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With great power there must also come great responsibility.note 

"And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last that in this world, with great power, there must also come—great responsibility! And so a legend is born and a new name is added to the roster of those who make the world of fantasy the most exciting realm of all!"
The Narrator, Amazing Fantasy #15, complete full closing caption. Written by Stan Lee.

He's Amazing! He's Sensational! He's Spectacular!

He's just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!

Spider-Man is a Marvel Comics superhero created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962. First appearing in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), he is considered to be Marvel's most popular and famous superhero. He is one of — if not the — premier company mascots of Marvel Comics and is as central to them as Mickey Mouse is to Walt Disney.

Peter Parker is a shy, bookish, and constantly picked-on high school student who lives with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in Forest Hills, Queens due to the death of his parents. On a field trip to a science lab, he was bitten by a radioactive (and in some newer stories genetically-modified) spider, giving him amazing powers: the proportional strength of a spider, the ability to crawl on walls, a Spider-Sense to warn him of danger, as well as super-fast reflexes. A brilliant young man and budding inventor, Peter developed his own formula for an adhesive fluid that resembles and mimics a spider's web which he fires from wrist-mounted shooters, working as both a grappling tool and a projectile weapon.

Initially ebullient and overawed by his transformation from picked-on kid to superhuman, a Tragic Mistake that leads to the death of his beloved Uncle Ben permanently instills in Peter a sense of responsibility and duty to his fellow citizen. As the web-slinging, wall-crawling Spider-Man, Peter fights crime while trying to keep his identity secret from his widowed Aunt May and from the public at large, even if as a superhero from a struggling background starting out with almost entirely independent resources, he has few ways to defend himself from the misunderstandings and weak communication caused by his actions in the public eye.

Becoming a superhero on the cusp of adulthood, forced to grow up fast while barely having time to enjoy his youth, Spider-Man is the underdog superhero — scrapping to earn every inch of his triumphs, big and small, while living with the consequences of his actions, good and bad, and the ways it affects him and his loved ones for every waking day that follows.

The series was an immediate hit and quickly became Marvel's top-selling title, and in a few short years, Spider-Man became one of the most iconic heroes of all time. One of the reasons for this is because Spider-Man actually seemed like a real person, with day-to-day worries. Peter Parker was unpopular in his high school (though not without his supporting cast of friends). He and his aunt were poor, due to the death of their breadwinner. To get by, he had to sell pictures of his super-hero self to a man who only used them as a way to smear and tear down Spider-Man's reputation, in a nice inversion of the Clark Kent/Superman situation. Of course, he persevered, and with his powers, his native intelligence, and his nifty web-shooters, he went on to battle a bevy of strange supervillains. Spider-Man was in many ways Jack of All Stats of the Marvel Universe. While he wasn't the fastest, strongest, smartest, or most skilled hero there was, Spidey possessed enough of all these qualities to be able to handle a wide variety of situations and villains.

As the series continued, and despite starting nearly twenty years after both Superman and Batman, Spider-Man closed the gap between them to become just as notable and proverbial in the global consciousness. Just like them, Spider-Man has a supporting cast that is equally iconic and popular — his elderly Aunt May, his famous editor/boss J. Jonah Jameson, his school friends and rivals (Flash Thompson, Harry Osborn) and of course his Love Interest who alternately like either Peter but hate Spider-Man or vice-versa, or are otherwise too much for him or anyone to handle (Gwen Stacy, Felicia Hardy, Mary Jane Watson). His Rogues Gallery is also one of the most notable and famous in comics' history — the Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus, Venom, Rhino, Vulture, Scorpion, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter, as well as a series of popular Legacy Character and sidekicks (Miles Morales, Spider-Girl among others).

With a strongly serialized continuity during the era of EIC Stan Lee, where Marvel as a whole told stories in near real-time, Spider-Man has been lauded as a landmark in comic book characterization and narrative structure. However, as the years have gone by, Comic-Book Time was gradually introduced under his successors but still, Spider-Man's stories remained on the realistic side, a place where characters who died stayed dead, and supporting characters and fixtures from one era died in the next, new supporting characters coming in while old ones were either Put on a Bus only to return later in a new role and new form. Status-quo changes had impact and lasting consequences. Spider-Man started as a high school student, went to college, worked as an adult, had a series of girlfriends, before having long-term relationships with first Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane, Felicia Hardy, before finally reuniting with MJ and getting married to her. In The '90s, falling in line with the general trends in other Marvel titles, as well as tendencies in superhero titles from other companies, Spider-Man gradually came to be affected by retcons, characters coming Back from the Dead, Kudzu Plot and in 2007-2008, a Cosmic Retcon that reversed 20 years of real-life continuity to tell a new altered status-quo that is, in fact, a composite of elements from different parts of Spider-Man's publication history.

Spider-Man was first published in The Amazing Spider-Man, which is still considered the flagship title and center of gravity. Due to his immense popularity and fame, however, he became a tri-monthly title in The '70s and The '80s with The Spectacular Spider-Man and Web of Spider-Man being published alongside Amazing three times a month. Amazing dealt with the main story and series in general, while Spectacular and Web of Spider-Man dealt with smaller stories, one-shots and provided A Day in the Limelight to supporting characters or villains. As time passed, other titles such as Peter Parker: Spider-Man, The Sensational Spider-Man, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man also took over as sister titles, as did some miniseries and Alternate Universe spinoffs. These titles also came to acquire significant prestige in their own right with many iconic stories first featured there, and a story-arc that takes place across all monthly titles, which first happened in 1987, became a regular occurrence in later years.

Please note that this page covers the Spider-Man comics only, for tropes pertaining to all Spider-Man media, and a list of comic storylines and other works in the franchise, see the franchise page. For the title character, see Marvel Comics: Peter Parker.

Summary of Publication History and Important Creative Runs

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     1962 — 1980 
  • The Amazing Spider-Man (Lee & Ditko) (1962-1966) — The original run of Spider-Man by its co-creators has many of the most iconic and often reproduced elements of the entire mythos. This includes Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider-Man's iconic Origins Episode originally published in the last issue of an anthology comic but an immediate success and hit. The iconic cover by Jack Kirby, the art by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee's dialogues created one of the greatest stories, with a fable-like simplicity about how Peter's life goes on a rollercoaster from nobody to somebody and then comes crashing down when tragedy strikes him. The success of this story led to Spidey's flagship title, Amazing Spider-Man #1-38. It featured the first and seminal appearances of many classic Spider-Man villains, Spider-Man's supporting cast, and showing the character growing and maturing almost in real-time from high school student to college student which happened in what's considered the masterpiece of this era, If This Be My Destiny, aka the Master Planner arc.
  • Lee and Romita Sr.'s Spider-Man (1966-1972) — John Romita Sr. took over Ditko's role as artist and plotter after he left. As in the case of Ditko, the works were in the Marvel Method and Lee adapted himself to Romita Sr's strength and wavelength (i.e. romance comics) albeit Lee also took a stronger hand in this time owing to the latter's unfamiliarity with plotting out stories by himself. Comprising Issues #39-110, this marked the end of Stan Lee's involvement with the regular Spider-Man continuity, he would contribute to the Spider-Man newspaper strip (and indeed write far more for that than he ever did in the main comics). This era codified Peter Parker's dominant comic look, crystallized his supporting-cast (Harry Osborn as his best friend, Flash Thompson as Vitriolic Best Buds), and the Breakout Character that is Mary Jane Watson, as well as The Kingpin.
    • Green Goblin Unmasked Romita hit the ground running with this (ASM #39-40) story which finally answered and resolved the great mystery of the previous run, the truth behind Spider-Man's most mysterious and dangerous enemy.
    • Romita Sr. initially tried to be consistent with Ditko's art-style. It was with Issues 42-44 however, which had Mary Jane Watson's first appearance that Romita established the new style. Spider-Man would no longer be the story of just Peter Parker and his closed world as in the Lee-Ditko era but it would now encompass a regular supporting cast, love triangles, and a more social and less hostile atmosphere. In short, Spider-Man would be Lighter and Softer and later Spider-Man runs often celebrated this college-era as a time of innocence and sweetness embodied by the Love Triangle of Peter, Mary Jane, and Gwen Stacy, he latter of whom became Peter's First Love. However, this is only the most famous part.
    • Spider-Man No More: Spider-Man's 50th Issue is legendary for its famous cover and for its single-panel splash image of Peter throwing his costume in the trash as he walks away (recreated in Spider-Man 2 among other places). It also featured the first appearance of the Kingpin, who in time would become the major crime boss of the Marvel Universe menacing Spider-Man, the Punisher, and especially Daredevil. Not able to take the stress of being Spider-Man, Peter decides to quit once and for all. Unfortunately, the costume he dumps in the trash reaches Jonah who prints it on the front page. News of Spider-Man quitting electrifies the underworld starting a crime-wave which the Kingpin exploits to finally become ruler of the criminal underworld.
    • The Death of Captain George Stacy: The first major Character Death since Amazing Fantasy #15 albeit overshadowed by the one that came after that. It happened in Issues #88-90 and its fallout shaped the end of the era. Doctor Octopus escapes and holds a plane hostage but after a confrontation with Spider-Man, he flees. A tense battle takes place across New York between the foes. While fighting on a rooftop, Spider-Man pours chemicals on Ock's arms that short-circuit it and drive it out of control making it knock a chimney. The rubble would have hit a nearby child but Captain George Stacy pushes the kid away at the cost of his life. He dies, but not before telling Peter that he knows his secret identity while asking him to look after Gwen.
    • Green Goblin Reborn!: Also known as the "Drug Trilogy" (ASM #96-98). This landmark comic was published in 1971 when the U.S. Department of Health approached Marvel and asked them to do an anti-drug storyline. There was one little problem: The Comics Code forbade drugs anywhere, both good and bad. Marvel decided to write a three-parter where Harry Osborn was shown to be popping pills and ignore Comics Code approval for those three issues. Along with Green Lantern/Green Arrow doing a heroin storyline the same year, this was one of the first signs of transition to the socially- and politically-conscious Bronze Age of Comics.
    • The Six Arms Saga: Taking place in Amazing Spider-Man #100, Peter decides to do Spider-Man No More yet again and creates a potion that removes his powers, only to give himself extra hands. This story is notable for introducing Morbius, the Living Vampire.
    • The other notable element of the Lee-Romita era was the decision to start including greater diversity. Issue #51 saw the introduction of Joe "Robbie" Robertson, the first and still the most notable and important African-American supporting character in the series, who was the Hypercompetent Sidekick to Jonah and in the course of the series would become another important Parental Substitute and mentor to Peter Parker. The other major character was the Prowler, aka Hobie Brown, a small-time hood who Spider-Man converts into an ally and friend. In Issue #87, the Prowler became the first character other than Peter to wear the Spider-Man outfit (no costume replicas), and certainly the first POC to do so. When Brian Michael Bendis created Miles Morales, Spider-Man's most prominent Affirmative-Action Legacy character, he made his character's Arch-Enemy into Prowler II, Aaron Davis, in allusion to the original Hobie (whose heroic aspect was given to Jefferson and Miles Morales).
  • Gerry Conway's Spider-Man (1972-1975) — Stan Lee was followed by Gerry Conway, a former fan turned writer who at the age of 18-19 had the daunting task of stepping in Stan Lee's foot-steps. Where Lee worked via the Marvel Method, Conway had a strong voice as writer and while working with artists it was his views and ideas that made it to the story. As such he's seen by some as Spider-Man's first actual writer in the traditional sense. He wrote issues 110-149, nearly the same amount of issues that Ditko did, and in many ways, the issues were just as important and defining for stories going forward. Conway introduced a slew of iconic characters and concepts — Hammerhead, The Punisher (who ultimately became his sub-franchise), the Jackal, and the now-infamous Spider-Mobile.
    • The Night Gwen Stacy Died — Conway's most important contribution. A landmark story that ended the Silver Age of Comics, published in 1973. Peter Parker's life had settled down a bit. He was in a steady relationship with Gwen and started getting some respect from the people around him but there was that snag. Norman Osborn was part of his supporting cast, demoted to an amnesiac lame dad for most of the previous run (save the drug issue) but a walking time bomb waiting to go off as far as Peter was concerned. For issues 121-122, Osborn relapsed into the Green Goblin and decided to hurt Spider-Man again, and then he just happened to run into Gwen Stacy... leading to a confrontation atop the George Washington Bridge. Spider-Man arrives, just in the nick of time, like the song goes... except this time he doesn't save the victim. Gwen Stacy dies. Never before had a superhero failed like this. This also resulted in the first major fan backlash among Spider-Man readers and arguably the first real fan controversy about a superhero storyline ever.
    • The First Clone Saga — Conway's other lasting contribution, including the elevation of Mary Jane Watson as Spider-Man's long-term Love Interest. His run documented the slow maturity of MJ, and Peter's growing feelings for her, with the two falling in love with each other around the time of the major story that closed Conway's original run, which Conway created as a response to the Gwen Stacy backlash and as a Bookend to his major story. A clone of Gwen returns to Peter's life just when he and MJ are moving on. This tests their bond and feelings but in the course of a crazy mind-bending adventure that somehow combines the Silver and Bronze Age (intense scenes of longing, grief, and guilt mixed with goofy confrontations with villains in empty stadiums), Peter realizes that he's no longer the same man who fell for Gwen. He goes back to Mary Jane and the two of them commit to their love for each other at the end of Amazing Spider-Man #149. Conway's final run is by and large considered the end of Spider-Man's Coming of Age Story from teenager to man (what with the final panel implying that he crossed the final rite of passage).
    • Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man (1976) — After completing his run, Conway wrote and edited the first-ever inter-company non-continuity crossover, where Spider-Man and Superman fight and team up against Luthor and Doc Ock. In the end, Peter, Clark, MJ, and Lois go on a double date. The story confirmed Spider-Man's status as one of the big three, or rather big two.note 
  • Len Wein and Marv Wolfman's Spider-Man (1976-1980): A slew of writers took over from Conway, including Archie Goodwin (who wrote Issue #150) before Len Wein started an extended run, followed by Marv Wolfman. Most of Conway's story threads and plots were carried forward. Important changes in this period included the wedding of Ned Leeds and Betty Brant (where Peter and MJ served as Best Man and Maid of Honor, respectively), Aunt May's unexpected flirtation with Civil Rights Activism and elderly rights, and other melodramatic turns. Wolfman, wanting to shake the title up, saw fit to end the Peter and MJ romance by having Peter propose to her and having MJ turning it down (in Issue #182). The couple broke up in Issue #192 (exactly 100 issues before she and Peter would get engaged and married for real). The important landmark issue is Issue #200 where Peter confronts Uncle Ben's killer, who escaped from prison, and Peter achieves a measure of catharsis over Uncle Ben's death. Also important is the first appearance of Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, who would go on to be Peter's third great romance.
  • Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man: The title "The Spectacular Spider-Man" was originally used for a short-lived magazine in late 1968, in which Lee and Romita wrote black-and-white stories dealing with Peter, Gwen, MJ, and Norman Osborn. A story from this magazine was later adapted into the pages of Amazing during Conway's first issues. In 1976, owing to the greater demand for Spider-Man, and with the blessing of Stan Lee, Gerry Conway launched Spider-Man's first, and longest-lasting, second title (Volume 1 lasted from 1976 — 1998, dropping the "Peter Parker" portion with #134 {January 1988}; Volume 2 lasted from 2003 — 2005; and Volume 3 — with the re-added "Peter Parker" prefix — from 2017 — 2018). Bill Mantlo became the most prominent writer during its first 100 issues. Mantlo would never write the main title, but he established the prestige of the second series writing smaller character-centric stories, which were often innovative. Mantlo's most famous story is The Owl/Octopus War (#73 — #79), which had Spider-Man and Black Cat caught up in a gang war between The Owl and Doctor Octopus, getting Black Cat injured in the process; the battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus is considered one of the classics. Another notable issue is when Peter revealed his identity to Black Cat, to her consternation that her supposed "idealized match" was a simple guy from Queens. During his run, Mantlo brought in White Tiger, a character he had co-created earlier, as Spider-Man's regular sidekick and ally. He also created and introduced Cloak and Dagger in Issue #64, who later went on to become prominent side characters and spin-offs. Other writers who cut their teeth on Spectacular include Roger Stern and J. M. DeMatteis, and the title became known and celebrated as a proving ground.

     1980 — 1994 
  • Dennis O'Neill's Spider-Man (1980-1981) : A brief run of 16 issues between ASM #207-223, O'Neill (known for his work on Batman), moved Peter Parker to the Daily Globe, a rival of the Bugle, and shuffled his regular cast. His run is mainly notable for introducing the villains Hydro-Man and Calypso, as well as Madame Web, a blind psychic who would in later stories and adaptations become an occult center in Spider-Man's mythos.
  • Roger Stern's Spider-Man (1981-1984) : Roger Stern originally worked on the smaller, character-centric Spectacular title before taking over Amazing. He had contributed a fill-in issue (#206) between Wolfman and O'Neill's runs but officially took over from #224 onwards. His run is notable for pitting Spider-Man against other villains in the Marvel Universe, including the Foolkiller (an enemy of The Defenders), the Juggernaut (from the X-Men) Mister Hyde (an enemy of The Avengers) and The Mad Thinker (an enemy of Fantastic Four). He also outlined the origin of the Vulture, introduced the Felicia and Peter romance, and brought Mary Jane back to the regular continuity, dropping the first hints of her backstory (which Stern conceptualized and outlined):
    • Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut! (Issue #229-230): One of the greatest battle issues and fights in Spider-Man's career. The Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy hunt for Madame Web, with Marko causing destruction along the way. Spider-Man does his best to halt him and save Madame Web's life.
    • The Hobgoblin (ASM #238-251): A Story Arc the sustained the closing issues of Stern's run, featuring the major signature villain that Stern created. Low-rent hood Georgie Hill stumbles onto one of Norman Osborn's hideouts across the city, alerting his unseen and mysterious partner about his findings. Said partner kills Georgie and, over the issues, steadily hijacks Osborn's gear and resources to make himself the Hobgoblin as authorities and Spider-Man try and solve his identity. Stern decided to quit before revealing the Hobgoblin's secret, starting a problem for the character under later writers that resulted in a mess that would not be resolved until Stern returned in The '90s to write Hobgoblin Lives! note 
    • The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man: A small side story published in a single issue (Amazing #248), it ended up overshadowing the A-Story and is celebrated as one of the most humanistic and stirring moments in the entire mythos. Spidey visits one of his young fans and just spends time chatting, even revealing himself as Peter Parker and explaining his origins to a total stranger. It's only at the end that we learn that the boy is a Littlest Cancer Patient with days left to live, wishing to meet his hero before he passed on. Notably, the story was adapted for Spider-Man: The Animated Series, with the patient being Gender Flipped.
  • Secret Wars (1984): This landmark first crossover event had Spider-Man play a major role. Tie-in issues by Roger Stern leading-in and leading-out of the event proved to be his final issues, while plot threads dealing with its major developments became the opening story arc of the succeeding run. The Beyonder plucks Spider-Man and other heroes by drawing them to the sheep farm in Central Park, where an alien construct and transporter takes them to the edge of the galaxy to Battleworld. Spider-Man and his rogues Doctor Octopus and the Lizard feature in the story. After one major fight with supervillains maxes out his web-shooters and tears his costume, Spider-Man goes to a secret room in the conquered Doombase, where a machine, in response to his desire to fix his costume, drops a mysterious black goo. This ends up covering Spider-Man completely, changing into an all-black outfit with white eyes, giant white spiders connected on the front and back, and unlimited webbing. The symbiote was originally a proposed new costume design pitched by a fan, which EIC Jim Shooter (who wrote Secret Wars) purchased, and since the miniseries was a merch-driven tie-in, having Spider-Man get a new costume made sense. The actual nature of the Symbiote, its mysterious powers and origins would become a major Story Arc of Spider-Man titles for the next 15 years or so.
  • Tom DeFalco's Spider-Man (1984-1987): DeFalco originally served as an editor to Stern, before succeeding him as writer and worked with Ron Frenz (who also collaborated with Stern, most notably on The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man) on an extended run. The period of this run was affected by editors such as Jim Owsley (better known as Christopher Priest (comics), more celebrated for his work on Black Panther) and EIC Jim Shooter. Working with artist Ron Frenz, Defalco's biggest contributions are #257-259, the storylines expanding on Mary Jane's past and backstory (revealing that she was Peter's Secret Secret-Keeper for some time) and making her Peter's confidant and best friend. He also incorporated Spider-Man's major costume change, starting The Alien Costume Saga. He and later writers would make this costume into a symbiote that was attempting to permanently merge with Peter. He also co-created Silver Sable in this time, who would become a Spider-Man fixture and spinoff character in her own right. Also notable is the battle issue with Firelord, the herald of Galactus, and a story that expanded on the backstory of Crusher Hogan, the wrestler Peter fought in AF #15. DeFalco and Frenz were abruptly removed from the title before the end of their run, with many loose threads and elements halted in place, most notably the Hobgoblin mystery which Defalco had inherited from Stern and whose wheels he had been carefully spinning. Instead, Jim Owsley, through his one-shot Spider-Man V. Wolverine and Gang War, randomly revealed the Hobgoblin's identity to be Ned Leeds, to the confusion of Peter, the fandom, and fellow writers. This created a mess that would only be resolved when Roger Stern completed his Hobgoblin Lives! miniseries in The '90s. A year or so later, DeFalco took over as EIC, a position he would occupy until the Mid-'90s, ending when he oversaw the Clone Saga. He continued with the Spider-books afterward for a time, working on Spider-Girl.
  • During the same era, Peter David contributed a few seminal Spider-Man stories in both the main title and the satellites. He would return periodically after from time to time during later runs, including the Mackie and Byrne era as well as JMS (where he wrote Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man). He also created the Legacy Character Spider-Man 2099 and worked on its original series.
    • The Commuter Commuteth: A fill in-issue published during Defalco-Frenz's run (Amazing Spider-Man #267), this is still considered to be a rather iconic Spider-Man-outside-Manhattan story. The gimmick — New York suburbs don't have the high-rise buildings that are easy for web-swinging — was adapted scene-for-scene in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
    • The Death of Jean DeWolff: Published in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110, the story arc finds Spider-Man's friend, police captain Jean DeWolff, murdered in her apartment. The hunt for DeWolff's murderer becomes the impetus for an exploration of moral relativism among superheroes, the flaws of the criminal justice system, the desire for vengeance, and the clash of values between the idealistic Daredevil and the pragmatic Spider-Man. This was Peter David's first professional Comic Book writing assignment and is noted for subverting the comic-book stereotype of Heroic Sacrifice in character deaths. Likewise, it made Daredevil and Spider-Man comrades in the superhero community, with both of them learning the other's identity in the course of the story.
  • David Michelinie's Spider-Man: Fresh off his extended run on Iron Man, Michelinie, who worked on the then-new Web of Spider-Man, was handed the keys to the kingdom starting with Amazing #290. His run on the title lasted until Amazing #388, and coupled with his earlier issues on Web of Spider-Man, Michelinie ended up breaking Stan Lee's record as the writer of the most Spider-Man stories, a position he held until Dan Slott's tenure. Michelinie's run also marked a new trend in Spider-Man titles. Before, writers had short runs and short periods, but afterwards, Marvel preferred writers to work extensively on one title, setting the pattern for Michelinie, JMS, and Dan Slott. His run is most notable for his collaborations with artists (and future Image Comics founders) Todd Mc Farlane and Erik Larsen (of Savage Dragon fame), as well as for introducing characters like Venom and others. His run also saw many events overlapping with his title.
    • The Spider-Marriage: The biggest change in Spider-Man's continuity since Issue #28 (when Peter graduated from high school) happened when Peter got married to his long-time love interest, Mary Jane Watson. This marked the start of an extended run on the title by David Michelinie who took over from Issue #290 and whose run on the title lasted until Issue #388. Michelinie wrote "The Big Question", the three-part issues (#290-#292) that showed Peter proposing to MJ a second time, her initial rejection, their adventure in MJ's hometown dealing with her sister Gail and her father Philip, and MJ finally saying "Yes" after a confrontation with a Spider-Slayer. This was followed by "The Wedding" (Amazing Annual #21). At a convention, Stan Lee and EIC Jim Shooter had been asked by fans if they would have Peter get married to Mary Jane (referring to the newspaper continuity where the two were long the Official Couple as opposed to the regular continuity which stuck to a permanent melodrama and rotating love-interest model). Lee, crowd-pleaser that he was, shrugged and said he was okay with it, and Shooter, having been put on the spot, said he was okay with it too. The response was picked up by the media and it was widely popular among fans and general readers, including those who had long given up on reading Spider-Man in the regular continuity for years having grown tired of the static nature of his storiesnote . So the marriage had to happen in the regular continuity, even if Peter and MJ at this time were friends with strong feelings for one another but also hesitant about starting a relationship again leave alone a marriage. The result was a series of issues in 1987 that saw MJ over three issues resolving her family baggage and saying yes to Peter followed by the famous Annual, published in 1987, plotted by Jim Shooter himself, scripted by David Michelinie, featuring cover art by John Romita Sr, and artwork by Paul Ryan.note 
    • Kraven's Last Hunt: The period of the marriage was immediately followed by a series of iconic storylines starting right out of the gate with this one by J.M. DeMatteis. This landmark story was published over two months in every monthly Spider-Man title being a kind of crossover in Spider-Titles and it became the first Spider-Man story to be collected in hardcover (or trade paperback, for that matter), and one of Marvel's first collections. Kraven the Hunter sets out to prove that he's a better man than Spidey, and starts by shooting him and burying him. It was the first major story featuring Spider-Man as a married man.
    • Best of Enemies: Another important story from this time is The Spectacular Spider-Man #200 which deals with the death of Harry Osborn, written by J.M. DeMatteis. Harry Osborn the wayward friend of Peter, rejected suitor of MJ, tortured son of Norman, and troubled young father, relapses into becoming the Green Goblin one more time over his grief and nostalgia for his long-gone college youth and the innocence that he, Peter and MJ lost. He finally attains a measure of redemption before dying in a classic story.
    • Parallel LivesGerry Conway, like Lee, would never quite become a major writer on Spider-Man again, but he returned later to contribute for some smaller side stories, notably dealing with Robbie Robertson. Parallel Lives one of the first "graphic novels" published after Peter and MJ's wedding is a tribute to the love story at the heart of Spider-Man which Conway did more than anyone to bring to fruition.note 
    • Venom: This landmark Story Arc (beginning from ASM #299-300) introduced Spider-Man's third great Arch-Nemesis and the most influential Spider-Man villain since Steve Ditko's departure. The Symbiote that Spider-Man had driven away by exploiting its Achilles' Heel, sonic attacks, and loud noise in general, whereupon it merged with a reporter Eddie Brock who felt Spider-Man had wronged him and became the recurring villain Venom. Venom was a runaway hit but he went from villain to Anti-Hero Substitute, leading writers to create Venom's very own Venom, leading to Carnage, who debuted in ASM #361, albeit his alter-ego Cletus Kasady had debuted in ASM #344.
    • The Cosmic Spider-Man Saga: Running across Spider-Man titles (Amazing Spider-Man #326-329, Spectacular Spider-Man #158-160, and Web of Spider-Man #59-61), this story arc tied into the Acts of Vengeance crossover. It featured Spider-Man gaining the powers of Captain Universe and becoming a cosmic player, which allows him to face against powerful heavy-hitters such as Magneto and the Tri-Sentinel.
    • Maximum Carnage: An event from 1993; Carnage recruits C-list villains into a Legion of Doom, and Spidey recruits several heroes (and Venom) to stop them. Mainly of note for being the highest-selling multi-title comic series in History (displacing Crisis on Infinite Earths) until Civil War - the reason for such a large mega-run was summarized by writer/E.I.C. Tom DeFalco as being a test to see how a multi-title series would function in the Spidey-verse, something that was tried before, but with a much smaller cast.

     1994 — 2018 
  • The Clone Saga (1994-1996): Gerry Conway's original Clone Saga was an emotional roller-coaster and farewell to Gwen Stacy and the nostalgia she represented. That was what he intended at any rate and that was how it was received originally. But near the end of his story, there was a bit where Spider-Man fought a clone of himself in a stadium and for a brief moment Peter had Cloning Angst and readers wondered if the Peter we saw was the clone all along.note  Inspired by The Death of Superman and Knightfall stories that expressed a tragic attitude to its iconic heroes by temporarily removing them and replacing them with Anti-Hero Substitute, an attempt was made to give Spider-Man his equivalent. It was also felt that this would be "back to basics" and temporary. Peter was now married and a new character could be the hip former single Spider-Man of the past and contrast with Peter's present. That was the original idea for a six-month story. What followed, thanks to a period where marketing and merchandising was inspiring creative as well as a period of weak editorial oversight was a story stretched out for three years with endless backtracking, padding and spinning of wheels as Ben Reilly, Kaine, the Jackal (the villain of the original Saga who died at the end of it and was forgotten until the second one) returned to wreak havoc on Spider-Man's life along with a slew of characters that were hard to keep track off. Mary Jane also became pregnant, Aunt May died in Issue #400 written by J. M. DeMatteis (which despite later retcons is still considered a classic story in its own right, and works as a standalone). Meanwhile, Marvel dropped the bombshell and triggered the second backlash in its creative history (the first being Gwen's death). The Spider-Man we'd been following for the past twenty years was a clone.note  The response to this story (that the Spider-Man who fought the Juggernaut, romanced Black Cat, met the Kid who Collected Spider-Man, wore the Black Suit, grieved over the death of Captain DeWolff, married MJ and survived Kraven and fought Venom and Carnage wasn't the real deal) was loud and negative. Even if Ben Reilly was positively received by some, the entire project fell apart and the whole thing was hastily undone through a series of retcons and quietly swept under the rug — with the main consequence that the original Green Goblin was back among the living. (Oh, and providing a possibly-dead baby to become Spider-Girl in an alternate timeline.) Aunt May also came back at the end.
  • Post-Clone Saga (1996-2000): The immediate aftermath of the era saw writers trying to grapple with Norman Osborn returning to Spider-Man titles, while at the same time downplaying the events of the Clone Saga itself. A notable story in this period is Identity Crisis where Norman Osborn who has bought out the Daily Bugle and is now technically Peter's boss, frames Spider-Man for murder. To clear up his name and get payback, Peter, with the help of Mary Jane who designed the costumes, creates a new series of costumed alter-egos with power-sets that he can fake as Spider-Man — Hornet, Prodigy, Dusk, Ricochet. These alter-egos in time became picked up and spun off into legacies in their own right. This period was also notable for a brief attempt at a Continuity Reboot Setting Update, John Byrne's Spider-Man: Chapter One which despite initial notices was quickly retconned and canceled over to fears that it was an attempt to replace the original story. It was followed by Howard Mackie's run which led to the brief death of Mary Jane Watson at the demand of editors, followed by Peter Parker at his lowest and most depressed period in his life. Green Goblin, the revived Norman Osborn decided to catch up and get his Arch-Enemy mojo back in Revenge of the Green Goblin by Roger Stern, a bleak, angsty and violent story where the Goblin tortures and gaslights Peter Parker into becoming his heir only for him to refuse. Near the end, Mary Jane was alive after all and she and Peter returned, but the trauma of her period of captivity and resulting PTSD leads her and Peter to separate for a brief period. She would leave New York and go to LA and recover in the meantime. In 2000, Brian Michael Bendis wrote Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) another attempt at a Chapter One Setting Update but this one proved popular and influential, starting the Ultimate Marvel sub-franchise which dominated the turn of the millennium.
  • The Amazing Spider-Man (J. Michael Straczynski)(2001-2008): J. Michael Straczynski took over from Amazing Spider-Man Vol 2 #30 and would continue a run that lasted for 7 years, the longest since David Michelinie. He introduced a series of new concepts and ideas. Namely the Myth Arc of the Spider-Totem, which was unfurled in the opening "Coming Home" storyline that pitched Spider-Man against Morlun, his new villain who was tougher, relentless, and mysterious than many of the villains Spider-Man was used to. Peter also became a high school teacher at this time, returning to his original roots but now from the other side and often spending much of his time helping students and others in the friendly neighborhood even as his stories started flirting with Magic Realism. He also wrote the 9/11 response issue in ASM-36, V2 (which became famous for the entirely black cover by John Romita Jr). His run became celebrated for "The Conversation" (ASM-38), the comic where Aunt May after discovering Peter is Spider-Man finally has a heart to heart talk with her nephew about the lies he has told her since the age of 15 (which much like the retconned Aunt May death issuenote  is still considered a classic). In Issue #50, Spider-Man and MJ reunite and commit to their relationship again. His later run was affected by a series of stories by other writers, such as Spider-Man officially becoming an Avenger, and having his identity revealed to the world in Civil War by Mark Millar which revealed Spider-Man's identity to the world and the consequences of that story led to Back in Black where Spider-Man and his family became outlaws on the lam. His run ended with One More Day (co-written by EIC Joe Quesada who wrote the final two issues) which sparked the third major backlash of Spider-Man history culminating in the end of the Spider-Marriage via an editorially mandated Deal with the Devil. Supplementing the main series were other storylines in satellite titles:
    • The Spectacular Spider-Man by Paul Jenkins, was the second volume of the longest-lasting second series which lasted until 2005. Jenkins' important stories include his villain Fusion who is angered by Spider-Man out of Misplaced Retribution. He also wrote flashback issues showing Uncle Ben's backstory, as well as one-shots such as "Read 'Em and Weep" which involves Spider-Man meeting other superheroes on poker-night. A Death in the Family was also a notable Green Goblin and Spider-Man story, being a sequel to the Revenge of the Green Goblin story.
    • Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man by Peter David, which focused on smaller slice-of-life stories, mostly revolving on the experiences of Aunt May and Mary Jane in Avengers Tower, and covering the aftermath of the Civil War identity reveal on many of Peter's supporting characters.
    • The Pulse and New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis involved Spider-Man joining the Avengers for the first time in his publication history. Jessica Jones at the same time gets involved with the Daily Bugle's new supplement "The Pulse" and her first big scoop involves teaming up with Luke Cage and Spidey to take down Norman Osborn and put him in prison for the first time in his 40 year real-time publication history. A decision that would ultimately lead to Norman becoming a Marvel wide villain.
    • Marvel Knights: Spider-Man by Mark Millar. A 12 issue series that has Peter, Aunt May and MJ engage in a conspiracy headed by the imprisoned Norman Osborn, his catspaw Mac Gargan, several other rogues, and maybe a sinister cabal of businessmen who fund supervillains to keep Spider-Man from going after white-collar crime. Maybe. MK was later converted into The Sensational Spider-Man volume 2 briefly written by Reggie Hudlin followed later by Robert Aguirre-Sacassia who wrote from #32-40 tying into the Civil War and Back in Black era in particular. Sensational Spider-Man Annual #1 ("To Have and to Hold") was written by Matt Fraction, being a coda about Peter and Mary Jane's marriage and its history and legacy.
  • Brand New Day (2008-2010): The era immediately following OMD was headed by a team of writers (Dan Slott, Marc Guggenheim, Mark Waid, Fred van Lente, Bob Gale, Zeb Wells). The decision was taken to cancel the second series (Sensational Spider-Man and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man) and instead publish ASM three times a month. Different writers would rotate and contribute different arcs and stories. Important developments in this time were the introduction of new members to Peter's supporting cast — Lilly Hollister, Norah Winters, Carlie Cooper, and J. Jonah Jameson Sr. (Flat Top's Dad, and the future Mr. Aunt May, which meant that Peter and Jonah were officially related, to their mutual chagrin). New villains introduced are Screwball, Mister Negative, Jackpot, Menace, and Overdrive. Other important developments are Flash Thompson whose origins were now retconned, changing him from a Vietnam veteran to a veteran of the Iraq War and a paraplegic, setting the foundation for his conversion to Agent Venom. Notable stories include Mark Waid's "Unscheduled Stop" (ASM #578-579) and Dan Slott's "New Ways to Die", "The Gauntlet" and "Grim Hunt" which saw the resurrection of Kraven the Hunter, several classic rogues returning in a Darker and Edgier fashion, as well as a revival of the Sinister Six led by a Doctor Octopus whose body was now decaying, driving him to go postal. The retcon of the removal of the marriage led to Mary Jane being Put on a Bus for some 40 odd issues (the second time following the Wolfman-O'Neill era), and the mechanics of the new status-quo was explained in One Moment in Time by Joe Quesada. By the end of this era, many of the original writers moved on to other projects, while Dan Slott was given the go-ahead to become the main writer of ASM. Another notable feature was Stan Lee writing back-up stories — "Spidey Super Sundays" (art by Marcos Martin) which were non-canon short strips printed as a backup feature (and later printed as a separate volume collecting all of it). These stories often had Lee making jokes about the ambiguity of Spider-Man's continuity and its many changes.
  • The Amazing Spider-Man (Dan Slott) (2010-2018): Writing bi-monthly, Dan Slott ultimately became the major writer of Spider-Man and with more than 200+issues on Spider-Man in main titles, secondary titles, mini-series, and other stuff, he has become the most Spider-Man writer ever on 616. His arc began with "Big Time", which saw Peter join Horizon Labs and work as a scientist under Max Modell. Slott followed this up with several event stories, including Spider-Island, an event story from 2011 which spanned all of the ongoing Spider-Man satellite books as well as much of the Marvel Universe. The aftermath saw Kaine acquire his ongoing book series (Scarlet Spider). This was followed by Ends of the Earth and Superior Spider-Man (2013), a 2012-2014 Spider-Man event that saw Peter Parker disappear from his title for the longest gap in his history. Following that, there was Spider-Verse where Spider-Man teams up with many, many other people with Spider-powers as well as Alternate Universe counterparts of himself to stop a danger that threatens them all. Features massive amount of Continuity Porn as Spider-Men from previous AU storylines (such as The Clone Saga and House of M), Spider-themed spin-off books, What If? one-shots and from animated adaptations. This was followed by the Worldwide arc which saw Peter Parker elevated to a rich businessman. Slott ended his run with Go Down Swinging published in 2018, stopping at Issue #801.
  • After BND and during the start of Slott's run, a decision was taken to make The Amazing Spider-Man the main series, but published bi-monthly, and cancel all second series titles. As Slott's run advanced and he developed many spin-offs a new writing team came on board to help him including:
    • Christos Gage, who scripted some 40 issues plotted by Slott in Amazing and the closing issues of Superior Spider-Man. He would write Spider-Geddon, the sequel series to Spider-Verse and later volume 2 of Superior Spider-Man.
    • Chip Zdarsky meanwhile revived Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man as the second series starting in 2017. His run included subplots such as Teresa Durand, who might or might not be Peter's long-lost sister. His run also included "My Dinner with Jonah" (Issue #6) where Spider-Man sits down for an interview with J. Jonah Jameson and at the end of which he reveals his identity to him after which they become allies albeit of a very vitriolic kind.
    • Brian Michael Bendis who had created Miles Morales in the Ultimate Marvel Alternate Continuity eventually imported him wholesale into the mainline 616 Universe, laying the groundwork with Spider-Men (a crossover between Post-OMD Peter and Post-Death of Spider-Man Miles). He then wrote a series of his adventures as the street-level Spider-Man to contrast Peter's move up the ladder to corporate super-heroics before ending his run, and his time in Marvel with Spider-Men II which ensured that Miles would remain in the 616 from here on out.
    • Gerry Conway, a Spider-Man veteran, likewise returned with Spiral printed as a limited series that serves as a Lower-Deck Episode to Slott's Worldwide arc (printed as Amazing Spider-Man #16.1, 17.1, 18.1, 19.1, 20.1), that focused on Spider-Man's relationship with Captain Yuri Watanabe as they investigate and cover a gang war, a storyline that was ultimately adapted in part for the DLC of Spider-Man (PS4).
    • Nick Spencer also wrote the highly popular cult series The Superior Foes of Spider-Man to show the Lower-Deck Episode of Spider-Man's Rogues Gallery. Eventually, Spencer would succeed Slott at the end of 2018 as the mainline Spider-Man writer.

     2018 — ongoing 
  • The Amazing Spider-Man (2018): Following on from Slott's extended run. Spencer's first story arc promised "Back to Basics" with Peter Parker downgraded back to graduate student after a plagiarism scandal undoes some of his recent successes, though Peter acknowledges that said successes were unearned. Spencer also reignited the Peter and Mary Jane love story in the mainline continuity after a ten-year absence (the longest period in which Peter and Mary Jane were apart after they started dating in earnest in the Conway era). A new mysterious villain, and a story-arc dealing with Boomerang, a villain Spencer had touched on in his Superior Foes series forms the focus of the initial arc. 2019 introduces Hunted, Spencer's first event.
  • Following Zdarsky's success on Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel stated that it continues its commitment to the second series, with Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, a title that had last been written by Peter David during the JMS era, revived under Tom Taylor starting from 2019. Meanwhile, Spider-Man's legacy characters will continue their adventures under new teams, with Saladin Ahmed writing Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2018) and Christos Gage writing Superior Spider-Man (2018), the sequel series to Superior Spider-Man.
  • Spider-Man Beyond: In 2021, following the end of Nick Spencer's run on the title with ASM #74, a rotating set of writers consisting of Kelly Thompson, Saladin Ahmed, Cody Ziglar, Patrick Gleason, and Zeb Wells take the story of Spider-Man in an interesting direction when Ben Reily takes over the title of Spider-Man starting in ASM #75
  • The Amazing Spider-Man (2022): For Spider-Man's 60th Anniversary, Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr. take over the series, relaunching with a new volume.
  • Spider-Man (2022). As part of the wider 60th anniversary events, the adjective-free Spider-Man title is relaunched, with Dan Slott and Mark Bagley as the initial creative team. The series begins with the End of the Spider-Verse event.
  • Spider-Man: The Lost Hunt: A 2023 comic that acts as a loose sequel to Kraven's Last Hunt set during The Clone Saga.


Spider-Man provides examples of:

    In General 

Various runs

    Amazing Fantasy Vol 2 
  • How Much Did You Hear?: In Amazing Fantasy Vol. 2 #15, Spider-Man realizes that in the famous cover of Amazing Fantasy #15, he pretty much declared his real name in the presence of the guy in his armpit. Fortunately for him, the guy was screaming too loudly to hear it.
    Spider-Man: Um...you didn't hear that thing I just said, right? You know? About how the world may mock... yadda yadda yadda?
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Retroactively done with the Amazing Fantasy Starring Spider-Man mini-series, which bridged the gap between Amazing Fantasy #15 and The Amazing Spider-Man #1. In the second issue of the series, Peter meets Joey Pulaski, a teenage superheroine who he became friends with. She ends up being sent to jail after Spider-Man turns her in for committing a number of crimes, and for the rest of the mini-series, Spider-Man is devastated by the memory of her. Of course, since she was created in the mid-nineties, and her story set between those published in the early 60s, her existence begs the question "why haven't we heard of her until now?". The only time she ever appears is in the one story, and her existence is never explored again.
    • This happens a lot with these retroactive issues. The other villains in the same mini-series (a man named Undertaker and a supervillain named Supercharger), despite being Spider-Man's first supervillains, never get any mention (indeed, the Chameleon is still toted as Spider-Man's first supervillain in the comics), and the original villains for Untold Tales of Spider-Man generally have never reappeared. The exception to this is The Scorcher, (Spider-Man's first black villain), who died within the series.

    Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man 
  • Abuse Mistake: In Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Peter is a high school science teacher whose identity is made public after the events of Civil War. The first time he returns to class, one of his students remarks that she noticed he always wore long sleeves to cover the bruises on his arms and assumed that Mary Jane was beating him.
  • Artistic License – Law: In Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual #1, Floyd Baker, the father of Spider-Man's foe Sandman, is framed for the murder of an alternate reality Ben Parker, and given a quick death sentence. When the governor (or maybe NYC's mayor) learns that Sandman's going to break out his father, he orders the immediate execution of the man, something that violates a wide range of laws and civil rights protections, and nobody involved in law enforcement bothers to say 'you can't do that; it's illegal'.
  • Bullet Catch: Parodied in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1. Peter tries to train himself to do this, and is surprised when he succeeds. But then he remembers there were two bullets, and the other one went through his other hand. Upon realizing this, he faints in a very undignified manner.
    Spider-Man: Ah... Crap. That's gonna hur--.
  • Ironic Nickname: Tom Taylor's first issue in Volume 2 of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Lampshades the fact that Spider-Man is a Spider-themed hero, when after Spidey saves a little girl and her father, the small child slaps his spider emblem on his chest out of her dislike for spiders:
    Spider-Man: It's all good to be fair, I don't exactly have the most kid-friendly costume. It literally has a spider on it.
  • Wrestling Monster: In Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6, this is played straight with Masked Luchador El Muerto. This is played with when wrestling god El Dorado shows up. He never appears in the ring of any promotions and fights with swords.

    The Sensational Spider-Man 
  • Badass Unintentional: In The Sensational Spider-Man #31, Aunt May saw through Chameleon's disguise (he was being Peter). So she pretended nothing was wrong, gave him cookies, and had a nice chat... then revealed that the cookies had tranquilizers in them, she'd put in some almonds to make the Chameleon think she had dosed him with cyanide, and as he passed out, Aunt May revealed that sampler she'd been knitting the entire time had "GOTCHA" sewn into it.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: In The Sensational Spider-Man vol. 2 29#, Eddie Brock is dying of cancer. Alone, and forgotten except as a remorseless monster to the public at large, and the remnants of his old "pal" are floating around in his head telling him that he still has one chance at revenge by killing a comatose May Parker or just disappearing off the world with nothing to show for it. Or he can just sit in his bed waiting to die with Venom tormenting him until the end of his wasted life. Instead, he cuts himself trying to remove the remnants of Venom from his blood and it works. After Spider-Man saves him, he tells the remnants of the symbiote to shut up. After being exonerated for the crimes he committed as Venom, he met Matin Li/Mr. Negative, who offered him a job. Eddie accepted, and when Martin touched him, the remnants of The Symbiote were fused to his immune system, turning him into Anti-Venom.
  • Gratuitous French: For whatever reason, Madame Web spoke with occasional French words during her brief appearances at the end of The Sensational Spider-Man vol 2, despite never doing so before, or after.
  • Punctuation Shaker: Parodied in The Sensational Spider-Man #13, with an ancient beast known as Chtylok the Che-K'n Kau.
  • Villain Over for Dinner: In The Sensational Spider-Man #31, Aunt May takes out the Chameleon disguised as Peter Parker with poisoned cookies because she knew he wasn't the real Peter.

    Spider-Man Team Up 
  • Faith in the Foe: In one issue of Spider-Man Team Up, Spidey has been framed for murder, again. And Abe Jenkins, formerly The Beetle, now MACH-1, is certain of his innocence because he knows who Spidey is as a hero.

    Symbiote Spider-Man 

    Sinister Spider-Man 
  • Fauxreigner: In Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-Man, General Wolfram is a wolf-themed villain claiming to be "the genetic terror of the Third Reich". Apparently, he faked the Nazi angle and the accent for distinctiveness' sake/to draw heat away from his real identity. Scorpion, who is currently impersonating Spider-Man with the aid of the Venom symbiote, calls him "Castle Wolfenstein" and eats his arm for his trouble.

    Spider-Man Unlimited 
  • Evil Laugh: Lampshaded in Spider-Man Unlimited #12, when the Shocker tries it, only to be shot with a tranquilizer dart by the mercenary villain the Pro, who states that he hates evil laughs, calling them "unprofessional".
  • Recycled Script: Issues #3 and #18 are almost identical in terms of plot (a recap of Dr. Octopus's life and criminal career), despite being published years apart. Issue #3 has as its Framing Device a Bugle reporter preparing an obituary for him, while issue #18 retreads the obituary sequence, but expands with Carolyn Trainer (Lady Octopus) and Spider-Man recounting his lifestory.
  • Self-Deprecation: Spider-Man Unlimited #3 starts with a newspaper editor explaining to his new employee about how they usually write obituaries in advance, which can lead to embarrassing retractions, what with the Marvel universe being the way it is. In the foreground of that panel, we see two filing cabinets, one with the label "Tony Stark" with two stickers reading "dead" and "alive"... and another named "X-Men", with so many of the dead/alive stickers that they go off-panel. This was in the early nineties, by the way, so Tony probably got a few more of those stickers added to his cabinet over the years.
  • Talking the Monster to Death: Issue #19 is yet another Lizard's return. This time, however, Spider-Man does not defeat him: while he is incapacitated in a pool, Martha Connors begins a verbal beatdown of the Lizard and reminds him of their son Billy. It works: the Lizard reverts back to Connor, and the Lizard's threat is over.

Spider-Man, Spider-Man
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!
Wealth and fame? He's ignored
Action is his reward!
To him...
Life is a great big bang-up
Wherever there's a hang-up
You'll find the Spider-MAAAAAN!

 
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Video Example(s):

Alternative Title(s): Friendly Neighborhood Spider Man, The Sensational Spider Man, The Sensational Spider Man 2006, Friendly Neighborhood Spider Man 2005, Spider Man Unlimited

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"Good Afternoon, Demo Venom!"

Even with a demonic boost from Lilith, Venom retains his weakness to sonic assaults.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (4 votes)

Example of:

Main / LoudOfWar

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