Comics Spiderman in the late 90's - Good or Bad?

[dbzking]

Ok so i'm currently reading through some late 90's Spidey stuff from when Peter took over being Spidey again up until the final chapter Storyline

I'm really enjoying it I'm currently just up to the issue where Spidey and X-man battled with Electro I forgot how good this time period was in Spidey there were a good cast of characters with many different plot threads going on it's exciting stuff

I just wondered what you guys thought of this specific period? did you think it was good as I do?

 

[iloveclones]

I actually dropped out of comics because I just wasn't enjoying (or reading) anything that I bought around that time. Ironically, it was Chapter One (and the unfulfilled promise of John Byrne goodness) that got me back into comics. Most people really deride Chapter One, but I can at least say that it got me back into comics.

Maybe you can compile a "best of" list, so I can go back and read some of the stuff that I missed.

 

[Galactus]

Things got a little better after the horrible clone mess (although I suppose at that point everything would have felt like an improvement). I kinda liked Black Tarantula who was introduced then. It was probably the only new villain introduced in the entire 90's that I felt had potential to become a new archvillain. But as usual no writer really tapped into that potential.

 

[kguillou]

Ah the late 90's, i think that was when EVERYBODY was dropping out of comics. After the clone saga and Onslaught, people just abandoned ship, including myself. There were some good stories from what i remember though: The return of Hobgoblin, Electro came back with a vengeance, Jameson was put in the hospital by Jack O Lantern and Doc Ock was resurected by the Hand. Granted i was like 10 years old when those stories came out so they may not be as good as i remember them lol.

 

[SpideyInATree]

I was actually out of comics during that period of time. I believe that I actually dropped out of the book right around when Spider-Man was wanted and had to adopt the four identities which later turned out to be The Slingers.

I had a bitter taste in my mouth when they killed Ben Reilly. I didn't have message boards back then to express my opinion every single day on it though.

 

[Parker756]

I left after the Final Crapter

I actually liked the clone saga. Didn't like the death of ben reilly, but understood it had to be done as not to raise questions of 'who was the real parker?' ever again. The time after wasnt too bad. I really liked the SHOC character that Mackie was developing, but somehow that got abandoned and then the gathering of five happened. I thought it had potential, but didn't like the ending. Then the Final Crapter happened and pissed me off to no end. The aunt may that died was an actress? really? Then the whole 'battle' in part 3 was in osborns head; it seemed pointless. I actually remember reading on the internet (I think even on these boards maybe), people guessing that Osborn probably got the 'insanity' gift and the whole unmasking was in his head. Kinda laughed when the next issue showed exactly what they said. How did Osborn ever get rid of the 'insanity/madness' gift from the gathering of 5? Anyways, at that point I had enough and didn't buy another comic again until Ultimate Spider-man started.

I

 

[shinlyle]

I'm going to go with BAD.

I was out of comics after about ASM#80- something, in 1996. Basically, when I couldn't find Spidey comics anymore. I'd rejoiced at the death of Ben Reilly, and was hopeful of the future. I lost touch, as ther ewas no comic book retailer within 30 minutes of me, and, well, I was 16, so other things began to interest me (BOOTY).

It wasn't until my second semester of college that I would find a comic shop, and dive back in headlong into Spidey.....into the worst possible stories I could imagine. Spidey's origin was rebooted (WHY?!), new, ever-so-lame villians were running rampant, and Blade was a regular guest-star. It was horrible. All the dangling plot threads made my head hurt. Spdiey is about to be killed by Venom, and Venom leaves (?), Jameson is about to unmask Spider-man(!), and then he just doesn't(?).

The stories were horrible. JR JR's artwork was all that kept me there. Everyone hates on JMS's Spidey run, but I think they must have forgotten how BAD things were beforehand. also, Paul Jenkins was a much-needed breath of fresh air when he arrived back in 2000(or was it '01?).

 

[C. Pumpkins]

Mid to late nineties was an improvement, imo. The early nineties had flashy art that never appealed to me although when I review the McFarlane era now, it's ok. David Micheline's Spidey was sorta bland to me, but perhaps I was too spoiled on Roger Stern.

I haven't read all of the clone saga yet, but a lot of it doesn't look appealing either. I picked it up at the tail end when Ben Reiily was Spidey and I thought it was a great idea prehaps making Spidey fresh again and less complicated. Loved PP# 75 though and I still have my original copy.

Loved the DeMattheis Spectacular run during that time too (although I haven't read all of it) even liked it when Luke Ross took over although his art seemed too derivative, a mix between McFarlane and someone else that was popular a few years before Ross' time, maybe Jim Lee. Still liked it although most of the characters were over muscular, imo.

I loved JRjr's art at this time too even though he moved away from the more classic Romita Sr. / Jim Mooney style that I love so much, especially Jim Mooney who I think JRjr was influenced by ( I didn't read this anywhere, I just see the similiarities e.g. Spidey's head).

For some reason it was hard for me to get into Howard Mackie's stuff too. All of this I will be re-reading again someday though. So my opinions are not set in stone. Thanks.