My top FIFTEEN favorite Spider-Man comic book stories, with an honorable mention and a DIS-honorable mention at the very end! (And it may not be what you think!) The first part will cover #15-6, and the second will have my top five and my dis-honorable mention.
Let's get swinging!
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Honorable mention-
“The Death of Jean DeWolff”
(Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 1 # 107-110, 1985)
Written by Peter David, Pencils by Rich Buckler
I feel like this honorable mention should be for Peter David in general, as he has no other stories on my list. He has a talent for spinning gold from crap most of the time, and I especially enjoyed his run on Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (Vol. 1, 2005-2007) in which he routinely did so. David mined overlooked deposits of story potential that the “main” writer at the time was ignoring, and told genuinely-interesting tales using half-baked ideas like “The Other” and Spider-Man’s unmasking during Civil War.
This is probably his most famous (or infamous) Spidey story and it’s a pretty compelling murder mystery. Mature, gripping, and very dark- it probably would have made the list when I was a bit younger and less well-read. I think re-reading nowadays, I’m less enamored with it, particularly after having read other past stories featuring Jean DeWolff. She was a great supporting cast member for Spidey and she was undoubtedly, as they say, “refrigerated” here. Also, Spidey comes off as a bit of a butthead and has to be schooled by Daredevil a number of times, even if I feel like his violent anger towards the Sin-Eater was pretty justified.
Still, while this may no longer be one of my absolute favorite Spidey stories, it is certainly noteworthy and Peter David in general deserves a mention here, despite how hot-and-cold as he can be as a writer. He definitely skews further towards “hot” than “cold” the majority of the time though, and he’s got a firmer grasp on the character of Spider-Man than most writers do nowadays.
15. “Shush”
(Marvel Knights Spider-Man # 1-12, 2004)
Written by Mark Millar, penciled by Terry Dodson and Frank Cho
Okay, the story isn’t really titled “Shush”, but fans are fond of calling this twelve-issue run that. It does basically follow the formula of Batman's “Hush”, with Spider-Man fighting nearly his entire rogues’ gallery while a mystery villain pulls the strings from the shadows. It’s actually three four-issue story arcs with an overarching plot- “Down Among the Dead Men”, “Venomous”, and “The Last Stand”. With J. Michael Straczynski mainly focusing on new concepts and villains during his then-current run on Amazing Spider-Man, this series was launched with the intent to tell more classic, “back-to-basics” Spidey tales.
I really don’t care for the bulk of Mark Millar’s work in comics, but I think he mostly succeeded in capturing the feel of a typical Spidey “epic” here. He also admitted he wasn’t very familiar with Spider-Man’s continuity prior to this series, having to bone up and even ask fans for help while writing it. This series is in fact heavily-steeped in classic Spidey lore, and the homework Millar did for it really shows. References to everything from the Spidey-Mobile to poor Baby May are sprinkled in each issue, and exploring these deeper corners of Spidey’s rich history had been somewhat looked down upon during that period at Marvel.
I also give credit to Millar for revitalizing a lot of older or recently-misused concepts in new and interesting ways. Giving a right middle finger to the idea (then popular among Marvel editors) that there could be no romantic tension if Peter Parker was married to Mary Jane, he reinserted the Black Cat into the dynamic. He made an effort to elevate many of Spidey’s classic villains and make them feel dangerous and threatening again, like Electro and Vulture.
Millar also tried to upgrade the Scorpion to “A-tier” baddie by making him Norman Osborn’s right-hand man and bonding him to the Venom symbiote. A great idea, considering that Scorpion was introduced as the original “anti-Spider-Man” and the Eddie Brock Venom was suffering through a creative slump at that point. Subsequent writers never really fully seized upon much of this momentum at the time, but it was still nice to recognize the potential even in re-reads of this run.
The plot itself has its hiccups, and the climax is kinda weak (Norman was behind everything… AGAIN) but I can say that I had a great time reading Millar’s run and was more compelled to pick it up every month than I was to read any other Spidey book at the time. The Dodsons (Terry and his wife Rachel as the inker) produced some beautiful art for this book, and Frank Cho’s pages weren’t too shabby either. If I had to pick a favorite part of this story, it’d probably be the fight with Electro in issue # 3, which has fantastic Dodson art and is one of the most unapologetically-brutal battles Spider-Man has ever been in.
Mark Millar may be crass and entirely-unsubtle in his writing most of the time, but I can’t deny that he can produce something that is pretty entertaining and thoughtful on occasion. He certainly writes a better mystery than Jeph Loeb, at any rate...
14. Untold Tales of Spider-Man
(# 1-25, Minus 1, Annuals ‘96 and ‘97, 1995)
Written by Kurt Busiek/various, penciled by Pat Olliffe/various
I’m cheating here, but it’s my list, so hard cheese. I literally couldn’t pick a single story from this series to represent it, so I’m just including the whole run in this spot. I adore this series; it was one I eagerly snatched up every week it came out along with the main Spidey books. On weeks when I didn’t have enough money to get everything I wanted, Untold Tales always made the cut- it was ninety-nine cents, after all! Maybe that seems a bit laughable to people older than me who bought new comics for far less back in the day, but 1995 WAS my “back in the day”! I had to spend MY actual allowance money by that point and normal new comics were a buck and change, going on two bucks back then... so ninety-nine cents was a steal!
This series does exactly what it’s title says; tell new Spidey stories in the “gaps” between early Lee/Ditko issues. With Kurt “Grandmaster of Continuity” Busiek at the helm, those classic tales were supplemented and even improved in some cases by these previously-untold adventures. Busiek didn’t even feel the need to “update” the setting and time period much, instead going for a sort of “timeless” quality about these events. I can say that thanks to this series, my mental image of a young Peter Parker always has the dorky blue suit and square haircut no matter how far the timeline slides into the real life "present day".
If you forced me to pick some single issues from this run I especially like, I’d go with # 13 (the death of Sally Avril), # 16 (told from Mary Jane Watson’s perspective before she even met Peter Parker), # 17 (Spidey’s first meeting with Hawkeye), and the Minus 1 “Flashback Month” issue (a tale about Peter’s parents during their spy days where they rescue a certain Ol’ Canucklehead in distress.) Annual ‘96 is also a brilliant tale with lovely Mike Allred art that sees Spidey take the Invisible Girl out on a date, only to be interrupted when the Human Torch tells Namor that the wall-crawler “kidnapped” his sister! Classic.
Some years back, I plunked down the money to buy the complete Untold Tales Omnibus, which contains everything mentioned above plus some extras. If you’ve never read this series, do yourself a favor and seek it out. This is one of the most notable comics that deals in heavy retcons to previous history that is actually respected by most writers and fans even to this day, and that alone should speak to its quality and longevity.
13. “Doomed Affairs”
(Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 # 50 (Vol. 1 # 491), 2003)
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, penciled by John Romita Jr.
“JMS” has never been one of my favorite Spider-Man writers. I will partially credit him for helping extricate the character from the creative dank hole that John Byrne and Howard Mackie left Spidey in after their disastrous run on the books. However, I’ve always felt many of Straczynski’s “high concepts” for Spider-Man never really took off or were even the right fit for the franchise. What JMS DID excel in (most of the time) was characterization for Peter Parker and the supporting cast, and particularly in writing the relationship between Peter and Mary Jane.
This issue sees them reconcile after a period of estrangement, and I was kind of shocked reading it the first time. JMS had initially stated he wasn’t too interested in utilizing Mary Jane in the book when he first started writing it, so it was a pleasant surprise when he restored their marriage to a healthy state not seen in years. I’ve always been a proponent for the “Spider-marriage”, and JMS is among the best to write Peter and MJ as a couple. Of course, he also would have a hand in breaking them up and tainting their relationship FOREVER with “One More Day”, but it seems like he was pressured into co-writing that and regrets it nowadays.
In whatever case, this is a fine, entertaining issue aside from Peter and MJ’s big heart-to-heart, guest-starring Captain America as he and Spidey have to protect Doctor Doom from an assassination attempt. JMS also nails the relationship between Spidey and Cap- too often, the age gap between them is emphasized by writers and Cap is written as some stern authoritarian who sees Spider-Man as a reckless kid. While there is still a small element of that in JMS’ portrayal, Cap also treats Spidey as an adult and a respected peer. They’ve fought together for years, and Spider-Man isn’t some rookie anymore who needs to be baby-sat. The scene at the end where Peter introduces MJ to his “work-friend” is perhaps my favorite in this issue.
This is the last of JMS on this list, and I feel this issue best represents his strengths as a Spider-Man writer for me. The humor is pretty spot-on as well, with Doctor Doom of all people getting some choice laughs (“Such incompetence would not be permitted in the Latveria of DOCTOR DOOM!” “How do you speak in all capitals like that?” “Silence, minion.”) And of course, the art by prolific Spidey penciler John Romita Jr. works perfectly for this story.
12. “I’m With Stupid”
(Spider-Man/Human Torch # 1-5, 2005)
Written by Dan Slott, penciled by Ty Templeton
After reading this series as well as Dan Slott’s short-lived Thing ongoing (which featured a guest-spot by Spider-Man) back in the day, I remember thinking to myself- “Wow! Slott would be GREAT on a regular Spider-Man book!” Errr… fast-forward fourteen years and I can’t say my faith was rewarded. I think Slott’s probably about the opposite of JMS… good ideas and basic concepts for Spidey, but poor execution and characterization. However, this is a favorites list, and this series is in fact my favorite Dan Slott Spider-Man story.
Each of the five issues takes place in a different era of Marvel history and explores the long relationship between Spider-Man and the Human Torch. It’s a heartwarming, humorous, continuity-heavy yet completely-accessible series that perfectly showcases their friendship with all its ups-and-downs. The final issue takes place in the then-modern day, and has the consequential and long-overdue moment of Johnny Storm learning Spider-Man’s secret identity. It was certainly amusing at the time that Spidey’s closest friend in the superhero community was one of the last to find this out, especially since Johnny knew Peter Parker and never got along with him.
Ty Templeton’s lovely, animated art graces all five issues and as mentioned, this was before Dan Slott got “too close” to Spider-Man, by my reckoning. He always seemed to write better stuff on the “fringes” of a property, so to speak, and this is no exception. Even if he outright swiped a gag from Joe Kelly’s Deadpool run in the first issue (the full page of Spider-Man laughing at Paste Pot Pete), I’ll give Slott full marks for this series.
11. “In Final Battle With The Black Tarantula!”
(Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 # 436, 1998)
Written by Tom DeFalco, penciled by Joe Bennett
One of Spider-Man’s trademarks is his stubborn refusal to give up and tenacity in the face of impossible odds. On occasion, that manifests in a story as a protracted battle against an enemy completely out of his league. Juggernaut, Firelord, sigh... Morlun… it seems like every so often, a writer decides to pit Spidey against a foe that is relentless, unstoppable, and one he has little chance of defeating in a straight fight. While his first fight against the Juggernaut back in Amazing Spider-Man # 229-230 is probably the most famous example of this scenario, my personal favorite version of it is in this issue.
The Black Tarantula was built up by Tom DeFalco to be the next new “big bad” after the Clone Saga and the ultimate foe hanging over his second run on the flagship Amazing Spider-Man book. A legendary South American crime-lord who possessed superhuman strength, speed, healing, and the ability to fire force blasts from his eyes, the Black Tarantula was also purported to be immortal on top of all that. In their first meeting, he beat Spider-Man to within an inch of his life, unmasked him, and presented the mask to New York’s biggest crime-lord Fortunato (the Kingpin was out of the country at the time) as a show of his power.
The two got a rematch several issues later when the Black Tarantula learned his ex-wife and son were being granted asylum by Fortunato and sought to retrieve his heir. Spider-Man stepped in to defend them, and the two threw down again on the grounds of Fortunato’s estate.
Spider-Man makes a better showing of it, being better prepared this time, and having back-up in the form of Fortunato’s men (including HYDRA “Killdroid” power armors.) He even thinks to upgrade his web-shooters with stinger launchers and impact webbing from his late, lamented clone Ben Reilly’s arsenal. Still, it isn’t near-enough to close the gap and only the fear of the Black Tarantula’s young son caused by the crime-lord’s rampage gets him to stop. It’s all Spider-Man can do not to fall over from his injuries as the Black Tarantula willingly departs from the location… and sadly, the Spider-Man titles themselves.
The Black Tarantula would later be used by writer Ed Brubaker in his run on Daredevil, but he was severely-reduced in status and ability. He went from a South American, super-powered version of the Kingpin to the apparent head of some local New York gangbangers and went around calling people “dawg”. Lame! At least Tom DeFalco continued his story (and legacy) more respectfully in his future-set Spider-Girl series where the Black Tarantula’s son took up the mantle and became a recurring adversary/ally of Peter Parker’s daughter Mayday.
I always thought the Black Tarantula was cool, even if a tad overpowered. He had an awesome costume and was kinda like Spider-Man’s Bane, in more ways than one. He may suffer from the same “new cool baddie on the scene who jobs the hero right away” status that many villains I dislike do, but at least Tom DeFalco skillfully set him up before he ever properly appeared and beat Spidey down.
I always loved this issue and it holds extra sentimental value to me, as one of my best friends bought it for me when I was home sick from school. Joe Bennett’s art is pretty awesome, Spidey’s perfectly in character with spot-on quips in the face of a devastating onslaught (as expected from DeFalco), and it was a decent cap-off for the character of the Black Tarantula (even if I didn’t realize that at the time.) Oh yeah, this issue also features the unmasking of the second man to use the Rose identity, but it's kind of an afterthought.
10. “A Death in the Family”
(Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol. 2 # 44-47, 2002)
Written by Paul Jenkins, penciled by Humberto Ramos
When the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie came out, Marvel scrambled to cash in by doing some storylines that featured the Green Goblin. The former Editor-in-Chief of Marvel, Bob Harras, had basically lost his job over failing to properly tie into the release of the first X-Men movie, so there was no way the new EIC Joe Quesada was gonna let that happen to him. We got this storyline in the Peter Parker: Spider-Man book alongside another Green Goblin storyline running over in the Ultimate Spidey title. Paul Jenkins has never been my favorite comic book writer, but he manages occasional spots of brilliance, and I consider this four-issue arc one of them.
On the surface, it might seem your average Spider-Man/Green Goblin confrontation, but there’s a lot going on here underneath all the usual earmarks of any good appearance by your hero’s arch-nemesis and Norman Osborn in particular. First off, the Green Goblin interrupts television broadcasts to proclaim his innocence in the death of Gwen Stacy all those years ago. It had rarely, if EVER been outright stated in-story that Spider-Man’s webbing was what broke Gwen Stacy’s neck at that point, but that’s just what the Goblin does, complete with a macabre re-creation of the event that he provides on-air.
Norman then gets Peter’s buddy Flash Thompson drunk, puts him behind the wheel of a tractor trailer, and has him crash into the school where Peter teaches. Flash is left in a coma, the classroom hamster is tragically killed (holy shit), and an enraged Peter sets a date with Norman to settle their score once and for all. The final straw comes when Norman declares he plans to murder his grandson Normie if Peter doesn’t stop him that night. Camel’s back… broken.
Doing horrible stuff to get under Peter’s skin is standard Green Goblin 101, but what makes this story special is when Peter finally figures out why Norman is pushing these buttons. In Norman’s previous appearance before this story, he was trying to brainwash Peter into becoming his heir, the type of son he always wanted (a character conceit poached by the Raimi Spider-Man film.) However, Peter refused him, fought him, and ultimately drove him away. Norman now knows the one person who actually understands him the best will never join him, so instead he’ll just make Peter KILL him. Norman truly wants Peter to end the cycle of violence between them, and once Peter realizes this, he lets his anger subside.
After a “Killing Joke”-style moment of shared laughter between them, Peter bluntly tells Norman that he’ll NEVER be broken by him, no matter what the Green Goblin does. Even if Norman kills all of Peter’s loved ones, what then? Peter’s resolve will still remain intact, and Norman will still be the same miserable, desperate person he always was. Spider-Man effectively flips their entire relationship at the end here, calling the Green Goblin’s bluff and refusing to be held hostage by their shared secret any longer. As Peter so elegantly puts it-
It might seem weird to say, but never before has Spider-Man so utterly defeated the Green Goblin. Every time prior to this, Norman would lose his memory, or escape, or even DIE, but he was never so thoroughly humiliated and made vulnerable. Peter saw to the very core of him and took away the one thing Norman was absolutely sure he could control. This story’s a fantastic exploration of their relationship and perhaps the last time in reading history that Peter and Norman’s rivalry felt so damn insular and personal.
After this, Norman will get his green groove back and go on to bigger things in the Marvel universe at large, and the consequences of this story will be largely forgotten. Also, Norman’s then-deceased son Harry will be revealed to have always been alive (which Norman was apparently aware of), robbing this tale of much of its power. In a vacuum though, this is still one of my favorite Spider-Man tales, and certainly my favorite thing Paul Jenkins ever wrote for the character.
Oh, Humberto Ramos’ art is a very much “take it or leave it” thing. I generally like his wacky cartoonish style, but a part of me does wonder how this very dark story would have looked with grittier, more “realistic” art. Still, Ramos draws one stylish and distinct Green Goblin, that’s for sure. I even bought the Marvel Legends action figure based on his design.
9. “An Obituary For Octopus”
(Spider-Man Unlimited Vol. 1 # 3, 1993)
Written by Tom DeFalco, penciled by Ron Lim
This is probably not the first Doctor Octopus story I read, but I know it’s one of the first I owned. It’s got two side-by-side plots; the first follows the Daily Bugle’s obituary writer Dilbert Trilby (a minor recurring character at the time that’s probably long since been forgotten) as he’s updating the obit for Doctor Octopus. He regales an intern (and the reader) with Otto Octavius’ backstory, which up until this point had gone largely-unrevealed.
We learn of Otto’s sheltered childhood, his abusive father, his overbearing mother, his all-consuming passion for science, and a fellow scientist named Mary Alice Anders whom he eventually falls in love with and proposes to. However, Otto’s mother fears she will be abandoned, and guilts Otto into breaking off the engagement and driving Mary Alice away. After his mother dies during an argument with him, Otto has nothing but his work to turn to and continued his descent into misery until the day he became Doctor Octopus.
The reason Trilby’s updating the Ock obit is that the good (or bad) Doctor is currently at large and has stolen a vial of AIDS-infected blood. Spider-Man quickly gets wind of this and goes after Octopus, wondering if he’s planning to hold the city to ransom with the threat of an outbreak. Of course, AIDS is still currently a tragic and devastating disease, and there’s more understanding of it nowadays, but back in the early nineties people were very much in “AIDS awareness and education” mode. Writer Tom DeFalco accordingly uses this issue as an opportunity for Spidey to go all “The More You Know” when he first catches up with Doc Ock.
Clunky, sure, but the message is there. Anyhow, Octopus refuses to tell Spidey what he plans to use the blood for and gets away. Spidey tracks him to an underground lab and the two go at it again, with Otto performing an experiment on the blood with two of his metal arms while attacking Spider-Man with the others. He manages to hold the wall-crawler off until the experiment is complete, and upon checking the results, suddenly sags in defeat. Doc Ock surrenders to Spidey and goes peacefully with the authorities who come to arrest him, the fight completely taken out of him.
Spidey is left to wonder exactly what this whole ordeal has been about and what Ock was after. In the end, Mr. Trilby is given a new obituary to write, and we see that Mary Alice Anders has died of AIDS. Otto did have noble intentions, but ultimately couldn’t save his old sweetheart.
Doc Ock’s never been one of my personal favorite Spidey villains, but I of course recognize and acknowledge his significance. While someone like Batman has an undisputed # 1 foe in the Joker, I’ve always felt Spidey had an “unholy trinity” of arch-foes- Green Goblin, Venom, and Ock. I think this issue is a pretty perfect portrayal of Otto Octavius as a character, and is also my usual mental image of Doctor Octopus altogether. I always dug the “business suit” Ock look that was prevalent during much of the 90s… much more dignified for a portly guy like Otto than the green and orange spandex.
This issue itself is of course significant on its own for telling Otto’s backstory, and will be referenced again many times- especially during the Superior Spider-Man era. Ron Lim’s art is pretty excellent here, capturing Otto at both high and low points in his life, and there are some great fight scenes with Spidey to boot.
Oh yeah, this extra-sized issue of Unlimited also features back-up stories starring forgettable 90s characters Corona and Annex, but obviously they’re not included in this entry. Schema Mode… Tiny Violin. Sorry, Annex.
8. The Original Clone Saga
(Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 # 141-150. Giant-Size Spider-Man # 5)
Written by Gerry Conway and Archie Goodwin, penciled by Ross Andru and Gil Kane
The Clone Saga is obviously something that gets Spider-Man fans talking. Some people have a distinct and justifiable hatred for it and some people think it’s alright in places and have an attachment to some of the characters introduced in it. Being that I started buying comics regularly around the time the Clone Saga was starting up, I am in the latter group described above.
I should clarify though; when you say “Clone Saga”, most comic fans will think of the infamous one- the one from the 90s with Ben Reilly, Kaine, Judas Traveller, Scrier, Seward Trainer, Spidercide, Gaunt, and a number of other characters that some would just as well prefer to be left back in that decade. However, this entry here is for the OG Clone Saga from the 70s, the springboard from which the 90s one launched from. Its reputation is… somewhat less dubious.
Amazing Spider-Man # 129 is well-known as the first appearance of the Punisher, but it is also the first appearance of the Jackal, the criminal mastermind with a furry hand in BOTH eras’ Clone Sagas. The Jackal was built up by writer Gerry Conway for several issues, appearing to have an insider’s knowledge of Spider-Man, and launching a vendetta against him for some unknown reason. Ten or so issues later, Peter Parker begins seeing who appears to be his deceased girlfriend Gwen Stacy in passing over the course of several issues. He wonders if he’s going nuts, or is just feeling guilty over his blossoming relationship with Mary Jane Watson.
Eventually, “Gwen” appears in his apartment, asking for his help and Peter is forced to confront the apparent fact that she has returned from the dead! He uh… does not take this well at all.
After some investigating by his reporter pal Ned Leeds, Peter discovers that this Gwen Stacy is a genetic duplicate of the original, who remains dead and buried. The Jackal sics the Scorpion and the Tarantula (the OG Tarantula, not the Black) on Spidey and kidnaps the Gwen clone with Peter chasing them down only to discover a horrible truth. The Jackal is really his trusted college professor and mentor Miles Warren, who had become obsessed with Gwen Stacy and wished to avenge her death by killing the one he holds responsible- Spider-Man!
Not only did Warren clone Gwen, but he also cloned Peter Parker as well, pitting two Spider-Men against each other with Ned Leeds’ life in the balance. Ultimately, the Gwen clone rejects Warren’s intentions, jolting him back to sanity, and he sacrifices himself and allows Spider-Man to save Ned. The Jackal dies in an explosion (apparently), one of the Spider-Men dies (apparently), and the Gwen clone leaves Peter to find a new life on her own. Peter is left to assure himself that he is the real Spider-Man, and it was the clone who perished… but who can really be certain?
Obviously I’ve simplified things quite a bit, but this is a fun ride and a great cap-off to Gerry Conway’s first run on Spider-Man, which I have a lot of fondness for in general. The Jackal is at his best here, attacking Spider-Man through various proxies over the span of twenty issues (even before the “clone” stuff starts up), and being a pretty twisted and perverse villain for that period in Comics Code-approved history. I’ve always enjoyed any appearance by the Scorpion, and Spider-Man delivers one hell of a memorable curb-stomp to him after the guy threatens Aunt May in her hospital bed.
Seeing Spidey beat down the super-powered Scorpion like that, it is kind of funny how much trouble the Tarantula gives him later in this tale though, considering his abilities can be generously summed up as “has pointy shoes”. I can’t help but see Tarantula as Spidey’s “Batroc the Leaper”, but Conway always seemed to treat him as a deadly-serious threat. Speaking of Frenchmen, Spidey also fights the goofy-ass Cyclone over the course of this saga, but thankfully that’s an entertaining pair of issues as well.
This whole story is pretty gripping from start to finish, even in its lower points, with consistently-solid art by Ross Andru throughout. I have a lot of affection for the original Clone Saga, despite obviously not being old enough to have read it when it first came out. I received the “Clone Genesis” trade paperback fairly early on in my Spider-Man reading career, which contained the bulk of these issues and provided a solid backbone for the Clone Stuff happening in the current titles I was buying off the shelves at the time.
I also enjoyed the follow-up stuff with Carrion that Bill Mantlo did in the Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man title years later and I don’t believe the original Clone Saga should share in the stigma that its 90s sequel suffers from. Even if Gerry Conway and others apparently felt embarrassed enough by it to try and retcon cloning away in later stories (which was then reversed back by the 90s saga. Oy.) Oh yeah, one final point of interest about this story… it has what most people consider to be the scene where Peter Parker lost his virginity. Oh my!
(Clearly I’ve altered that.)
7. “Revelations”
(Spectacular Spider-Man # 240, Sensational Spider-Man # 11, Amazing Spider-Man # 418, (adjective-less) Spider-Man # 75, and The Osborn Journal one-shot, 1996)
Written by Todd Dezago, Tom DeFalco, Howard Mackie, and Glenn Greenberg, penciled by Luke Ross, Mike Wieringo, Steve Skroce, John Romita Jr., and Kyle Hotz
Ha! You thought I was done with the Clone Saga?? I ain’t even STARTED yet! The previous entry was the beginning of the Clone Saga, this entry is the end of it! Perhaps one of the most controversial Spidey tales of all time, “Revelations” puts the lid on the Clone Saga for good (save for some resurgences of plot elements from it over the years) and manages to be pretty memorable in the doing (if perhaps for some of the wrong reasons.)
Most people who praise this story arc will usually limit their adoration to the final issue, and I certainly could have done so as well. Revelations, part 4- “Night of the Goblin” is one of the most noteworthy Spidey issues ever and I have a lot of nostalgic feelings towards it. However, I will be brave and include all four parts in this entry, as despite the first three being a bit pedestrian, there are some good bits in them.
With Ben Reilly having taken over as Spider-Man and Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson-Parker expecting their first child, things seem to have finally settled down after a tumultuous period in the Spider-books. The first issue of Revelations, Spectacular Spider-Man # 240, focuses heavily on the bond that has grown between Peter and Ben as they spend an afternoon rummaging through Aunt May’s attic and the memories they both share. While they both currently believe that Peter is the clone, they’ve largely moved past that and bonded as brothers. This was probably my favorite part of having Ben Reilly around in the Spider-books- him and Peter’s interactions around this time were both amusing and heartwarming.
Of course, things can’t remain like this forever, and the shadowy mastermind behind the entire clone magillah puts the final act of his plan into motion. In short order, his enforcer Gaunt is sent to murder Ben Reilly’s friend and confidant Seward Trainer, many of the friends of Peter Parker are lured to the Daily Bugle and locked inside, and Mary Jane is poisoned, inducing an early labor. Peter and Ben team-up against Gaunt, who is revealed to be a resurrected (and fairly-forgettable Spidey villain) Mendel Stromm, AKA The Robot Master.
The Robot Master unleashes some robots (as is his wont) on the Spider-boys, delaying them from reaching Mary Jane at the hospital. Ben (as Spider-Man at the moment) goes into overdrive upon hearing of Seward’s death and defeats the Robot Master, allowing Peter to make his way to his wife’s side. However, after Peter leaves the scene, Ben is ambushed and defeated by the shadowy mastermind who has been pulling everyone’s strings since the beginning. Peter makes it to the hospital, but is drugged and rendered unconscious before he can find MJ. When he awakens, he finds himself in his Spidey outfit and someone who has been dead for years looming over him.
Yes, Norman Osborn is alive and has been orchestrating events behind the scenes this entire time. He enabled Miles Warren/the Jackal, funded the cloning experiments, got Peter to believe he was the clone and Ben the original Spider-Man, and now… cost the Parkers their child. Norman suits up as the Green Goblin again and an enraged Peter leaps into battle with him. Meanwhile, a badly-beaten Ben Reilly sheds his shredded Spidey outfit and dons Peter’s discarded civilian clothes, meaning to rescue the people trapped in the Daily Bugle, which is rigged to explode. Above the Bugle, Spider-Man engages in a vicious battle with the Green Goblin, but showcases his ironclad perseverance and overcomes his foe.
Ben arrives, having gathered the explosives Osborn planned to use on the Bugle in a sack. He hands it off so Peter can dispose of them, but the down-but-not-out Green Goblin triggers his jet-glider to home in on Spider-Man. With both their Spider-Senses dulled, only Ben notices the incoming glider and shoves Peter out of the way, being impaled by it and thrown off the Bugle’s roof. A grief-stricken Peter swings the bag of explosives into the Green Goblin, sending him plummeting off the other side of the roof into a fiery explosion. In the end, Ben dies and almost instantly decomposes, proving once and for all that he was the clone and Peter was the original Spider-Man. Peter makes it to MJ’s side in the hospital, and the couple are left to mourn their losses.
Man, I can’t tell you how much this story (or at least the final issue) completely blew me away when I first read it. This is probably the first HUGE Spider-event I was there “in the trenches” for, that I bought straight off the shelf and read with almost no expectations about what would happen. I know more well-read Spider-Man fans at the time were frustrated and angered at the resurrection of Norman Osborn (he had been dead for over twenty years in real time by that point) and were generally unhappy with the Clone Saga as a whole. Looking back at it with older and wiser eyes, I can understand their frustration, and this particular story certainly does have its problems. However, as a wide-eyed twelve year-old, this stuff was amazing to me and with those nostalgia goggles firmly in place, I absolutely have to include “Revelations” in this list for its impact on me alone.
I couldn’t believe they brought Norman Osborn back, that he was behind the Clone Saga the entire time, and Ben Reilly was gone and melted to a pile of goo. It was pretty poetic that Ben died wearing Peter Parker's clothes, but it was also kind of an ignominious end for such a likable character (at the time, he got better of course. Comics amirite?) I will say though that Ben’s death scene gets me right in the feels every… single… time.
Like I mentioned, the middle bits of this inter-title crossover are kind of average (The Robot Master, really?) but the “bread” of the sandwich is pretty solid. I can vividly recall the memory of picking “Adjective-less” Spider-Man # 75 off the shelf for the first time and gaping at the image of the Green Goblin on the back cover. See, they actually revealed Norman Osborn was alive in the third part, Amazing # 418, but I had missed that issue the last time I was at the store. Revelations Part 4 was my “big reveal” in that regard and I wonder if I had gotten Amazing # 418 and had a week to speculate in-between installments; would I have been so (pardon the pun) Gob-smacked?
Spider-Man # 75 does have this (as perfectly-stated over at the Chasing Amazing blog) “surreal, nightmarish” quality to it that burns itself in your memory, thanks in no small part to John Romita Jr.’s pencils, Scott Hanna’s inks, and Kevin Tinsley’s colors.
I would be remiss in not mentioning the insane amount of writing and re-writing that went into this story. Todd Dezago was always a consistent and competent writer on Spidey and he handles the first two parts. Tom DeFalco is of course, one of the most famous Spider-Man writers of all time, at that. Annnd then we come to Howard Mackie, who could probably be considered one of the WORST Spider-Man writers of all time. As so amusingly laid out in the “Life of Reilly” blog series, Mackie’s script for Spider-Man # 75 had to be re-written and revised a numerous amount of times. Some of the best character interactions are still his, but most of the continuity-juggling, the explanations on how Norman Osborn is still alive and how he orchestrated everything, were all largely written by Glenn Greenberg.
Greenberg also produced “The Osborn Journal” one-shot which supplements this story by laying out in detail the Clone Saga timeline from the viewpoint of Norman, explaining how everything works and generally greasing the wheels for Mackie. Greenberg is truly the near-unsung hero of “Revelations” and you should do yourself a favor and read “Life of Reilly”, in which he contributes an insider’s view of the Clone Saga from one of the creators involved in it.
“Revelations” re-established Peter Parker as Spider-Man and Norman Osborn as his number one nemesis. It saw off Ben Reilly, a controversial character, but one with dedicated fans. And it provided a springboard for Tom DeFalco’s excellent Spider-Girl series, that followed the future adventures of Peter and MJ’s daughter “Mayday” Parker… had she survived. She still might have survived, in fact- the scene in which MJ gives birth makes it look like the baby was spirited away by one of Osborn’s agents. However, the official word from Marvel appears to be that poor little Baby May died.
In whatever case, they’ll never touch the possibility that the baby is still out there with a ten-foot pole now, what with their mandate to keep Peter Parker as young and hip as possible. It’s too bad; Ben Reilly was the young, hip, single Peter Parker they wanted. If they really tried, they could have made it work with him on a more permanent basis.
Funny story, Mephisto was originally planned to be the mastermind behind the Clone Saga at one point. But thankfully, they decided to bring an actual Spider-Man villain like the Green Goblin in to provide an end to that era. I mean, using Mephisto to reboot Spider-Man’s life? Who’d accept that, huh? That's be as crazy as imagining that Norman Osborn boinked Gwen Stacy and had Goblin babies with her... sigh.
6. “The Gift”
(Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 # 400, 1995) Written by J.M. DeMatteis, penciled by Mark Bagley
What?? Three Clone Saga stories in a row? Am I insane?? Well, we’ve been from the beginning to the end of it, and now we’re gonna go back to the middle-ish of it. This is Amazing Spider-Man # 400, the death of Aunt May… and when I say “death”, I mean it. This is the death of Aunt May as she existed for nearly thirty years, at the very least- as the dull-witted old lady who was taking heart attacks every other month and went on and on about “that awful Spider-Man”. Aunt May eventually came back, of course, in a terrible story that undid this beautiful one, but the time’s not right to talk about that yet. Right now, let’s talk about “The Gift” and how it remains one of the most touching Spider-Man tales of all time.
Aunt May took ill and fell into a coma for a few months but eventually wakes up. Peter takes her home, where May joyfully learns that MJ is pregnant, and spends the week catching up with her family. On a trip to the top of the Empire State Building, May tells Peter that she’s actually known he was Spider-Man for quite some time and is proud of him for it. That night, May takes ill again and passes peacefully with her nephew at her side, the two sharing a heartfelt farewell.
MJ and her aunt Anna arrive just in time to see May off and join Peter in their grief while poor Ben Reilly sits alone on the roof, crying his eyes out. The modern Marvel universe has lost one of its oldest characters, and at the time it was supposed to be irrevocably permanent. Of course, May would be brought back less than four years later, with this story rather insultingly being swept away. The reasoning in bringing Aunt May back was that she was too much of a staple character and essential to Spider-Man’s world, which I don’t necessarily disagree with. However, the ridiculous (even for comics) manner in which it was done, as well as it completely shitting over this lovely story, actually made me quit comics altogether for a good two or three years afterwards. And once Aunt May was back, the then-current writers defaulted to making her back into the doddering ninny who always needed her medication and hated that “awful Spider-Man” again.
It wasn’t until writers like J. Michael Stracynski and Paul Jenkins realized that Aunt May had to evolve as a character that things got better. They began writing her as an actual support system for Peter, in much better physical health and not some fragile plot device. Stracynski even had May discover Peter was Spider-Man (discover it AGAIN, long story) and opened up that part of his life to her, strengthening their bond and making their interactions so much deeper and more interesting.
In modern comics, May’s no longer constantly “teetering on the brink” as it seemed for nearly thirty years. She’s not exactly Marisa Tomei’s age… but she’s certainly not someone who Peter needs to be fretting over every waking moment. It’s funny, because Marvel’s constantly trying to make Peter Parker seem as perpetually “young and hip” as possible, and usually as a consequence of that, Aunt May gets “younger and hipper” with every passing year.
This story is expertly drawn by Mark Bagley, one of the all-time Spider-Man greats, and written by J.M. DeMatteis… who will pop up a few more times before this list is over, so I’ll talk more about him later. Even if this story takes place during the downward slope of the Clone Saga, and has plot elements like Ben Reilly, Kaine, Spidercide, Judas Traveller, and the revamped 90s Jackal (ugh) running around in-and-between the beautiful stuff focused on Aunt May, it’s still a favorite of mine.
I think I knew going into it that Aunt May would be dying, as all the speculation in the letters pages, as well as some preview materials released by Marvel at the time pretty much spoiled that, but it still touched me nonetheless. The cover of this anniversary issue had a special engraved tombstone overlay atop it, and you can see the clear, un-engraved image above. HOWEVER, the actual thing looked like this in your hands-
You can KINDA make out the image, but not clearly, so this special gimmick cover kind of failed at what it was supposed to do. Marvel was all about the special gimmick covers in the 90s, and it’s probably that emphasis on flash over substance that largely-bankrupted them both financially and creatively as that decade closed out. However, sometimes if you look past the trappings of that era, you can find the gold stuff buried among the turds, and “The Gift” is certainly gold.
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Next time- #5 - #1 and my LEAST favorite Spider-Man story of all time!
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