Now that this monumental hit is 75 issues old,
it’s sort of fun to look back and remember when everyone thought it was going to
be a horrible failure. Reboot Spider-Man? Hadn’t John Byrne just tried to do
that? How could it possibly succeed?

We’re pleased to say that those of
us who had been reading Jinx, Torso, Goldfish or any of the other work by Brian
Michael Bendis weren’t surprised. A lot of other people were, though.

Congratulations to Bendis and to artist Mark Bagley on this achievement!
In an era when 12-issue runs are considered amazing, these gentlemen have
managed to put out something like 18 issues a year that capture the essence of
the original Spider-Man and present it to a new audience with an equally new
vitality.