Spider-Man is Marvel’s most single most popular hero and is the character that really made the Marvel way of creating heroes — relatable characters who were just like the reader — pay off. Spider-Man has appeared in thousands of comics over the decades, and readers have been treated to some of the greatest stories in the history of the medium starring the Web-Slinger. Spider-Man has become a huge part of pop culture, and Marvel has taken advantage of the character’s versatility and popularity. Spider-Man has appeared in nearly every form of modern media that you can think of, but comics have always been his home, where the stories that adaptations would use have been born.
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Spider-Man comics have a pretty mixed legacy among comic fans nowadays. There are lots of reasons for this, but we’re not here to talk about them today. What we’re here to talk about is the good stuff. Lots of amazing things have happened in Spider-Man comics over the decades, but these are the ten best stories, ideas, and runs that helped make Spider-Man into the star he is today.
10) Spider-Man as an Avenger
For years, Spider-Man was a huge part of the Marvel Universe, but there was one thing he wasn’t — an Avenger. Sure, he was a reserve member of the team and had fought along their side many times over the decades, but he was never on the big team. All of that changed with New Avengers, where Spider-Man finally became a member of the team. This was the perfect change for Spider-Man; the character was able to transcend his roots as a hard luck hero into one of the most respected members of the superhero community. On top of that, we got the excellent Civil War crossover and its aftermath. Seriously, go read The Amazing Spider-Man tie-in issues and “Back in Black”; they’re sensational.
9) J. Michael Straczynski Taking Over as The Amazing Spider-Man Writer
The ’90s weren’t a great time for Spider-Man fans. “The Clone Saga” started out hot, but dragged on for far too long, and Marvel couldn’t pull the Spider-Man books out of their tail spin. They arguably made it worse by letting John Byrne reboot the character. However, Joe Quesada becoming Editor in Chief at Marvel would be the turning point for Spider-Man. Quesada was able to get J. Michael Straczynski, the writer/creator of Babylon 5 and the comic Rising Stars, to write The Amazing Spider-Man. Suddenly, fans were hyped for The Amazing Spider-Man again. Straczynski did spectacular things with the character, and fans came back to The Amazing Spider-Man after years of ignoring it. Straczynski’s run is considered by many to be the best Spider-Man run of the 21st century, its bright spots easily overshadowing the problems with the run.
8) The Spider-Verse
The Spider-Verse has become one of the most popular parts of the Spider-Man mythos. It all started in 2014, during the eight-year run on The Amazing Spider-Man by writer Dan Slott. It teamed the Spider-Men (and Women) of the universe against the Inheritors, a group of energy vampires that drained the various Spider-People of the multiverse (an idea with its genesis in the villain Morlun created by J. Michael Straczynski). Slott’s run has divided fans, but there are definitely some highlights that everyone can agree on, and the Spider-Verse concept is one of them. It introduced readers to some of the coolest Spider-Man variants of all time — including Spider-Gwen, Spider-Punk, the Indian Spider-Man, and many more — and planted the seeds that would grow into Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a movie that has gone done in the pantheon of best superhero animated films.
7) The Spectacular Spider-Man by J.M. DeMatteis and Sal Buscema
J.M. DeMatteis is a comics legend, and he did some of his best work on Spider-Man. DeMatteis is the writer of “Kraven’s Last Hunt”, a story that for my money is the best Spider-Man story ever, and had an amazing grasp on the character. In 1991, DeMatteis would come back to The Spectacular Spider-Man for a run of issues from #178 to #203 with one of Marvel’s greatest artists, Sal Buscema. What followed was an all-time great Spider-Man run. DeMatteis and Buscema were able to give readers classic Spider-Man goodness that still felt modern. Their book wasn’t as flashy as The Amazing Spider-Man, but it was amazing nonetheless. It was during this run that Harry Osborn would become Green Goblin, giving readers some amazing stories as Peter clashes with the man who had been his best friend for years. The Spectacular Spider-Man #200 is probably the best single issue of Spider-Man of the last forty years. This is an amazing run, and it showed the depth of what could be done with Spider-Man.
6) The Return of Norman Osborn
The Clone Saga is one of those stories that wreaked havoc on Spider-Man, but it wasn’t all bad. The early days of the Clone Saga were actually pretty cool. The books still sold well, and Marvel got greedy. It took years to end, and that ending gave readers something very important: the resurrection of Norman Osborn. Norman died in The Amazing Spider-Man #122, and for years, Marvel had to constantly introduce new archenemies for Spider-Man to replace him, like Hobgoblin. Harry Osborn came back as the Green Goblin in the early ’90s, but he wouldn’t last long as the villain. Bringing Norman back as the mastermind of the Clone Saga was an awesome moment, and it was honestly a pretty good idea that would have made readers a lot happier if it would have happened a few years before. Bringing Norman back to life not only gave Spider-Man back his greatest enemy, it also gave Marvel one of its greatest villains back. Norman Osborn returning opened the door for his awesome storyline from Civil War (he was part of the excellent Civil War: Frontline) to Siege. This is a way better moment than it gets credit for and the final battle of the Clone Saga in Spider-Man #75 is intense.
5) The Original Ultimate Spider-Man
The year 2000 wasn’t exactly a great time for Spider-Man fans. Peter Parker: Spider-Man wasn’t bad at all, but The Amazing Spider-Man was pretty blah. However, fans were about to get a bright spot: Ultimate Spider-Man (Vol. 1). This reboot of Spider-Man took readers back to the beginning of Peter Parker, and fans loved it. Writer Brian Michael Bendis was perfect for Spider-Man and he was teamed with the best Spider-Man artists of the ’90s, Mark Bagley (Bagley is better than McFarlane and Larsen and I will die on this hill). The original Ultimate Universe was about modernizing the original Marvel Universe, and Bendis and Bagley did an amazing job. While not everything was the best, it was still a nice change of pace from the mainline Peter. Ultimate Spider-Man was a very popular title throughout its run, even when the other Ultimate books were floundering. Eventually, the Ultimate version of Spider-Man would lead to one of the most important Spider-man characters of all time: Miles Morales. Ultimate Spider-Man is one of those legends of the comic industry; it came about as Marvel was working hard to make Spider-Man great again, and for a lot of fans it was the best part of the whole era.
4) The Symbiote Costume and Its Consequences
Symbiotes are an important part of the Marvel Universe, and they all stem from the Spider-Man comics. It all started with the original Secret Wars, where Spider-Man needed a new costume. He was given a black costume out of a machine, and the saga of the symbiotes would be born. It would eventually lead to the costume trying to bond with Peter, Peter getting rid of it in a church, and Eddie Brock finding it. Thus was Venom born, and Venom would go on to become one of the most popular Marvel characters of the ’90s. The symbiotes have been some of the better parts of the Spider-Man comics since they came into being, and Marvel has created multiple cool event books from the symbiotes.
3) The new Ultimate Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man is one of the most hated bestselling comics of all time. Marvel doubling down on their idea of keeping Peter Parker lonely and poor, destroying the marriage between Peter and Mary Jane, has to led the book being a hate read by many fans. However, 2023 saw all of that change with the release of Ultimate Spider-Man (Vol. 2). This book was part of Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe, which was meant to be quite different from the mainline Marvel Universe. This version of Spider-Man’s story started with an older Peter Parker who had never become Spider-Man, and had married Mary Jane. The two of them had two children and were relatively happy, but everything would change when Peter was given the chance to become Spider-Man. Ultimate Spider-Man (Vol. 2) became a fan favorite, and it only got better as the months have gone on. While there are some complaints about the book (a lot of fans think it should be called Ultimate Green Goblin since Harry and Gwen Stacy are much more important to the story than Peter), it’s still an awesome book, boasting one of the best supporting casts in current comics. Ultimate Spider-Man (Vol. 2) is the best Spider-Man book on the market by a wide margin, and fans are quite sad that it will be ending with issue #24.
2) The Death of Gwen Stacy
Gwen Stacy was Peter Parker’s first love, and a key part of The Amazing Spider-Man in the later Silver Age/Bronze Age. Gwen was interesting character; while she’s definitely wasn’t the perfect angel that she’s been portrayed as in recent years (if you want to get an idea about what kind of character Gwen really was, The Amazing Spider-Man #400 back-up story “I remember Gwen” shows her warts and all ), she played a big part in Peter’s life. Their relationship in The Amazing Spider-Man was honestly pretty limiting, with Gwen playing the overbearing girlfriend; as much an obstacle to Peter’s Spider-Man career as she was anything else in the book. Her death was a major moment in Spider-Man history, showing that he could never let his guard down. It also led to the much better relationship with Mary Jane Watson.
1) The Marriage Between Peter Parker and Mary Jane
The marriage Peter Parker and Mary Jane was the perfect growth for Peter’s character. One of the best things about Spider-Man was how he grew as a character, how his life changed. Spider-Man grew up, and his marriage to Mary Jane played into that. It was a bold move in the history of the character, and it led to years of Spider-Man stories that were pretty universally loved. Mary Jane made the best partner for Spider-Man; she accepted who he was and supported him, but also wasn’t about to let him do anything stupid. A whole generation of Spider-Man fans grew up with that marriage, and it was one of the most beloved parts of the Spider-Man experience. Of course, ’00s Marvel Editorial didn’t think it was such a good idea, which led to the maligned “One More Day”. However, the marriage took the Spider-Man books to the next level, and remain the best part of the Spider-Man comics.
What are your favorite parts of the Spider-Man comics? Sound off in the comments below.
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