Amazing Spider-Man has been one of Marvel Comics’ most popular and successful titles since it first debuted in 1963. The book always worked best because it showed a normal person who received great powers and then had to figure things out on his own. Starting as a teenager and then moving into a difficult transition into adulthood, Peter Parker was someone whom most readers could relate to. This increased readership also caused Marvel Comics to take big chances with the comic and present some major moments that changed Marvel history. These aren’t just moments that changed things for Spider-Man in the comics, but they are some moments that had ramifications in the comic book industry as well.
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From one Amazing Spider-Man issue pushing Marvel Comics into the Bronze Age to the introduction of characters who transcended the title, here are 10 Amazing Spider-Man issues that changed Marvel history.
10) Amazing Spider-Man #248
Amazing Spider-Manย #248 is a comic book that has two stories, one with a superhero battle and the second with only Spider-Man talking to a young boy. That second story is what makes this stand out as one of the best Spider-Man stories of all time. The issue has two stories, “And He Strikes Like a Thunderball!” by Roger Stern and John Romita Jr., and “The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man” by Roger Stern and Ron Frenz. The opening story has Spider-Man fighting Thunderball of the Wrecking Crew. That is a forgettable battle that just sets up the real story.
In the second half, Spider-Man is talking to Tim Harrison, his biggest fan. Tim has a huge collection of newspaper articles about Spider-Man, and he is overjoyed that the real Spider-Man came to see him. Spidey even unmasks for Tim before leaving. However, that is where the gut punch takes place. Tim is dying from leukemia and has only a few weeks left to live, and this is comparable to the Make-A-Wish moments in real life. It is quiet and contemplative, and it proves that Spider-Man is more than someone who fights villains. This remains one of the best single-issue stories in Marvel Comics history.
9) Amazing Spider-Man #238
What makes Amazing Spider-Man #238 so important is that it does more than just introduce a new villain for Spidey to fight. This is a book that starts a long-running mystery, and it has piqued the interest of fans for a very long time. The story is “Shadow of Evils Past” by Roger Stern and John Romita Jr., and it introduces a brand-new villain named the Hobgoblin. Many things, including the “Evils Past” in the title, made many fans believe it was Norman Osborn back from the grave, but Marvel held onto that secret.
This changed a lot in Marvel, as it proved that these long-running storylines could capture a reader’s attention better than just quick reveals and surprises. Sadly, it didn’t have the best outcome, as the original reveal took four years and showed it was Peter’s colleague Ned Leeds. That ended up being retconned to make it Roderick Kingsley, although that took another 10 years to happen. Marvel also took the long-term story mystery to the limit with “The Clone Saga,” proving that Hobgoblin’s mystery was lightning in a bottle.
8) Amazing Spider-Man #194
Amazing Spider-Manย #194 was an issue with a major debut, and it is one that changed Spider-Man’s life forever. In the story “Never Let The Black Cat Cross Your Path” by Marv Wolfman, Keith Pollard, and Frank Giacoia, Spider-Man fought a new villain named the Black Cat. This was, of course, Felicia Hardy’s debut, as she was a cat burglar who became one of Spider-Man’s most iconic villains and eventual love interests. She remains one of the best original characters released in Spider-Man comics during the 1970s.
What is interesting is that Wolfman was going to introduce her in his run on Spider-Woman. However, when he left that book, he instead debuted her in Spider-Man, and that was the best decision that could have been made. There are some fans who believe Black Cat is a better love interest for Spider-Man than even Mary Jane Watson, and their back-and-forth relationship started in this issue.
7) Amazing Spider-Man #700
Amazing Spider-Manย #700 by Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos had an event that took Peter Parker out of the Marvel Universe for over a year. Yes, Peter was still around in the mind of Spider-Man, but the huge moment at the end saw Doctor Octopus having switched bodies with Peter Parker, and then Doc’s body died before they could switch back. This changed everything for the comic book, as it led directly into Superior Spider-Man, which had Doc Ock fighting crime in Peter’s body.
This was a huge moment because it allowed Doctor Octopus to show how great an antihero he could be. He did things that the real Spider-Man never could, thanks to Ock’s willingness to go to morally gray areas to achieve his goals. He also got the doctorate that Peter never finished, and he proved that Peter Parker could have a better life than the hero ever allowed himself to have. Superior Spider-Man remains one of the best character reinventions in Marvel Comics history.
6) Amazing Spider-Man #252
Amazing Spider-Manย #252 by Roger Stern, Tom DeFalco, and Ron Frenz confused readers when the issue went on sale. Marvel Comics had a moment across the entire line where heroes all disappeared at the end of the previous month’s issues. Then, they all returned with no explanation and major changes for most of the characters. One example saw that Ben Grimm was gone, and the Fantastic Four had a new member in She-Hulk. However, the most shocking change was that Spider-Man had a new black costume.
All this was explained in the Secret Wars miniseries, although it took a few months for it all to click into place. However, the biggest change to the Marvel Universe here wasn’t Spider-Man changing costumes. This was the book that introduced a symbiote to Marvel Comics, though readers wouldn’t learn that for months. The black suit was presented as a new costume. Only in #258 did Reed Richards reveal it was a living alien trying to bond with Peter permanently, after it had already been taking his body out to fight crime while he slept. The symbiotes were here, and nothing was the same in Marvel after this.
5) Amazing Spider-Man #50
There are two things that remain iconic about Amazing Spider-Man #50. One of those is the iconic Spider-Man cover, which shows Peter Parker quitting his role as Spider-Man and walking off. That cover has been homaged and repeated more than once over Marvel’s history. However, what changed the Marvel Universe happened inside this issue. This was the comic book that introduced Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime.
While most people consider Kingpin to be a Daredevil enemy, he debuted as a Spider-Man villain, and he was too powerful for even Spidey to defeat when they faced off in the next two issues. Of course, Kingpin moved over to the Daredevil titles and eventually ruined Matt Murdock’s life in the “Born Again” storyline. Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. introduced one of Marvel’s most dangerous villains in this issue, and he went on to become a recurring threat to every hero in comics, “as well as in the MCU’s street-level Daredevil series.
4) Amazing Spider-Man #129
Amazing Spider-Man #129 by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru is another book that changed Marvel history thanks to a new character debut. In this case, it was the Punisher who debuted in a Spider-Man comic book years before he proved to be an antihero who could carry his own series. The bad guy here was the Jackal, who convinced Punisher that Spider-Man was the villain the Daily Bugle always claimed him to be.
This sent Frank Castle out to kill Spider-Man and end his threat before he realized Jackal had duped him. This was a landmark issue because of what happened years later. The Garth Ennis Punisher run is considered one of the best in Marvel Comics history, as the writer used the character in some brutal stories that forced Marvel to move it to a different Earth in the multiverse. Punisher and his symbol have become iconic even outside comics, and his story all started in this one Amazing Spider-Man issue.
3) Amazing Spider-Man #300
While Amazing Spider-Man #252 was iconic as the first appearance of the black costume that later turned out to be a symbiote, everything changed in Amazing Spider-Man #300 by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. This issue changed Marvel history in a major way. This was the issue where the alien symbiote bonded with Eddie Brock and Venom made his first full appearance in Marvel Comics.
Venom has gone on to become a major character in his own right, someone who can not only carry his own comic book series, but also his own movies. He was the headliner of one of Marvel Comics’ crossover event series in “King in Black,” and he remains one of the most popular antiheroes to ever appear in Marvel Comics. This started the antagonistic relationship between Spider-Man and Venom, launched his career in Marvel Comics, and started the long legacy of symbiote heroes and villains.
2) Amazing Spider-Man #1
While Amazing Fantasy #15 was the debut of Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man #1 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko was just as important because it proved this teenage superhero could carry his own comic book. There wasn’t a masterful villain in the first issue, as he first came into contact with the Fantastic Four and then battled the Chameleon. However, even with the crutch of the Fantastic Four and a lackluster opening villain, it was still the start of one of Marvel’s best comic book titles.
Over the first year or two of this comic book, Spider-Man fought new villains like Doctor Octopus, Electro, Sandman, Mysterio, Green Goblin, Kraven the Hunter, the Lizard, and he even had a battle with Doctor Doom. This first issue set up everything, with Peter being bullied by his classmates, his work with the Daily Bugle and J. Jonah Jameson, and his struggles to help his Aunt May make ends meet after Uncle Ben’s death. Amazing Fantasy was the origin story, but this issue set up his legacy.
1) Amazing Spider-Man #121
Amazing Spider-Man #121 by Gerry Conway and Gil Kane did more than change Spider-Man comics. It almost did more than just change Marvel history. This is the issue that changed comic books forever, regardless of publisher. This story is the first part of “The Night Gwen Stacy Died,” and it saw Spider-Man attacked by the Green Goblin. It ended with Goblin throwing Gwen from a bridge, and Spider-Man catching her with a web, which caused a “snap” that killed her rather than saving her.
Seeing a beloved side character like Gwen Stacy die was shocking for readers. What resulted was that this is the issue that is most cited as the one that ended the Silver Age of comics and moved things in a darker direction, where anything could happen. From this point on, the Silver Age was dead, and now death meant so much more. Gwen is one of those characters who stayed dead (at least the Earth-616 version did), and that is important because this Amazing Spider-Man issue changed Marvel history forever.
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