Gerry Conway

Martin, how come you think DeMatteis is unspeakable? I'm asking because I agree with you, but lots of people (specifically people into Spider-Man) seem to rate him. Mostly it's for 'Kraven's Last Hunt' that he's praised, but he is generally well regarded. KLH seems to me pretty decent, in terms of storytelling, but I generally hate his reliance on Oprah-level psychology. Stories called "The Child Within" etc. The dialogue is catastrophically bad.

Oh, and Al, I don't think Gerry Conway did the drug issues. That was two years before Gwen Stacey died. Also, the clones are gone - they've unofficially been written out of continuity.

I've not read J.M.'s more recent Spidey stories - I haven't read very many comics since I was professionally involved, and that's about ten years now. I'm mainly remembering appalling stuff like the Defenders stories I referenced, and most of all things like Moonshadow, which strikes me as a contender for the nadir of Marvel/DC publications of its era. Conway was pretty rub much of the time, but he was never in that league.

Actually, _Kraven's Last Hunt_ WAS damn good, from what I remember (circa '90-'91), and possibly the best JMDeM writing I can recall - he had a run on _Spectacular_ sometime during Spidey's 30th anniversary, w/ Harry Osborn going nutzo & becoming the Green Goblin AGAIN, which was all right, nothing spectacular. However, he also wrote this mediocre / awful Vertigo series (Seekers?) that bored me to the same tears Moonshadow brought to Martin's eyes, I imagine. And let's not talk about the Defenders. Or the Secret Defenders. (How the hell can you mess up a team book featuring DOCTOR STRANGE? I don't get it.) Most indelible JMDeM flourish - the one-word-per-word-balloon schtick he'd employ when the message was very serious - HE / WAS / MY / FATHER! (Also - I liked the Shawn McManus art in the Dr. Fate books. That whole pseudo-Oedipal thing, not so much. Not sure whether that demon sidekick was cute or shitass.) (How the hell can you screw up DOCTOR FATE!?!)

The drug issues were Stan Lee's baby - Conway came onto the series sometime in the 100s, I think.

Al - the Bendis Spidey (Ultimate Spider-Man) is just a moderny recasting of old skool Spidey shenanigans, and has NOTHING to do with clones (eradicated from continuity or otherwise). I'm not sure I like what they're doing with Venom in this series, but everything else to this point (Kraven the Hunter as a Croc-Hunter-esque poseur, the Green Goblin as super-powered Hulk-like freak, Gwen Stacy as bitchin' bad girl, Aunt May as ex-hippie) has been done quite well, much better than I thought possible (given that I, too, was wounded by the excessive clone bullshit, & stayed away from all Spidey titles for a long, long while). Then, again, every little tweak made by Millar & Bendis et al for the Ultimate Marvel line has been marvelous, so I might be too biased to bother with. (Christ, I'm enjoying the Ultimate Owlman shenanigans - clearly I'm a lost cause.)

But, yeah - Bendis & Jenkins (not sure if he's still writing for Peter Parker, but issues #23-50 are golden - word of advice: the issues not involving villian fisticuffs are the best of the run) & Straczynski (sic) have been doing wonders to rehab Spidey's tarnished reputation. I think it's safe to come back now.

You know, I just realized I actually enjoyed the initial few issues of Conway's run on _Spectacular Spider-Man_ - I clearly remember thinking, "Holy crap, how could he have been responsible for that clone horseshit - this Tombstone stuff is pretty good!" And then ... well, you know. I was fine w/ the back breaking & all, but when Tombstone & Joe Robertson get lost in the Appalaichan mountains and come face to face with BANJO (this hulking inbred superfreak), the lustre started to dim just a tad.

I think I should start more threads like this to come to terms with what is turning out to be a troubling adolescence.

Banjo! He was fun. Wasn't Conway responsible for Knight & Fogg around this time as well, those boys from Liverpool? Spidey travels to Britain to sort them out after they kill the Arranger. He foils a robbery in Picadilly Circus, then asks if anyone knows the way to Scotland Yard. A taxi driver says, "For two bob I'll take you there meself, guv".