Spider-man: Perceptions (Paperback)

Personally I'm very fond of this era. The stories are somewhat simpler and more straight forward than most of the 80's ones had been. They are more lighthearted, there's more humour (usually in the form of Peter being in an embarassing situation) and MacFarlane's art is of course, love it or hate it.

But I think it's an underated era. Michelinie's story style and writing is pitch perfect for McFarlane's art. Todd's caricature-like characters are given the proper note of humour, and Michelinie captures Spidey's self-depretiating, 'what-now?' attitude very well. I actually think Michelinie defined the character of Spidey somewhat for the 1990's.

Their stories are very readable and appealing, and IMO great to look at. The highlight of their run was of course the introduction of Venom, and they had a number of other noteworthy contributions. The first, and only proper Hogboblin vs Green Goblin (which was mediocre but atleast they did it), the creation of creepy Styx and Stone, Jonathan Ceasar kidnapping MJ and holding her prisoner only a few rooms away from her's and Peter's apartment. They also had Peter publish his Webs photography book, revamped the Prowler (very Spawn-esque), and had Spidey punch the Hulk....into space.

I think Michelinie/McFarlane's run was a perfect late-80's version of the original Stan Lee/Steve Ditko stories. Michelinie writes the same well-paced, good humoured, traditional style stories as Lee, yet more streamlined and somewhat lighter. McFarlane has all the offbeat weirdness of Ditko, and is not afraid to make Spidey look weird and freakish.

If you are new to the Spider-Man comics after seeing the movies, this is the perfect volume to get into the series. Knowledge of the films is enough to understand these stories. The artwork is colourful and appealing, and you'll get to see the work of the most succesful and controversial comicbook artist of all-time. The stories are fun, full of action and of course, full of supervillains. You really can't go wrong.

God be with you.