Most fans of American "Comic Books" are aware that Europe also has a grand history of what Will Eisner baptised as "sequential art". In Italy, they're called Fumetti while the French (and francophone Belgians) call them Bande Dessinée or BD for short. Since I gave up my Spider-Man collecting a few years back, I've had a bit more time and money to read "other stuff" like that.
One of my favorite BD titles is Valérian and Laureline, a long-running Science-Fiction series which began in 1967 (only a few years after the launch of Spider-Man). But very much unlike Spider-Man, Valérian and Laureline came to a clean and definite finale after more than four decades of publication. Volume 21 entitled "L'Ouvre Temps" was published in 2010, and brings the series to a close by wrapping things up very neatly and permanently.
I confess that I have only just finished reading Volume 21. These European Comic books don't work on the same "monthly schedule, buy it or miss out, addictive personality-feeding" paradigms. Readers will buy the books at their own pace, driven by their simple affection for the characters and the story, rather than being constantly urged by a collecting compulsion, limited edition covers, CGC-graded frenzy.
On a similar note, I have recently picked up the two-volume Legacy Deluxe Edition of the Firefly comics. Shiny!
I'm a bit of a Firefly fanboy too. The comics tie-in to the TV series and the movie, filling in the gaps and wrapping up the loose ends. This is done lovingly and respectfully, with a desire for completeness and consistency. The contrast with the Spider-Man comics is extraordinary. Since the comics boom of the 1990's, the Spider-Man comic books have charged forwards month by month, title by title, always with the voracious desire to throw more stuff at the wall and see what sticks. More, More, MORE!
That's not to say that there are never any moments where the comics turn back and attempt to answer open questions, or tie-up loose ends. But invariably, every attempt to close a previous plot-hole simply raises a dozen new confusions. Whenever Marvel revisited Carrion, Jackal, or Scrier did they leave things tidier than before? I think not. When Spider-Man drags out Norman Osborn for another go-around do they put him in order? Nope! They just slap another personality layer on top like a slum landlord covering up the mold in a poorly-ventilated bedroom on the shady side of the house.
Marvel is like The Borg. Or the Tyranids. Or NutriBoom. Must consume biomass!
When you're caught up in the relentless flow of comic books, that can easily seem "normal". But I don't think it is normal. Nor is it particularly healthy. I don't think it makes for good art, nor for good living.
Valérian and Laureline is a graphic novel. Firefly is from TV. There are many examples from book series' too. Agatha Christie's detective Poirot in Curtain: Poirot's Last Case, the Sicilian detective Montalbano in his final novel (and TV movie) Riccardino. Each one is given the dignity of closure. After 33 novels, there is enough Poirot in the world. The great French detective Maigret got 75 novels, and that is surely sufficient.
But Spider-Man, no. Spider-Man is apparently infinite. Spider-Man will continue growing until the entire universe is Spider-Man.