Random Runs of Spidey Archive

After the success of my issue-by-issue review of the “Original Hobgoblin Saga” last year, I thought it would be fun if I made this kind of long-form storyline analysis an annual summer tradition – call it Chasing Amazing’s “summer concert series” of posts. While I certainly could have been

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People who follow my Gimmick or Good exploits at the Comics Should Be Good blog should know that I’m no stranger to the foil/embossed/chromium/polybagged comics of yesteryear. And yet, the gold, foil-covered Amazing Spider-Man #375 (the “30th anniversary of Amazing Spider-Man #1!!!), holds a special place in my heart

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When Amazing Spider-Man #374 was released in February 1993, it had been more than four years since Venom was first introduced to the world by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. During that timeframe, Venom demonstrated his full range sociopathic tendencies, attempting to murder Spider-Man on countless occasions (including kidnapping

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For anyone who’s a fan of the fun anarchistic version of Venom that was a staple of early 90s Spider-Man comics, then Amazing Spider-Man #317 is the story for you. Insane Spider-Man vs. Venom battle that features a truly creative climax? Check. Crazy, rambling logic from Venom that actually

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I think I’ve been pigeon-holing myself a bit with the retro-comics I’ve been writing about over the past few months: the original Hobgoblin Saga review over the summer and last month’s Avengers/X-Men 50th anniversary posts. So with that in mind, I’m not going to “officially” declare October, “Venom Month.”

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Lo, there shall be an ending! After spending my entire summer writing about the “Original Hobgoblin Saga” in full, I have reached Amazing Spider-Man #251, the final chapter in the story that was originally introduced by Roger Stern in ASM #238 and then fleshed out over the course of

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Reading Amazing Spider-Man #250 is like watching the season finale of a television show where the showrunner  or writer knows he or she is leaving the show (either willingly or acrimoniously) and thus decides to introduce a ton of big ideas into the final script that are impossible for

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After months of planning, plotting and misdirection, Amazing Spider-Man #249 shows an invigorated Hobgoblin who is finally starting to make his master plan of conquest apparent to his intended victims. Beyond the Hobgoblin’s initial introduction in ASM #238, this issue and the two that follow (marking the end the

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As the only non-Amazing Spider-Man issue grouped in to the “Original Hobgoblin Saga” storyline – and the first one not to be scripted by Roger Stern – Spectacular Spider-Man #85 reads like it has two separate agendas. It marks a very critical moment in the development of the Hobgoblin

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Amazing Spider-Man #245 reminds us of a period of the Hobgoblin’s existence where his secret identity was not the source of such hand-wringing and controversy. As he did for the character’s three previous appearances in ASM, writer Roger Stern plants small clues along with some serious pieces of misdirection

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