Near Mint Condition announced another Marvel omnibus for May 2027, and this book fills a massive modern gap with a map that is very much Krisis-Approved! Readers remain divided on this material 15 years after its release, but regardless of the fan sentiment I am happy this will exist: Spider-Man: Big Time Omnibus Vol. 1!
“Big Time” was the banner that kicked off the era of Spider-Man that followed “Brand New Day.” Like “Brand New Day,” this involved Amazing Spider-Man (1963) shipping multiple times a month, so there was only one other supporting Spider-Man ongoing on this period. Unlike “Brand New Day,” instead of being steered by brain trust of writers, “Big Time” was written by a single lead writer: Dan Slott (with frequent assists with his more deadline-oriented friend, Christos Gage).
Dan Slott was part of the writer-go-round during “Brand New Day,” but this omnibus kicks off the collection of his eight continuous years writing Spider-Man. To this point, the only omnibus collections of that entire period are the Superior Spider-Man Omnibus, Super Spider-Man Returns Omnibus, and the Spider-Verse / Spider-Geddon Omnibus.
That leaves us with some big gaps to fill!
Fans have stayed divided on this run because it’s more of post-MJ Spider-Man. Some readers are simply never going to enjoy Spider-Man not with Mary Jane, and that’s their prerogative. Personally, I don’t care so much.
Also, certain fans simply never cared for Dan Slott’s writing for Spider-Man. I don’t like Slott on every comic, but I found him endlessly engaging during this run. However, I’d agree he could write Peter Parker as a bit of a careless asshole and not just stuck with his Parker Luck. Also, Slott’s track record in writing women other than She-Hulk is abysmal. From Carlie Cooper to Cindy Moon to Mockingbird, almost every supporting woman who turns up in this run is treated like a shallow accessory to Spider-Man rather than a character with their own motivations.
You’ll note that this omnibus does not say “by Dan Slott” in the title. I think that’s a positive thing, and it shows in the mapping of this book. This could have simply collected Amazing Spider-Man (1963) issues, including the issues that interacted with the line-spanning event Spider-Island. Instead, it collects all of Spider-Island, including mini-series and one-shots not by Dan Slott.
That’s a different approach than the recent Amazing Spider-Man by Zeb Wells omnibus line, which avoided collecting non-Wells tie-ins to both Dark Web and Gang War.
Some folks object to all of this non-Slott material in the book, saying it waters down the story. Pour moi, I think it’s a good thing for two different reasons.
I don’t know how you pass up the chance to use this as a cover for a book with all of Spider-Island in it.
First, it’s one thing to collect a brand new event like Gang War into an omnibus the moment it is completed. It’s something entirely else to try to turn a 15-year-old minor event like Spider-Island into its own omnibus – especially when half that omnibus would be Dan Slott issues of Spider-Man!
When we’re looking back at collecting runs that are more than a few years old and they include a minor event, it makes more sense from a marketing and shelf standpoint to simply absorb the entire event into the omnibus rather than try to sell it separately – creating double-dipping.
Second, this sends a good signal about this line of books not being hyper-focused on only collecting Dan Slott material.
Just before Superior Spider-Man (2013), we had a Spider-Man team-up book called Avenging Spider-Man (2011). The pre-Superior issues of that book will fit into the next Big Time omnibus and they were not written by Dan Slott. There are also some annuals in this period not by Slott which really ought to be collected.
Similarly, after the contents of the Superior Spider-Man Omnibus when we arrive in Marvel Now, there are several non-Slott issues I’d want to see collected, like Mark Waid’s Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business (2013) OGN and Gerry Conway’s Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #16.1-20.1 arc, which was really just the regular monthly issues of the book after Slott jumped ship to get ahead on Secret Wars and beyond.
I think if we see Avenging Spider-Man (2011) and Amazing Spider-Man (1963) Annual 38 in the next omnibus, that will be a good indication that this is an “everything Spider-Man” line that will not avoid closely-linked series and one-shots that aren’t omni-sized on their own (like Chip Zdarsky’s Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man (2017), already collected in full).
You can see the full reading order of this period in my Spider-Man Collecting Guide & Reading Order (1963-2018), although recently I’ve been thinking it might be time to break the Dan Slott period out into its own standalone guide. Any thoughts on that?
Did you have this book on your Marvel Omnibus 2027 Fantasy Draft ballot? It was my #21 pick, so I just scored 39 points!
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