VOICE FROM THE LONGBOX

I wouldn\'t be living up to my title if I didn\'t use my space this month to talk about Spider-Man. You\'ve heard of him, right? Seeing as how the movie should be past the $300 million mark by the time this sees print, it\'s safe to say most of you have seen it. Well, I saw it. And I liked it. But that\'s not what I want to talk about. Did you like the movie? You did? Then, for God\'s sake, find some Spider-Man comics and read them! There have been thousands of Spider-Man comics published in the last 40 years. You can read his monthly adventures, trade paperback collections, online dot-comics or hardcover reprints. But you have to read them. The following is a very brief list of some of my favorite stories:
Amazing Fantasy #15/Amazing Spider-Man #1-20: This is available in a hardcover Marvel Masterworks format, and in softcover and black and white (and more affordable) in the Essential Spider-Man series. This contains it all: the origin of Spider-Man, and the debut of most of his best foes. My particular favorites being Dr. Octopus and the Sandman.
Amazing Spider-Man #200: Spidey faces the burglar who killed Uncle Ben many years later.
Amazing Spider-Man #229 & 230: Spider-Man tries to stop the literally unstoppable Juggernaut from killing an old woman.
Amazing Spider-Man #248: \"The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man.\" An eleven-page back-up story guaranteed to choke you up.
I grew up reading these stories. I\'ve read some classics in titles such as Spectacular Spider-Man and Marvel Team-Up; both of which are no longer around. I\'ve also read some real clunkers. But one of the most enduring qualities of comics is their regularity. If you don\'t like it this month (or a certain writer or artist) maybe you will like it next month. Spider-Man comics today are written by some of the biggest names in the field. J. Michael Straczynski (of Babylon 5 fame) writes Amazing Spider-Man currently, with Kevin Smith waiting in the wings to take over. Brian Michael Bendis writes a different book which features an updated version of the origin (closer to the movie, actually) called Ultimate Spider-Man. The success of the Spider-Man movie will produce more comic book movies (Daredevil and The Hulk, for example) and television shows (Birds of Prey). To me, the most important part is the source material. In virtually every situation, the book is always better.