Spider-Man: New Ways to Die

by Mark Waid and Dan Slott

Book Overview

The Thunderbolts are coming to New York to take down Spider-Man Spidey's a villain? Norman Osborn's a hero? What kind of crazy, mixed-up world is this? Next thing you'll tell us is that black is white & white is black, or maybe that has something to do with Venom, Mister Negative, & the birth of an all-new villain

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0785132449
• ISBN13: 9780785132448
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Marvel
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.6" x 10.1"
• Age Range: 9 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 4 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Brand New Day

If your a Spider-Man fan and have found the Brand New Day interesting I highly recommend that you pick this book up, The best of the Brand New Day arcs, as of yet, Spidey meeting Anti-Venom is priceless and the ever feared "Ven-orpion". As I said if your a fan of Spider-Man get this book.

Excellent Brock's comeback

This book presents the birth of the antivenom, and the beginning of Norman Osborn full goverment power, the art of JOHN ROMITA JR. is great (as always), and Dan Slot's writing is really interesting, this book is a must have.

That old Peter Parker luck: the Thunderbolts come to town, the rise of the Anti-Venom, and Peter's r

It's always gonna go back to the abominable ONE MORE DAY (thanks again, Joe Quesada), that stinkaroonie story arc which had Peter and Mary Jane making a deal with Mephisto to save Aunt May's life. The result is a rebooting of the Spider-Man mythos, but most significantly the wresting away of Peter and Mary Jane's marriage. In fact, in this new continuity, that marriage and Peter's public unmasking (during the CIVIL WAR event) never happened, and Peter's buddy Harry Osborn is alive again (and dude's opened up a Coffee Bean). So Peter Parker is back to his not-so-swinging bachelorhood (except that he's Spidey, so of course there IS a certain amount of swi- never mind), back to being a lowly photog, and has a revamped set of supporting characters. All this is established in the pretty good Amazing Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Vol. 1 (don't confuse that with ONE MORE DAY), even though it all feels like the '70s all over again (oboy, where's Glory Grant?). Even though I miss Mary Jane, there's no doubting that this reboot has breathed new life into the series and has gotten readers interested again. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN now consistently falls in the top tier of best-selling comic books. Fresher stories. Better artwork. And it comes out three times a month. I'm still very cheesed at ONE MORE DAY, but this is as close as it gets to being a worth-it tradeoff. Warning: Possible SPOILERS from now on. In the rotation of Spidey's brain trust of writers, Dan Slott's turn comes 'round again. He calls this story arc NEW WAYS TO DIE, with this trade collecting its entire six parts (issues #568-573). As we catch up with Spidey, wallcrawlin' dude is still on his can't-catch-a-break schtick. Still considered the numero uno suspect in the Spider-Tracer serial killings, his life gets even more messed-up when Norman Osborn and his Thunderbolts come a-gunnin' for him. This, even as Menace is still doing his best to sabotage/influence the upcoming mayoral election and that dubious philanthropist Mr. Li (a.k.a. Mr. Negative) is still up to who knows what in that soup kitchen Aunt May likes to volunteer in. On a personal level, the old Parker luck is also running true to form. His roomie, the NYPD copper, is busting his chops over the rent. Pete parts ways with the trashy tabloid, the DB (formerly the Daily Bugle). Luckily for him, he soon gets a new gig with the crusading Frontline newspaper, reuniting him with Rob Robertson and Ben Urich. Tugging at the soap opera thread of things, Peter, with no lovelife to speak of, does receive romantic overtures from an unexpected source. Also, some worrying stuff about Harry Osborn begins to surface. It's been a stretch of issues now since BRAND NEW DAY and Spidey in his own comic book has been doing his own thing, but insulated from the rest of the Marvel universe. This story arc plonks him squarely back into the overall 616 continuity, this particular timeline obviously taking place sometime before SECRET INVASION. NEW WAYS TO D

Dan Slott and JRJR can do no wrong

Dan Slott's work on She Hulk is among the best original writing I've read in Marvel. Once I found out he was part of the writing team on Brand New Day I figured it was worth giving it a shot, since anything had to be better than One More Day. The fact is One More Day happened, it's time to get over it, Mary Jane isn't really around and Peter Parker's identity is once again a secret. I, like most fans, find that total crap, with that being said Brand New Day and the new "Spidey Braintrust" are doing a damn fine job. Besides interesting stories, these guys REALLY know how to write in the voice of Peter Parker, which is of course very important to a successful Spider-Man book. New Ways to Die is the best yet, partly because of the always awesome John Romita Jr. artwork and a great story with great villians

Everything Old is New Again: The Return of Eddie Brock

Despite my personal feelings about "Brand New Day" Spider-Man reboot, "Amazing Spider-Man" has been consistently entertaining for the first time in years. "New Ways to Die," featuring the triumphant return of Eddie Brock, is one of the better chapters to emerge in the BND-era. The former Scorpion now wears the Venom (alien) costume, and Brock's turned his life around after being diagnosed with cancer. His new alter-ego, Anti-Venom, is a fresh take on the Venom mythos and feels like a natural progression of Brock's character. Of course, Venom also appears here, along with his fellow Thunderbolts. Since this is a Brand New Day story, neither Norman Osborn, Venom, nor Eddie Brock remember that Peter Parker is Spider-Man--a plot point that is handled with a wink and nod to the audience by writers Dan Slott and Mark Waid. Osborn is a "good guy" and Spider-Man is a "bad guy," although readers know the true score. Osborn doesn't have it all together, though--the dude dresses up as the Green Goblin again, a bad omen for his fragile psyche. Now that he's in charge of the Avengers (see "Dark Avengers #1" and "Dark Reign"), how long can he hide his evil intentions from the American public? And, what secrets is his son hiding? The Spider-Man team has done an excellent job setting up new and old characters on a collision course with "New Ways to Die." Could Marvel have re-launched Spider-Man without undoing Peter Parker and MJ's marriage? Of course they could have. Will Peter and Mary Jane get back together? Eventually. In the meantime, I'm content to forget about the whole "One More Day" cluster-**** and just enjoy Spider-Man's new lease on life.