There's been a lot of focus and attention on Spider-Man lately. With AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #700 bringing an end to the series and big changes to the character, everyone wants to know what's going to happen next. There has been many new readers jumping on board as well after hearing how crazy things have become. A question that comes up extremely often is, "I want to start reading Spider-Man, where do I begin?" This book can help you pretty much jump in to any point in Spidey's career.

This slipcase hardcover book comes in a great package. The inside cover contains two original prints. There's a forward by Stan Lee which is fitting. You'll immediately notice there are plenty of images throughout every inch of this book. With "visual" in the title, you would expect nothing less.

It all starts out in the beginning. You do get some background on where the character came from and what Marvel was doing before AMAZING FANTASY #15 featured the first appearance of the character we know today. The book is divided into decades and gives a pretty comprehensive summary of what happened and plenty of highlights of Spider-Man's early days.

Of course it starts out with the 1960s. If you've ever read any of the early stories, you'll immediately be hit with a blast of nostalgia. Most people may know the story of how Spider-Man started but besides his origin, there's a lot that happened in this decade. This is where a lot of first encounters occurred. Seeing the classic styles is a fun treat.

The 1970s saw some slight changes in the tone of the series. With the loss of someone close along with the debut of characters like the Punisher, readers were quickly seeing a change in the lighter vibe from the 60s.

The way the decades are broken down, you get a nice summary for several key issues. It's not just a matter of summing up story arcs, there is a close look at specific issues. Besides just information from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN issues, important facts from appearances in MARVEL TEAM-UP, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, etc are included as well.

The 1980s is where a lot of events stuck and carried the character forward. The series became a little more serious as the 80s saw some dark and gritty comics. Peter and Mary Jane got married but other events such as (one of my favorites) the first appearance of the Hobgoblin, "The Death of Jean DeWolff" and "Kraven's Last Hunt" also happened. There's also a nice bit of information from one of my all time favorite single issues, ASM #248 with "The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man."

Of course this is also the decade we saw the symbiote costume. This was big news for the character. It was the first time Spider-Man changed his costume and it was a drastic change. This was one of the first times something in comics actually made the news. People were talking about what was going on, something that didn't happen too often in comics.

The 90s are known for a lot of things. One of them is Todd McFarlane on Spider-Man. Again, it's important to note that you do get a lot of great images in this book. Because comics are such a visual medium, it would be a shame if we didn't get nice big splashy images along with all the facts and details.

The 90s is also when we saw the Clone Saga. Besides Ben Reilly's debut (or actually his return) and the return of Norman Osborn, there is also mention of May "Mayday" Parker's first appearance in WHAT IF (Vol. 2) #105.

There is plenty of information about the 2000s. Besides the fan-favorite "The Other" story arc, we also saw the birth of the Ultimate Universe along with Ultimate Peter Parker. This section even goes into SPIDER-MAN: INDIA and the adventures of Arana.

Spider-Man was extremely busy in the 2000s. He also played a big role in "Civil War," barely survived "One More Day," joined the Avengers as well as see Dan Slott's "Big Time" story begin. He even met Miles Morales in the first crossover with the Ultimate Universe.

As you can see, this is an extremely comprehensive collection. Just about anything and everything you'd want to know about Spider-Man and those associated with him is included. It's a shame it couldn't include the events from this month's ASM #700 but the book was published in October of this year and is as up to date as possible.

This is a book for every Spidey fan. The retail price is $50.00 for over 350 pages. Chances are you will be able to find it cheaper online at your favorite discounted book website.

And here's a tease. We will be giving away five copies of this book. You can look for a contest by the end of the week!

That looks pretty cool.

All this rich history and its going down the toilet with ssm.

@jesusdisciple001: That's silly. The history is definitely still there. Just as the mention of Peter and Mary Jane's marriage. We'll always have Spider-Man. I have not read the spoilers and will not until I get an actual issue but no matter what, we'll always have Spider-Man.

To everyone, please refrain from any ASM 700 spoilers here. Thank you.

This looks so awesome!! Come on Tony just this once do an overseas competition, i won't tell the lawyers if you don't ;)

I <3 Spider-man Contests

I won't enter. IIRC there was something about you have to have you're real address or identity in your profile. Not willing to publicly out it up on there. I don't really remember. *shrugs*   I'm not questioning the reasoning though.   I can live with it. 
 
Though I'll call you a liar if you ever say  Metrotham doesn't exist and that I'm not really that Dernman. 
I now my arch nemesis is reading this and that's all these CV contests are about. I laugh at your attempts to find out my secret identity.

@G-man @mucklefluga is right do an overseas one and thanks for that point of view on ssm, so positive while everyone is so negative thanks for showing Mike Bowden on awesome artpicks.

$50 bucks for all of that, is a pretty good deal.

Damn, I wish I could enter the competition :'(

I have the Marvel Chronicle, which from the look of it does pretty much exactly the same but with Marvel Comics in general rather than just Spider-Man. It's an amazing book; if this is anywhere as good as Marvel Chronicle, I'd highly recommend it!

local book shop was selling it for £5 last weekend, that's basically cheaper then an actual spiderman graphic novel

How much extra do we have to pay for them to take the One More Day part out?

I heard in issue #700 Batman shows up and saves Spider-Man. you will be able to see Batman in the background

Alright, as a new member here, I'm stoked! Totally entering the contest, awaiting the details!

It's 31$ on Amazon, fyi.

I'd love it as a Christmas gift. =)

I jumped on Spider-man during Civil War after borrowing my friends books. I am currently collecting from Big Time to now. I am Trouble on the Horizon. Brand New Day is probably the best spot to start but the Civil War/Back in Black stuff is a good place too. Some people say Big Time is another good spot but a lot is mentioned that happened before that.

I would love to have something like this. Im not that big of a Spidey fan, but I do love to read about the history of comic books, and this looks like a great amount of information. Pics above look awesome!

is this comics based? like i know theres a book called "spider-man icon" that has more to do with the marketing and such around him as well as the comics, but is this mostly comics?

It looks to be a nicely craft book with plenty of detail on the history of Spidey.

@jesusdisciple001: Are Marvel coming to your house and burning all of your Spider-man comics, wiping them out of existence? No? Then the history is still there.

I may have to pick this up. I could do without the Ultimate stuff though.

Is The Other really a fan favorite? I'm asking because I've never heard anyone who still reads Spider-Man say anything good about it. The only thing they seem to hate more is One More Day.

I WANT THIS BOOK. HOW DO I ENTER THIS CONTEST IF I'M IN THE PHILIPPINES? ANSWERS PLEASE!!

I wish this could be as cool as they make it sound.

@iaconpoint said:

Is The Other really a fan favorite? I'm asking because I've never heard anyone who still reads Spider-Man say anything good about it. The only thing they seem to hate more is One More Day.

gasps! I loved The Other storyline! The reason I hated One More Day is because it undid that storyline lol

It's a great book, hopefully there will be more for the 50th Anniversaries next year

THAT LOOKS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will definitely enter the contest ( If I can, where I live ) !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow that's amazing! I'd love either to win this from you guys or I'd splurge fifty bucks on it easily! That's truly a must have for any Spidey fan or anyone interested in him, like myself!

Getting it for Christmas

I really wanna get into this series...can anyone give me a good jumping point?

It looks like an awesome book. However, it would be sad to watch the destruction of a once beloved icon after the "One More Day"story arc to the present.

Is this contest available for US only? I live in Ireland.

This is exciting :D

@powerhouse1122: cannot. Apparently US only.

I don't like their choice of art for the cover. The Spider-man itself is very… dull. It's like those generic pictures. And then I don't know who drew everyone in the background, but I think it's kind of ugly. The cover of the book could have been so much nicer. oh well.

I'm believe the most bitter-sweet of Spidey villians, thus making him the worst with the best origin, has to be Harry. His one time closest friend following in his father's footsteps to take on the face of the Green Goblin, the villian that killed Parker's first love. Imagine the feelings Peter got beating his one time best friend repeatedly? The memories that must have surfaced the first time they fought? The good times they'd had together, and the memories of the pain that mask had given him.