The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man is a comic book and magazine series starring Spider-Man and published by Marvel Comics.
This article is about the comic book Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man. For the 1990s series, see Peter Parker: Spider-Man. For the animated television series, see The Spectacular Spider-Man (TV series).The Spectacular Spider-Man
Monthly
Standard
- magazine:
July 1968 – November 1968
(vol. 1):
December 1976 – December 1987 (as Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man)
January 1988 – November 1998 (as The Spectacular Spider-Man)
(vol. 2):
September 2003 – June 2005
(vol. 3):
June 2017 — December 2018 (as Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man)
- magazine: 2
(vol. 1): 264 (#1–263, plus −1) and 14 Annuals
(vol. 2): 27
(vol. 3): 23 (#1–6 and 297–313) and 1 Annual
- Gerry Conway #1–3, 6 (reprint), 137–174, Annual #8–10
Archie Goodwin #4–5, 7–8, 12
Bill Mantlo #6 (new material), 9–10, 12–15, 17–34, 36–40, 42, 53, 61–89, 104, 120, Annual #1, 4
Roger Stern #43, 45–52, 54–61, 85, 259–261
Al Milgrom #90–100
Cary Burkett #101–102
Peter David #103, 105–113, 115–119, 121–123, 128–129, 134–136, Annual #5–6
Roger McKenzie #124
J. M. DeMatteis #131–132, 178–203, 217, 223, 241–258, −1, Annual #13–14
Steven Grant #204–210
Tom DeFalco #41, 215–229, 254–255
Todd DeZago #216, 218–219, 228, 230–240
Paul Jenkins (vol. 2) #1–22, 27
Samm Barnes (vol. 2) #23–26
Chip Zdarsky (vol. 3) #1–6, Annual #1, #297–310
Sean Ryan #311–313
Following the success of Spider-Man's original series, The Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel felt the character could support more than one title. This led the company in 1968 to launch a short-lived magazine, the first to bear the Spectacular name. In 1972, Marvel more successfully launched a second Spider-Man ongoing series, Marvel Team-Up, in which he was paired with other Marvel heroes. A third monthly ongoing series, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man, debuted in 1976.
Magazine (1968)[edit]
The Spectacular Spider-Man was initially a two-issue magazine published by Marvel in 1968,[1] as an experiment in entering the black-and-white comic-magazine market[2] successfully pioneered by Warren Publishing and others. It sold for 35 cents when standard comic books cost 12 cents and Annuals and Giants 25 cents. It represented the first Spider-Man spin-off publication aside from the original series' summer Annuals, begun in 1964.
The first issue (cover-dated July 1968) featured a painted, color cover by men's adventure-magazine artist Harry Rosenbaum, in acrylic paint on illustration board, over layouts by The Amazing Spider-Man artist John Romita Sr.[3] The 52-page black-and-white Spider-Man story, "Lo, This Monster!", was by writer Stan Lee, penciler Romita Sr. and inker Jim Mooney. A 10-page origin story, "In The Beginning!", was by Lee, penciler Larry Lieber and inker Bill Everett.
The feature story was reprinted in color, with some small alterations and bridging material by Gerry Conway, in The Amazing Spider-Man #116–118 (Jan.–March 1973) as "Suddenly...the Smasher!", "The Deadly Designs of the Disruptor!", and "Countdown to Chaos!" (with additional inking by Tony Mortellaro on the latter two). These versions were themselves reprinted in Marvel Tales #95–97 (Sept.-Oct. 1978).
The second and final issue (Nov. 1968) also sported a painted cover and the interior was in color as well. Lee, Romita and Mooney again collaborated on its single story, "The Goblin Lives!", featuring the Green Goblin. A next-issue box at the end promoted the planned contents of the unrealized issue #3, "The Mystery of the TV Terror". A version of the Goblin story, trimmed by 18 pages, was reprinted in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #9 (1973), and portions of the "TV Terror" costume were reused for the costume of the Prowler.[2]
Both issues of the magazine were reprinted in their entirety (albeit reduced to comic size) in the collection Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man #7 (ISBN 0-7851-1636-2), then again in Marvel Epic Collections: The Amazing Spider-Man #4 in 2019. The first issue was reprinted again in 2002 as The Spectacular Spider-Man Facsimile, exactly as it was originally presented.[4]
Volume 2 (2003–05)[edit]
Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) titled without the definite article "The", is a 27-issue monthly series published from September 2003 to June 2005.[31] Each issue was written by Paul Jenkins[32] (except #23–26, by Samm Barnes). The book's primary pencillers were Humberto Ramos and Mark Buckingham.
The comic included the storyline Spider-Man: Disassembled in which Spider-Man met a new enemy called the Queen who wanted him as her mate. Her kiss caused him to slowly mutate into a giant spider who metamorphosed into human form with enhanced strength and agility, along with organic webbing and a psychic link with insects and arachnids.
This comic also included the sequel to "Sins Past", "Sins Remembered", in which Peter went to Paris to meet Sarah Stacy and resolved the issues between them.
Spectacular Spider-Man Adventures[edit]
Spectacular Spider-Man Adventures was a title published by Panini Comics in the United Kingdom from November 1995 to September 2005, although the Adventures portion of the title was often dropped from the cover page. It featured a mix of reprinted American material, as well as originally produced British material, including a guest appearance from Captain Britain.[33] Spectacular was aimed at a younger audience than Panini's other Spider-Man reprint title Astonishing Spider-Man, and was loosely based on the continuity of the 1990s animated series.
Volume 3 (2017–18)[edit]
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 3) was published from June 2017 to December 2018. After the first six issues, the series reverted to legacy numbering with issue #297 as part of the line-wide Marvel Legacy relaunch. The series' original creative team had Chip Zdarsky as writer, with Adam Kubert providing the artwork.[34] Notable recurring characters included Teresa Durand, J. Jonah Jameson, Johnny Storm, and original character Rebecca London.
Various issues, as well as the one Annual, were illustrated by guest artists; Kubert's final issue as artist was #307, excluding covers. Zdarsky left the series with issue #310. The series ended with issue #313, the final three issues being a tie-in to the Spider-Geddon crossover event written by Sean Ryan.
The Spectacular Spider-Men[edit]
The Spectacular Spider-Men is a currently ongoing series that was published beginning March 2024. The series is written by Greg Weisman (who also created The Spectacular Spider-Man television series) with Ramos returning for art. The Spectacular Spider-Men stars both versions of Spider-Man (Peter Parker and Miles Morales) and focuses on the relationship between the two Spider-Men.[35][36] The series' supporting cast featured characters who previously appeared in the television series and Weisman's Starbrand & Nightmask comic series, including Kenny Kong, Shelly Conklin, Cedric Harrison, Sha Shan Nguyen, and Professor Raymond Warren.[37][38]