Stan Lee lost the opportunity for dozens of great stories when he had Galactus confine the Silver Surfer to earth. Don't get me wrong, these are some classic stories, but a more space-faring Surfer would have been nice.

The real highlight is John Buscema's artwork. It's possibly some of the best of his career, and doesn't seem to lose anything in black and white. His work, in contrast with Jack Kirby's, is much more realistic and subtle. As far as the writing goes, hey, it's Stan Lee and thus always entertaining, but he gets a little too preachy in spots for my tastes.

One of the best stories is where the Surfer encounters Mephisto for the first time. The art is incredible, and we really see what makes the Surfer tick. It's worth it for this story alone. The origin story is the only one featuring Galactus, and it's very entertaining as well. Also exceptional is the issue where the Surfer takes on Thor. This is really Stan Lee at his very best, tossing out hilariously over-the-top Asgardian speak in the "thrilling Marvel fashion". And no one could ever draw brooding characters like Johnny Buscema. Check out the shot of Loki slumped in his chair. Now that, my friends, is brooding. Really, how could you not love this?

We even get a Spider-Man appearance, but as usual in his early guest appearences, Spidey comes off as quite the little jerk. It's still fun to see him take on the Silver Surfer though. Overall, a very worthy purchase.

The Silver Surfer has always been a bit preachy, and believe me he definitely does a lot of that in this book, but this is still one of the best series every done by any company. The scripting is truly eloquent.

The true merit of a comic illustrator's art is how it shows up without color, and John Buscema's work shines in this volume. It's really too bad he is so wasted on a lackadaisical book like Conan the Barbarian nowadays...Buscema has always been one of comic's finest artists: no flash, no exaggerated figures...just technical perfection. Too bad Todd McFarlane or Jim Lee apparently never read these comics before beginning their wasted careers. Jack Kirby provides the art for the final story in the book.

The Surfer meets up with many Marvel luminaries, including Thor, Spider-Man, The Inhumans and the Human Torch, and faces off against Mephisto, The Flying Dutchman, The Stranger and many more mundane menaces that are given extra life in these stories.

Of all the great "relevant" sixties comics, The Silver Surfer stories have probably withstood the test of time the best. Definitely a must-have volume.

This is a grand collection of stories from Marvel's greatest era. Stan Lee never wrote better and John Buscema's artwork is gorgeous. The first half of the Silver Surfer run consisted of double sized stories reflecting a larger scope. Lee took full advantage of it. My favorite was the double sized Stranger story which was extremely heroic and touching. All of today's comic creators should read this series of books and especially this one to see the way it was done right.

The 'true' X-men from back-in-the-day are finally available for the X-men fans of today. First off, this book contains the first ten issues of the series, including individual covers, in full color on glossy stock and and hard bound. These stories (Uncanny X-men 1-10) were written in '61 and '62 by Stan Lee and drawn by the Jack Kirby, with both a forward and afterward by Stan...'nuff said. It tells the origins of the X-men (original team: Professor X, Cyclops, Beast, Angel, and Iceman), the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Magneto, Toad, Mastermind, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver), introduces modern mainstay characters like Jean Grey, Blob, and Kazar all for the first time, and guest-stars old-school Marvel money-makers like Namor the Sub-mariner and the Avengers. New-school fans may be a bit thrown by the presence of sixties throw-back characters like the Vanisher, Unus the Utouchable, and Lucifer or the lack of explanation of Magneto's powers or his prior relationship with Xavier, but it's worth it to see the Beast and Angel before they turned blue...It is incredible to see how good the story was in the sixties, even reading it now after the year 2000.

This collection of comic books (most specifically, The X-Men 1-10) is the ideal novel for comic book readers: it includes enough issues to hold one's attention for quite a while, but it also is in color, so that purchasing the book is a worthy investment. It covers the origins of the original five X-Men (Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, and Marvel Girl) and their first missions under their wheelchair-bound leader Professor X. Although The Essentials version of this book features twice as many issues from the series, this one is a much better quality book, including the cover, the color inking, the paper itself, and even an introduction by the inventor of the X-men himself. What's more, once you're done with this one, you can follow it up with Vol. 2, which includes issues # 11-20. A great read, collector's item, or book just to have around, you owe it to yourself to buy The X-Men Vol. 1 #'s 1-10.

There is a sense, albeit very simplistic, that can look at "The X-Men" as a cross between Marvel's two most successful comic books, "The Fantastic Four" and "The Amazing Spider-Man." From the former you get the idea of a group of superheroes who received their powers through mutation (specifically, exposure to them good ol' cosmic rays) with the idea of a superhero who is alienated from the very society they are trying to success. As it was made clear from the first issue of "The X-Men," mutants were feared by "ordinary" people. The sub-text of the prejudice of the majority against the differences of the minority certainly became stronger as the series progressed and is perhaps its most defining element; certainly it was the centerpiece of the promotional campaign for the film version. I remember liking the comics because the original X-Men were basically teenagers (Scott Summers and Jean Grey are the proverbial starcrossed lovers here). That meant it was easier to identify with them, especially since the Legion of Superheroes had about a hundred members and it was always a hit-or-miss proposition that your favorite one would be involved in the story in any given month.

This first volume of "X-Men" comics collects the first ten episodes of the series, written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby. We are introduced not only to our merry band of mutants (Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman, and the Beast) but some of the seminal villains for the group: Magneto (#1 and 4-6), the Vanisher (#2), the Blob (#3 & 7), the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants consisting of Magneto with Mastermind, Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch and Toad (#4-6), the Sub-Mariner (#6), and Unus the Untouchable (#8). There are also those fun clashes between heroes with the Avengers (#9) and Ka-Zar (#10). What stands out from this list is that Lee and Kirby were able to come up with THE X-Men villain right off the bat with Magneto, who represents the flip side of humanity's fear of the mutants. He also makes up for the Blob. It is always fun to see what gets abandoned from these early issues, most notably Bobby Drake as the Snowman and Professor X pining away for the lovely Jean Grey because he is old and confined to a wheel chair (that sure would have been a very interesting love triangle once you throw Scott Summers into the mix). None of these stories are particularly great, but these are the first ten issues of what would eventually become THE comic book on the planet so you have to check these out to see how it all began.

I am sure I am not alone in going back and re-reading "The Amazing Spider-Man" from the beginning as a way of both preparing for the blockbuster movie version and critiquing its fidelity to the original comic books. In this collection have Spider-Man's origin in "Amzaing Fantasy" #15 as well as first encounters with the Chameleon, the Vulture, the Tinkerer, Doctor Octopus, the Sandman, and even Doctor Doom from the first five issues of "The Amazing Spider-Man."

Although there were similarities to those who had come before (e.g., the motivation of a loved one's death just like Batman), it was ultimately the differences that made Spider-Man so popular. However, the key element of that difference did not emerge until issue #1 of "The Amazing Spider-Man," when J. Jonah Jameson begins his public crusade against the Spider-Man menace Ultimately, what made Spider-Man "different" was that he was considered to be a menace rather than a hero by the public. This meant that usually neither Peter Parker nor his web-slinger alter-ego had any luck other than bad, very bad, and worse. Here was the great idea of making the comic book superhero an underdog who is bewildered, confused, and bitter (end of issue #4) rather than a symbol of truth, justice and the American way.

What is amazing as you re-read these stories is how well these comics stand up (with the glaring exception of the parts in "Spider-Man" #1 where they drop a steel net to try and capture John Jameson's errant space capsule and Spidey catches a ride from a jet fighter using his webbing). I was never a big admirer of Steve Ditko's artwork, especially the stuff he did after he left Marvel, but in going over these early Spider-Man comics I am very impressed with his compositional skills. Ditko deserves a lot more credit as a comic book artist than I had given him the first time around.

As for Stan Lee's writing, the fun is how he tweaks the prevailing superhero mythos, especially in terms of Superman. Here the great metropolitan newspaper is out to get Spider-Man thrown in jail and Spider-Man's #1 fan is always trying to beat up puny Peter Parker. Then you can toss in the soap opera elements that are just starting to emerge in these first few issues. But clearly the key supporting figure here is Aunt May, the beloved little old lady who was arguably the more unique and important supporting character Lee ever created at Marvel. No other superhero ever had a white-haired aunt who could never know the truth, who was terrified by the mere thought of Spider-Man, and who showed almost as much gumption during all those stays in the hospital on death's door as she did heart every day of her life.

It is clear from re-reading these first six comics that all of the defining elements of Spider-Man were pretty much established at this point in the character's history. But once you have learned the beginning that is no reason to stop at this point, because even if you switch over to the black & white "Essentials of Spider-Man" collection to continue the web crawler's story, you will still enjoy the ride because the best is yet to come.

All kidding aside, this is a wonderful collection. Steve Ditko's art may look a bit crude to the contemporary reader, but few comics artists before or since have approached his mastery of chiaroscuro and composition. Plus... it's got the Vulture! Doc Ock! J. Jonah Jameson! And Aunt May! And it's in color! What's not to like?

A must own for any true believer. Nuff said!

I just came across this book in my local comic book shop and was in the mood for some classic Marvel so I picked it up. It reprints issues #1-5 of Amazing Spider-Man plus Spidey's origin story in Amazing Fantasy #15.

If you're a fan of Steve Ditko's art this book is a treasure. And even if you're not, after reading this book you will be!

The stories are, of course, great - they feature the first appearances of Doc Ock, the Sandman, and the Vulture, plus a battle royal with Doctor Doom.

This book is pretty rare (it predates the new series of hardcover Marvel Masterworks books.) After it's publication, Marvel decided it would be cheaper to do their reprints in larger numbers and to jazz them up with hardcovers, so there is no continuation. This is basically a stand-alone TPB. (Marvel Masterworks vol. 1 reprints the same Spider-Man issues, along with issues #6-10.) Only two other similar volumes were printed, Avengers Masterworks and X-Men Masterworks.

When I decided that I could not spend all my money on comic books the two Marvel comics I continued to collect were Daredevil and Iron Man. Even before Frank Miller upped the ante on the character there was something compelling about Matt Murdock, the blind lawyer who used his heightened senses as the Man Without Fear. It is an oversimplification to call Daredevil Marvel's answer to Batman, although there are strong similarities: neither has super strength, both are guilty over the death of parents and both are pretty smart. But Daredevil had more in touch with the common man, especially in these early days when he and partner Foggy Nelson are trying to make a go of their law practice and Matt has eyes, so to speak, for the lovely Karen Page.

This volume contains the first eleven issues of Daredevil with art by Bill Everett and Wally Wood, too of the more stylistic artists working in the Marvel Bullpen way back when. They probably did the odd number of 11 issues in this volume because 10-11 is a two-parter (unfortunately they stopped short of #12 and the first appearance of Ka-Zar). There are appearance by Spider-Man and the Thing in the first two issues for those who are crossover conscious. In these first eleven issues DD takes on Electro (#2), the Owl (#3), the Purple Man (#4), the Fellowship of Fear (#6), the Sub-Mariner (#7), and Stilt Man (#8). In the first six issues DD wears his yellow outfit before putting on the red suit in issue #7. Marvel needs to get on the stick and start issuing the next volumes in this series.

Yes, this is the best Definative Daredevil compilation out there. I bought this and I'm cherishing it. It fits well in ANY bookshelf and is a fantastic read every single time. Not only does Marvel overdo their respects to one of their main heros but also they made this into a visually striking masterpiece. The artwork has been redone to capture the fantastic classic-ness of The Man Without Fear!

The first 11 classic issues of Daredevil are printed in one Marvel Masterworks collection. These issues showcase Stan Lee's 'Marvel Method' of writing brilliantly as we witness the origin of Daredevil and his subsequent adventures. Of course this book showcase's the artistic genius of Wally Wood as well. Lee and Wood recreate the costume and redefine the character in the classic issue #7, battle with the Sub-Mariner. This book represents the best of Daredevil and also illustrates how badly the character has been treated, both in writing and in art, in recent months of his on-going title. The only sour-note in this collection is the horrendous coloring job, which tries to update the art with a palette that is at times garish and muddy. Don't let that stop you from experiencing the greatness that was Marvel Comics!

Although many remember Steve Ditko's art work on Spider-man, a character he illustrated from the beginning for about 2 years, it is his work on Marvel's Doctor Strange that stands out.

This is a rare hardcover (never out in paperback) collection from 1992 reprinting the master mage's earliest stories - from Strange Tales 110-111 & 114-141, from 1963-1966.

The quality of the color reproduction is excellent, which is great as some of the early Marvel Comics' wildest colors and backgrounds were used and depicted when Dr. Strange journeyed to some other dimension to fight another (evil) magician.

Some of the Marvel Masterworks library are relatively slim but you get your money's worth with this one - 272 pages of mystical combat with Dormammu, Baron Mordo, Loki and others.

Sure, other reviewers are correct in pointing out the dialog and stories may seem corny to some raised on the "grittier, more realistic" stories from the 80's, but I feel that is comparing apples to oranges - like comparing say the movies Gladiator to Ben Hur - both classics but products of their times.

I recommend this as among the best of Marvel Masterworks library. Shame you can't still buy it over the counter at your friendly neighborhood comic book store.

This volume is a wonderful introduction to Dr. Strange, containing the classic original stories of my most favorite comic book hero. We also get the great first-time intros of some of the best villains--Baron Mordo, the Dread Dormammu, and Umar the Unrelenting.

The 'modern' reader, won't necessarily appreciate a lot of these things when compared to the current generation of writing in other comic books (like the edgy X-Men, Avengers, etc). After all, this was written in the 60's, so it's sometimes cheesy and has simplistic plots. But for a Dr. Strange fan, this volume is a necessary and refreshing addition.

I recently read Tom Wolfe's Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and while doing so encountered this passage: "...and Kesey is old and haggard and his face is lopsided...and then Sandy looks and Kesey is young, serene, and his face is lineless, and round and smooth as a baby's as he sits for hours on end reading comic books, absorbed in the plunging Steve Ditko shadows of Dr. Strange attired in capes and chiaroscuro, saying: "How could they have known that this gem was merely a device to bridge DIMENSIONS!" I couldn't have said it better myself. This is the cosmic stuff that shaped the dreams of a generation.

Stan Lee once described Steve Ditko as "the most unique genius".As a long time fan of Spiderman,(and everything else illustrated by Steve Ditko),I feel those words describe the man to a T. While I would not deny the quality of the artwork of all the other comic book artists that have tried their hand at drawing Spiderman,in particular,Frank Miller,the hand of Steve Ditko made us all believe that Peter Parker really was the SPIDER MAN.(with the emphasis on both words).

The second ten issues collected in "Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2" are better than the first ten issues collected in Volume 1. Of course, you cannot appreciate the second ten issues without having read the first ten issues, so do not think that you should begin your appreciation of Spider-Man with this second volume. Unlike the "Essential Spider-Man, Volume 1," which combines all of the aforementioned comic book stories in a single volume, these reprints are in color. Either way one of the things that stands out in these issues is the outstanding artwork of Steve Ditko. I was never really a fan of the way Ditko drew people, but his compositional skills are absolutely first rate.

In these ten issues Stan Lee and Ditko consistently work in all of the familiar elements that made Spider-Man the most popular comic book superhero of the 1960s. Peter Parker loves Betty Bryant, but when her brother is shot during a fight she ends up blaming Spider-Man (#11), showing that when it comes to the romance department our hero rarely has any good luck. To add to his troubles Spider-Man is "Unmasked by Dr. Octopus" (#12), has to tangle with both the Green Goblin and the Incredible Hulk (#14), teams up with Daredevil to battle the Ringmaster (#16), has to deal with a supervillain created specifically by J. Jonah Jameson ("The Coming of the Scorpion," #20), has to worry about poor old frail Aunt May (#17), and even ends up seeing a psychiatrist because Mysterio is driving him crazy (#13). For Spider-Man, being a superhero is not all it is cracked up to be.

One of the improvements in this second collection is that we are dealing with the best of Spider-Man's villains: Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and the Scorpion, with Dr. Octopus and the Green Goblin appearing in two issues apiece. This is a big improvement over the Terrible Tinkerer and crossover bad guys like Dr. Doom. Stan Lee is writing better stories about both Spider-Man and his secret identity, creating a situation that is more and more complex. The predictability of these stories is getting less and less as Lee goes out of his way to keep taking things in new directions. But keep in mind: this is not the best of 'The Amazing Spider-Man' by Lee and Ditko; that is yet to come (that would be the Master Planner/Doctor Octopus trilogy in issues #31-33, which means you have to wait for Masterworks Volume 4).

This is where Ditko (who must have been the driving force in much of the early series) and Lee really hit their stride. Yes, the colors are brighter than when originally printed on cheap comic paper, but you can see great storytelling and great art combined. Any of these comics, if produced today, would span numerous issues because the art would dominate. Not so here in the mid-60's Marvels. It's a beautiful blend.

Actually "The Death of Gwen Stacy" deals with more than the titular fatality and the end of the original Green Goblin in reprinting five classic comic books from Volume 1 of "The Amazing Spider-Man." You also get the previous three-story confrontation between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin that became infamous when the stories did not receive the Comic Book Code seal of approval because of a major sub-plot involving Peter Parker's roommate Harry Osborn being hooked on drugs: (1) "Amazing Spider-Man" #69, "And now, the Goblin," Story by Stan Lee, Art by Gil Kane and John Romita, Sr.; (2) "Amazing Spider-Man" #70, "In the Grip of the Goblin," Story by Stan Lee, Art by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia; and (3) "Amazing Spider-Man" #71, "The Goblin's Last Gasp," Story by Stan Lee, Art by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia. This was the first time when Norman Osborn remembered who he was along with Spider-Man's secret identity. Of course, the resolution of this crises leaves much to be desired since it is a tentative, at best, fix. The most memorable sequences in these stories is actually when Peter Parker and not Spider-Man takes down Harry's dealer. This trilogy sets up the other story, not just because it is the previous confrontation between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, but because another subplot has Peter and Gwen resolving their current interpersonal conflict.

The key thing to remember when you get to the next pair of stories is that Stan Lee is no longer writing the book and therefore killing off Peter's girl friend was not his idea: (4) "Amazing Spider-Man" #112, "The Night Gwen Stacy Died," Story by Gerry Conway, Art by Gil Kane and John Romita, Sr.; and (5) "Amazing Spider-Man" #113 "The Goblin's Last Round," Story by Gerry Conway, Art by Gil Kane and John Romita, Sr. Of course, the title of that first issue does not appear until the final page, since it obviously gives the game away, but just as clearly that is not a problem for this trade paperback collection. I think Conway did away with Gwen because Peter was getting pretty close to actually being happy and Spider-Man needed to get back to the oppressive sense of guilt that drives him because of the death of a loved one. Now, in addition to Uncle Ben, there is Gwen (Spider-Man was much more responsible for Gwen's death than that of Captain Stacy). Little would we know that the end of this story, where Mary Jane Watson stays with Peter to comfort him after Gwen's death, that this would end up being the start of something special.

Also included in this collection is "The Kiss," by John Marc DeMatteis and John Romita, Sr., which is reprinted from "Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #1," which serves as a poignant epilogue to the main events. This 112-page edition has a new cover by new painted cover by John Van Fleet. I would not exactly say that the deaths of Gwen Stacy and the Green Goblin were "great" Spider-Man stories, but they were certainly important and constituted an impressive one-two punch for consecutive issues. The historical importance would apply to the Lee stories as well. Unfortunately, these events eventually led to introducing the horrible idea of clones into the story line, both for the late lamented Gwen and Peter himself. More often than not, the dead should stay dead, even in the world of comic books.

This is a TPB of the saddest moment in spidey history. The Green Goblin commited his most henous act killing Gwen Stacy ( spideys Girl Friend). But it was also shows a supposed final end (impaled by his own glider) It also left room for harry to take his fathers place.

This is the second book to the Essential Spider-Man collection, their are 2 different covers and the other one is out of stock, for some reason they dont tell you this is the 2nd one but it is, it takes off where the first one left off, if you get the first one youll be hooked and youll have to get this one, and the other three. These Essential Spider-Man books are incredible!

Volume 2 of "The Essential Spider-Man" offers up issues #21-43 of the "Amazing Spider-Man" along with the original stories from Annuals #2 & 3. These are the issues that offer some big changes for both the character and the comic book. For the character, besides the introduction of new villains we see Liz Allen and Betty Bryant replaced in Peter Parker's affections by Gwen Stacy and (at long last) Mary Jane Watson. For the comic book it is artist John Romita (Sr.) taking over for Steve Ditko with issue #39, "How Green Was My Goblin." Of course, this is one of the most famous Spidey issues of all time as Spidey and the Green Goblin are both unmasked and things become very, very interesting.

I understand why some would complain that these reprints are in black & white but I have discovered at least one benefit to reading these comics without color, and that is a greater appreciation of the artwork of Steve Ditko. When I was reading these comics in 1965-67, I was happy to see Romita replace Ditko as an artist. However, as I re-read the Spider-Man comics drawn by Ditko I realize that although his figures are not exactly drawn in the most realistic style, he is a master of composition and pacing. Just look at the cover of #24 for example, but leaf through any of his issues and study what he is doing and I think you will be as impressed as I am as you watch Spider-Man tackle the Beetle, the Clown and his Masters of Menace, Mysterio, the Crime Master, the Molten Man, the Scorpion, the Cat, Ka-Zar, the Rhino, and even J. Jonah Jameson and the first of his killer robots.

Yes, the two-part confrontation between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin that begins Romita's tenure on the comic book is a classic story, which is at the heart of this summer's blockbuster movie (notice they do an homage to the cover of #39 in the film). However, I would make a case that this collection includes another of the greatest Spider-Man stories in issues #31-33. Peter Parker has parted ways with Betty Bryant and Gwen Stacy has appeared upon the scene, but that means nothing because Aunt May is very sick. Spidey gets Doc Connor to help with a formula that can save her life, but then it is stolen by the henchmen of Doctor Octopus. As the last of these three issues begins Spider-Man "is now trapped beneath tons of fallen steel, with the precious serum lying just out of reach, as the fatal second's tick by..." (quoting Stan Lee of course). But Spider-Man already is responsible for the death of his Uncle Ben and he is not going to fail Aunt May. There are other Spider-Man stories as good, but none better than this one, which finds both Lee and Ditko at their peaks.

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Spiderman - The Ultimate Guide is a very thorough and informative book. New fans of comics and people who know little about Peter Parker and his alter-ego Spiderman will find this an enjoyable read and will leave it with a strong knowledge of the 30+ year history of the character.

The book covers everything from Spidey's origin and powers to his supporting cast including Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Mary Jane, and plenty more. Key points in Spiderman's adventures are also covered including: the Death of Gwen Stacy, the Alien Costume, the mystery of the Hoblgoblin, and the Clone Saga. Villains and vigilantes are also reviewed like: Green Goblin, The Vulture, Sandman, Electro, Venom, Carnage, and several minor characters that you might not expect to see included in a 170 page book.

The Ultimate Guide also mentions alternate creations of Spiderman like Spiderman 2099 and The Ultimate Spiderman (my personal favorite).

If DeFalco's Guide does have a weak spot it's that many entries have captions and paragraphs that simply reiterate the same material. With two pages of information on a character this can become annoying to read the same fact three times in such a short space. Also a personal gripe of mine is that sometimes laughable characters like The Rocket Racer were included while a more common classic villain like The Shocker was overlooked. Instead of pages devoted to Will O The Wisp and Silvermane, I would have much rather preferred a more indepth look at some of the runs of Spiderman stories and the various plots they dealt with...alas maybe in Ultimate Guide #2 (hint).

All in all I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn about the incredible character of Spiderman before the movie premieres on May 3, 2002.

This book was awesome! The illustrations and pictures were the best I've seen in a long time. It also was a very informative book. I learned more things about Spider-Man in this one book than in any other single book. It also contained very informative timelines and thumbnai pictures. I especially enjoyed the Spider-Man costumes column. This book even has blue prints for Spider-Man's web shooters! This book was very detailed and carried origins for each and every villain. I recommend this book to all who like Spider-man and want to learn more about him, or even if you know a lot and just to learn the details. This was an all around great book!

I have been a rabid Spider-Man fan, reader, and collector for the past 13 years. In that time, I've seen some of the best (1980's to 1993) and worst (Clone Saga) this hero has to offer. IN addition, I have collected every issue ever published. So, I'm very knowledgable about SPider-Man and his world. Still, this book is a delight to read. I didn't learn anything new, but it is well written, spectacularly illustrated with original comic art from some of Spidey's most legendary artists (Ditko, Romita Sr., Romita Jr., Frenz, Andru, Sal Buscema, Gil Kane, McFarlane, Bagley, Larsen). New fans will learn a lot from this book, but no matter how long you've been a fan of Spidey, this book is a treasure trove for you!!