AMAZING FANTASY #16-18 (1995-1996)

Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider-Man, is probably the single greatest superhero comic of all time. What Kurt Busiek does across these three issues is take the ideas–which were rapidly set forth in Golden Age style–and spread them out, giving them time to breathe, exploring the notions of abandonment and grief, isolation and bullying, and the sheer joy of having super powers. These few panels pretty much say what these issues are about:

These issues are unrushed and fabulous. They’re also a perfect companion to Kurt Busiek’s Untold Tales of Spider-Man–an extended love letter to Stan and Steve’s initial Amazing Spider-Man run. The details really don’t matter. Just find these and read them. They’re fantastic.

On a minor continuity note, issue #17 introduced the character Supercharger.

He’s basically Electro.

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