The Spectacular Spider-Man
Encyclopedia
The Spectacular Spider-Man is the name of several comic book
s and one magazine
series starring Marvel Comics
' Spider-Man
.
The character's main series, The Amazing Spider-Man
, was extremely successful, and 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.
The Spectacular Spider-Man was initially a two-issue magazine published by Marvel in 1968, as an experiment in entering the black-and-white comic-magazine market 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 (July 1968) featured a painted, color cover with a 52-page black-and-white
Spider-Man story, "Lo, This Monster!", by writer
Stan Lee
, with art by penciler John 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 now 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.
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). The first issue was also reprinted in 2002, exactly as it was originally presented. This is known as the Facsimilie Edition.
monthly comic-book spin-off series, after Marvel Team-Up
, which also featured Spider-Man. The monthly title ran 263 issues until 1998.
The title's first regular artist was Sal Buscema
, who drew the title until mid-1978. After Buscema’s departure, a succession of artists (including Mike Zeck
, Frank Miller
, Jim Mooney
, Ed Hannigan
and Greg LaRocque
) penciled the series for approximately five years. Scripting initially alternated between Gerry Conway
and Archie Goodwin
until mid-1977, when Bill Mantlo
took over, writing for the title until May 1980. Mantlo was succeeded by Roger Stern
, who wrote for the title from June 1980 to March 1981. When Stern departed to write for The Amazing Spider-Man, Mantlo returned to scripting Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man; Mantlo's second tenure at the title lasted until April 1984. During the Mantlo/Stern era of Spectacular, the stories focused more on Parker's campus life as an undergraduate student/teacher's assistant at Empire State University
, and giving more attention to his colleagues than to the more long-running supporting characters in Amazing. Mantlo's first run on the title also featured frequent appearances by The White Tiger
, Marvel's first superhero of Hispanic
descent, and the first appearance of the supervillain Carrion
, and his second run showcased the Black Cat
and her romantic relationship with Spider-Man. Mantlo's second run also introduced the superhero duo Cloak and Dagger
, created by Mantlo and Hannigan in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (March 1982), and included a story arc which took place from issues #73-79 (Dec. 1982-June 1983), in which Doctor Octopus
and The Owl compete for control of the New York underworld, Octopus almost destroys New York with a nuclear device, and the Black Cat is critically injured.
Al Milgrom
took over scripting as well as art on the title in May 1984. Milgrom imbued the book with a more whimsical tone, for example, pitting Spider-Man against The Spot, an enemy so ridiculous he gave Spider-Man fits of laughter. Jim Owsley, then editor of the Spider-Man books, disapproved of this approach and had Milgrom replaced as writer by newcomer Peter David
in 1985. David and artist Rich Buckler
, said Owsley, had the series "focusing on stories with a serious, 'grown-up' tone and more complex themes". The most notable story arc of the David/Buckler era is "The Death of Jean DeWolff
" (#107-110, Oct. 1985-Jan. 1986), in which Spider-Man's ally, NYC Police Captain Jean DeWolff
- a supporting character in the Spider-Man comics since 1976 - is brutally murdered by the vigilante/serial killer the Sin-Eater
. This multi-part story guest-starred Daredevil
.
With issue #134 (Jan. 1988), the "Peter Parker" part of the title was removed and the series became simply The Spectacular Spider-Man. The logo changed from a distinctive design to using the same design as that of The Amazing Spider-Man and the 1968 Spectacular Spider-Man magazine; this logo did not change until issue #218 (Nov. 1994). Sal Buscema returned as the regular artist, staying with the title from early 1988 to late 1996; throughout the series' run, Buscema drew over 100 issues, making him by far the series' most frequent contributor.
After his "Return of the Sin-Eater" arc (#134-136, Jan.-March 1988), Peter David was removed as writer. Editor Owsley said editor-in-chief Jim Shooter
"disliked Peter's work intensely". David, in a 2005 interview, believed, "I was fired off Spider-Man because it was felt at the upper editorial level that a novice comic-book writer shouldn't be handling the adventures of Marvel's flagship character". Former Amazing Spider-Man and Spectacular Spider-Man writer Gerry Conway, who additionally wrote Web of Spider-Man
from 1988 to 1990, returned to Spectacular after which he left both books to become a story editor on the TV series Father Dowling Mysteries
. Conway's 1988-1990 run on Specacular included such story arcs as the Lobo Brothers Gang War, and the conflict between Daily Bugle
editor Joe Robertson and his former friend, the Albino criminal Tombstone
.
J. M. DeMatteis
became the regular writer in mid-1991, injecting a grim, psychological tone into the book (in the same style as the DeMatteis-written "Kraven's Last Hunt
", a six-part collaboration with artist Mike Zeck
that crossed over the three Spider-Man titles in 1987). DeMatteis began his run with the story arc "The Child Within" (#178-184, July 1991-Jan. 1992), featuring the return of the Harry Osborn
Green Goblin
. As written by DeMatteis, Harry sank further into insanity and gained the same super-strength possessed by his father, battling Spider-Man again in #189 (June 1992), before being killed off in #200 (April 1993). In an undated 2000s interview, DeMatteis said, "I really loved the two years on Spectacular Spider-Man that I wrote with Sal Buscema drawing. Talk about underrated! Sal is one of the best storytellers and a wonderful collaborator. I loved that run."
DeMatteis left the book in mid-1993 to write The Amazing Spider-Man. Steven Grant
and other writers followed through late 1994, when former Amazing Spider-Man writer Tom DeFalco
took over. By this time, all the Spider-books were affected by the controversial "Clone Saga
" that culminated with Spectacular Spider-Man #226 (July 1995). This story revealed (though it was later reversed) that the Spider-Man who had appeared in the previous 20 years of comics was a clone of the real Spider-Man. This tied into a publishing gap after #229 (Oct. 1995), when the title was temporarily replaced by The Spectacular Scarlet Spider
#1-2 (Nov.-Dec. 1995), featuring the "original" Peter Parker. The series picked up again with #230 (January 1996).
Todd DeZago
then wrote for a year before DeMatteis returned through May 1998. Luke Ross succeeded Sal Buscema as the artist and remained until the series ended, but there was no regular writer for the last half-year with Glenn Greenberg
, Roger Stern, John Byrne and Howard Mackie
all contributing during this time. The final issue was #263 (Nov. 1998).
(except #23-26, by Samm Barnes
). The book's primary pencillers were Humberto Ramos
and Mark Buckingham
. This series replaced the cancelled Peter Parker: Spider-Man
vol. 2.
The comic included the storyline Spider-Man: Disassembled
where 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.
in the UK
, although the Adventures portion of the title is often dropped from the cover page. It features a mix of reprinted American material as well as originally produced British material. Spectacular is aimed at a younger audience than Panini's other Spider-Man reprint title Astonishing Spider-Man
, and is loosely based on the continuity of the 1990s animated series
.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s and one magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
series starring Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
.
The character's main series, The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man. Being the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a monthly periodical and was published continuously until it was...
, was extremely successful, and 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
Marvel Team-Up
Marvel Team-Up is the name of several American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series featured two or more Marvel characters in one story...
, in which he was paired with other Marvel heroes. A third monthly ongoing series, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man, debuted in 1976.
Magazine
Warren Publishing
Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades...
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
Annual publication
An annual publication, more often called simply an annual, is a book or a magazine, comic book or comic strip published yearly. For example, a weekly or monthly publication may produce an Annual featuring similar materials to the regular publication....
, begun in 1964.
The first issue (July 1968) featured a painted, color cover with a 52-page black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
Spider-Man story, "Lo, This Monster!", by writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
, with art by penciler John Romita, Sr.
John Romita, Sr.
John V. Romita, Sr. is an Italian-American comic-book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man...
and inker
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
Jim Mooney
Jim Mooney
James Noel "Jim" Mooney was an American comic book artist best known as a Marvel Comics inker and Spider-Man artist, and as the signature artist of DC Comics' Supergirl, both during what comics historians and fans call the Silver Age of comic books...
. A 10-page origin story, "In The Beginning!", was by Lee, penciler Larry Lieber
Larry Lieber
Lawrence D. "Larry" Lieber is an American comic book artist and writer, and the younger brother of Marvel Comics' writer, editor and publisher Stan Lee....
and inker Bill Everett
Bill Everett
William Blake "Bill" Everett, also known as William Blake and Everett Blake was a comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner and co-creating Daredevil for Marvel Comics...
.
The feature story was reprinted in color, with some small alterations and bridging material by Gerry Conway
Gerry Conway
Gerard F. "Gerry" Conway is an American writer of comic books and television shows. He is known for co-creating the Marvel Comics vigilante The Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man...
, in The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man. Being the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a monthly periodical and was published continuously until it was...
#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).
Green Goblin
The Green Goblin is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 ....
. 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.
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). The first issue was also reprinted in 2002, exactly as it was originally presented. This is known as the Facsimilie Edition.
Volume One (1976-1998)
Titled Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man on its December 1976 debut, and shortened to simply The Spectacular Spider-Man with #134 (Jan. 1988), this was the second Amazing Spider-ManSpider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
monthly comic-book spin-off series, after Marvel Team-Up
Marvel Team-Up
Marvel Team-Up is the name of several American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series featured two or more Marvel characters in one story...
, which also featured Spider-Man. The monthly title ran 263 issues until 1998.
The title's first regular artist was Sal Buscema
Sal Buscema
Silvio "Sal" Buscema is an American comic book artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he enjoyed a ten-year run as artist of The Incredible Hulk...
, who drew the title until mid-1978. After Buscema’s departure, a succession of artists (including Mike Zeck
Mike Zeck
Mike Zeck is an American comic book illustrator.-Biography:Zeck was born in Greenville, Pennsylvania to Michael and Kathryn Jean Zeck...
, Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
, Jim Mooney
Jim Mooney
James Noel "Jim" Mooney was an American comic book artist best known as a Marvel Comics inker and Spider-Man artist, and as the signature artist of DC Comics' Supergirl, both during what comics historians and fans call the Silver Age of comic books...
, Ed Hannigan
Ed Hannigan
Ed Hannigan is an American a writer, artist, and editor of comic books for both Marvel Comics and DC Comics. His most notable writing credits include work on The Defenders during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As the artist on The Spectacular Spider-Man, Hannigan co-created the characters Cloak...
and Greg LaRocque
Greg LaRocque
Greg LaRocque is an American comic book illustrator.Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, LaRocque worked as an assistant teacher at the Professional Institute of Art while still a teenager. He started his art career in the advertising field...
) penciled the series for approximately five years. Scripting initially alternated between Gerry Conway
Gerry Conway
Gerard F. "Gerry" Conway is an American writer of comic books and television shows. He is known for co-creating the Marvel Comics vigilante The Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man...
and Archie Goodwin
Archie Goodwin (comics)
Archie Goodwin was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. He worked on a number of comic strips in addition to comic books, and is best known for his Warren and Marvel Comics work...
until mid-1977, when Bill Mantlo
Bill Mantlo
Bill Mantlo is an American comic-book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics, best known for his work on two licensed toy properties whose adventures occurred in the Marvel Universe: the Eagle Award-winning Micronauts and the long-running Rom. An attorney, he also worked as a public defender...
took over, writing for the title until May 1980. Mantlo was succeeded by Roger Stern
Roger Stern
Roger Stern is an American comic book author and novelist.-Early career:In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine CPL , one of the first platforms for the work of John Byrne...
, who wrote for the title from June 1980 to March 1981. When Stern departed to write for The Amazing Spider-Man, Mantlo returned to scripting Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man; Mantlo's second tenure at the title lasted until April 1984. During the Mantlo/Stern era of Spectacular, the stories focused more on Parker's campus life as an undergraduate student/teacher's assistant at Empire State University
Empire State University
Empire State University is a fictional university in the Marvel Comics Universe, a mixture of New York University and Columbia University . It is located somewhere in New York City, in Greenwich Village near the site of New York University...
, and giving more attention to his colleagues than to the more long-running supporting characters in Amazing. Mantlo's first run on the title also featured frequent appearances by The White Tiger
White Tiger (Hector Ayala)
White Tiger is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe, and was created by Bill Mantlo and George Pérez. First appearing in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #19 , he is the first Puerto Rican superhero in the history of comics, and Marvel's first superhero of Hispanic descent.- Publication history...
, Marvel's first superhero of Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
descent, and the first appearance of the supervillain Carrion
Carrion (comics)
Carrion is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in the Marvel Comics universe, in which he is an enemy of Spider-Man. He first appeared in The Spectacular Spider-Man #25....
, and his second run showcased the Black Cat
Black Cat (comics)
The Black Cat is a fictional character, a superheroine in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Keith Pollard, she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194 ....
and her romantic relationship with Spider-Man. Mantlo's second run also introduced the superhero duo Cloak and Dagger
Cloak and Dagger (comics)
Cloak and Dagger are a fictional comic book superhero duo in the . They were created by writer William "Bill" Mantlo and designed by artist Edward Hannigan.-Publication history:...
, created by Mantlo and Hannigan in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (March 1982), and included a story arc which took place from issues #73-79 (Dec. 1982-June 1983), in which Doctor Octopus
Doctor Octopus
Doctor Octopus is a fictional character, a supervillain that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics since 1963. A highly intelligent mad scientist, Doctor Octopus is one of Spider-Man's greatest foes...
and The Owl compete for control of the New York underworld, Octopus almost destroys New York with a nuclear device, and the Black Cat is critically injured.
Al Milgrom
Allen "Al" Milgrom is an American comic book writer, penciller, inker and editor, primarily for Marvel Comics. He is known for his 10-year run as editor of Marvel Fanfare; his long involvement as writer, penciler, and inker on Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man; his four-year tenure as West...
took over scripting as well as art on the title in May 1984. Milgrom imbued the book with a more whimsical tone, for example, pitting Spider-Man against The Spot, an enemy so ridiculous he gave Spider-Man fits of laughter. Jim Owsley, then editor of the Spider-Man books, disapproved of this approach and had Milgrom replaced as writer by newcomer Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
in 1985. David and artist Rich Buckler
Rich Buckler
Rich Buckler is an American comic book artist and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four in the mid-1970s and, with writer Doug Moench, co-creating the character Deathlok in Astonishing Tales #25...
, said Owsley, had the series "focusing on stories with a serious, 'grown-up' tone and more complex themes". The most notable story arc of the David/Buckler era is "The Death of Jean DeWolff
The Death of Jean DeWolff
"The Death of Jean DeWolff" is a four-part story arc featuring the popular Marvel Comics comic book superhero Spider-Man. It comprises the comics Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #107 – #110 . The story was written by Peter David, penciled by Rich Buckler, and inked by Brett Breeding,...
" (#107-110, Oct. 1985-Jan. 1986), in which Spider-Man's ally, NYC Police Captain Jean DeWolff
Jean DeWolff
Jean DeWolff is a fictional police detective who functions as a supporting character in books published by Marvel Comics, in particular those featuring Spider-Man...
- a supporting character in the Spider-Man comics since 1976 - is brutally murdered by the vigilante/serial killer the Sin-Eater
Sin-Eater (comics)
Sin-Eater is a name given to several fictional characters appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, usually those featuring Spider-Man and Ghost Rider.- Stanley Carter :...
. This multi-part story guest-starred Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
.
With issue #134 (Jan. 1988), the "Peter Parker" part of the title was removed and the series became simply The Spectacular Spider-Man. The logo changed from a distinctive design to using the same design as that of The Amazing Spider-Man and the 1968 Spectacular Spider-Man magazine; this logo did not change until issue #218 (Nov. 1994). Sal Buscema returned as the regular artist, staying with the title from early 1988 to late 1996; throughout the series' run, Buscema drew over 100 issues, making him by far the series' most frequent contributor.
After his "Return of the Sin-Eater" arc (#134-136, Jan.-March 1988), Peter David was removed as writer. Editor Owsley said editor-in-chief Jim Shooter
Jim Shooter
James Shooter is an American writer, occasional fill-in artist, editor, and publisher for various comic books. Although he started professionally in the medium at the extraordinarily young age of 14, he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comics' ninth...
"disliked Peter's work intensely". David, in a 2005 interview, believed, "I was fired off Spider-Man because it was felt at the upper editorial level that a novice comic-book writer shouldn't be handling the adventures of Marvel's flagship character". Former Amazing Spider-Man and Spectacular Spider-Man writer Gerry Conway, who additionally wrote Web of Spider-Man
Web of Spider-Man
Web of Spider-Man is the name of two different monthly comic book series starring Spider-Man that have been published by Marvel Comics since 1985, the first volume of which ran for 129 issues between 1985 and 1995, and the second of which ran for 12 issues between 2009 and 2010.-Volume 1:The first...
from 1988 to 1990, returned to Spectacular after which he left both books to become a story editor on the TV series Father Dowling Mysteries
Father Dowling Mysteries
Father Dowling Mysteries is an American television mystery series that appeared between November 30, 1987 and May 2, 1991. For its first season, the show was on NBC; it moved to ABC network for its last two seasons...
. Conway's 1988-1990 run on Specacular included such story arcs as the Lobo Brothers Gang War, and the conflict between Daily Bugle
Daily Bugle
The Daily Bugle is a fictional New York City newspaper that is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, most prominently in Spider-Man comic titles and their derivative media...
editor Joe Robertson and his former friend, the Albino criminal Tombstone
Tombstone (comics)
Tombstone is a supervillain in the fictional Marvel universe. The character was created by Gerry Conway and Alex Saviuk and first appeared in Web of Spider-Man #36 .-Fictional character biography:...
.
J. M. DeMatteis
J. M. DeMatteis
John Marc DeMatteis is an American writer of comic books.-Early career:Born in Brooklyn, DeMatteis graduated from Midwood High School and Empire State College. He worked as a music critic before getting his start in comic books at DC Comics in the late 1970s...
became the regular writer in mid-1991, injecting a grim, psychological tone into the book (in the same style as the DeMatteis-written "Kraven's Last Hunt
Kraven's Last Hunt
"Kraven's Last Hunt" is a comic book storyline by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck published in 1987, featuring the final battle between Marvel Comics characters Kraven the Hunter and Spider-Man...
", a six-part collaboration with artist Mike Zeck
Mike Zeck
Mike Zeck is an American comic book illustrator.-Biography:Zeck was born in Greenville, Pennsylvania to Michael and Kathryn Jean Zeck...
that crossed over the three Spider-Man titles in 1987). DeMatteis began his run with the story arc "The Child Within" (#178-184, July 1991-Jan. 1992), featuring the return of the Harry Osborn
Harry Osborn
Harry Osborn is a fictional character, a supporting character of Spider-Man in the . In addition to being Peter Parker's best friend, Harry was the second Green Goblin and is the son of Norman Osborn...
Green Goblin
Green Goblin
The Green Goblin is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 ....
. As written by DeMatteis, Harry sank further into insanity and gained the same super-strength possessed by his father, battling Spider-Man again in #189 (June 1992), before being killed off in #200 (April 1993). In an undated 2000s interview, DeMatteis said, "I really loved the two years on Spectacular Spider-Man that I wrote with Sal Buscema drawing. Talk about underrated! Sal is one of the best storytellers and a wonderful collaborator. I loved that run."
DeMatteis left the book in mid-1993 to write The Amazing Spider-Man. Steven Grant
Steven Grant
Steven Grant is an American comic-book writer best known for his 1985-1986 Marvel Comics mini-series Punisher, with artist Mike Zeck and for his creator-owned character Whisper.-Biography:...
and other writers followed through late 1994, when former Amazing Spider-Man writer Tom DeFalco
Tom DeFalco
Tom DeFalco is an American comics writer and editor, well known for his association with Marvel Comics and in particular for his work with Spider-Man.-Career:...
took over. By this time, all the Spider-books were affected by the controversial "Clone Saga
Clone Saga
The Clone Saga or Spider-Clone Saga was a major story arc in Marvel Comics which ran from 1994 to 1996 involving many clones of Spider-Man.The story is considered to be one of the most controversial Spider-Man stories ever told...
" that culminated with Spectacular Spider-Man #226 (July 1995). This story revealed (though it was later reversed) that the Spider-Man who had appeared in the previous 20 years of comics was a clone of the real Spider-Man. This tied into a publishing gap after #229 (Oct. 1995), when the title was temporarily replaced by The Spectacular Scarlet Spider
The Spectacular Scarlet Spider
The Spectacular Scarlet Spider is a comic book series starring the Scarlet Spider published by Marvel Comics for 2 issues from November 1995 to December 1995....
#1-2 (Nov.-Dec. 1995), featuring the "original" Peter Parker. The series picked up again with #230 (January 1996).
Todd DeZago
Todd DeZago
Todd Dezago is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his collaborations with penciller Mike Wieringo on The Sensational Spider-Man and their creator-owned fantasy series Tellos, which premiered in 1999, as well as for co-creating Young Justice with artist Todd Nauck in the 1998...
then wrote for a year before DeMatteis returned through May 1998. Luke Ross succeeded Sal Buscema as the artist and remained until the series ended, but there was no regular writer for the last half-year with Glenn Greenberg
Glenn Greenberg
Glenn Greenberg is an American comic book and fiction writer. At the beginning of his career, he became a regular Marvel Comics writer, penning stories for The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Rampaging Hulk, The Silver Surfer, and Dracula.After establishing himself in the comic book industry, he was...
, Roger Stern, John Byrne and Howard Mackie
Howard Mackie
Howard Mackie is an American comic book editor and writer. He has worked almost exclusively for Marvel Comics.- Childhood :...
all contributing during this time. The final issue was #263 (Nov. 1998).
Collections
- Essential Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 1 (ISBN 0-7851-1682-6) - Collects issues #1-31
- Essential Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 2 (ISBN 0-7851-2042-4) - Collects issues #32-53, Annuals 1-2
- Essential Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 3 - Collects issues #54-74, Annual #3
- Essential Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 4 - Collects issues #75-96, Annual #4
- Essential Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-man Vol. 5 (ISBN 978-0-7851-5755-7) - Collects issues #97-114
- Spider-Man:Origin of the Hobgoblin Reprints #85
- The Amazing Spider-Man: The Death of Jean DeWolff (1990, ISBN 0-87135-704-6) - Collects #107-110
- Spider-Man vs. The Silver Sable Vol. 1 Reprints #128-129
- Spider-Man Kravens's Last Hunt Reprints #131-132
- Spider-Man:The Cosmic Adventures Reprints #158-160
- Spider-Man and The X-men Reprints #197-199
- Son of the Goblin Reprints #189, 200
- Maximum Carnage Reprints #201-203
- Spider-Man: Revelations Reprints #240
- Spider-Man:Identity Crisis Reprints #257-258
Volume Two (2003-2005)
Spectacular Spider-Man vol. 2, titled without the definite article "The", is a 27-issue monthly series published between 2003 and 2005. Each issue was written by Paul JenkinsPaul Jenkins (writer)
Paul Jenkins is a British comic book writer and Gary Gygax's stepson. He has had much success crossing over into the American comic book market. Primarily working for Marvel Comics, he has had a big part shaping the characters of the company over the past decade.-Life and career:Paul Jenkins...
(except #23-26, by Samm Barnes
Samm Barnes
Sara "Samm" Barnes is a television and comics writer, as well as a television producer.-Biography:Though born in Great Britain to Michael and Bridget Barnes, Barnes was raised in Canada, first in Ottawa, then Toronto and finally Vancouver....
). The book's primary pencillers were Humberto Ramos
Humberto Ramos
Humberto Ramos is a Mexican comic book penciller, best known for his work on American comic books such as Impulse, The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man and his creator-owned series Crimson.-Career:...
and Mark Buckingham
Mark Buckingham
Mark Buckingham is a British comic book artist. He is better known for his work on Marvelman and Fables.-Biography:Born as Mark John Buckingham May 23, 1966 in Clevedon, United Kingdom...
. This series replaced the cancelled Peter Parker: Spider-Man
Peter Parker: Spider-Man
Peter Parker: Spider-Man is the name of two comic book series published by Marvel Comics, both of which feature the character Spider-Man.-Volume One :...
vol. 2.
The comic included the storyline Spider-Man: Disassembled
Avengers Disassembled
"Avengers Disassembled", referred to in some participating series as "Disassembled", is a crossover event between several Marvel Comics series. The general idea is that the major heroes are assaulted, not just physically, but emotionally...
where 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.
Collections
- The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 1: The Hunger (ISBN 0-7851-1169-7) - Collects issues #1-5
- The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 2: Countdown (ISBN 0-7851-1313-4) - Collects issues #6-10
- The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 3: Here There Be Monsters (ISBN 0-7851-1333-9) - Collects issues #11-14
- The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 4: Disassembled - Collects issues #15-20
- The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 5: Sins Remembered (ISBN 0-7851-1628-1) - Collects issues #23-26
- The Spectacular Spider-Man, Vol. 6: The Final Curtain (ISBN 0-7851-1950-7) - Collects issues #21, 22, 27 and Peter Parker: Spider-ManPeter Parker: Spider-ManPeter Parker: Spider-Man is the name of two comic book series published by Marvel Comics, both of which feature the character Spider-Man.-Volume One :...
(Vol. 2) # 39-41 .
UK title
Spectacular Spider-Man Adventures is a title published by Panini ComicsPanini Comics
Panini Comics is an Italian comic book publisher. A division of Panini Group, best known for their collectible stickers, it is headquartered in Modena, Italy...
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, although the Adventures portion of the title is often dropped from the cover page. It features a mix of reprinted American material as well as originally produced British material. Spectacular is aimed at a younger audience than Panini's other Spider-Man reprint title Astonishing Spider-Man
Astonishing Spider-Man
The Astonishing Spider-Man is a comic book series being published by Panini Comics in the United Kingdom every fortnight as part of Marvel UK's 'Collectors Edition' line...
, and is loosely based on the continuity of the 1990s animated series
Spider-Man (1994 TV series)
Spider-Man, also known as Spider-Man: The Animated Series, is an American animated series starring the Marvel Comics superhero, Spider-Man. The show ran on Fox Kids from November 19, 1994, to January 31, 1998. The producer/story editor was John Semper, Jr. and production company was Marvel Films...
.