I see the first few trades of THE GAUNTLET are available. Is this worth checking out?

It wasn't much of a test for Spidey really. Just typical Spidey hi-jinks but done without much charm.

Yes, most of the stories were excellent, particularly the ones spotlighting the Rhino and the Sandman. If you like good spider-man stories packed with action, and a fair amount of character development besides, you can't do a whole lot better. Very good stuff, and the follow-up, the Grim Hunt, is a modern classic.

KaineParker

They were good, particularly the Mysterio, Sandman and Rhino stories. The Juggernaut story is worth reading too, though it isn't really a proper part of The Gauntlet.

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It wasn't much of a test for Spidey really. Just typical Spidey hi-jinks but done without much charm.

I haven't read all of the Gauntlet, but I have read much of it, and I'd agree with this. Most of the stories in that period, I found outright depressing. Spider-Man as a character is fairly pathetic throughout, for reasons that have nothing at all to do with the Gauntlet.

-Comp

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Each part of the Gauntlet was really more or less about re-inventing the classic villains - to varying degrees of success.

Heres a spoiler free overview: For Electro, he becomes a working class hero in a downsized economy. There's a new Vulture that has an origin straight out of a horror movie. Theres a mysterio story in the middle that focuses more on the mafia than mysterio, but still a tight suspensful read. Sandman is given a new personal focus in his life with someone he would do anything to protect. Rhino is given more character development than he has EVER had in a truly brilliant story. Lizard is turned into a more horrific character than ever thought possible, his character was changed in an irreperable way. Theres a truly awful one part Morbius story stuck right in the middle that serves no purpose other than to put some vampires into the series because they're hip right now. Theres also a one part Scorpion story in the middle that focuses on the Scorpion's costume being up for auction. Also stuck right in the middle of this jumble was a nicely understated sequel to Roger Stern's classic "Nothing can Stop the Juggernaut" story from 1982 that featured Captain Universe heavily.

The real rub is this: none of these stories have anything to do with each other. This is not a continued storyline in any capacity and giving it an over-arching name like "The Gauntlet" was misleading. What these stories featured was one classic villain re-invention after another that lasted for about a year.

If you want to see the updating of some classic villains, with mixed results, its an interesting read. If this sounds bad to you, or you hate BND stories in general, then avoid.

Mr Knees