I probably grew up on Tom DeFalco’s Spider-Man and never even knew it. All I think of when I hear the name now is Spider-Girl and that’s about it. I guess I did read another DeFalco Secret Wars II crossover Spider-Man issue and the result was me thinking I should read more.

This issue just cements it.

The issue mostly follows Puma–I’d totally forgotten about Puma, Marvel’s attempt at some Native American sensitivity (strange how comic book companies used to worry about these things and now, with the lovely internet, can’t do a thing without getting attacked by fans)–on a loony quest to kill the Beyonder.

DeFalco’s got so much going in this issue, it’s impossible not to call it a soap opera. How anyone kept up–how I kept up as a kid–is beyond me, yet I’m familiar with lots.

It’s quite good.

This issue reveals Ronnie is not, as it turns out, in bed with the Kingpin. He just contracts him on special assignments. If Marvel had any real nads, they could do Kingpin owning Blackwater. But whatever.

Ron Frenz draws a good Spider-Man comic. Not sure what I think of him overall, but this issue had a lot of good, iconic Spider-Man action without feeling like Frenz was going for homage. It just felt right. And his facial expressions are fantastic.

While DeFalco does everything he can to make Spider-Man a non-character in his own title (it feel like the Kingpin gets more page time), it’s all very competently executed. DeFalco’s writing about the event, with Spider-Man being a participant, not protagonist, but whatever, it’s a fine comic book.

It never occurred to me eighties Spider-Man might be worth a look; this one suggests it.