Rating:  -
This collection of the original 22 magazine appearances of Spider-Man* is awesome. I'm not an experienced Spider-Man fan; I mostly know him from the recent Tobey Maguire films (good, better, bad). Spider-Man is a great character: trying to do the right thing and beat criminals while struggling to make financial ends meet (at one point he tries to convince a sports card manufacturer to make Spider-Man trading cards - to no avail), trying not to lose his temper with kids at school (remember he's just a teenager), and seeking to maintain a relationship while constantly disappearing (to turn into Spider-Man). His adolescent arrogance often gets the better of him and his luck turns sour as often as sweet (except in a fight, in which it turns sour less often :) ).
The dialogue in these comics is hilarious, often because of its clunky exposition. I'd say "unintentionally," but Stan Lee - the writer - seems savvy enough to see the joke. Here are a couple of lines I loved:
Dr Doom, in a thought bubble: "When one is a master of science, as I am, there is nothing which cannot be accomplished!"
Mysterio, in the midst of a battle with Spider-man: "I might as well tell you the whole story - for I shall see to it that you never tell anyone else!" [followed by the whole story**]
The book is full of visits from other superheroes: the Fantastic Four appear most prominently, but we also see the Hulk, and have cameos from the X-Men, Giant-Men, the Wasp, Dr Strange, Iron Man, and many more. The villains are endless and creative: my favorite is the oh-so-dated leopard skin pants-wearing Kraven the Hunter. And there isn't a period in the whole book: all exclamation points and question marks.
This is first-class entertainment.
* Includes Amazing Fantasy #15, The Amazing Spider-Man #1 - 20, and The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1.
** Reminiscent of that scene in The Great Muppet Caper when Miss Piggy asks her new employer why she just told her all about her personal life, to which the employer responds, Exposition!
Rating: -
If you are interested in the origins of Spider-Man, his friends, Aunt May, and several of his oldest foes then this is a great book. Obviously some might be turned away by the lack of color, but the content of the book makes up for that to me. If you like stories that can be completed in one issue instead of the normal six issues these days, or you just like a good Lee/Kirby story. This is the book for you!
Rating:  -
Even oh so many decades later these stories are still astounding for the complexity of character they have. Sure, some of the portrayal of the teenagers will seem naive now due to cultural changes over the years but the depth of story-telling is really superb.
We see the creation of Spiderman of course, as well as many of his premier rogues gallery, though to be fair we also see some pretty weak villains as well. Montana and Fancy Dan anyone?
What is interesting about the art is, excepting for the Annual, the complete lack of splash pages. This gives a general panel count of 6-9 per page which really allows the depth of story-telling that is the strength of this collection. There is ample room for exposition and character development. The strength of which is Peter Parker dealing with his real life, his relationships with Aunt May, Betty Brandt and the fellow students at his school. This is where the stories are elevated above bam-pow superhero action.
Though the lack of color is unfortunate, you get a really fair number of issues for the price. The lack of color also allows one to see the pencilling and inking better which may or may not be of interest to you.
On the whole a really good run of issues introducing a new archetype of superhero.
Rating: -
This is an awsome collection of some of the early spiderman. It is the wed slinger in amazing action comics including his run in with the sinister 6 and the creation of SPIDER-MAN.
Rating:  -
as mentioned by a previous reviewer our cover started coming off as we opened the book. Very poor construction. As my son was excited to read the comics inside I did not send the book back. The comics are awesome. We have essentials #2 on its way (we tried to cancel deciding that Omnibus was the way to go. But it had already shipped). Great stories but terrible binding. Price is great for the content. Just don't expect these to be saved as collector items. That they are not.
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