What 80's series needs to be reprinted?

[500Club]

Yeah, sadly, enough time had passed that the mini seemed to slip under the radar..... I did like how Stern finished his story without invalidating what DeFalco and PD had written.

 

Wonder if Stern could still write a decent Spidey story.....? He really had a great run from ASM 220-250.

[500Club]

Byrne FFs if not already mentioned although I own them all.

 

FF Visionaries John Byrne Vol 1-8.

[Kevin Boyd]

Roger Stern was one of the best writers to work on ASM. His work was great but really started to click when he brought the Black Cat back in 225-226, then it was month-in, month-out great storytelling. Mr.Hyde/Cobra, Tarantula/Will'O'the-Wisp, Hobgoblin, The Juggernaut/Madame Web, Harry Osborn's seemingly normal life, The Vulture, The Mad Thinker, The Kingpin, an update of Mary Jane and her guilt over leaving Peter, the Wrecking Crew and, of course, the great "The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man" that is one of the single greatest Spider-Man stories ever. That he was also teamed with John Romita Jr. didn't hurt! Some of these issues WERE reprinted in Wizard's Best of Spider-Man hardcover.

 

After he left the book was okay for about a year (during the whole black costume saga and the return of MJ), but declined shortly afterwards. I had been collecting ASM religiously since issue 162 and found myself dropping it 100 issues later with that awful photo cover issue by Bob Layton (262?). I wouldn't return to ASM until 293 ("Kraven's Last Hunt") and dropped it quickly afterwards - I didn't even bother with the wedding annual.

 

When Todd took over the book with 298 and I knew I was going to stick with it I decided to go back and fill in the 3 year gap in my run. Having read those issues subsequently I still feel that Tom DeFalco's run was a real low point for ASM and I'm glad I didn't support it at the time.

[500Club]

I'd give Stern major props for 224 as well... that was the issue where he had the Vulture return to his roots, with an unexpected assist from Nathan Lubensky. I also liked his efforts to expand the supporting cast, with Lance Bannon and his skanky GF for example.

 

I agree with you about the lull in story quality that happened during the 260-295 era..... I remember reading 298 and thinking 'now this is a major improvement - I like the new artist.'