Some months ago I got The Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus vol. 2 for a really good price. Finished it a couple days ago and I need to say how much I enjoyed it. I've been an admirer of the Lee/Romita run of Spider-Man for a long time (ever since I first read some issues from it in The Essential Spider-Man vol. 2) and actually getting deeper into it has only strengthened that appreciation.
I'd go as far as to say that this run is still the DEFINITIVE take on the character. I love the Lee/Ditko run too, but there's something so refined about Smilin' Stan and Jazzy John's tenure on Spidey. Stan's writing is as delightfully melodramatic as ever and Romita's art is simply gorgeous. There is a brief period where the art kinda takes a hit when Larry Lieber first steps in to do fill-ins for John, but I'd say it improves GREATLY after a few issues. I can only assume that John and Larry got better at working together.
The whole book is pretty great, with only one or two issues I'd call really lackluster. Said issues being the one where Spidey fought Medusa and Annual #5. Medusa's story just felt like filler meant to promote another character. Only time reading the story actively felt like a drag. Annual #5 is better, but it focuses on the backstory of Peter's parents and, if I'm honest, I have never ever cared about Richard or Mary Parker. They're so unimportant to Spider-Man as a whole, I don't really need to know more about them beyond the fact that they're fucking dead.
However? Everything else is a blast. Even the issues I didn't think I'd like so much turned out to be a lot of fun if nothing else. The Ka-Zar issue in particular took me by surprise. I thought it'd be like the Medusa issue, a boring bit of filler written to shill another character, but it actually does a solid job of tying the previous story arc into the next issue. Ka-Zar is also a really fun character to see fight Spidey, with the reasons the two come to blows being fairly believable.
I'd say that personal highlights of the Omnibus are the first two issues where Green Goblin unmasks Spider-Man, Rhino's first appearance, Mary Jane's first appearance, the two issues where the Lizard comes to New York, Shocker's first appearance, the three issue Spider-Man No More arc, the four issue issue arc featuring Doc Ock, the two issues where Mysterio returns, and Spectacular Spider-Man #2 where the Green Goblin makes a grandiose comeback.
These are my personal favorites, but like I said, there's hardly a bad one among them. Even the ones I singled out as being lackluster were either mediocre or just not to my personal tastes.
One more note, if you're someone like me who loves the '90s Spider-Man cartoon, you'll be shocked at just how much that cartoon pulls specifically from this run. So many moments I recognized! Some of those moments being the dinner party Norman Osborn throws where he threatens to reveal Peter's secret identity or Spider-Man getting amnesia and being tricked into thinking he works for Doc Ock. I already knew the cartoon pulled a lot from this run before, but didn't know the extent of just how faithful it truly was.
As I said before, this is a defining era in the character's history. I cannot recommend reading these issues enough for fans of the character. Whether you do so through this omnibus, other collections, reprints, or other means is up to you and how flexible your budget is. I do think that the omnibus I got is really nice, but I can tell you right now I wouldn't have paid retail for it.
Ultimately, damn good read. Really reminded me why I love comic books.