone in the “Power and Responsibility” arc the month before, Marvel immediately starting mixing things up a bit with its Spider-books in order to advance the “Clone Saga.” While Peter Parker continued his descent into madness in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man and Spectacular Spider-Man

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Today marks the first entry in an ongoing project for Chasing Amazing that I hope I don’t come to regret. Twenty years ago this month, the Spider-Verse’s status quo was turned upside down with Web of Spider-Man #117, the first part of the “Power and Responsibility” arc. For those

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We have arrived at the final installment of my summer overview of the “Alien Costume Saga,” and I hope it’s been as much fun for you all as last year’s “Original Hobgoblin Saga” retrospective. Maybe next year, I’ll pick a run of issues that don’t fall within the 1983-84

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In many ways, I’ve been waiting all summer for my opportunity to write about this one specific issue, and despite the fact that I’m almost always let down by heightened anticipation, Amazing Spider-Man #257 is as good as I remember it being. For me, this comic is when the

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  After a bit of a breather that focused on silver-haired burglars and crazy scientists with disappearing apes, the “Alien Costume Saga” begins its acceleration towards the finish line in Amazing Spider-Man #256. We get another new villain named after an animal flashcard (Puma), a more prolonged look at

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I’ve already talked at great length about how Amazing Spider-Man’s “Alien Costume Saga” has an almost “origin story” vibe to it, but I haven’t spent much time examining another thematic element that is on display in this run of issues. While it would be a few years before various

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For the third part of the “Original Alien Costume Saga,” writer Tom DeFalco (with pencils from Rick Leonardi who was filling in for Ron Frenz), continues to use his first batch of issues on the main Spidey book as a mini-origin story of sorts. So much so that the

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Despite the fact that artist Ron Frenz did not provide pencils for the issue (Rick Leonardi has the honors), Amazing Spider-Man #253 maintains that “new beginning” vibe that was initially put forward in ASM #252, the first part of the “Alien Costume Saga.” In one scene, Tom DeFalco’s script

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