The Spider-Slayers are a series of fictional robots appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by Spencer Smythe , they were designed specifically to hunt down, capture, or kill Spider-Man . A new generation of Spider-Slayers was later created by Spencer's son, Alistair .
166-493: The Spider-Slayers have been featured in a number of Spider-Man adaptations outside of comics, including animated series and video games. The Spider-Slayers first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #25 (June 1965) and were created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko . The first series of robots were originally designed and built by Prof. Spencer Smythe with the financial backing of J. Jonah Jameson , who piloted them for
332-598: A Doctor Doom mask-wearing Reed Richards work to undo what Maker has done. Marvel Comics later revealed in June that following the end of Ultimate Invasion, a one-shot called Ultimate Universe #1, written by Hickman and drawn by Stefano Caselli, will release in November and set the stage for a new line of Ultimate Universe comics. The plans have been laid out by Jonathan Hickman, Bryan Hitch, and C.B. Cebulski. In September 2023, Marvel revealed that one of these new titles would be
498-520: A 2010 deposition , recalled that Lee and Ditko "ended up not being able to work together because they disagreed on almost everything, cultural, social, historically, everything, they disagreed on characters..." In successor penciler Romita Sr.'s first issue, No. 39 (Aug. 1966), nemesis the Green Goblin discovers Spider-Man's secret identity and reveals his own to the captive hero. Romita's Spider-Man – more polished and heroic-looking than Ditko's – became
664-586: A 2013 storyline. The story, however, is largely a team-up of characters from the Ultimate and mainstream Marvel universes, with only a superficial relation with the plot of the crossover. Matt Little from CBR suspected that the story may have been conceived at some earlier point, and then slightly modified to serve as a tie-in for Secret Wars . Aaron Davis , Morales' uncle, makes his first Marvel-616 appearance in Spider-Man #234. The Maker , an evil Reed Richards ,
830-467: A back-up story in which Spider-Man meets President Barack Obama . Mark Waid scripted the opening of " The Gauntlet " storyline in issue No. 612 (Jan. 2010). The Gauntlet story was concluded by Grim Hunt (No. 634–637) which saw the resurrection of long-dead Spider-Man villain, Kraven the Hunter. The series became a twice-monthly title with Dan Slott as sole writer at issue No. 648 (Jan. 2011), launching
996-551: A blue being of energy and the depiction of Harry's transformation into Green Goblin. The 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is based on the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy , in particular the design of Galactus . The franchise was rebooted in 2015 with Fantastic Four , which is strongly based on the first arcs of Ultimate Fantastic Four . Sony made an animated Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Into
1162-523: A final act, to murder them both, but died just before Spider-Man thwarted the attempt. At one point, Jameson commissioned another scientist, Dr. Marla Madison , to create a new and improved Spider-Slayer. While that attempt failed, he eventually fell in love with her and married her. In The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19 (1985), Smythe's son, Alistair , emerged as the new builder of the Spider-Slayers. He swore revenge on Spider-Man, repeatedly attacking
1328-472: A freelance photographer for The Daily Bugle under the bombastic editor-publisher J. Jonah Jameson to support himself and his frail Aunt May . At the same time, Peter dealt with public hostility towards Spider-Man and the antagonism of his classmates Flash Thompson and Liz Allan at Midtown High School, while embarking on a tentative, ill-fated romance with Jameson's secretary, Betty Brant . By focusing on Parker's everyday problems, Lee and Ditko created
1494-505: A groundbreakingly flawed, self-doubting superhero, and the first major teenaged superhero to be a protagonist and not a sidekick. Ditko's quirky art provided a stark contrast to the more cleanly dynamic stylings of Marvel's most prominent artist, Jack Kirby , and combined with the humor and pathos of Lee's writing to lay the foundation for what became an enduring mythos. Most of Spider-Man's key villains and supporting characters were introduced during this time. Issue No. 1 (Mar. 1963) featured
1660-468: A heart attack. Wein's last story on Amazing was a five-issue arc in #176–180 (Jan.-May 1978) featuring a third Green Goblin (Harry Osborn's psychiatrist, Bart Hamilton). Marv Wolfman , Marvel's editor-in-chief from 1975 to 1976, succeeded Wein as writer and, in his first issue, #182 (July 1978), had Parker propose marriage to Watson, who refused in the following issue. Keith Pollard succeeded Andru as artist shortly afterward and, with Wolfman, introduced
1826-485: A less notable degree. The film Spider-Man was released in 2002, two years after the start of Ultimate Spider-Man , and also provided a higher character development for Uncle Ben before killing him in Spider-Man's origin story , while also modifying the character's origin story, by writing a genetically-modified spider, instead of a radioactive spider, as the source of his spider-powers and replacing Mary Jane-Watson, as
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#17328551479261992-475: A more serious, mature woman who becomes Peter's confidante after she reveals that she knows his secret identity. Stern also wrote " The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man " in The Amazing Spider-Man #248 (Jan. 1984), a story which ranks among his most popular. By mid-1984, Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz took over scripting and penciling. DeFalco helped establish Parker and Watson's mature relationship, laying
2158-406: A notable landmark in the comics being featured in the film. Spider-Man: Homecoming also had aspects of the comics like Parker's age, a younger Aunt May , introducing Aaron Davis and revealing the presence of Miles Morales and Stark mentoring Spider-Man though without S.H.I.E.L.D. and other heroes being involved like in the comics, and in the same film where Stark sports an armor reminiscent of
2324-458: A rampage, which ends when subdued by Spider-Man (who reveals being Peter Parker to Jameson) and the Spider-Slayer, controlled by Jameson. Jameson realizes how irrational his hatred of Spider-Man is, and decides to help his adopted son fight crime using the Spider-Slayer. The Amazing Spider-Man The Amazing Spider-Man is an ongoing American superhero comic book series featuring
2490-608: A relaunch of Ultimate Spider-Man written by Hickman and illustrated by Marco Checchetto and will begin publication in January 2024. This iteration of the story will focus on Peter Parker, having been bitten by a radioactive spider in adulthood as opposed to a teenager, balancing his heroics with his dedication as a family man towards raising his two children with his wife Mary Jane Watson . The following month during New York Comic Con , Cebulski and Hickman announced Ultimate Black Panther written by Bryan Hill with art by Caselli and
2656-516: A relaunch of Ultimate X-Men written and illustrated by Peach Momoko to begin publication following Ultimate Spider-Man in February and March 2024, respectively. Titles in this section are organized by approximate publication date and line title. Brian Michael Bendis wrote the first comic book of the Ultimate imprint, Ultimate Spider-Man , launched in 2000. This was his first work for Marvel Comics. He later worked in other comics of
2822-577: A rotation of artists that included Steve McNiven , Salvador Larroca , Phil Jimenez , Barry Kitson , Chris Bachalo , Mike McKone , Marcos Martín , and John Romita Jr. Joe Kelly , Mark Waid , Fred Van Lente and Roger Stern later joined the writing team and Paolo Rivera , Lee Weeks and Marco Checchetto the artist roster. Waid's work on the series included a meeting between Spider-Man and Stephen Colbert in The Amazing Spider-Man No. 573 (Dec. 2008). Issue No. 583 (March 2009) included
2988-455: A second symbiote nemesis for Spider-Man. The series' 30th-anniversary issue, No. 365 (Aug. 1992), was a double-sized, hologram-cover issue with the cliffhanger ending of Peter Parker's parents, long thought dead, reappearing alive. It would be close to two years before they were revealed to be impostors, who are killed in No. 388 (April 1994), scripter Michelinie's last issue. His 1987–1994 stint gave him
3154-595: A significant number of villains and supporting characters, including Doctor Octopus in No. 3 (July 1963); the Sandman and Betty Brant in No. 4 (Sept. 1963); the Lizard in No. 6 (Nov. 1963); Living Brain in No. 8 (Jan. 1964); Electro in No. 9 (Mar. 1964); Mysterio in No. 13 (June 1964); the Green Goblin in No. 14 (July 1964); Kraven The Hunter in No. 15 (Aug. 1964); reporter Ned Leeds in No. 18 (Nov. 1964); and
3320-451: A standalone Ultimate Black Panther story. In the late 1990s, the US comic book industry had declining sales. Annual combined sales from all publishers, which had been close to a billion dollars in 1993, had declined to 270 million. Comic books were briefly seen as valuable investments and sales shops flourished, but prices dropped as the speculative bubble popped in the early 1990s. In addition,
3486-624: A successful businessman operating worldwide. It also tied with Civil War II (involving an Inhuman named Ulysses Cain who can predict possible futures), Dead No More (where Ben Reilly [the original Scarlet Spider] revealed to be revived and as one of the antagonists instead), and Secret Empire (during Hydra's reign led by a Hydra influenced Captain America/Steve Rogers, and the dismissal of Parker Industries by Peter Parker to stop Otto Octavius). Starting in September 2017, Marvel started
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#17328551479263652-529: A successful run on The Avengers , starting with Avengers Disassembled . He created Jessica Jones in the Alias comic book, part of the R-rated MAX imprint. He wrote major crossover events such as House of M , Age of Ultron and Civil War II . He wrote Cataclysm , the last crossover event within the Ultimate imprint, and Ultimate End , that closed it. He moved to DC Comics in 2017. Mark Millar
3818-459: A supporting cast largely based on their Ultimate counterparts. Despite the name and the involvement of Bendis, Ultimate Spider-Man is a different work (although Peter Parker is modeled after his appearance in the comics though with a slightly bulkier build), aimed primarily at a younger audience. Being criticized by this, Bendis said that the show was made for Disney XD and "not for Showtime ". The series adapted some specific storylines such as
3984-490: A time. Issue 121 (June 1973 by Conway-Kane-Romita) featured the death of Gwen Stacy at the hands of the Green Goblin in " The Night Gwen Stacy Died ." Her demise and the Goblin's apparent death one issue later formed a story arc widely considered as the most defining in the history of Spider-Man. The aftermath of the story deepened both the characterization of Mary Jane Watson and her relationship with Parker. In 1973 Gil Kane
4150-554: Is Harry Osborn. Last Remains also received two fallout issues called Last Remains Post-Mortem . Nick Spencer concluded his run with the Sinister War story which wrapped up in No. 74 (legacy numbering 875). The story saw several retcons to the Spider-Man mythos including that Kindred was Gabriel and Sarah Stacy all along, the fact that the Stacy twins were actually genetically engineered beings using Norman Osborn and Gwen Stacy's DNA, that
4316-537: Is a Scottish comic book writer, and started his career with British comics such as Judge Dredd . He was hired by DC Comics, and worked in several titles. His most successful work was Superman: Red Son , which reimagined Superman as a newborn alien whose ship fell in the Soviet Union instead of Kansas. This work was published in 2003, two years after his departure from DC. Millar started the Ultimate X-Men comics,
4482-606: Is also restored to life and moved to Marvel-616, where he is a recurring villain in the Infamous Iron Man & New Avengers comic books. The hammer of Ultimate Thor (lost in the Cataclysm crossover) is found by Thor Odinson , who is not capable at the time to wield his classic hammer, owned by Jane Foster . He refuses to take the new hammer, which is then lifted by Volstagg in the Unworthy Thor miniseries. Jimmy Hudson ,
4648-675: Is based on his origin story from the Ultimate Universe, as both versions become the Hulk while attempting to recreate the Super Soldier Serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America. Hawkeye and Captain America's costumes were based on their Ultimate uniforms as well and elements of Captain America's origin story are adapted from the Ultimate comics such as Bucky Barnes being his childhood friend who protected him from bullies and being around
4814-523: Is created by Mysterio. It is later destroyed. While trying to apprehend a dimension-hopping supervillain in the MC2 reality, Spider-Girl is accidentally sent into Earth-616 's past, where she encounters the first Spider-Slayer. Mistaking her for its quarry, the Spider-Slayer attacks Spider-Girl who manages to evade the machine due to being distracted by how different "Spider-Man" looks. Spider-Girl later returns to her own universe and time, while Spider-Man defeats
4980-911: Is erased; and the reestablishment of Spider-Man's secret identity, with no one except Mary Jane able to recall that Parker is Spider-Man (although he soon reveals his secret identity to the New Avengers and the Fantastic Four ). Under the banner of Brand New Day , Marvel tried to only use newly created villains instead of relying on older ones. Characters like Mister Negative and Overdrive both in Free Comic Book Day 2007 Spider-Man (July 2007), Menace in No. 549 (March 2008), Ana and Sasha Kravinoff in No. 565 (September 2008) and No. 567 (October 2008) respectively, and several more were introduced. The alternating regular writers were initially Dan Slott , Bob Gale , Marc Guggenheim , and Zeb Wells , joined by
5146-581: Is ripped to shreds by the hero. In an issue of What If , May Parker and John Jameson are killed in a space shuttle crash caused by the Chameleon , J. Jonah Jameson adopts Peter Parker, and blames the deaths of their loved ones on Spider-Man. Obsessed with taking Spider-Man down, Jameson commissions the creation of the Spider-Slayer and the Scorpion formula, the latter of which is ingested by Flash Thompson . The serum warps Flash's mind and causes Flash to go on
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5312-706: Is stopped from killing them due to the intervention of Chasm. In June 2024, it was announced that Wells would be concluding his run later that year, with Romita Jr returning for art and featuring Spider-Man in his final confrontation with Tombstone. In July 2024, it was announced that following the conclusion of Wells' run, a 10-issue event would begin publication in the Fall called The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man . The series will be written by Joe Kelly and Justina Ireland and illustrated by Ed McGuinness and Gleb Melnikov. See: Spider-Man Collected Editions Ultimate Marvel Ultimate Marvel , later known as Ultimate Comics ,
5478-473: Is the last story of the Ultimate imprint. It was produced by Bendis and Bagley, the team that started the imprint. Miles Morales, a character that originated in the Ultimate Universe to take over the mantle of Spider-Man when the Ultimate Universe's Peter Parker died, was migrated to the Marvel-616 universe, along with his supporting cast, a development that saw his mother restored to life, following her death in
5644-539: The Big Time storyline. Eight additional pages were added per issue. Big Time saw major changes in Spider-Man/Peter Parker's life, Peter would start working at Horizon Labs and begin a relationship with Carlie Cooper (his first serious relationship since his marriage to Mary Jane), Mac Gargan returned as Scorpion after spending the past few years as Venom, Phil Urich would take up the mantle of Hobgoblin, and
5810-572: The Fantastic Four comic book, as a result of the disputes between Marvel and 20th Century Fox over the film rights over the characters. The 2015 Secret Wars storyline concluded the Ultimate Marvel imprint. In the plot, it was destroyed alongside all the other alternate realities in the multiverse , and then recreated as a region of the Battleworld . Ultimate End , set in such region,
5976-656: The Ultimate Invasion miniseries written by Jonathan Hickman with art by The Ultimates co-creator Bryan Hitch . The events of the miniseries culminated in the establishment of a rebooted Ultimate Universe designated as Earth-6160 , which serves as the setting for a relaunched series of books under the Ultimate Marvel banner, which began with the eponymous Ultimate Universe #1 in November 2023. The new Ultimate imprint also encompasses new versions of Ultimate Spider-Man , Ultimate X-Men , and The Ultimates , as well as
6142-455: The All-New, All-Different Marvel Multiverse , ended at the conclusion of the 2015 " Secret Wars " storyline, when select characters from the Ultimate Universe moved to the mainstream universe . However, writer Brian Michael Bendis established at the end of the 2017 miniseries Spider-Men II that the universe and its superheroes still exist. Between June and September 2023, Marvel published
6308-559: The Fresh Start relaunch that July. The first five-issue story arc was titled 'Back to Basics.' During the Back to Basics story, Kindred, a mysterious villain with some relation to Peter's past, was introduced, and Peter resumed his romantic relationship with Mary Jane once more. The first major story under Spencer was Hunted which ran through issues 16 through 23, the story also included four ".HU" issues for issues 16, 18, 19, and 20. The end of
6474-721: The Icon Comics imprint, which allowed Millar to retain the rights. Millar then created Millarworld , with his own comic books, such as Wanted and Kick-Ass . Wanted , Kingsman , and Kick-ass had cinematic adaptations. Millarworld was acquired by the American streaming media company Netflix in August 2017. The only adaptations of the Ultimate Marvel works to other media are two direct-to-video films by Marvel Animated Features , Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of
6640-504: The Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its title character and main protagonist . Being in the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it was the character's first title, launching seven months after his introduction in the final issue of Amazing Fantasy . The series began publication with a March 1963 cover date and has been published nearly continuously to date over six volumes with only one significant interruption. Issues of
6806-547: The Marvel Legacy event which renumbered several Marvel series to their original numbering. The Amazing Spider-Man was put back to its original numbering for #789. Issues #789 through 791 focused on the aftermath of Peter destroying Parker Industries and his fall from grace. Issues #792 and 793 were part of the Venom Inc. story. Threat Level: Red was the story for the next three issues which saw Norman Osborn obtain and bond with
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6972-431: The Scorpion in No. 20 (Jan. 1965). The Molten Man was introduced in No. 28 (Sept. 1965) which also featured Parker's graduation from high school. Peter began attending Empire State University in No. 31 (Dec. 1965), which featured the first appearances of friends and classmates Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn . Harry's father, Norman Osborn first appeared in No. 23 (April 1965) as a member of Jameson's country club but
7138-616: The Ultimate Fantastic Four , and The Ultimates . Stan Lee , creator of many characters of Marvel comics, praised his work, but also advised him: "That's great, but you should do your own characters instead of doing mine. I didn't do Superman and Batman and Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes. I went off and did the X-Men". Dave Gibbons , artist of Watchmen , was impressed by his work and started working with him in Kingsman , published by Marvel at
7304-569: The supervillain Venom . Issue No. 299 (Apr. 1988) featured Venom's first appearance (a last-page cameo) before his first full appearance in #300 (May 1988). The latter issue featured Spider-Man reverting to his original red-and-blue costume. Other notable issues of the Michelinie-McFarlane era include #312 (Feb. 1989), featuring the Green Goblin vs. the Hobgoblin; and #315–317 (May–July 1989), with
7470-462: The " Dying Wish " storyline, in which Parker and Doctor Octopus swapped bodies, and the latter taking on the mantle of Spider-Man when Parker apparently died in Doctor Octopus' body. The Amazing Spider-Man ended with this issue, with the story continuing in the new series The Superior Spider-Man . Despite The Superior Spider-Man being considered a different series to The Amazing Spider-Man ,
7636-746: The "best-selling comic book... in over a decade." Issues #1–6 were a story arc called "Lucky to be Alive", taking place immediately after "Goblin Nation", with issues No. 4 and No. 5 being a crossover with the Original Sin storyline. Issue No. 4 introduced Silk , a new heroine who was bitten by the same spider as Peter Parker. Issues #7–8 featured a team-up between Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man, and had backup stories that tied into "Edge of Spider-Verse". The next major plot arc, titled " Spider-Verse ", began in Issue No. 9 and ended in No. 15, features every Spider-Man from across
7802-454: The 1970s: Marvel Team-Up in 1972, and The Spectacular Spider-Man in 1976. A short-lived series titled Giant-Size Spider-Man began in July 1974 and ran six issues through 1975. Spidey Super Stories , a series aimed at children ages 6–10, ran for 57 issues from October 1974 through 1982. The flagship title's second decade took a grim turn with a story in #89-90 (Oct.-Nov. 1970) featuring
7968-576: The 2006 prequel Spider-Man: Battle for New York features a retelling of the story of Spider-Man and Green Goblin , in addition featuring The Ultimates and Kingpin . The 2004 video game X-Men: Legends and its 2005 sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse have the titular characters wear their Ultimate costumes as do the Brotherhood of Mutants . Other Marvel video games have also featured Ultimate influences such as Marvel Ultimate Alliance and its sequel Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 featuring
8134-456: The 38th issue, while Lee remained as writer until issue 100. Since then, many writers and artists have taken over the monthly comic through the years, chronicling the adventures of Marvel's most identifiable hero. The Amazing Spider-Man has been the character's flagship series for his first fifty years in publication, and was the only monthly series to star Spider-Man until Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man , in 1976, although 1972 saw
8300-463: The Avengers, with very little in common with the mainstream title. Captain America got a rash soldierly personality, Hulk was written as a murderous and cannibalistic monster that kills hundreds of civilians, and Thor was ambiguously introduced as either an actual Norse god (as in the main comics) or a man with stolen weapons and a psychiatric disorder. Nick Fury , originally a caucasian character in
8466-507: The Carnage symbiote. Go Down Swinging saw the results of the combination of Osborn's goblin serum and Carnage symbiote creating the Red Goblin. Issue No. 801 was Dan Slott's goodbye issue. In March 2018, it was announced that writer Nick Spencer would be writing the main semi-monthly The Amazing Spider-Man series beginning with a new No. 1, replacing long-time writer Dan Slott , as part of
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#17328551479268632-518: The Goblin King comments that Norman Osborn now runs this city. In a Spider-Man 2099 storyline following Smythe's death, dealers illegally sell Spider-Slayers to foreign nations. However, after Miguel accompanies Tiberus Stone on one such deal, he ends up fighting the Scorpion (who was hired by Alchemax to further test the Spider-Slayers) as Stone is captured by the local rebels, Miguel defeating
8798-498: The Goblin King's trap, the Superior Spider-Man confronted by a legion of Spider-Slayers with Mayor J. Jonah Jameson's face projected on the front faceplate. Mayor J. Jonah Jameson replies that he is done with being blackmailed by him and he does not care if he loses everything as long as he can finally bring down Spider-Man. The Superior Spider-Man tries to fight the Spider-Slayers, but discovers that they are far stronger than all
8964-708: The Goblin-Slayers which he plans to use against the Goblin-related threats. Mary Jane Watson voices her concern that the Goblin-Slayers used to be former Spider-Slayers. Mayor J. Jonah Jameson orders Chief Pratchett to send one of the Goblin Slayers to the robbery location and then head to chase the Superior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus' mind in Peter Parker's body). After Don Lamaze sacrifices his life to get out of
9130-464: The Green Goblin in #135–137 (Aug.-Oct.1974); and the original " Clone Saga ", containing the introduction of Spider-Man's clone , in #147–149 (Aug.-Oct. 1975). Archie Goodwin and Gil Kane produced the title's 150th issue (Nov. 1975) before Len Wein became writer with issue No. 151. During Wein's tenure, Harry Osborn and Liz Allen dated and became engaged; J. Jonah Jameson was introduced to his eventual second wife, Marla Madison; and Aunt May suffered
9296-580: The Harry Osborn that returned in Brand New Day was actually a clone, and that Norman had made a deal with Mephisto where he sold Harry's soul to the demon. The story ended with the deaths of the Harry clone, Gabriel, and Sarah and the real Harry's soul being freed from Mephisto's grasp. After Spencer left the book, Marvel announced the "Beyond" era of Spider-Man would start in #75. The book would be moving back to
9462-592: The Hunter, Peter temporarily becomes infected by Norman Osborn's sins and becomes the villainous Spider-Goblin. Eventually, Norman's sins return to him and he resumes being the Green Goblin. While fighting Spider-Man, the goblin reveals that he implanted a trigger phrase within Peters's mind that would bring forth the Spider-Goblin persona. Norman then sends Spider-Goblin to attack the Sinister Six, who he brutally defeats, but
9628-518: The Maker's attempts to bring back the Ultimate Universe, with the Illuminati reforming to try and stop him. Despite claiming that Earth-1610 would be revisited, the storyline went a different path and showed a new Earth called Earth-6160 and reshaped it into his own image before being thwarted by Howard Stark who operates as Iron Man. Afterwards, Earth-6160's Tony Stark (who takes up the name Iron Lad) and
9794-552: The Marvel-616 Universe, was modeled after the actor Samuel L. Jackson , and the new design eventually overshadowed the original one, being incorporated into the mainstream Marvel-616 universe and all new media adaptions of the characters. The main premise was to write a comic that looked the way a superhero film about the Avengers should look. At that point, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had not been created, and
9960-582: The Panther , based on the Ultimates. The plot was simplified and the political aspects of the original work were removed, turning it into a standard superhero animated film. Other animated series incorporated aspects of the Ultimate comics, despite not being direct adaptations. The 2008 animated series The Spectacular Spider-Man shared many similarities with the Ultimate version of the titular character, including his age, his personal relationship with Eddie Brock, and
10126-520: The Scorpion by tricking the Spider-Slayers into attacking him, while Stone's encounter with the rebels prompts him to change his mind about the original deal. The Ultimate Marvel version of Spider-Slayers are eight foot robots that balance on a large sphere, wield two arm-cannons and have a sphere for a head, and built and controlled remotely by the Tinkerer . Created in the event Spider-Man ever went rogue,
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#173285514792610292-748: The Smythes' and Madison's creations, when Spider-Man refits all the Octobots confiscated from Doctor Octopus and kept in the New York Police Precinct to carry an antidote able to reverse the mutations turning all the New York population into Man-Spiders, he humorously renames them his own Spider-Slayers . When the Goblin King and his Goblin Underground group cause havoc in Manhattan, Mayor J. Jonah Jameson unveils
10458-411: The Spider-Man books. One of the few self-contained stories during this period was in No. 400 (April 1995), which featured the death of Aunt May – later revealed to have been faked (although the death still stands in the MC2 continuity). The " Clone Saga " culminated with the revelation that the Spider-Man who had appeared in the previous 20 years of comics was a clone of the real Spider-Man. This plot twist
10624-454: The Spider-Slayer in the same way he did in the original story. In the House of M reality, J. Jonah Jameson (fearing Peter Parker would take revenge due to outing as Spider-Man) has Alistair Smythe construct a Spider-Slayer as protection. When Peter's family breaks into Jonah's home looking for Peter's journal (given by the Green Goblin ) Jonah, using the Spider-Slayer, attacks. Hitting Gwen Stacy just as Peter arrives, Jonah's Spider-Slayer
10790-490: The Spider-Slayers are deployed by Nick Fury to Peter Parker's residence when clones of Spider-Man begin running rampant, with the Slayers' objective being to arrest Peter Parker. The Slayers encounter the Fantastic Four and Carnage which reverts to Gwen Stacy after the Spider-Slayers take her down. The Spider-Slayers later kill a disfigured clone and imprison another unstable clone in S.H.I.E.L.D. A second Spider Slayer, this one able to trace Peter by detecting his DNA,
10956-443: The Spider-Verse , which starred Miles Morales. The plot is an adaptation of the 2014 storyline Spider-Verse and was released in 2018. The 2005 video game Ultimate Spider-Man is a direct adaptation of the storylines and characters from the eponymous comics. The game is centered around the Ultimate Marvel versions of Spider-Man and Venom , but also features appearances from The Human Torch , Wolverine , and Nick Fury , and
11122-438: The Ultimate comics, such as Captain Marvel and the suit of Captain America during the second season. Nick Fury was based on Ultimate Nick Fury since season 2, which was kept for the following series, Avengers Assemble which also drew influence from Ultimate Marvel comics. As for the X-Men, the 2000 animated series X-Men: Evolution also had important members reimagined as teenagers, and eventually incorporated costumes from
11288-441: The Ultimate version. This also extends to Spider-Man: Far From Home where Nick Fury is seen mentoring Spider-Man. Thor has similar traits to his Ultimate counterpart, such as his personality, powers, costume elements, and hammer. Thor ends up getting a new hammer during Avengers: Infinity War which is based on the Ultimate version of Mjolnir. Other films based on Marvel comics were also influenced by Ultimate Marvel, albeit in
11454-405: The Ultimates from the Ultimate universe. Bendis left Marvel Comics in 2017 and moved to DC Comics . One of his last comic books was a second volume of Spider-Men II , featuring Peter Parker and Miles Morales. The miniseries ends with the Marvel-616 Miles Morales emigrating to the Ultimate Universe to be reuniting with his lost love, following the death of her Marvel-616 counterpart, confirming that
11620-465: The Ultimates. This team would then be featured in Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates , written by Jonathan Hickman . The Death of Spider-Man features the death of Peter Parker and his nemesis Green Goblin . An Afro-Hispanic teenager, Miles Morales , becomes the new Spider-Man. He was featured in Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man , still written by Bendis. The X-Men were relaunched in the miniseries Ultimate Comics: X , which introduced Jimmy Hudson ,
11786-430: The Venom project and both were intended as a cure for diseases) and it is implied that Norman Osborn betrayed Richard much like Eddie Brock Sr. had in the comics when they both selfishly wanted the research for their own ends and being responsible, even if indirectly in Norman's case for the deaths of Peter's parents. The villains featured in the films are modeled after their Ultimate counterparts, Electro in particular being
11952-535: The Venom symbiote in the comics); his signature wise-cracking and motor-mouthed sense of humor; his uncle's speech on responsibility and subsequent argument with Peter, moments before his death; a genetically-modified spider being responsible for Peter's spider-powers; his relationship with Gwen Stacy, mirroring his relationship with Mary Jane-Watson from the comics; Gwen being somewhat rebellious like her Ultimate incarnation and sticking up for Peter, albeit non-violently when he
12118-436: The audiences, and hired Jeph Loeb for a third Ultimates miniseries that would lead to such event. This miniseries relied on shock value and gratuitous amounts of death and violence, instead of the political overtones of the first two. The art by Joe Madureira was standard superhero art, instead of the cinematic action provided by Hitch. The miniseries had decent sales, but was near-universally panned by critics. The series
12284-487: The book for several months before Lee returned to write #105–110 (Feb.-July 1972). Lee, who was going on to become Marvel Comics' publisher, with Thomas becoming editor-in-chief, then turned writing duties over to 19-year-old Gerry Conway , who scripted the series through 1975. Romita penciled Conway's first half-dozen issues, which introduced the gangster Hammerhead in No. 113 (Oct. 1972). Kane then succeeded Romita as penciler, although Romita would continue inking Kane for
12450-479: The book from early 1990 to mid-1991. After issue No. 350, Larsen was succeeded by Mark Bagley , who had won the 1986 Marvel Tryout Contest and was assigned a number of low-profile penciling jobs followed by a run on New Warriors in 1990. Bagley penciled the flagship Spider-Man title from 1991 to 1996. During that time, Bagley's rendition of Spider-Man was used extensively for licensed material and merchandise. Issues #361–363 (April–June 1992) introduced Carnage ,
12616-487: The book until the final issue, No. 441 (Nov. 1998), after which Marvel rebooted the title with vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan. 1999). Marvel began The Amazing Spider-Man relaunching the 'Amazing' comic book series with (vol. 2) #1 (Jan. 1999). Howard Mackie wrote the first 29 issues. The relaunch included the Sandman being regressed to his criminal ways and the "death" of Mary Jane, which was ultimately reversed. Other elements included
12782-527: The characters, Millar based his general draft of the series on the 2000 X-Men film. Jemas and Quesada paired Millar with artist Bryan Hitch , who had also worked with The Authority , but in a run that did not overlap with Millar's. They would reimagine the Avengers , who were renamed as "the Ultimates ". Unlike the simple updates of the Spider-Man and X-Men titles, the Ultimates were a complete reimagination of
12948-464: The comics as well. Similarly, Wolverine and the X-Men in 2009 had Magneto disassemble and reprogram the Sentinels like in the Ultimate X-Men storyline "Tomorrow People". Ultimate Marvel has also been a strong influence in the early stages of the Marvel Cinematic Universe . Joss Whedon said that The Ultimates brought Marvel into the modern age in a way no other book did. Tony Stark's personality
13114-649: The creative decay in the Marvel/DC intercompany crossovers as a justification. The Age of Ultron crossover, between the mainstream comics, ended with Galactus displaced into the Ultimate universe. This premise started the " Cataclysm " crossover in the Ultimate imprint, which was followed by yet another new relaunch. The Ultimates disbanded after the crossover, and were replaced by a completely different team, led by Miles Morales. This team starred in All-New Ultimates , by Michel Fiffe and Amilcar Pinna. Spider-Man
13280-437: The crossover, Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four were cancelled, with a last issue for each title named Ultimate Requiem to give closure to their plots. The Ultimate Marvel imprint was re-launched, as "Ultimate Comics". Ultimate Spider-Man was renamed as Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man , and the line was joined later by Ultimate Comics: Avengers and Ultimate Comics: New Ultimates . New Ultimates featured
13446-526: The death of Captain George Stacy . This was the first Spider-Man story to be penciled by Gil Kane , who would alternate drawing duties with Romita for the next year-and-a-half and would draw several landmark issues. One such story took place in the controversial issues #96–98 (May–July 1971). Writer-editor Lee defied the Comics Code Authority with this story, in which Parker's friend Harry Osborn,
13612-621: The death of J. Jonah Jameson's wife, Marla Jameson. Issues 654 and 654.1 saw the birth of Agent Venom, Flash Thompson bonded with the Venom symbiote, which would lead to Venom getting his own series Venom (volume 2) . Starting in No. 659 and going to No. 665, the series built-up to the Spider-Island event which officially started in No. 666 and ended in No. 673. Ends of the Earth was the next event that ran from No. 682 through No. 687. This publishing format lasted until issue No. 700, which concluded
13778-583: The debut of Marvel Team-Up , with the vast majority of issues featuring Spider-Man along with a rotating cast of other Marvel characters. Most of the major characters and villains of the Spider-Man saga have been introduced in Amazing , and with few exceptions, it is where most key events in the character's history have occurred. The title was published continuously until No. 441 (Nov. 1998) when Marvel Comics relaunched it as vol. 2 No. 1 (Jan. 1999), but on Spider-Man's 40th anniversary, this new title reverted to using
13944-514: The debut of criminal mastermind the Rose in #253 (June 1984); the revelation in #258 (Nov. 1984) that the black costume is a living being, a symbiote ; and the introduction of the female mercenary Silver Sable in #265 (June 1985). DeFalco and Frenz were both removed from The Amazing Spider-Man in 1986 by editor Jim Owsley under acrimonious circumstances. A succession of artists including Alan Kupperberg , John Romita Jr. , and Alex Saviuk penciled
14110-477: The definitive statement of his arrival by pulling Mary Jane out from behind the oversized potted plant [that blocked the reader's view of her face in issue no. 25] and placing her on panel in what would instantly become an iconic moment." Romita has stated that in designing Mary Jane, he "used Ann-Margret from the movie Bye Bye Birdie as a guide, using her coloring, the shape of her face, her red hair and her form-fitting short skirts." Lee and Romita toned down
14276-564: The dimensions being hunted by Morlun, and a team-up to stop him, with Peter Parker of Earth-616 in command of the Spider-Men's Alliance. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual No. 1 of the relaunched series was released in December 2014, featuring stories unrelated to "Spider-Verse". In 2015, Marvel started the universe wide Secret Wars event where the core and several other Marvel universes were combined into one big planet called Battleworld . Battleworld
14442-419: The dual numbering around this time. After (vol. 2) #58 (Nov. 2003), the title reverted completely to its original numbering for issue No. 500 (Dec. 2003). Mike Deodato Jr. penciled the series from mid-2004 until 2006. That year Peter Parker revealed his Spider-Man identity on live television in the company-crossover storyline " Civil War ", in which the superhero community is split over whether to conform to
14608-413: The emphasis and focus on his parents and their subsequent disappearance; his father Richard Parker being a scientist specializing in biology, who worked on a secret project/experiment regarding the procurement of a special serum that was intended to cure terminal illnesses (which is depicted as being derived from the blood of genetically-modified spiders, encoded to the bloodline of Peter's family, instead of
14774-552: The episode "Freaky" where Spider-Man and Wolverine switch bodies as in Ultimate Spider-Man #66-67. Miles Morales appeared in that TV series as well first in a cameo before becoming a major character later on for the series adaptation of Spider-Verse . Also in this series, the host for Venom is Harry Osborn instead of Eddie Brock, and takes the form of Spider-Man's black suit. As for the Avengers, some character designs from The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes were based on
14940-427: The federal government's new Superhuman Registration Act . This knowledge was erased from the world with the event of the four-part, crossover story arc, " One More Day ", written partially by J. Michael Straczynski and illustrated by Joe Quesada , running through The Amazing Spider-Man #544–545 (Nov.-Dec. 2007), Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man No. 24 (Nov. 2007) and The Sensational Spider-Man No. 41 (Dec. 2007),
15106-505: The final issues of those two titles. Here, the demon Mephisto makes a Faustian bargain with Parker and Mary Jane, offering to save Parker's dying Aunt May if the couple will allow their marriage to have never existed, rewriting that portion of their pasts. This story arc marked the end of Straczynski's work on the title. Following this, Marvel made The Amazing Spider-Man the company's sole Spider-Man title, increasing its frequency of publication to three issues monthly, and inaugurating
15272-559: The first 33 issue run goes towards the legacy numbering of The Amazing Spider-Man acting as issues 701–733. In December 2013, the series returned for five issues, numbered 700.1 through 700.5, with the first two written by David Morrell and drawn by Klaus Janson . In January 2014, Marvel confirmed that The Amazing Spider-Man would be relaunched on April 30, 2014, starting from issue No. 1, with Peter Parker as Spider-Man once again. The first issue of this new version of The Amazing Spider-Man was, according to Diamond Comics Distributors,
15438-490: The first appearances of J. Jonah Jameson and his astronaut son John Jameson , and the supervillain the Chameleon . It included the hero's first encounter with the superhero team the Fantastic Four . Issue No. 2 (May 1963) featured the first appearance of the Vulture and the Tinkerer as well as the beginning of Parker's freelance photography career at the newspaper The Daily Bugle . The Lee-Ditko era continued to usher in
15604-498: The first comic book of the imprint, Ultimate Spider-Man . One of the previous auditioners had made a word-by-word rewrite of the Amazing Fantasy #15 comic (the debut of Spider-Man), in a modern setting. Bendis preferred to avoid that writing style completely. Instead, he changed the narration style, so that it resembled a TV series more than a classic superhero comic book. There were no thought bubbles or long expositions , and
15770-488: The first few pages of this Lee story included what would become one of the most iconic scenes in Spider-Man's history." The story was chosen as No. 15 in the 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time poll of Marvel's readers in 2001. Editor Robert Greenberger wrote in his introduction to the story that "These first five pages are a modern-day equivalent to Shakespeare as Parker's soliloquy sets the stage for his next action. And with dramatic pacing and storytelling, Ditko delivers one of
15936-431: The first issue did not feature any superhero costume. Jemas tried to bring more notice into the comic book by distributing it at chain stores like Payless Shoes and Walmart . The sales rose, and the comic book was acclaimed by critics. The art was created by Mark Bagley , known for his work on Spider-Man and Venom stories in the 1990s. The Bendis/Bagley partnership of 111 consecutive issues made their partnership one of
16102-536: The first miniseries of the Ultimates and the ending of the second. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier 's design throughout the films is also modeled after the Ultimate Marvel version. The depiction of Falcon in the films is derived from the Ultimate incarnation, and Rogers' relationship with Nick Fury in Captain America: The Winter Soldier is reminiscent of the one in the comics with the Triskellion,
16268-470: The first regular artist on The Amazing Spider-Man since Frenz's departure. McFarlane revolutionized Spider-Man's look. His depiction – "Ditko-esque" poses, large eyes; wiry, contorted limbs; and messy, knotted, convoluted webbing – influenced the way virtually all subsequent artists would draw the character. McFarlane's other significant contribution to the Spider-Man canon was the design for what would become one of Spider-Man's most wildly popular antagonists,
16434-454: The first two volumes, and was published three times a month from 2008 to 2010. After the relaunch of Action Comics and Detective Comics , The Amazing Spider-Man briefly became the highest-numbered active American comic book. The Amazing Spider-Man returned with volume 3 in April 2014 following the conclusion of The Superior Spider-Man story arc after 31 issues. In late 2015, the series
16600-540: The format it had during Brand New Day where it would have a rotating cast of writers including Kelly Thompson , Saladin Ahmed , Cody Ziglar, Patrick Gleason , and Zeb Wells . The book would also be released three times a month. "Beyond" would focus on Ben Reilly taking up the mantle of Spider-Man once again but backed by the Beyond corporation. Peter also falls ill and cannot be Spider-Man so he gives Ben his blessing to carry on as
16766-485: The foundation for the characters' wedding in 1987. Notably, in #257 (Oct. 1984), Watson tells Parker that she knows he is Spider-Man, and in #259 (Dec. 1984), she reveals to Parker the extent of her troubled childhood. Other notable issues of the DeFalco-Frenz era include #252 (May 1984), the first appearance of Spider-Man's black costume, which the hero would wear almost exclusively for the next four years' worth of comics;
16932-540: The great sequences in all comics." Although credited only as artist for most of his run, Ditko would eventually plot the stories as well as draw them, leaving Lee to script the dialogue. A rift between Ditko and Lee developed, and the two men were not on speaking terms long before Ditko completed his last issue, The Amazing Spider-Man No. 38 (July 1966). The exact reasons for the Ditko-Lee split have never been fully explained. Spider-Man successor artist John Romita Sr. , in
17098-502: The heroic Gold Goblin) and starts dating Black Cat. The volume's first crossover event was entitled Dark Web , with Chasm having teamed up with Madelyne Pryor to bring limbo to Earth. It's later revealed that Benjamin Rabin, the emissary of the Mayan god of mischief Wayeb', sent Peter and Mary Jane to an alternate dimension to conduct a ceremony that would allow Wayeb to control the Earth. Peter
17264-707: The highly enduring criminal mastermind the Kingpin , who would become a major force as well in the superhero series Daredevil . Other notable first appearances in the Lee-Romita era include the Rhino in No. 41 (Oct. 1966), the Shocker in No. 46 (Mar. 1967), the Prowler in No. 78 (Nov. 1969), and the Kingpin's son, Richard Fisk , in No. 83 (Apr. 1970). Several spin-off series debuted in
17430-546: The imprint at that point was "Ground Zero". Unlike previous reboots, there was no in-story explanation for the existence of the imprint, and the standard comic books were still being published, unaffected by the new project. Thus, Ultimate Spider-Man would contain the stories of a new teenager Spider-Man starting his career, and the usual Spider-Man titles would still contain the stories of the adult Spider-Man with nearly forty years worth of continuity. Quesada then hired Brian Michael Bendis , an artist from indie publishers, for
17596-467: The imprint, such as Ultimate Marvel Team-Up (2001–2002), Ultimate X-Men (2003–2004), Ultimate Fantastic Four (2003–2004) and Ultimate Origins (2008). He is recognized as the main author of the whole Ultimate imprint. Most characters were reimaginations of classic Marvel characters; Miles Morales was an original character of his own creation. Given the success of the Ultimate imprint, Marvel asked him to write mainstream Marvel comics as well. He started
17762-469: The introduction of a new Spider-Woman (who was spun off into her own short-lived series) and references to John Byrne's miniseries Spider-Man: Chapter One , which was launched at the same time as the reboot. Byrne also penciled issues #1–18 (from 1999 to 2000) and wrote #13–14, John Romita Jr. took his place soon after in October 2000. Mackie's run ended with The Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2001 , which saw
17928-439: The issues also bore the overall "legacy" issue number. A sixth volume commenced in April 2022 to celebrate Spider-Man's 60th anniversary. Since the second volume, the title has had various release schedules, including monthly and bi-weekly, among others. Writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Steve Ditko created the character of Spider-Man, and the pair produced 38 issues from March 1963 to July 1966. Ditko left after
18094-421: The last — if not the last — Marvel comics". Comic book continuity , which had been a key to the success of Marvel Comics in its early years, turned into a problem for some readers. All stories had to fit into a sixty-year continuity, a bar that not all fans could reach and which scared away some new readers. The usual style of superhero comics with pages of garish colors, fantastical villains and convoluted plots
18260-555: The likable rogue the Black Cat (Felicia Hardy) in #194 (July 1979). As a love interest for Spider-Man, the Black Cat would go on to be an important supporting character for the better part of the next decade and remain a friend and occasional lover into the 2010s. The Amazing Spider-Man #200 (Jan. 1980) featured the return and death of the burglar who killed Spider-Man's Uncle Ben. Writer Marv Wolfman and penciler Keith Pollard both left
18426-524: The longest in American comic book history, and the longest run by a Marvel creative team, beating out Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on Fantastic Four . Ultimate X-Men was also launched in 2001. It was initially delayed by the search for a creative team, and even Bendis' proposed scripts were rejected. The new title was finally given to Mark Millar , who had a controversial run in DC's The Authority . The two authors had conflicting styles: Bendis sought to modernize
18592-504: The main Amazing Spider-Man series, the original 5 issue run is counted towards its legacy numbering acting as No. 752-756. Following the 2015 Secret Wars event, a number of Spider-Man-related titles were either relaunched or created as part of the " All-New, All-Different Marvel " event. Among them, The Amazing Spider-Man was relaunched as well and primarily focused on Peter Parker continuing to run Parker Industries and becoming
18758-471: The main Spider-Man. However, following the conclusion of the storyline in #93, Peter has resumed active duties as Spider-Man, while Ben suffers a mental breakdown after losing his memories and becomes the villain Chasm. In January 2022, it was announced that writer Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr. would be working on a relaunched The Amazing Spider-Man , bringing the number of volumes for the title to its sixth, with
18924-578: The main character's primary love interest. The series was rebooted with The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012, and Sony asked Bendis for suggestions. He proposed that Spider-Man should use artificial web-shooters, as in the comics, instead of portraying the ability as a part of the character's mutation, through the form of organic web-shooters in his wrists, as was depicted in the Raimi trilogy. The film series also featured elements and aesthetics borrowed from his Ultimate counterpart's personality and background, such as
19090-461: The main costumes of Captain America , Thor , Colossus , Invisible Woman , Mr. Fantastic , and the Human Torch based on their Ultimate counterparts as well as alternate costumes for Iron Man , Elektra , Storm , Wolverine , Moon Knight , Doctor Strange , Nick Fury , Deadpool , Magneto , Doctor Doom , Venom , Sabretooth , The Thing , Nightcrawler , Cyclops , and Hawkeye also based on
19256-451: The main problem of Marvel Comics was that it was "publishing stories that were all but impossible for teens to read — and unaffordable, to boot". He worked on an idea given by a CEO of the Wizard magazine: reboot the heroes to their original character premise. Marvel's editor-in-chief Joe Quesada preferred to start an imprint with new heroes, but accepted Jemas' proposal. The working title for
19422-641: The model for two decades. The Lee-Romita era saw the introduction of such characters as Daily Bugle managing editor Robbie Robertson in No. 52 (Sept. 1967) and NYPD Captain George Stacy , father of Parker's girlfriend Gwen Stacy , in No. 56 (Jan. 1968). The most important supporting character to be introduced during the Romita era was Mary Jane Watson , who made her first full appearance in No. 42 (Nov. 1966), although she first appeared in No. 25 (June 1965) with her face obscured and had been mentioned since No. 15 (Aug. 1964). Peter David wrote in 2010 that Romita "made
19588-505: The next issue, for a story arc in #290–292 (July–Sept. 1987) that led to the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson in Amazing Spider-Man Annual No. 21. The " Kraven's Last Hunt " storyline by writer J.M. DeMatteis and artists Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod crossed over into The Amazing Spider-Man #293 and 294. Issue No.298 (Mar. 1988) was the first Spider-Man comic to be drawn by future industry star Todd McFarlane ,
19754-686: The numbering of the original series, beginning again with issue No. 500 (Dec. 2003) and lasting until the final issue, No. 700 (Feb. 2013). Due to strong sales on the character's first appearance in Amazing Fantasy No. 15, Spider-Man was given his own ongoing series in March 1963. The initial years of the series, under Lee and Ditko, chronicled Spider-Man's nascent career as a masked super-human vigilante with his civilian life as hard-luck yet perpetually good-humored and well-meaning teenager Peter Parker . Peter balanced his career as Spider-Man with his job as
19920-413: The old superhero tropes, and Millar sought to critique them. While Bendis tried to write atemporal stories, Millar preferred to set his stories amid the political tensions of the time, with edgy, quick action-driven stories and making the relationship between humans and mutants more realistic and distrustful. The first issue of Ultimate X-Men sold 117,085 copies in a month. Lacking previous knowledge about
20086-527: The other. When the Multiverse was eventually rebuilt, these mutants became stranded in the Prime Earth, suffering from amnesia as a by-product of their transition from one reality to another. After Secret Wars , Marvel published a new comic book named Ultimates , though it bore no relation with the imprint beyond the name. The Ultimates 2 #10, renumbered as #100 under the Marvel Legacy relaunch, features
20252-407: The pleasure of personally hunting the superhero he hated for capture and public unmasking. However, Spider-Man always managed to defeat each robot in turn. Smythe's continual efforts to perfect his machines backfired on him, leading to himself being fatally contaminated by radiation poisoning from the building materials of his creations. Blaming both Jameson and Spider-Man for this, he attempted, as
20418-460: The poor reception of the Batman & Robin film cast doubts on the prospects of any other comic book cinematic adaption. Marvel Comics went through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, many notable artists left the company, and their rival, DC Comics , topped them in sales. Brian Michael Bendis , who was hired to start the imprint, said that "when I got hired, I literally thought I was going to be writing one of
20584-533: The prevalent sense of antagonism in Parker's world by improving Parker's relationship with the supporting characters and having stories focused as much on the social and college lives of the characters as they did on Spider-Man's adventures. The stories became more topical, addressing issues such as civil rights , racism, prisoners' rights , the Vietnam War , and political elections . Issue No. 50 (June 1967) introduced
20750-467: The previous ones. Suddenly, the Spider-Slayers are deactivated remotely by Spider-Man 2099 , who confronts the Superior Spider-Man about who he really is and the reasons behind his actions of late. Suddenly, the Spider-Slayers are reactivated, to Spider-Man 2099's shock. The Goblin King's voice rings out, declaring that he has taken control of the Spider-Slayers as well, which grab both Spider-Men by their heads as
20916-600: The prospect of a film about the Avengers was remote. The series was a huge success, and became the single best-selling comic of the year. The Ultimate Marvel imprint was benefited by the contemporary topics that took place. Terrorism resurfaced into the public perception as a clear, dangerous and complex menace, which reduced the credibility of the usual supervillains of superhero fiction. Fictional conflicts involving explosions and property damage became more ominous. The Ultimate Marvel comics incorporated those topics into their plots, which would eventually become commonplace in
21082-410: The reconstruction of the team, and was made by Loeb and Frank Cho . Avengers features a black-operations superhero team, and was made by Millar and several artists. There was a new relaunch shortly afterwards, named "Ultimate Comics Universe Reborn". Both teams met in Avengers vs. New Ultimates , where Nick Fury is reinstalled as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the teams merge again into a single team,
21248-448: The return of Mary Jane, who then left Parker upon reuniting with him. With issue No. 30 (June 2001), J. Michael Straczynski took over as writer and oversaw additional storylines – most notably his lengthy "Spider-Totem" arc, which raised the issue of whether Spider-Man's powers were magic-based, rather than as the result of a radioactive spider's bite. Additionally, Straczynski resurrected the plot point of Aunt May discovering her nephew
21414-477: The return of Venom. In July 2012, Todd McFarlane's original cover art for The Amazing Spider-Man No. 328 sold for a bid of $ 657,250, making it the most expensive American comic book art ever sold at auction. With a civilian life as a married man, the Spider-Man of the 1990s was different from the superhero of the previous three decades. McFarlane left the title in 1990 to write and draw a new series titled simply Spider-Man . His successor, Erik Larsen , penciled
21580-455: The same age, him found and being thawed out of ice by S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than the founding members of the Avengers . Hawkeye also has a family, a context exclusive to the Ultimate comics. The film The Avengers featured the Ultimate take on the team, as a military operation organized by S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than an autonomous superhero group. Kevin Feige based the script of the film broadly on
21746-529: The seal. The comics sold well and Marvel won praise for its socially conscious efforts. The CCA subsequently loosened the Code to permit negative depictions of drugs, among other new freedoms. " The Six Arms Saga " of #100–102 (Sept.–Nov. 1971) introduced Morbius, the Living Vampire . The second installment was the first Amazing Spider-Man story not written by co-creator Lee, with Roy Thomas taking over writing
21912-554: The second-longest run as writer on the title, behind Stan Lee. Issue No. 375 was released with a gold foil cover. There was an error affecting some issues and which are missing the majority of the foil. With No. 389, writer J. M. DeMatteis , whose Spider-Man credits included the 1987 " Kraven's Last Hunt " story arc and a 1991–1993 run on The Spectacular Spider-Man , took over the title. From October 1994 to June 1996, Amazing stopped running stories exclusive to it, and ran installments of multi-part stories that crossed over into all
22078-423: The series beginning in April 2022 as a semi-monthly publication. The relaunch encompasses both a legacy numbering of #900 as well as the 60th anniversary for the character. The relaunch took place months after a mysterious event that left Peter on bad terms with the superhero community and ended his relationship with Mary Jane. He ends up taking a job at Oscorp and begins working closely with Norman Osborn (who becomes
22244-439: The series from 1987 to 1988, and Owsley wrote the book for the first half of 1987, scripting the five-part "Gang War" story (#284–288) that DeFalco plotted. Former Spectacular Spider-Man writer Peter David scripted #289 (June 1987), which revealed Ned Leeds as being the Hobgoblin although this was retconned in 1996 by Roger Stern into Leeds not being the original Hobgoblin after all. David Michelinie took over as writer in
22410-512: The series with a sequence of "back to basics" story arcs under the banner of " Brand New Day ". Parker now exists in a changed world where he and Mary Jane had never married, and Parker has no memory of being married to her, with domino effect differences in their immediate world. The most notable of these revisions to Spider-Man continuity are the return of Harry Osborn, whose death in The Spectacular Spider-Man No. 200 (May 1993)
22576-413: The son of Ultimate Wolverine, is also revealed to be alive in the new continuity, though this was not explained at first, but was eventually established that during the final incursion that caused the clash between Earth-616 and Earth-1610, with both universes' planets Earth acting as the collision point of this phenomenon, Jimmy Hudson, Quicksilver, Mach-II, Armor, and Guardian fell from their reality into
22742-514: The son of Wolverine. This miniseries was followed by Ultimate Comics: X-Men , written by Nick Spencer , who explored the X-Men mythos in a setting where both Charles Xavier and Magneto are dead. Initially, Marvel resisted the idea of crossovers between the Ultimate and the mainstream universes (although the idea had been teased for what turned out to be the beginning of the Marvel Zombies series), but eventually relented. The first crossover
22908-476: The story saw Kindred's plans come to fruition as he tormented Spider-Man. The story has also seen five ".LR" for issues 50, 51, 52, 53, and 54 which focused on The Order of the Web, a new faction of Spider-People consisting of Julia Carpenter (Madame Web), Miles Morales (Spider-Man), Gwen Stacy (Ghost-Spider), Cindy Moon (Silk), Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman), and Anya Corazon (Spider-Girl) . The story also revealed that Kindred
23074-609: The story saw the death of long-running Spider-Man villain Kraven the Hunter, being replaced by his clone son, The Last Son of Kraven. Issue 45 kicked off the Sins Rising story which saw the resurrected Sin-Eater carry out the plans of Kindred to cleanse the world of sin, particularly that of Norman Osborn. The story concluded with issue 49, issue 850 in legacy numbering, seeing Spider-Man and Green Goblin team up to defeat Sin-Eater. Last Remains started in issue 50 and concluded in issue 55,
23240-586: The superhero with his own series of Slayers. Smythe later mutated into a humanoid Spider-Slayer, but remains a minor foe. The original Spider-Slayer was seen among the robots and machines in the Reanimator 's collection. Wolverine later destroyed the Spider-Slayer when the Reanimator attempted to use it against him. It was later used by J. Jonah Jameson to attack the She-Hulk after she had married his son John , but it
23406-400: The superheroine Jackpot using the bracelet acquired from the other dimension as Black Cat breaks up with Peter shortly before Janice Lincoln and Randy Robertson's wedding. The second crossover event was entitled Gang War , where Peter led a team of street-level superheroes to stop a massive war between New York's gangs led by Madam Masque, Tombstone, and Beetle. During an encounter with Kraven
23572-591: The title by mid-year, succeeded by Dennis O'Neil , a writer known for groundbreaking 1970s work at rival DC Comics , and penciler John Romita Jr. O'Neil wrote two issues of The Amazing Spider-Man Annual which were both drawn by Frank Miller . The 1980 Annual featured a team-up with Doctor Strange while the 1981 Annual showcased a meeting with the Punisher . Roger Stern , who had written nearly 20 issues of sister title The Spectacular Spider-Man , took over Amazing with #224 (Jan. 1982). During his two years on
23738-542: The title currently feature an issue number within its sixth volume, as well as a "legacy" number reflecting the issue's overall number across all Amazing Spider-Man volumes. The title reached 900 issues in 2022. The series began as a bimonthly periodical before being increased to monthly after four issues. It was the character's sole monthly headlining title until Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man launched in 1976. After 441 issues, The Amazing Spider-Man
23904-457: The title, Stern augmented the backgrounds of long-established Spider-Man villains and, with Romita Jr., created the mysterious supervillain the Hobgoblin in #238–239 (Mar.–Apr. 1983). Fans engaged with the mystery of the Hobgoblin's secret identity, which continued throughout #244–245 and 249–251 (Sept.-Oct. 1983 and Feb.-April 1984). One lasting change was the reintroduction of Mary Jane Watson as
24070-557: The uncle he failed and the aunt he has sworn to save." Peter David observed that "After his origin, this two-page sequence from Amazing Spider-Man No. 33 is perhaps the best-loved sequence from the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko era." Steve Saffel stated the "full page Ditko image from The Amazing Spider-Man No. 33 is one of the most powerful ever to appear in the series and influenced writers and artists for many years to come." and Matthew K. Manning wrote that "Ditko's illustrations for
24236-598: The universe still exists. A brief glimpse of the still-extant Ultimate universe is provided by artist Mark Bagley, showing that Ultimate Peter Parker, who had been revealed alive in one of the last issues, has returned to the role of Spider-Man, and that he is a member of the Ultimates, as is Riri Williams and Hulk. The return of the Ultimate universe was used again in 2019, in story arcs at the Venom and Miles Morales: Spider-Man comic books. In February 2023, Marvel Comics announced Ultimate Invasion written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Bryan Hitch. This story involves
24402-413: The whole comic book industry. Jemas was fired from Marvel in 2004, and Millar and Hitch left the Ultimates after writing a second miniseries. Sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card wrote a miniseries, Ultimate Iron Man , which was poorly received and later retconned as an in-universe television show. In 2008, Quesada considered that the Ultimate imprint needed a big crossover event to keep the interest of
24568-452: Was Spider-Man, and returned Mary Jane, with the couple reuniting in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #50. Straczynski gave Spider-Man a new profession, having Parker teach at his former high school. Issue No. 30 began a dual numbering system, with the original series numbering (#471) returned and placed alongside the volume two number on the cover. Other longtime, rebooted Marvel Comics titles, including Fantastic Four , likewise were given
24734-572: Was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics , featuring reimagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe, later known as the Ultimate Universe . Those characters include Spider-Man , the X-Men , the Ultimates (the Ultimate Marvel Universe counterpart of the Avengers ), the Fantastic Four , and others. The imprint
24900-623: Was based on that of his Ultimate counterpart, and Millar and Bendis were included in the staff as consultants. Samuel L. Jackson , whose likeness was used to create the new version of Nick Fury, was cast as the character in a multi-picture deal, starting in a post-credits scene in Iron Man . The script of the scene was written by Bendis. As a comic book fan, Jackson had noticed the use of his likeness and asked to be included in some eventual film. Bruce Banner's origin story in The Incredible Hulk
25066-405: Was being bullied by Flash (though in the comics it was Kenny Kong), in addition Flash having a crush on her like he did in the Ultimate comics; his friendship with Harry Osborn being modeled after that of Eddie Brock Jr. in the comics, being childhood friends who have not seen each other in a long time and whose fathers had worked together on a project (with the name Spider-venom being a slight nod to
25232-504: Was destroyed again. In The Amazing Spider-Man #603, Jameson (now Mayor of New York) has some old Spider-Slayers sent to him from storage to better equip his "Anti-Spider Squad" to take down Spider-Man. The Spider-Slayer technology is combined with that of the Mandroid suits. However, the "Spider-Slayer Squad" wearing the suits quit their jobs after Spider-Man saves them and New York from a dirty bomb. Despite not being technically related to
25398-427: Was divided into sections with most of them being self-contained universes. Marvel announced that several of these self-contained universes would get their own tie in series and one of them was Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows , an alternate universe where Peter Parker and Mary Jane are still married and give birth to their child Annie May Parker, written by Dan Slott. Despite the series being considered separate from
25564-421: Was followed by 2009's Ultimatum , a crossover between the Ultimate titles. In five issues, the story kills off thirty-four characters with an increased amount of graphic violence. The series was both a critical and commercial failure, and it has since been regarded as one of the worst comic books of all-time. The sales of the whole imprint were decreased, and never returned to their pre- Ultimatum figures. After
25730-496: Was hospitalized after over-dosing on pills. Lee wrote this story upon a request from the U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare for a story about the dangers of drugs. Citing its dictum against depicting drug use, even in an anti-drug context, the CCA refused to put its seal on these issues. With the approval of Marvel publisher Martin Goodman , Lee had the comics published without
25896-484: Was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men in 2001, followed by The Ultimates and Ultimate Fantastic Four in 2002 and 2004 respectively providing new origin stories for the characters. The reality of Ultimate Marvel is designated as Earth-1610 as part of the Marvel Comics Multiverse . The Ultimate Universe, as a part of a large-scale reboot of
26062-606: Was massively unpopular with many readers, and was later reversed in the "Revelations" story arc that crossed over the Spider-Man books in late 1996. The Clone Saga tied into a publishing gap after No. 406 (Oct. 1995), when the title was temporarily replaced by The Amazing Scarlet Spider #1–2 (Nov.-Dec. 1995), featuring Ben Reilly . The series picked up again with No. 407 (Jan. 1996), with Tom DeFalco returning as writer. Bagley completed his 5½-year run by September 1996. A succession of artists, including Ron Garney , Steve Skroce , Joe Bennett , Rafael Kayanan and John Byrne penciled
26228-552: Was not named nor revealed as Harry's father until No. 37 (June 1966). One of the most celebrated issues of the Lee-Ditko run is No. 33 (Feb. 1966), the third part of the story arc " If This Be My Destiny...! ", which features the dramatic scene of Spider-Man, through force of will and thoughts of family, escaping from being pinned by heavy machinery. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that "Steve Ditko squeezes every ounce of anguish out of Spider-Man's predicament, complete with visions of
26394-511: Was of little interest to young adult audiences, who preferred the style set by the Matrix franchise. Most superheroes were adults, even those that started as teenagers, such as Spider-Man and the X-Men . Previous attempts to cut the long continuity did not work as expected: DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour: Crisis in Time caused several plot contradictions, and Marvel's Heroes Reborn
26560-478: Was panned by critics and fans. The Dark Age of Comic Books tried to counter the campiness of the Silver Age with violence and shocking content, but the trend was declining as well. The idea for the Ultimate imprint was developed by Bill Jemas . A lawyer who had worked mainly at the collectible-trading-card industry before that point, he had little interaction with the production of comic books. In his perspective,
26726-593: Was relaunched in Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man , which included the revivals of Peter Parker and Green Goblin. Ultimate FF ("FF" standing for " Future Foundation ", not "Fantastic Four") featured the "incursions", a multiversal threat that was being used in Hickman's run on the main universe's Avengers, and which would lead to the Secret Wars crossover. Ultimate FF was cancelled, alongside
26892-427: Was relaunched with a fourth volume following the 2015 Secret Wars event. After 45 years, the volume was once again relaunched as part of Marvel Legacy , returning to the overall "legacy" numbering with issue No. 789 in late 2017. Less than a year later, the series was relaunched again with a fifth volume as part of Marvel's Fresh Start . For the first time, although the issue numbers were again restarted from #1,
27058-492: Was restarted in 1999 as issue No. 1 of Volume 2. It ran for 58 issues before reverting to the title's overall issue number with #500 in 2003. The series ran essentially continuously over the first two volumes from 1963 until its landmark 700th issue at the end of 2012 when it was replaced by The Superior Spider-Man as part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch of Marvel's comic lines. The title was occasionally published biweekly during
27224-533: Was sent back to his Earth, while due to the alternative passage of time, Mary Jane and Paul, Rabin's son in that dimension, spent four years in the realm together and adopted two children. When Peter eventually rescued them, Mary Jane refused to part with her new family. Rabin then planned to sacrifice Mary Jane to resurrect Wayeb, but is ultimately stopped by Ms. Marvel sacrificing herself, but not before Rabin reveals that Paul and Mary Jane's kids were illusions created by him and ceased their existence. Mary Jane becomes
27390-482: Was succeeded by Ross Andru , whose run lasted from issue #125 (Oct. 1973) to #185 (Oct. 1978). Issue#129 (Feb. 1974) introduced the Punisher , who would become one of Marvel Comics' most popular characters. The Conway-Andru era featured the first appearances of the Man-Wolf in #124–125 (Sept.-Oct. 1973); the near-marriage of Doctor Octopus and Aunt May in #131 (Apr. 1974); Harry Osborn stepping into his father's role as
27556-450: Was the Spider-Men miniseries, between Miles Morales and the adult Peter Parker. It was made for the 50th anniversary of Spider-Man. All-New X-Men , also written by Bendis, had a story where the main characters got stranded in the Ultimate universe and teamed-up with Morales. However, Bendis and Fialkov agreed that crossovers should be done sparingly, to keep them interesting, and cited
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