But what do you think?

Amazing Spider-Man by Nick Spencer tpb Vol. 15: What Cost Victory
Marvel Comics
Creators: Nick Spencer, Federico Vicentini, Ze Carlos, Mark Bagley, Carlos Gomez and Alex Sinclair
Release date: November 2021

Got something a little different this time: I want YOU to tell ME what you think of Nick Spencer’s recent run on Amazing Spider-Man.

I like Spider-Man, but I’ve never been a regular reader of his adventures. I read some random issues that I bought as a kid in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but most of them were truly random. The only continuous run I read during that time included some issues with Spidey facing off against Silvermane, Green Goblin and other gangsters. At the time, everyone assumed the Goblin was Harry Osborn again, but it didn’t turn out to be him in the outfit. I borrowed these comics from a friend, and I currently own a trade collecting some of them: Amazing Spider-Man: A New Goblin, reprinting Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 176-180 by Len Wein and Ross Andru.

I bought many of the then-current Spidey titles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but I’ve since sold off most of those issues. I kept Amazing Spider-Man No. 267, “When Cometh … the Commuter,” a very amusing stand-alone issue written by Peter David. I had the original six issues that told the story that came to be known as “Kraven’s Last Hunt,” but I’ve since sold them and bought a hardcover of the story instead.

All of this is to say I am no stranger to Spidey stories. I’ve read a lot of them, but I don’t still own most of the stories I’ve read. And I don’t follow the character regularly.

But I do like Spider-Man, and I really like some of his villains. I’ve always been partial to the Green Goblin in his various incarnations. I also like Doc Ock, Kraven, Chameleon and some of the others.

I hadn’t paid much attention to Nick Spencer’s recent run on the title. Nothing against the writer; I haven’t read many Spidey stories in more than a decade by anyone. And I’m not familiar with other things Spencer has written.

But the solicitation image for the trade collection of “The Chameleon Conspiracy,” which was the 14th trade collection of Spencer’s run on Amazing Spider-Man, caught my eye. The cover image shows the Chameleon sitting in a darkened room surrounded by masks of the faces of many of Spider-Man's friends and enemies. There are nearly 30 masks pictured, and the cover brought to mind the first appearance of Chameleon in Amazing Spider-Man No. 1, of which I own a reprint. I don’t know if there is a previous image similar to this trade’s cover, but it made me thing of that initial appearance of Chameleon, and piqued my curiosity.

I pre-ordered the trade and then ordered the next one, Vol. 15, when it was solicited. I don’t think I knew when I ordered Vol. 15, “What Cost Victory?” that it would be Spencer’s last. But it did seem like a resolution he’d been building to, and I thought I might need this trade to complete the story begun in Vol. 14. Turns out I was both right and wrong about that.

Both these two trades very clearly wrap up a lot of plotlines from Spencer’s run and stories from past creators, too, including a story arc I’ve never read but heard a lot about, “Sins Past.” Both of these trades were decent reads, but I got the feeling frequently that I wasn’t getting the entire story. I was very aware I hadn’t read everything that came before. I didn’t feel lost, exactly, but still like I was missing something.

So I’m curious to hear from others who have read all of Spencer’s run, and perhaps even more. What did you Spider-Man fans think of his run on the title? Is it worth it to seek out and buy the earlier Spencer trades? What say you, Spider-fans? I’d like to hear from you for a change.

Where’s the difference between inspiration and temptation?

Whispers tpb
Image Comics
Creators: Joshua Luna
Release date: June 2014

Welcome back! As promised, here is a trade I recently enjoyed from Image Comics. I picked this trade up a few years ago with no foreknowledge of the story at all. If memory serves, this was an impulse buy to fill out an order for the free shipping; something with a price tag that made it worth a chance at the time. The cover depicts a statue of an angelic figure with a cracked face and a demonic visage peeking out. Based on that alone, I made a few assumptions about the plot that were only sort of accurate.

I was very pleased to finally read this trade one recent afternoon. I very much enjoyed the plot, and several of the twists and turns of the story took me by surprise. As usual, I won’t spoil those plot twists here. I tend to shy away from too many plot details on this blog; if I happen to praise a book here you haven’t read before, I hope my words might inspire you to seek it out and try it yourself rather than me spoiling the possible enjoyment you might feel after reading a new title for yourself.

The story in Whispers — which collects a done-in-one limited series — centers on Sam Webber, a young man with a number of controlling fears and phobias. To his surprise, Sam suddenly manifests the ability to leave his body when he sleeps. During these journeys, Sam cannot be seen or physically affect the natural world, but he can influence the behavior of people he knows. The scene above depicts his second out-of-body experience when Sam “visits” his mother, a woman who was emotionally abusive to Sam as a child and who now leads a lonely, miserable life.

Experimenting with what he can and cannot do while undertaking these astral journeys, Sam must fight the temptation to influence his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Lily, who has just gone through a personal family tragedy. Sam also stumbles onto a dangerous situation with another former girlfriend, Vanessa, whom Sam further endangers despite his good intentions. Sam also begins experiencing visions of total strangers behaving in purely evil ways.

Will Sam be able to save Vanessa from the perilous situation she now finds herself in after Sam’s “intervention"? Will — or should — Sam try to influence Lily to either win her back or get some form of closure? And should Sam somehow act on the demonic visions he is seeing with growing frequency? Exploring each of these questions was an engaging read. If any of this sounds remotely interesting to you, you should give Whispers a try.