The Sensational Spider-Man #-1

Part of Marvel's 1997 "Flashback" event, this minus-one issue takes readers into a younger era of Peter Parker's life, framed beautifully by a looming Spider-Man face watching over the scene from the upper right. The cover by Mike Wieringo and Rich Case is a genuine delight — a young Peter Parker and his Uncle Ben paddle a small rowboat on open water, looking thoroughly alarmed as the massive, horned, dripping green creature known as X — The Thing That Lives rises from the depths, while the serpentine eye of Gigantus lurks menacingly below the surface. Todd DeZago and Wieringo deliver a story that promises monsters, nostalgia, and a warmer, more innocent corner of the Spider-Man mythos that doesn't get nearly enough attention.