When the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer landed, I decided it was the perfect time to dive in on my Dan Slott Spider-Man run read through. As I mentioned in my “What I Want To Read In 2026” post, I wasn’t confident that’d I love this read through, but I figured I need to read this run anyways. For the first section of my read through, I went from issue #648 to #700, also known as Spider-Man: Big Time. So here were my thoughts.
I’ll be honest, it took a few issues for me to actually get into the run, but once I was onboard, I thoroughly enjoyed the story being told. There’s something to be said about a fun Spider-Man adventure with (mostly) minor stakes. For starters, I like Peter Parker as a scientist. People often forget that Peter is one of the smartest characters in the Marvel universe, so when he actually gets to flex that muscle, it feels like a breath of fresh air. Don’t get me wrong, I love Peter’s dynamics at the Daily Bugle, but giving him a new cast to work with at Horizon Labs is super fun. Having Peter working at a lab also means we get to see a bunch of new spidey gadgets and suits to play around with. Of all the new suits introduced in this section of the run, I think the “Ends of the Earth” suit is my favorite. I like that it’s a sort of culmination of all the work Peter does throughout this section of the run, showing how he’s advanced as a character while still having that Spider-Man type charm that only he could have given the situation he finds himself in. Another thing I like about Peter being at Horizon is surprisingly the Morbius stuff. In 2026, Morbius is obviously a meme due to his critical flop of a movie, but Dan Slott finds a way to write the character as sympathetic and someone you want to root for throughout the story. I like tying Morbius to Max Modell and that he’s not just at Horizon to be evil. He wants to help people, and wants to cure himself because he knows he’s a risk to the public.
This section of the run has a couple “major” arcs that I think we should talk about, primarily I would like to discuss Spider-Island and Ends of the Earth. Off the top, I knew Spider-Island intersected with this run and I knew the broad strokes of the event: New Yorkers keep waking up with spider powers and the fallout that would cause. It’s a fun premise and a fun event. Realistically, the Spider-Queen as a villain is super one dimensional and is just there to be someone the heroes can beat, while the Jackal is surprisingly funny and an entertaining secondary antagonist. The one thing I really like about this event is how Peter can step up as himself rather than behind a mask, and while also trying to be in two places at once, those are fun shenanigans! The final conversation of this event between Mary Jane and Peter also really highlights what makes these stories work, and it’s that these are just people. There’s nothing more complex, just that we’re all people who would do what Peter does if given the chance. The other major arc, Ends of the Earth, is a nice little pseudo apocalypse story where Doctor Octopus is dying and will take the Earth with him. It’s a fun globe trotting story that brings the brewing Doc Ock story to a seemingly satisfying conclusion. I like that each member of the Sinister Six gets their own little moment to show why they’re all such great villains, while also showing that they aren’t heartless maniacs. There’s a balance to it that Slott writes that I really enjoy. This story also sets up the next section of the run, Superior Spider-Man, in a way that’s not evident unless you know what the twist in #700 will be, which was fun to notice on my read through.
Now I’ve been singing this sections praises quite a bit, but there’s also some stuff I don’t like here. First and foremost, I do not like a majority of the supporting cast outside of Horizon Labs. Carlie Cooper, for me, doesn’t really make sense as a love interest for Spider-Man. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to Mary Jane, but Carlie Cooper feels so insincere and a lot of her issues with Peter are all women stereotypes that feel very dated. The other two characters that I just don’t care for are Norah Winters and Phil Urich. They don’t seem to serve the story in any meaningful way. Phil as the Hobgoblin is dumb, and it feels like he’s just taking up space until the Green Goblin inevitably returns. Norah feels like an attempt at writing Lois Lane but making it 10 times more obnoxious. I’m sure there’s some people who like that type of character, but for me it doesn’t work here. The last thing that got on my nerves was the storylines focusing on Alistair Smythe and Jonah’s son John Jameson. I get it, we need filler arcs, but do you really need bug guy doing dumb bug things? I also feel like John doesn’t fit in the story. You can do a very similar plot to what you did, but using Jonah’s father who plays a much more integral part of the overall story. I feel like that one change would make the story more cohesive. Although having John Jameson did give us Spider-Man and the Human Torch in space which was a fun romp.
The last thing I want to briefly mention is that there’s an issue in this section that focuses on Peter’s friendship with Betty Brant and it’s awesome. For me it’s easily the best issue so far, and is a perfect example as to the best Spider-Man stories being grounded and human over wacky and globe spanning. There’s just something special about two people wanting to watch a movie together,
So those are my thoughts on the first section of Dan Slott’s run! What do you think, have you read the run? Did I leave something out? Either way, onwards we go to something better than hitting the big time….dare I say something superior?
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