Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus volume 2: The Stan Lee & John Romita Sr. Issues
Monday, 23rd April, 2012 § 3 Comments
The second volume of the Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus collecting the John Romita Sr. run when he picked up the penciling chores of the title after Steve Ditko left in 1966 with issue #38. Ditko was good and all but it’s Romita Sr.’s run that I love most from that period. His Peter Parker had more meat on him for one and he drew beautiful women. I can’t imagine how Mary Jane Watson would have looked like if drawn by Ditko. Probably anorexic-looking.
Anyway,
The cover art is by Humberto Ramos with his take on the famous #39 ‘Spider-Man Unmasked’ issue. I would have preferred the Romita version naturally but I bought this from Amazon and they only had the variant version. This is the Romita cover: 
The Romita version is way better, isn’t it? Oh well.
The Omnibus is almost 1000 pages thick. If used properly it can constitute as a weapon.
The only way to read any of Marvel’s Omnibi; spreadeagled on the floor. The book, not the reader. Excellent binding, no damage to the book’s spine. Click on any of the photos to embiggen. (Embiggen? It’s a perfectly cromulent word).
Why I prefer the Omnibus. It even collects the letters pages which were not included in the Marvel Masterworks edition and definitely not in the Marvel Essentials edition. If you do not or have not collected Marvel comics you will not understand what I just wrote. Don’t worry. It’s not important.
Back then this kind of surprise reveal was still shocking in superhero comics. “Norman Osborn is the Green Goblin?? No way!“
The first time we (and Peter) get to see Mary Jane Watson. Then forty years later, One More Day happened. Ugh. (Again, if you don’t know what I’m referring to, don’t worry. In fact, in this case count yourself lucky!)
I wasn’t around when this issues first came out of course but I was around when Marvel reprinted them in the 1980s under the Marvel Tales banner and it was those issues that I collected. Good times. Having those same issues now bound in one massive volume on expensive paper (none of that newsprint trash) and remastered colouring…well, I think they did something to the colour because it looks gorgeous…makes this door-stopper of a book a must have for any comic collector or any middle age man trying to recapture his youth.
To quote Mary Jane, “Face it, Tiger! You just hit the jackpot!”
Splendid omnibus THM and awesome review Bro.The condition of the book looks mint. Did you bought this from amazon? The last omnibus I purchased from amazon is The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 1 and it was packed for shipping in a cardboard, shrink wrapped but without bubble wrap or foam peanuts to protect the book. Upon arrival most every corner of the cover were ruin like some dog ears and the dustjacket is torn here and ther like bungkus lepat pisang. I will surely get a copy of this, but not from amazon with their excuse of green earth policy to cut costs in packaging, maybe from Tales of Wonders of better still Kinokuniya KL, so long if the same is avalaible in press mint condition albiet the melampau sangat price tag.
What I meant was TMR. Sorry bro..
Yes, I bought it from Amazon (as I stated in the review). It arrived shrink wrapped and the box was bubble wrapped. No damage at all