Pulp [#607]
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Pulp [#607]

OK, so here’s the deal, I really, really like Spider-Man. I mean, who doesn’t love New York’s best superhero? He’s been one of the most relatable heroes for young people for a long time now – the whole life-hero balance, maintaining a secret identity and dealing out a healthy dose of sarcasm-laced humour and wisecracks when battling the worst villains Manhattan can throw at him. Before the start of the excellent Superior Spider-Man series (and the following reboot), the main Spidey series – The Amazing Spider-Man – lasted for a whopping 700 issues. Yep, you read that right, the whole shebang went on for that long. Even Fables, a comic that has more trade paperbacks than I care to mention, has only made it to 150 issues. Needless to say, Spidey has been doing his thing for a bloody long time.
Numerous writers have penned The Amazing Spider-Man over the years, but the current writer, Dan Slott, took over on issue #648, and has been going ever since. While volume two of The Amazing Spider-Man finished up with issue 700, Slott continued to write for Spidey, penning 33 issues of Superior Spider-Man and has written 14 issues for the relaunched volume three of Amazing. Slott has proved himself to be a really solid writer – Superior Spider-Man, though initially controversial, had a slow build up and turned out to be one of Marvel’s better series during its run – and given that the vast majority of Spider-Man trades that I’ve read have been written by him, seems like an excellent choice. It probably helps that he’s a massive Spidey fan in his own right – watching him fanboy on Twitter with the rest of the Internet over Spider-Man’s entry into the MCU was hilarious and endearing at the same time.
After all this rambling, you’re probably wondering which trade I’m aiming to talk about in this week’s Pulp. The thing is, though, that I couldn’t just pick one. Over the last few weeks, I’ve embarked on a bit of a project – I have collected all of Dan Slott’s run on The Amazing Spider-Man from issue #648 to its end at issue #700 which – thanks to the bulky Big Time Ultimate Collection trades – comes in at 8 trade paperbacks. It was a task, but it was worth it, because The Amazing Spider-Man is quickly becoming one of my favourites. Slott’s work has been really good, for the most part – I’m not too keen on the little Lizard arc that starts around issue #688. The arc that really interested me was the last trade, Dying Wish, which set up the Superior Spider-Man series.
As The Amazing Spider-Man draws to a close, Doc Ock’s final, master plan comes to fruition, as he escapes his broken, dying body – invading the body of Peter Parker himself. Peter has to fight the clock, having to make do with a body crippled by years of injuries he himself inflicted. Meanwhile, his nemesis revels in his new body, taking over Peter’s life and manipulating Peter’s family and friends. It’s essentially Doc Ock’s endgame, and both Peter and Ock have to use every last bit of their cunning to try to stay on top. Reading Slott’s run in its entirety is probably the best way to appreciate the events of Dying Wish, but it’s reasonably accessible on its own. It’s an arc that made a lasting impact on the Marvel universe, and it’s one of the most memorable stories I’ve read in a long time.
Written by Alastair McGibbon