My Favorite Classic Spider-man Stories

Listed below are just a handful of what I consider to be the definitive classic Spider-man stories. This includes any story from the so-called "real" Marvel Universe, a.k.a the Earth-616 Universe. This does not include any "Ultimate" stories, alternate-Spider-men etc. (sorry Miles). This is just an excuse for me to geek out on one some of my favorites.

Spider-man: Visionaries by John Romita Sr. - This trade paperback collection features several stories, drawn and handpicked by arguably (he may be tied with Steve Ditko) the greatest Spidey artist himself, John Romita Sr. Featuring iconic moments from Spidey's classic era, including the first appearance of Mary Jane Watson, the "Spider-man No More" story, the first meeting between Spider-man and Doctor Strange and many more. All stories written by "The Man" himself, Stan Lee!

Spider-man: Sinister Six - The trade paperback of this story reprints the first appearance of The Sinister Six in Spidey's first annual (The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (January 1964) and then continues with The Return of the Sinister Six, published nearly 30 years later in The Amazing Spider-Man #334–339. The original story by Lee and Ditko features Spidey's greatest rogues (Dock Ock, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, the Sandman, and the Vulture) teaming up to take revenge on our beloved wall-crawler. Through some clever wit and quick thinking, Spidey brings down their scheme. It's follow-up tale, under the team of David Michelinie and Erik Larson, brings in a rebranded Six (Kraven died and was replaced by Hobgoblin). The story puts Spidey into a compromising situation, while also juggling his shaky relationship with MJ, at this point his wife. It's one of Michelinie's best stories.

Spider-man: Death of the Stacys - This is the set of twin-stories that most people hail as the "greatest Spider-man saga ever told." It truly is Spider-man's turning point! If you want to understand the character of Spider-man, this is the one story you should read. The death of Captain Stacy was one the most intense deaths for Peter after Uncle Ben. To then compound that with the death of the teenager's first love, Captain Stacy's daughter, Gwen, ramps up the pathos and drama to the Nth degree. It cements both Doc Ock and the original Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) as Peter Parker's two greatest nemeses. Gwen's death is Spider-man's moment of realization that his life will never really be without great conflict. The Captain Stacy story was written by Stan Lee and drawn by Romita Sr. Gwen's death was written by Gerry Conway and cements him as one of the greatest Spider-man writers of all time. Art was done by Gil Kane (probably the 3rd greatest Spidey artist after Ditko-Romita Sr.)      

Spider-man: Return of the Burglar - Written by Marv Wolfman with art by Keith Pollard, Al Milgrom, and Sal Buscema, the story told in Amazing Spider-man #193-200 brings Peter Parker full circle, back to the day he caught the burglar that killed Uncle Ben, back to his earliest time wearing the webbed mask. It features a somewhat odd Kingpin interlude, the first appearance of The Black Cat and then it all evolves into a decent Mysterio story. There's a reasonable amount of repetition and it does drag a little though compared with some of the earlier stories it's a lot tauter. Pete is really put through the paces here and, ultimately learns an important lesson, that you can't really ever escape your past. 

Spider-man: Blue - This story is the best of the "Marvel Color Books", written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale. It is a retelling of Peter Parker's reaction and response to The Green Goblin's murder of Gwen Stacy. It's a touching romantic tale. Well-paced and heartfelt, it balances action and drama carefully and helps Peter resolve the loss of his first love.

Spider-man Vs Doctor Octopus - This is a trade paperback reprinting the best Spidey/Ock encounters ever. It's another cheat because it features multiple stories. Featured are Amazing Spider-Man # 3 (Doc Ock's first appearance), 54-56 (reprinted as MARVEL TALES) and 130-131 and Annual 15. It was collected in conjunction with the Spider-man 2 movie. This book gives you every major important Doctor Octopus story from the silver and bronze age. After the origin story (one of the best Spider-man stories by Stan Lee) Ock swindles May Parker into almost marrying him (the start of the legendary and wonderful Octopus/Hammerhead war by Conway/Romita) and convinces an amnesia-ridden Spider-man to work for him (this story was adapted as an episode of Spider-man: The Animated Series in the 1990's). Plus: the debut of the short lived and comical Spider-mobile. Great work by the legendary John Romita Sr. on art and wonderful writing by Stan Lee and Gerry Conway. And then there is the annual... Annual #15 is one of my favorite Spider-man stories of all time. It's Spider-man vs The Punisher and Doc Ock. This was written by the delightful Denny O'neil and remains one of the few Frank Miller drawn Spider-man stories.

Amazing Spider-man #241: "In the Beginning"- Published in 1983, this story reveals the origin of Adrian Toomes, The Vulture, one of Spidey's earliest and greatest villains. It's a compelling origin and culminates in a very entertaining battle between Spider-man and Vulture. It's beautiful to look at to, considering John Romita Jr. drew the story. It also happens to be written by one of the greatest Spidey scribes ever, Roger Stern.  

Spider-man: The Origin of The Hobgoblin - Probably the greatest mystery story ever published featuring the Wall-Crawler, this one introduces one of Spidey's most memorable foes, The Hobgoblin. Spidey fans in the early 80's had been begging to see the return of Norman Osborn as The Green Goblin. Roger Stern and John Romita Jr. gave them something new and different. A new "Goblin" who steals all of Norman's tech. This is one of the greatest Spidey stories of the 1980's and, the only trouble with it is, you don't find out the actual identity of this new Goblin, until much later, and under a new writer. Stern would return later to pen a story that features the true identity of Hobgoblin 

Spider-man: Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut -  This two-issue Spider-Man tale, again by the Roger Stern/John Romita, Jr. team was published in The Amazing Spider-Man #229–230. It is the ultimate underdog story. Juggernaut verses ol' Webhead features Spidey using his wits to stop Juggernaut, despite never really being able to defeat him. It's action-packed, humorous and inspirational.

Amazing Spider-Man #248: "The Kid Who Collects Spider-man"- Published  in 1984, it's yet another Roger Stern story, this time with art by Ron Frenz and inks by Terry Austin, in which Timmy Harrison, a terminally ill child and Spider-man's biggest fan, meets Spidey and reminds Spider-man why what he does is so important.  

Spider-man: Best of Enemies - Spectacular Spider-man #200 shows just how mad Harry Osborn has gone after losing his father, inheriting the Green Goblin role and finally confronting Peter Parker over his deep-seeded resentment. Peter has always felt very guilty over what happened to his best friend and things finally come to a head in probably the best story published in 1993. J.M DeMatteis always writes some of the most psychological comic book stories. This is no exception. The gorgeous art by Sal Buscema only helps.   

Spider-man: Kraven’s Last Hunt - Another J.M. DeMatteis masterpiece, this is the darkest Spider-man story ever told. It's less about Spidey and more about obsession, particularly the obsession of Kraven The Hunter.  Published as "Fearful Symmetry" in 1987, it shows Kraven desperately trying to understand Spider-man's motivation. It culminates in the the final battle between Kraven and Spider-Man. SPOILER ALERT: Kraven dies. Originally published in Web of Spider-Man #31–32, The Amazing Spider-Man #293–294, and The Spectacular Spider-Man #131–132 during Spider-man's dark age. The art by Mike Zeck is delicious and DeMatteis doesn't forget to lay the psychological drama on thick either. 

Spider-man: The Animated Series

The Spider-man animated series that debuted from November 19, 1994 (1994-11-19) to January 31, 1998 was one of the highlights of my childhood. Sure, the animation was standard 90’s animation that Marvel used for all its shows, in the style of G.I. Joe, but the show felt smart. It created its own continuity and, for many young fans, myself included, was a gateway into reading Marvel Comics. 

While not as timeless or iconic as Batman: The Animated Series, this show offered a modern, fresh window into the Spider-man mythos. It was serious and compelling enough for older audiences but still entertaining for little kids. It is obvious that the producers cared enough to make the show dramatic and not just a formulaic or generic adventure cartoon. The use of CGI for the backgrounds of New York City showed that they were trying something different. I like the CGI segments, no matter how dated they may look today. And, even though the series played fast and loose with the comic book continuity, I appreciate the attempt to adapt some classic storylines. The spirit of the Spider-man comics was captured (particularly the comics of the 70’s and 80’s) with a 90’s flair.

The voice cast was stellar. Professional actors and veteran voice actors were used. To this day, when I read Spider-man comics, I am never able to separate Peter Parker’s voice from Christopher Daniel Barnes. For my money, even more than any of the live-action portrayals, Barnes delivered the most dramatic and best voice for our friendly neighborhood wall-crawler. Other classic portrayals included Roscoe Lee Brown as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin. That’s the voice I hear when I read his appearances in Spider-man or Daredevil. Ed Asner is also great as J. Jonah Jameson. Efram Zimbalist Jr. (the voice of Alfred on Batman) is the definitive voice for Doc Ock as well.

The music is also memorable. The classic main theme, a hard rocking composition performed by Joe Perry of the band, Aerosmith gets stuck in my head for days when I hear it. Shuki Levy, Kussa Mahchi and Udi Harpaz were the composers of the orchestral background score. The score is both fast paced, operatic and fun.

The show sometimes featured guest appearances by some of Marvel’s other well known superheroes.The most famous was the two-part crossover with the X-men show. The other great guest spots are the two-part Daredevil episode (my favorite episodes of the series), the episodes featuring The Punisher, the Doctor Strange episode and the ensemble shows toward the end of the series’ run that feature everybody from The Fantastic Four to Captain America.  (1998-01-31)

       The main problem with the show comes from a perceived censorship by fans, whether true or not. There has been conjecture by many that the series was heavily censored, even for a children’s television show. The series head writer/producer, John Semper Jr., denies this. Some tampering, whether by network heads or the Standards and Practices (S&P), has to be true, considering the use of laser guns, in most scenes, in place of realistic weapons, lack of realistic violence (Spider-man rarely throws a punch in the show) and replacement words such as “destroy,” “end” or “obliterate” for more threatening words like “death,” “murder,” or “kill.” Whether heavily censored or not, the tone of this series is so melodramatic that any censorship doesn't really take you out of the stories they are trying to tell. Also, the censorship sometimes works to the show's advantage. The laser guns in place of real firearms gives the show a distinct look. And because they hardly show Spider-man punching, his use of other maneuvers for attack, like landing on villains from above, holding them from behind, or the various aerial kicks he uses, seem creative instead of restrictive. Not being able to directly reference death also gives the show a kind of gravitas because when death or murder is discussed, they dance around it as if it is a serious issue.

      Of all the animated Marvel properties of the 1990s, Spider-man was the best (though X-men is a close 2^nd place). Some fans may argue that the Spectacular Spider-man show of the early 2000’s is a better show. While I do also love that show, and find it to be a better show at times, it's this series that I watch more often. I think this series looks better and, at least to me, seems much more like classic Spider-man. Maybe this show shouldn’t have been any good, considering it was made for, or heavily marketed with, a line of toys. And sure, it’s a little dated, watching it 25 years later, but the series is just so fun and I lose myself in it every time I see it. The real shame is that, as of this writing, it still hasn’t been released in its entirety on any home media in the U.S. All in all, I love this series. Spiderman: The Animated Series will forever be my favorite adaptation of the webslinger outside of Sam Raimi’s Spider-man 2.   

My Top Ten Comic Book/Superhero Movies

The following is a ranking of, what I consider to be, the best comic book movies ever made. There are many great superhero films and as a result this list was hard to compile.

I rate these movies on 3 criteria:

1) Faithfulness: Does the film boil the source material or character(s) down to its essence, hit the major points of the character or at least give a decent idea to the viewer of what the mythos is all about?

2) Entertainment Value: Is the film entertaining? Does it leave the viewer with a sense of wonder, amusement or enjoyment?

3) Story: Does the film tell a compelling story? Does the story fit the character?
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10) Hellboy (2004)

Although director Guillermo Del Toro took some liberties with the movie version of Hellboy, this film tells a compelling story. The film is well paced and gives a succinct origin for the hero, hitting many of the major beats of the first Hellboy story, Seed of Destruction. For many people, myself included, this was what got them into the Hellboy comics.
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9) Road To Perdition (2002)

Although not a superhero movie, this film is based on one of the greatest graphic novels ever written. Famed crime fiction writer, Max Allan Collins wrote a fast paced, suspenseful tale that was turned into one of the greatest modern noir films. Tom Hanks was brilliantly cast as the lead, Michael Sullivan. This should be held up as an example that great comic book movies don’t have to feature long underwear characters.
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8) Batman Begins (2005)

While this is probably the best Batman movie ever made on a filmic level, it forsakes much of the fantasy of a superhero in favor of grounded realism. The film is a master class in dramatic storytelling, taking its main cue from the story, Batman Year One. It even manages to tell a great origin story, playing on the fears of a post-9/11 world. However, it misses the escapism that a great superhero story can provide. This is a great Batman movie. The rest of the Dark Knight trilogy, while well-made films, are not good adaptations and explicate too much.
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7) Spider-man 2 (2004)

This movie is the most impressive statement about Spider-man ever put to screen. It boils everything about the classic Stan Lee/Steve Ditko creation down to its essence and features, arguably, the best villain in Spider-man’s rogues gallery, Doctor Octopus. It’s a movie with great action, a fun story, and is probably as close as classic Spidey will ever come to being straight off the page.
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6) The Avengers (2012)

This film is probably the best superhero team movie ever made. It is the blueprint for how to film a team of superheroes. It builds off of many of the solo hero movies that gave birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and manages to be mostly faithful to the origin of the team. Impressive visual effects and a credible villain make this film an entertaining spectacle.
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5) Wonder Woman (2017)

Before seeing this I had not been very impressed with DC’s attempt at a cinematic universe for their heroes. Man of Steel and Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice were not that great. Wonder Woman changed my mind. It is one of the best superhero films to ever come out of DC and one of the best superhero movies of the last few years. Gal Gadot is impressive in her role as the Amazon Princess but the story is what really blew me away. There is faithfulness to the origin and it works well as a period film.
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4) The Rocketeer (1991)

The Rocketeer is the perfect example of a pulpy action adventure film. It tells an engaging story, features plenty of action, has heart and is one of the most faithful adaptations of a graphic novel ever put to screen. Billy Campbell is perfectly cast as The Rocketeer and Timothy Dalton expertly plays the villainous Neville Sinclair. Jennifer Connelly isn’t too bad either. This is one of the greatest adventure films ever made.
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3) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles nails the tone of its source material better than any superhero movie ever made. It perfectly captures the gritty, fun and absurd flavor of the original comic book. It adds a few details from the wildly popular cartoon show of the late 80’s and melds everything that was ever good about the TMNT into a masterpiece. Its compelling story is constructed out of bits and pieces of the first dozen issues of the original comic series. It’s probably the greatest TMNT movie that could ever be made.

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2) Batman (1989)

This film is more style over substance and doesn’t really feature much of a plot, but its importance in the pantheon of superhero movies cannot be denied. I rank this so highly as a superhero movie almost purely out of childhood nostalgia. It takes liberties with the mythos and is very indicative of the time it was created in. That being said, every time I watch it, I am impressed and awed by the set pieces and the mood. The film is such an entertaining spectacle, and gives me such a feeling of joy, that it will forever be one of my favorites. It’s also the purest expression, in live action anyway, of the Batman from the 70’s and 80’s, my favorite eras in the bat books. For more on this movie, go here.
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1) Superman: The Movie (1978)

In 1978, when Superman was released, director Richard Donner delivered a blueprint for all future superhero movies to follow. This is the gold standard for all comic book films. Christopher Reeve was perfectly cast as Superman. The story was an epic three-act fantasy that also served as a compelling origin. The effects were like nothing ever seen at the time and are especially impressive because they were all practical effects. It perfectly captures the essence of Superman’s character and is an affectionate tribute to one of pop-culture’s most important icons.
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HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

The Dark Knight (2008)

X2: X-men United (2003)

Black Panther (2018)

Iron Man 2 (2010)

The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)