Until the Stars Turn A Fairly Reasonable Temperature.

C'mon, Edward, you reviewed 10 issues in one post, and soon you'll be doing 43 issues in one post, just have a look at 6 in one...

This one has no "Little Edward" backstory other than Little Eddie stumbling upon this trade when he was looking for Spider-Man stuff on the Internet Archive when he was 12. I added it to favorites and proceeded to NOT read it. 

Years later, old and mature (and tall) Edward got issues 41 and 42 for Christmas. Oh, and then I got Marvel Unlimited! So, I should be able to review the rest of the JMS run. This is Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #40, by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr.

There is a small gap in my collection, I have issues 30-39, and issues 41-42, this one has always intrigued me... No, it started intriguing me right about now because I have never read it, I have never heard anyone talk about it and frankly, I want to be the first to do so! 

Oh, I guess I should talk about the cover, this one was drawn by Jason Pearson, who went on to do the covers of the next 2 issues. This cover shows Spider-Man hanging on top of a lamp post while thousands or hundreds of new yorkers watch. I'm not sure if that lamp post should be able to handle his weight. 

This is technically issue 481, and it even says so on the cover... Of the physical issue that I don't have.

"Science tells us that for every action... There is an equal and opposite reaction" Wow, I seem to be learning a lot with these Spider-Man comics. This story is titled "Sensitive Issues", and it begins with Spider-Man defeating some armored criminals, pretty standard for an issue of Spider-Man. 

The next day, Peter Parker is teaching once again... I'm beginning to sense a pattern with these JMS stories. No time for that, Aunt May is at the Daily Bugle offices to ask politely if J. Jonah Jameson could talk nicely about Spider-Man for a change. It doesn't work.

Meanwhile, Peter Parker goes with his student, Jenny to check out something, I don't know what it is yet, but I bet it's real important. 

At the Parker house, Mary Jane calls May on the telephone, MJ is ready for a photoshoot at the beach. After the call, She thinks about how May's tone sounded off, almost like she learned who Spider-Man really is... Nah, if that was the case, Peter would've let her know and- Oh, it's time for the photoshoot. Oh, and by the way, MJ is coming back in town for a bit to just reunite with Peter for a bit (NOTE: They separated in Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2001 after some shit about a kidnapping and a fake murder or whatever.). How nice of her. If only we saw this in the recent books.

Y'know, I think more adaptations need to show MJ as an actress/supermodel instead of depicting her as a lame reporter. Who the hell came up with that idea, anyway?

Jenny takes Peter to the home of a girl named Susie, who tells Peter about a guy named Mike, who just disappeared one day, and then Jenny mentions how lots of people have been disappearing lately under strange circumstances. 

As Spider-Man, he thinks about the current situation while taking a guy's popcorn. Uh-oh, time to actually DO something! His Spider-Sense detects a transparent man taking a boy to unknown places by creating a portal. Spider-Man tries to attack the man, but he goes right through him! Y'know, this guy looks familiar... Think I've seen his face before... Probably not important. Anyway, Spidey finally manages to beat the snot out of him.

The man just disappears and escapes... THAT BASTARD. At home, Peter has to put on make-up to hide his bruises. Aunt May shows up to tell Peter the news of MJ coming back for a short period of time, kind of like how the McRib comes back sometimes. The issue ends.

This may look like just a single-issue story, and it kind of is, but the villain is still on the loose! Oh, and I guess the story was really good, and so was the art, I liked it. 8/10. This is clearly a case of writing for the trade, which I guess it's okay. I'd complain about writing for the trade, but this clearly only affects me, who doesn't have access to a comic book shop.

Next issue.

This is the cover, clearly made after the release of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movie, remember how that movie ended? Spidey near an American flag? This cover is similar to that, hell, even the lighting looks similar.  (Cover by Jason Pearson again)

Lemme tell ya, it feels good cracking open a Spider-Man comic after a while. This story's titled "Looking Back" even though we do NOT look back at anything. Spidey is swinging while holding onto... Nothing. Just like on issue 30, he is yapping about the small things in life. I think Spidey should start a stupid little blog about that.

Now he gets to play stupid and pretend that he doesn't know Jennifer and ask her what's going on... BUT FIRST, he has to do the cool superhero introduction thing. He gets information about an officer known as Lieutenant William Lamont, and Spidey goes looking for him. Well, this comic would be really lame if Spider-Man wasn't able to find the cop, so he finds the lieutenant and jokes around for a little bit before shit gets serious and Spider-Man asks if this cop's gonna be actually useful for a bit. They agree to help each other out, and the story continues. 

Peter goes to Aunt May's house to have another chat; May is writing letters to more newspaper publishers to improve Spider-Man's reputation. May seems to be more relaxed about knowing Peter's secret. May tells Peter that someday, someone might make a movie about him... Right. 

Spidey and William are driving to the jail where this Shade guy used to be, Spidey has to be inconspicuous, so he dresses up like the google incognito dude for a second. They pay a visit to Richard Cranston, a man that tried to perform a ritual to become all omnipotent and omnipresent but was interrupted by Shade and now HE has the powers. 

They leave after getting most of the information they needed. So, this is about the mystic arts... Spidey just so happens to know someone with a little bit of knowledge of the mystic arts, and it is none other than Steve Ditko's other creation, Dr. Strange. The issue ends with Stephen answering the door, what a nice guy. The issue ends... 

Okay, the issue doesn't actually end, there's a little insert titled "You Can Call Me Al". Oh, you're telling me Spider-Man is making a crossover with Al Yankovic? This is like a dream come true for me, tell me Spidey learns how to play the accordion! No, instead this is a story about... I don't know, it looks really boring. Though, this story is actually compiled on issue 1 of "Get Kraven", if for some reason you're interested. 

Well, the main story was pretty awesome. The art is standard for this era, and so is the writing, though I'm just wondering what the hell is JMS doing with making Spidey more mystical and such... And why do I like it? Well, I'm sure I know why I like it, it's pretty awesome! And I really do like where this storyline is going. 7/10.

4 more issues to go, and I also happen to own a physical copy of this one. 

It looks like Avengers: Disassembled happened 2 years earlier because this is super red... That being said, this cover is pretty good, but I did not need to see that fat guy's stomach. Thanks, Jason Pearson.

The comic opens with exposition in what is really a cool splash page showing Spider-Man looking really cool, failed satanic ritual and child abduction. Spidey is explaining all of this to Doctor Strange, who is quietly meditating this problem... Spidey is being impatient, but to be fair, if I saw my hot wife after a long time and I could only see her for a little bit, I would also try to hurry up and do whatever it is I have to do before seeing her... Now, unfortunately for me, I don't have a hot wife at the moment.

Strange tells Peter that he has an unquiet spirit, which is basically his way of telling Spidey to shut the fuck up. One does not enter the astral plane unprepared, or else you'd be cooked. So, how is Spidey gonna go after him? Well, Strange shoots Spidey with some kinda mystic shit and now Spidey has to just wait for a bit before he can go to the astral plane. Strange tells Spidey that no matter how familiar things may be in the astral plane, do NOT go there.

While Spidey waits way too fucking long to get in the astral plane, Jenny is walking down the street before getting surrounded by a bunch of thugs, and then Shade shows up to try and capture her, but before he actually captures her, Spidey gets in the astral plane and passes through a bunch of places like the YWCA or whatever it is, and then he just so happens to find the alley where Shade captured Jenny, before Shade can disappear, Spidey enters the whatever-the-hell-that-place-is where Shade was taking everyone.

Spidey fights against Shade while everyone else tries to escape. Well, Shade has been dealt with, and now it's time for everyone to leave this place, but Spidey stays because something familiar is calling to him... That familiar thing tells him to piss off and shoots him back to the normal world... Where he's still in his astral form. Peter flies to the airport and realizes that he has missed his meeting with MJ and tries to tell her that he loves her one last time, but MJ cannot see him. The comic ends with Spider-Man, still in his astral form, obviously kinda cheesed that he missed his meeting.

Wasn't that something special? As stated a few moments ago, I really like how JMS is adding mystical and astral stuff to Spider-Man comics, I suppose it would be pretty boring if Spidey just kept fighting the same mad scientists and robbers with gadgets. This story was pretty solid and pretty standard for a Spidey issue of the time, and the art and colors are good, so I'd give it an 8/10.

Well, that first arc of the TPB is done, it's time for the next issue, which I don't have, and I don't see myself getting any time soon because this is one of the Iconic covers of this era, meaning that it is crazy expensive in Mexico, though I am taking monetary donations. This is issue 43.

This is an iconic visual that was so cool that John Romita Jr. cannot stop drawing it. This is actually the second time that we've seen this visual, the first time being a variant cover for Peter Parker: Spider-Man that had only 12,000 copies produced. He's drawn Spidey in the rain like 5 or 6 times, and each time, it looks cool, though I think it peaked with this cover. What can I say? I just love me a wet Spidey... Though it's just another case of "Shit, we need something for our cover, just put Spidey in a cool pose"

Before we get to the actual review, let's look at the rejected TPB titles:

• The Amazing Spider-Man: Thick Of It

• The Amazing Spider-Man: The Jig Is Up

• The Amazing Spider-Man: Off The Deep End

• The Amazing Spider-Man: "Water told me to call you Latinx" 

• The Amazing Spider-Man: The Struggle Is Real

This issue's titled "Cold Arms" and opens with a recap of last issue, just in case you missed it... Even though you could always check the back issues at a comic store, but I wouldn't know since I do not have a comic store near me, and I rely on Mercado Libre and eBay.

There is a meeting between Mr. Carlyle (Who?) and Otto Octavious, they are discussing something about the robot arms or whatever, the guys there leave Otto alone and actually try to gas him, but the robot arms cling to him once again and... Cut to the next scene, showing Peter Parker calling MJ to apologize after the events of the last issue. MJ isn't there to answer the call but at least she knows about Pete's message.

Cut to Ock again, Turns out that Carlyle has completely ripped off Ock's arms and he's also trapped Otto in a pod. Cut to Peter and Aunt May, talking about the current situation with MJ and stuff, they decide to go to LA to visit MJ on set. At the airport, the TSA finds Peter's web-shooters, but to salvage the situation, Aunt May comes up with the incredible idea, LYING and saying it's a medical item. Cool. Oh, and Carlyle robs a bank.

Peter and May are at LA, at the set, and it's not Peter who finds MJ, it's vice-versa. The issue ends.

This issue had an extreme lack of Spider-Man in it, but that's actually completely okay for this issue, because it was still a pretty good read, and I just cannot wait to see how MJ reacts to meeting up with Peter again. + I gotta see how this whole Carlyle Ock thing unfolds. 8/10.

Two more issues to go.

Now, THIS, this cover is peak. it shows Spider-Man capturing crooks, a simple concept, but it's done in such a unique way and it's just fucking amazing, I wish I had this comic so I could frame it and struggle to figure out where to put it. Good job, JRJR.

The issue opens with Peter having to explain what happened to MJ in under 2 minutes, he does that, but I imagine he said it like he was singing Hardware Store. So, Peter apologizes, and the conversation goes on and everyone is on the same page. So, what movie are they shooting? None other than... The Amazing Lobster-Man... And this actor, Rick Turk, is MJ's love interest in the movie... Rick, meet Peter Parker, Mary Jane's husband. I know, this is awkward as hell, but I would tell Peter to not worry much about this guy, I mean, his muscles are clearly fake, he looks fucking ridiculous, not very likable, and a bit obnoxious

Meanwhile, Carlyle and Ock are both in LA, fighting. MEANWHILE, Lobster-Dude and MJ are about to shoot the hot lingerie scene and stuff, but then, Ock and Carlyle's fight goes to the set of the picture and they both start destroying things. Spidey swings into action, which is a phrase that has been used by EVERY FAN AND WRITER. Ock and Carlyle leave Spidey alone as the building starts to pretty much collapse on top of him. The issue ends.

Well, that was a short recap. I really like how JMS writes Spidey's quips, I mean, pretty much every writer in the fucking world could write Spidey's quips except for me. Overall, this is similar to the last few issues. 9/10.

One more issue for this review.

Another cover that I really like, it shows Spidey swinging (Likely thing to show on a Spider-Man cover), while a few new-yorkers watch through the window as he swings by.

This one starts with Spidey trying to escape the current locust of the last issue.

Meanwhile, MJ, Lobster-Man, the crew and the director are there to finally shoot the damn hot lingerie scene, but they get interrupted by creative differences, apparently, Lobster-Man's origin was... Being bitten by a radioactive Lobster, but they would like for him to be... Called and summoned by a Lobster-God. Me personally, I would prefer the Lobster-God origin story.

Carlyle has showed up on the set, attacking everyone there, before Doc Ock shows up to fight against Carlyle. Oh, and Spidey comes back and attacks Carlyle once again before the green robotic suit that strangely resembles Sam Raimi's Green Goblin suit malfunctions and Carlyle dies... Or at least I think he did. 

Peter, MJ and Aunt May are talking about how things are going with them, Peter still Loves MJ, and they all seem to be cool and chill with each other, the issue ends, and so does this TPB.

I really like this issue, it's got lots of action, good art, and the conversations here don't make me want to vomit, unlike something I would see in the Zeb Wells Spidey run. 9/10. 

How is the run so far? I really enjoy it, I don't think I've ever read a Spider-Man book that makes me feel the way I do when I read a JMS JRJR story (giddy), THIS IS SPIDER-MAN AT HIS BEST. I definitely see why people love this run as much as they do.

What's next for the site? Well, remember the time I lost my credibility as a reviewer when I reviewed Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man without watching? Well, I'm doing it again by reviewing Gwenpool (2025) before it comes out.