I wasn't into comics when I was young.  I knew my brother collected for a long time and I would occasionally flip through some of his.  Then one day when I was 15 years old, I was taking a stroll through the local mall when this comic caught my attention in a store.  It was a Spider-Man #1!  I thought "wow!  A #1 comic of Spidey!" like it was special, so I bought it.

I read it and thought it was the coolest thing ever.  The artwork was amazing, the storyline was cool and Spidey's image was quite different than I pictured it....it was much darker.  He wasn't your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man anymore and the villains definitely had a different attitude.  Also, Todd McFarlane (who's now known for Spawn and his toy line) was the writer and artist behind this series for #1-14,16.  After Todd's run, the series managed to keep things going in the same direction but not to the same affect.  I believe it was mostly in his artwork that made those issues special.

Issues #1-5 was the "Torment" storyline.  This is where this witch, who's angry about Kraven's death, goes after Spidey by drugging him and setting the Lizard after him.  The Lizard in these issues is like a killing machine...pure evil.

Issues #6-7 was the "Masques" storyline.  This is where Spider-Man teams with Ghost Rider to battle with the Hobgoblin.

Issues #8-12 was the "Perceptions" storyline.  Here, Spider-Man teams up with Wolverine as they head to Canada to hunt down this child killer called Wendigo.

Issues #13-14 was the "Sub-City" storyline.  Spidey dons the black and white costume again and fights The Black Knight.

Issue #16 was part of a crossover "Sabotage X-over, Part 1".  Spidey joins X-Force in this issue.

Click on the comic to head on over to the covers

In the end, this short but sweet run for Todd McFarlane on Spider-Man was very well done.  To this day I go back every once in a while and read the issues again.  You should definitely look into these comics.