I started reading Spider-Man back when I was a little kid and recently decided that I wanted to collect the entire second volume of the comic that I grew up with. So now, within 7 issues of completing a 94 issue collection, I’ve decided to pick a couple of my favorite issues and recommend that you read them.Now, before you can truly understand how wicked these issues are, you need to be briefed on the back story happening before these issues were released. Basically, Spider-man’s wife, Mary Jane, had been kidnapped for quite some time and once she was rescued by Spider-man, she decided that she needed some time by herself. So, she moved to LA and Spider-man (Peter Parker) remained in New York.

Issue 49 begins with Peter deciding to go and visit MJ and talk about their relationship. He grabs a plane ticket and heads to LA. Meanwhile, MJ realizes how much she misses being with Peter and she heads to New York to try and reconcile. Peter arrives at MJ’s apartment and, since she’s in New York, she’s no where to be found. Back in New York, MJ arrives at Peter’s apartment and finds out that he’s gone.

The best part of the comic is when it flashes back and forth between LA and New York showing Peter and MJ walking around each others apartments thinking exactly the same thing about each other. Finally, they both decide to head back to their homes and end the relationship once and for all. On the way back to New York, Peter’s plane is caught in a snowstorm and lands in Colorado. MJ’s plane then flies into the same snowstorm and is also forced to land in Colorado. After walking past each other several times without realizing it, the two finally come face to face and agree that they need to take some time to talk about their future together.

Overall, it’s just a really neat issue. I loved the idea that they would be thinking and doing the exact same thing without even realizing it. Also, having them be so close to each other in the airport without even realizing it was really clever work by the writer.

Issue 50, which picks up right where 49 leaves us, begins by showing Peter and MJ trying to work out their issues with each other. Suddenly, the action picks up as Dr. Doom arrives, with armed guards, into the airport. Once Dr. Doom enters the terminal, an unknown terrorist confronts him and reveals that he has a bomb and intends to kill Dr. Doom. Once the bomb goes off, Peter runs over to check on several civilians in the area only to realize that one of the men that was caught in the blast is Captain America, who was on the plane with Dr. Doom to keep an eye on him. Once Peter and Cap are suited up, they are confronted by robots who are hell bent on destroying Dr. Doom.

At this point, Captain America and Spider-man battle the robots in an attempt to keep Dr. Doom alive. Both men believe that Dr. Doom deserves some sort of trial rather than a quick death via robots.

In between the fighting, Spider-man tries to reason with MJ and convince her how much she means to him. In the end, Spider-man and Cap save the day, protect Dr. Doom and Peter manages to convince MJ to move back to New York with him.

These two comics are my two favorite issues from JMS’ run on the title. Not to mention, John Romita Jr.’s artwork is, as always, awesome. If you haven’t read these two issues, I suggest you head down to your local comic book shop and grab these two issues pronto. They’re two of the best I’ve read.