Is it dated? Well, read now there are issues. Pacing can be slow in some stories, the dialogue and interactions obviously feel dated, Betty Brant is terminally irritating (and frankly looks weird most of the time) and her 'relationship' with Peter feels very underbaked. Sometimes you just want characters to actually talk to each other to avoid the repeated frustration. But...that actually feels more real, especially in a teenage viewpoint. And the themes and heart still remain completely relevant.

Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus By Zeb Wells | Panini Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus By Zeb Wells | Panini

The Grizzly’s first arc ends fine. Nothing special, but it leaves room for him to be a henchman more in the future. Spider-man doesn’t remember when Chameleon summoned him with his spider sense? Stan Lee’s memory was pretty bad. Obligatory issue 5 Doctor Doom cameo was a thing then, and Ditko’s Doom looks weird, but the fight is fun, if inconsequential. Doom’s plan is a little weird, but he’s properly menacing, plus bonus points for the Doombot. It continues Peter’s school stuff, but the main new thing is that Spider-man is on the road to his first love interest. If you were to compare Steve Ditko's art to most anything you can find in a superhero comic these days, you would find Ditko's simplicity almost naive. I say, "almost," but then upon further consideration you would understand the difference between Ditko's clean, efficient storytelling, dynamic renderings, and extraordinary layouts, and those of the comic artists working (for the most part) in the superhero trenches today.Original Punisher is kind of nutty. I was way, way, way too old before I realized that mercy bullets weren't actually a thing.

Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus - Volume 1 (New Printing)

Now these stories may seem somewhat quaint and even "silly" (as one friend said to me) in comparison to the dark "realism" of contemporary comics, but viewed in the perspective of their times it is easy to see why they represented such a unique and refreshing take on the increasingly moribund comics industry. This is a comedy issue with the only sane one being Betty, astonishingly. It seems like J.J.J. forgets about the Scorpion at the slightest provocation. I guess I also really dislike the robot, which will become the first of the Spider Slayer line. Also, this has the famous faceless on-panel appearance of Mary Jane where she looks like a flower is eating her face. Basically, many things bolster this fairly crappy issue.There is some solid Foswell stuff and the first (named) appearance of Norman Osborn! But, the robots are somewhat disappointing, and the Gwen stuff feels like more retread. I own a number of these Marvel Omnibus editions now, but this is the one I would grab if there was a fire and I could only take one with me. Sure, most of the material in this volume has been reprinted endlessly elsewhere, but it's never looked this good anywhere else, nor has all the great letter columns and in-house ads of the day been so lovingly restored and included.