Spider-man Comics question

Hi, I just (after the movie) started to get interested in the spider man comics. I bought the essential spider man books and was wondering? are there more then essential #5. also is the current spider man comic in the same format because the one I saw in the news stand I didn't like - I like the essential collection better. Thank you

The Essential volumes reprint the original 1960's run of Spider-Man. I believe you're right about #5 being the final volume in the collection so far. The modern books (other than Ultimate...more on that in a bit) are modern continuations of those stories, with a couple of decades of other stories having taken place in between. So in Amazing Spider-Man and Peter Parker: Spider-Man, you can read about what Peter's doing these days, such as trying to get back together with his wife (he eventually married MJ, but they're currently seperated) and fighting such new, modern villains as Green Goblin and Doc Ock (ok, so maybe we could use some newer villains...though I do like the conflict between the new and old Doc Ock's in the current story arc of Amazing Spider-Man).

Then there's Ultimate Spider-Man. It's pretty much an alternate universe version, started over from scratch, with a completely new and different history, just drawing from elements of the original. Personally, I think it doesn't work just because the pacing is WAY too slow. I tried out 3 issues of it, and there wasn't a single fight scene. Now, I'm not saying that superheroes have to go into battle every issue...the occasional 'down time' issue or plot building issue leading up to a fight can help the overall story, but 3 issues of a superhero comic without ANY action kinda defeats the purpose of the genre. This is especially true on a comic that claims to be trying to pick up newer, younger readers, who are more likely to want more action in their comics.

<<also is the current spider man comic in the same format because the one I saw in the news stand I didn't like - I like the essential collection better.>>

The comic which follows the cotinuity of the Essentials collections is Amazing Spider-Man. Today's ASM is markedly different from what you read in the Essentials collection but it is a solid comic and probably the best Spidey comic currently on the market.

I haven't read it (yet) but I understand Spider-Girl has a similar feel to it as those early Lee-Ditko classics reprinted in the early volumes of Essential Spider-Man.