What are your thoughts on Roger Stern's Spider-Man? Read the complete essay on Comic Book Herald: www.comicbookherald.com/spider-man-by-roger-stern-unstoppable-highs-unfinished-business/

Hobgoblin is such a cool design the light blue, yellow and orange just work so well

Roger Stern is the greatest instance of a writer whose work I admire and whose opinions I totally disagree with. A classic example of "death of the author" where the writer's instincts are completely at odds with their stated opinions. Stern may have felt Peter/MJ were incompatible but he did far more than any writer to make them compatible. It's also deeply ironic that the best Spider-Man stories Stern wrote after his run on ASM was precisely during the marriage - "Hobgoblin Lives"/"Revenge of the Green Goblin" (co-written by Paul Jenkins) - and not during BND, which were lackluster (but then again none of them are as good as his original runs on Spectacular and Amazing). Admittedly Stern's view is nuanced. IN an interview with Spider-Man Crawlspace, Stern said he didn't think Spider-Man worked with any of the classic love interests (Felicia, Gwen, MJ) and he also said after BND that he wasn't against the idea of Peter getting married in principle, just not with Mary Jane. He felt he and Mary Jane worked better as friends and he did say he liked her as a character which is why he developed her. Stern said that he had an idea for introducing a new love interest during his run who might have eventually been a woman Peter could marry but he never outlined and developed the character before leaving. In his time at Marvel, Stern often tried to change and overhaul the love-lives of various heroes. He broke up Doctor Strange and Clea (for admittedly a justifiable reason...Clea had become a student of Strange's and Stern felt portraying a relationship in that situation was bad form) and tried to introduce a new love interest for Strange that was more compatible leading to the classic Dr. Strange story, "It's better to have Loved and Lost". He also married Johnny Storm to Alicia Masters (Ben Grimm's love interest) which was a controversial decision near-everyone felt was wrong and was ultimately retconned by Tom Defalco. Stern still thinks Johnny/Alicia was right. So there's a real lack of awareness and irony and tension where his stated opinions are so at odds with what he actually writes.

Excellent analysis, Matt! The 80s were such a tumultuous, yet exciting, time for Spider-Man and I was amazed how much Stern endured during his time at Marvel. I didn't know that he disliked Peter/Mary Jane's marriage that much! 😳

For me, it’s very difficult for me to pick who would be the BEST Spider-Man writer, but Roger Stern is always what I think of when I think great Spider-Man writers.

I love Roger Stern. He is one of my favourite comic book writers. I loved Nothing can stop the Juggernaut, Under Siege (my favourite Avengers storyline) and Triumph and Tragedy.

It'd be cool to see your take on spider-girl, who actually has the record of longest series of a female character at marvel with about a 100 issues

Dang that Hobgoblin voice over was great

Only ONE Spiderman run needs to be talked about, in my mind: J. M. DeMatteis. Yes, he did Kraven's Last Hunt but that's just tip of the iceberg. His run is psychological horror and torment that encompasses a lot of tortured characters, including Harry Osborne and especially Vermin.

"They didn't work as a married couple for me." I'm gonna put some dirt in your eye

Love these videos on comic book runs I don't see a lot of discussion on youtube. This and Ann Nocenti's DD run, even if they're not critically acclaimed or controversial, Matt's passion makes me want to read them

I'd LOVE to see your take on JMS's "Spider-Man", though I imagine we'd probably disagree on it...😅

Certainly one of the Best Spider-Man Storyline Arc. The Fight between Spider-Man versus the Juggernaut is One of the Best in Comic books History. Thousand Thanks Matt Draper.💯💯

Ironic how spiderman was probably written at his happiest and most stable in the 80s under stern. As you said his humor was genuine and not a coping mechanism for being unhappy

I love this run this was the first full run of Spider-Man I read and it remains one of the best. I only wish it would’ve been even longer 😂 great vid Matt!

Prior to this the only thing I really knew about the Hobgoblin was the bait and switch from Leeds to Kingsley - definitely not the 3 other identities from character that weren't even in ASM. I'm glad Stern and Hobgoblin got some closure and at least someone was happy after One More Day lmao. As for other Spider-Man runs that'd be neat in this format, especially ones that have a revolving door of overlapping threads rather than 4-6 issue events, perhaps Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man? I'm sure covering the 1610 universe on your channel would be opening a can of worms but the reinterpretation of the characters/world and the slightly updated but nonetheless familiar Mark Bagley art style make it (imo) uniquely enaging among the otherwise inconsistent Ultimate universe.

Awesome video, Matt! Roger Stern is one of my favorites and it's great his run gets collected across many trades and omnibus forms. Semi-Related I find the Spectacular Spider-Man run by J.M. DeMatteis and Sal Buscema to be a criminally underrated Spider-Man run. It's one of the few Spidey runs I own all the single issues of. Love the work you do and I look forward to the next video!

Great video. You should definitely do one on David Michelinie’s run at some point. I feel like peter was written just right during this era: a mature, married adult who still had a sense of humor, but didn’t use it as a shield. Plus, his connection to the superhero community was strengthened and on full display. Some great team ups happened here. It’s interesting that Stern was so against Peter and MJ being married. Since you said that his run barely spotlighted Peter’s romantic life at all, I wonder if he simply wasn’t a fan of MJ as a character, or if he just felt that Peter works better being single overall. Whatever his reason, he’s just wrong. MJ is the perfect partner for Peter, because she loves him as both himself and as Spider-Man, which Black Cat never did. I never understood the love for that pairing, outside of Felicia’s sex appeal. Yeah, she has powers and can fight in battle with him, but so what? That doesn’t make her better than MJ if she can’t love and support him emotionally.

Remember reading this and the untold tales of Spider-man omnibus around the same time. Great runs and Kurt Busiek with untold tales gets the character the same as Stern.

I'd love it if you did a video about Paul Jenkins' run. He's one of my favorites and i think he's under rated

Great episode man. I actually got this omnibus recently and haven’t jump in yet. Man, I’m even more hyped for it now.

Great job on the video Matt,Spidey is one of my all-time favorite comic heroes.I have quite a few of these issues in my storage,haven't read them in years tho.

Given your obvious interest in Spider-man, it would be interesting to see your take on Ultimate Spider-man. For a lot of early 2000s kids (me included) that was a pretty definitive run on the character. Personally I still consider it to be the best comic interpretation of the character with the most consistency in quality, especially among the Ultimate comics. Not enough people give that series the love it deserves, despite how many elements the MCU and the ASM movie lifted from it.

Stern is probably my 2nd favorite Spider-Man writer only behind Conway. It doesn't hurt that Hobgoblin us my favorite villain.

Stern and JrJr’s run on Amazing is my all-time favorite! Thanks for this great video, Matt! Any chance you might take a crack at JM Dematteis and Sal Buscema’s run on Spectacular?

That Spectacular Spider-Man Ringer issue is just a classic. Simple, straight forward, and full of action.

The juggernaut story line is what Spider-Man is all about . I still reread that 2 issue arch all the time. Such a great run. Thanks for covering this

The fact Dan Slott can overstay his welcome past for several years on Spider-Man but Stern doesn’t get to finish his Hobgoblin Saga is a crime.

I love Roger Stern’s Spider-Man. Though I love his Avengers run with John Buscema and Tom Palmer even more. Those are some damn fine superhero comics.

Would be great to see u work on a video abt Paul Jenkins’ Peter Parker:The Spectacular Spider-Man

I just read the Roger Stern Spider-Man Omnibus and I was surprisingly underwhelmed. I had heard so many say it was one of the best Spider-Man runs, and, while it was good, it certainly didn't leave me feeling that way. You even admit he doesn't use the classic villains, he doesn't have many classic stories beyond the Juggernaut two parter and the unfinished mess that was the Hobgoblin. Meanwhile, I just finished The Gauntlet and loved it so much more. Classic villains, good development of Peter Parker as a man and Spider-Man as a hero. Much more enjoyable for me.

Thank you for doing the Hobgoblin Saga on this video

I swear, every time I go on a Draper binge, you upload a new video. I mean c’mon Matt, I just bought the Bendis DD run, now you’re making me re-read the awesome Stern run of SM too?!

This is one of the best Spider-Man story narrative by Matt Draper!

My favorite Roger Stern issues are the two-part Vulture origin, especially part one with Bob Layton inking John Romita, Jr. again and the manga-looking cover.

I LOVE VAMPIRES! Great video Matt!

In the 90's animated series they ended up making Jason Macendale the Hobgoblin instead of Roderick Kingsley.

When Matt Draper posts another Spider-Man video: Pizza Time!

Thank you for making such an amazing get it video you deserve more subscribers never quit you will get there don't give up

Roger Stern is truly one of the most comic book writers.

the KZfaq recommendation algorithm gifted me this video so I’m about to binge your other stuff LOL. also love to see another fan of the midnight! taste!

Ditko - NOW THIS is Spider-Man!

Sometimes passion can lead to problems, but if you give everything, you can save it. It is truly amazing

Roger Stern's run on Spider-Man is (IMHO) second only to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's run. Nothing can stop the Juggernaut and The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man are my 1 and 2 favourite Spider-Man stories of all time (Include anything from Lee/Ditko run).

This is one of the best spider man runs I've read and I've been meaning to read Peter David's Spectacular Spider-man which I've heard is good. The juggernaut story from this run has to be the best spidey story I've ever read. I love that anecdote about Jim Shooter drawing a few issues to show everyone how they should look. That definitely sounds like him lol.

Congratulations for another great video Matt! This run was first published here in Brazil in small format mixes containing even other Marvel titles and are very nostalgic to brazilian readers even with cuts, editions and altered colors because Marvel sent the original art in black and white from NY to São Paulo's Editora Abril. Best wishes from Brazil!

More Spider-Man, please. You've already covered the Ditko/Lee run in a great manner with your If This Be My Destiny! Video. If you had to talk about the Romita/Lee run which story would you choose? I'm guessing it would probably be Spider-Man No More. A video about the original green goblin mistery would be cool too and the drugs trilogy is relevant in comic book history.

Yes! This is great. I love seeing deeper dive into comics. Such an untapped genre

(16:21) The mask in the river was quite creepy but awesome in the same time.

I'm so happy to hear "Vampires" as the video outro again. Great video, like usual, but that song!

Great video! Roger Stern is an awesome and hugely underrated writer.

(17:12) That’s was true. Although many of the writers were quite great, they had a disagreement about the Hobgoblin's identity. Fortunately Roger Stern was able to fix it. In fact, in his original story, he has already a fake Hobgoblin (AMS 245) who was doped by Winkler's gizmo, and he create Daniel Kingsley in AMS 249 (If latter writers would mess up put Hobgoblin and Kingsley together).

(6:01) (12:47) Hobgoblin. In Roger Stern's hand, Hobgoblin was Spiderman's number one villain.

Dude, that's Post Malones Sunflower! The song from the beginning and end of Spiderverse! Did anyone ever tell you, you're f🕸️ing cool? Cause you're really f🕸️ing cool!

5:21 well, Stern succeeded in making Hobgoblin an iconic villain, so that desire in now fulfilled

I grew up reading Stern's run. He was not my favorite, but Stern has always had a place in my list of great Spidey writers.

Fascinating video, Matt! I learned a lot along the way, like that Jim Owsley, former Crazy Magazine editor, is the villain of the piece and the reason Stern left the title. No wonder Owsley adopted the pompous non de plume Christopher Priest. A LOT of Stern fans would've been looking for him at cons had we known of his culpability. Killing off Ned Leeds in a one-shot just to thwart Stern's carefully plotted story? Not cool. Stern's run was published during my 8th through 11th grade years, and I remember eagerly awaiting each issue, so it's a sentimental favorite in addition to being just great comics.

I finished reading the omnibus on Monday, what a nice coincidence.

wow, this was super interesting

exactly the type of video I was looking for

I never knew Stern left Spider-Man because he and the new editor didn't get along. The whole behind the scenes debacle with the Hobgoblin is one that I've done a fair bit of research on, but I don't think I've seen that mentioned before. If it was, I guess I just overlooked it. Either way, I've always wondered why Stern left before wrapping everything up and now I know why. Great video!

Thanks Matt for the review. Much ❤ as always 😊

What a great video! Spiderman Megazine was my first experience of Spiderman-Juggernaut as well as Stern's doomed Spiderman-Black Cat run as well! I loved Marvel's Megazine line. They said it was aimed specifically at non-collectors, who wanted to read comics for enjoyment. I loved that idea! A small correction; it was Peter David who revealed Hobgoblin to be Leeds, not Defalco. Peter David has said he thought what he did was revolutionary, as the Hobgoblin's death didn't involve a climactic, cathartic battle with Spiderman but rather revealed him as someone already murdered (in the Spiderman-Wolverine crossover). Either way, a huge mess. Although, Roger Stern resolved it BRILLIANTLY in the classic Hobgoblin Lives.

I’m currently reading through this run because my dad has pretty much all the issues from it!

Great video, Matt! Super enlightening stuff as always :)

Thanks for another amazing video, Matt! I hope someday we will also see your take on David Michelini's run ;)

10:49 The Juggernaut level in Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions is based on this storyline but in the game after failing to stop him for most of it the magic of Juggernaut's Ruby of Cytorrak and the Tablet of Order and Chaos cancel each other out giving Peter an opening.

Can you please do a video on J. Michael Straczynski's beautiful run on Spider-Man, and also talk about Issue #36.

This is a wonderful video essay on my favorite Spider-Man run. I think Stern understood Peter Parker and Spider-Man the best after Lee/Ditko/Romita Sr. And I love JrJr's art.

Thank you, Matt. Great video.

I’m begging the algorithm to bless your channel fr

Masterful video as always! 👏👏👏

Roger Stern’s Spider-Man vs Juggernaut story and it’s sequel is one to behold given the stakes and how he tries everything to stop the juggernaut. It’s sequel was also interesting as well considering how it involves Captain Universe in an unique way.

I loved Stern's run on Spiderman and the Avengers.

Could you please consider talking about the JMS run on amazing Spider-Man

I respect and love Roger Stern as one of the great Spider-Man writers of all time but damn if the blindspot to MJ doesn't taint his work for me. MJ is an incredible character with just as much story potential as Peter and when they're together that potential is exponential. But I guess him not seeing that is his loss, and he's still written some of the greatest Spider-Man stories of all time.

I had the comic of spiderman vs juggernout when i was a child. The best!!

Return of the king

Outstanding content! Just discovered the channel and these are the nest video essays on comic books I have ever watched. Your channel is criminally under subscribed!!! Maybe you could do some "the comics behind the movies" essays and drive some of the movie fans to the comics that inspired them. Should help spread word for the channel too.

The Juggernaut story in particular is an real all-time classic; plus I always liked the Hobgoblin, and especially Mark Hamill's take on him in the '90s Spidey animated series...hope you also get the chance to discuss Kurt Busiek's Untold Tales of Spider-Man series - which Stern also wrote some issues of as I recall - in another vid someday, yes...?

Excellent video!

The short-live influence Todd MacFarlane had on Spider-Man.

Great video! I'm definitely going to look up that juggernaut story. You should cover the Superior Foes of Spider-Man comic sometime, its such a fun read.

Hey, Matt! Thank You for the vid. How about a Spidey run that’s a little offbeat & overlooked: DeMatteis’ run on Marvel Team-Up. His characterisation totally lines up with Stern’s ASM wallcrawler & you’ve got a plethora of stories to read the heck out of with different themes & tones. The hilarious Thor/Valkyrie two parter(#115 & 116), as well as his team up with the Torch (#121) that introduces Frogman & its sequel with the White Rabbit(#131), The poignant issues with the Gargoyle(#119), Daredevil (#123), the Beast(#124), The Watcher(#127) and Cap(#128 which brought Vermin into Pete’s life).

It's a controversial opinion, but I have similar thoughts about the Pete/MJ relationship in the 616. I like it in adaptations of the comics, but in the 616 comics? I wasn't a fan of their relationship in 616. It never sat well with me that their mutual sadness over the death of Gwen brought them together as a couple without them really having an established foundation of common interest/temperament, so it didn't seem natural. Then having it later revealed that Mary Jane knew all along that he was Spider-man sucked the romance out for me. A hero's secret identity and the love interest needs to be handled with tact and having him not even reveal it by choice is strange. I like Mary Jane overall, and I get that with a character like Spider-man it's practically inevitable that progression like that could happen; but it's almost like I'd see them as having a friendship as a more natural progression than married life.

Would love to hear your thoughts on spider man Life Story

I don't care what Matt makes a video on. I'm watching it!

Love your channel.

Aunt May, no good dirty landlord lol. Great video

Speaking of runs that end in contention it’s the Spider-Man run which was supposed to end with Norman Osborns suicide also captain America 2002 and the Paul Jenkins spidey run also is one worth covering ,as well as peter Parker spider man Daredevil in the late 90s pre Kevin Smith and marvel knights rebirth especially with his final arc with Scott lobbell of red hood and the outlaws fame I would suggest the following for future videos Vinyl Gotham central A video on both the Steph brown batgirl and the cass cain batgirl Midnight sons

(12:37) Tarantula looks like Baxter Stockman the fly.

I find it weird that Stern is so against the pairing of Peter and MJ considering that in issue 249 of Amazing, he wrote a wonderful scene between them which despite being pretty brief, it still speaks volumes about why they're so great for each other. He also did a great job of writing their relationship in the Hobgoblin Lives miniseries.

Is there some reason they drew Madame Web to look like Aunt May's identical twin?

GOAT video

Hobgoblin felt really true to Steve Ditko’s original vision of Green Goblin. It was meant to be a mystery adversary, to plauge Spidey for a long time. Too bad Stan mucked it up in the first place.

Great video

YES! New Spidey video

I want you to know, this video was good, but I'm really only subscribing because you used The Midnight's music

The whole story behind Hobgoblin is fascinating but also bizzare and frustrating.

I’d like to hear you cover Lee and Straczynski’s Amazings, Conway and DeMatteis’ Spectaculars, and Claremont/Byrne’s Team-Ups!