Amazing Fantasy #15
Amazing Spider-Man #1-300
Spectacular Spider-Man #1-200
Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski
Spectacular Spider-Man by Chip Zdarsky
Amazing Spider-Man by Nick Spencer
Ultimate Spider-man by Brian Michael Bendis
Spider-Man: Blue by Jeph Loeb
Marvel Knights: Spider-Man by Mark Millar
>Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski >Spectacular Spider-Man by Chip Zdarsky >Amazing Spider-Man by Nick Spencer >Ultimate Spider-man by Brian Michael Bendis
skip these
skip USM and Spectacular but ASM by Strac and Spencer are the only worthwhile modern Spidey comics
this, JMS has plenty of great material that is only brought down by Quesada and OMD, and Spencer is the only one since who's managed to produce anything worthwhile.
https://i.imgur.com/ppMogXX.png
What are essential Spiderman comics? I heard Blue is decent for a beginner.
I'd add both Renew Your Vows series to the list as well
>Amazing Fantasy #15
This didn’t age well and is pretty bad compared to the main series. Instead, read “In the Beginning” from the Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #1.
Marvel Knights was edgy garbage and wasted concepts.
I started bleeding from all of the edge when Electro blew up kids and Miller had to scream it at you.
>Marvel Knights: Spider-Man by Mark Millar
This is, to date, the only truly good thing Millar has ever written. I don't know how he did it, but somehow writing for a Spider-Man book brought out his A-game.
>I heard Blue is decent for a beginner.
It's a poor substitute for actually reading the 60s books it's revisiting, the people who keep hailing it as a classic are just Gwen Stacy waifugays.
Can I just read through Amazing Spider-Man #1 to current, or is that just not feasable for some resaon? Assuming I have the time. Or is there a bunch of stuff in side comics that I'd miss?
Yeah you'll go across Amazing and Spectacular a lot with annuals and other event bullshit involved
Web of Shadows rarely too but it rarely matters that much
Marvel Masterworks volumes gives you the correct reading orders for annuals and other related reading (there's one story that crosses over with Nova lol, but they include the relevant Nova issue).
You don't miss a whole lot by just reading the ASM volumes, you can read the Spectacular volumes at any time.
Just keep in mind that the masterworks volumes are up to ASM #270 and SSM #79.
Some of the wordier silver age volumes take me 4+ hours to get through, with each issue taking about 15-25 minutes depending on how text heavy it is. Compared to modern issues of any character that take me 10 minutes or less to get through.
Will Amazing warn me that these stories are spanning multiple books or will I just be thrown in to plots that are ongoing? How do I know when to start reading these other series? Just through Marvel Masterworks? What is that?
In a way, I know enough from osmosis that I don't think I'll ever really be 'lost' though.
If it’s a single storyline that spans multiple books you will always know. Sometimes they’ll reference plots that happen in the other books and you’ll usually be given the exact issue and book they’re talking about
Masterworks are Marvel's collected editions that basically go from a series beginning to whatever they feel like collecting up to. They collect basically all the stories relevant to a character's chronology. They come with bonus interviews and art. The omnibus's just collect multiple Masterworks. Though the recolors are good at being accurate to which colors are used but not to how that is translated to paper today. Old paper needed bright colors since they would get filtered by newsprint and make it less saturated. Though that varies by taste. And I saw an article say they even redid the masterworks to add more and change the coloring. I haven't seen the differences myself.
Can I just read through Amazing Spider-Man #1 to current, or is that just not feasable for some resaon? Assuming I have the time. Or is there a bunch of stuff in side comics that I'd miss?
Eh I'd say the first issue of Web of Spider-Man, is essential alongside adjectiveless Spider-Man once you get to the 90's and 00's. Spectacular is the most important. It starts out as what you expect a side book is but gradually becomes vital.
Marvel Masterworks volumes gives you the correct reading orders for annuals and other related reading (there's one story that crosses over with Nova lol, but they include the relevant Nova issue).
You don't miss a whole lot by just reading the ASM volumes, you can read the Spectacular volumes at any time.
Just keep in mind that the masterworks volumes are up to ASM #270 and SSM #79.
Some of the wordier silver age volumes take me 4+ hours to get through, with each issue taking about 15-25 minutes depending on how text heavy it is. Compared to modern issues of any character that take me 10 minutes or less to get through.
>to current
The problem is, why would you want to? Clone Saga is famously the first real major frick-up in Spider-Man comics. I suspect its defenders are just coping that "it's not that bad" because other things are worse.
The last real cut-off before Clone Saga is Maximum Carnage, which takes place immediately after Spectacular #200. If you go to Maximum Carnage, you would also be adding ASM up to #380.
The JMS run is the first good run after Clone Saga, and you can pick it up after skipping however much you want from the "classic" era.
The Dan Slott run is contentious. There are storylines that people like, and others that people hate. Slott also has publicly contentious feelings about Spider-Man (he feels Spider-Man's love for Mary Jane is "anti-Marvel"). You will find nobody on Cinemaphile who likes Slott. I personally like his Silver Surfer run and his She-Hulk run.
Nick Spencer tried to course correct, but Marvel fricked him at the end.
Wells is a complete and total dumpster fire with no redeeming qualities.
Honestly I think that the symbiote crap before it (plus the non-JMD LMD parent stuff) and the Byrne crap after it are easily the worst of the 90s when it comes to Spider-Man
>he feels Spider-Man's love for Mary Jane is "anti-Marvel"
God I hate Slott so fricking much. Spider-Man and Mary Jane is THE love story of Marvel. It's so pure that even in destroying it Marvel made it canon that Mephisto saw it as more divine and worth stealing than a human soul. Marvel is fricking stupid to have kept it off limits for 15 years.
>Hobgoblin
Really the whole original Hobgoblin saga, then later Hobgoblin Lives >Electro
Light the Night
Can't pick any for the rest off the top of my head. I guess for Venom you can just say his earliest appearances because the moment he gets a solo (or Carnage is introduced) he becomes complete shit
>Vulture
Basically everything Stern did with him. >Doc Ock
Master Planner Saga/If this be my Destiny, Spectacular 173-175, Web of Death >Sandman
While not strictly a Spider-Man story Marvel Two-In-One is where Sandman starts on his road to redemption and is pretty good. Marvel Team-Up 138 is where he first works with Spider-Man now that he's reformed and is also good
>Really the whole original Hobgoblin saga, then later Hobgoblin Lives
Not really, those are big stories where he's the main villain, but they're not the same kinds of stories as those others, they don't get under his skin and show us what makes him tick the way those other named stories do for those other villains. Nobody's ever really done that for Hobgoblin, or at least not that version of Hobgoblin.
Personally speaking I feel you might as well go from AF#15, read through ASM until SSM starts, read those in tandem until Web starts, read that, get to about the mid-90s point, suffer through Clone Saga, and then shortly before the ending switch over to MC2 which is by far a much more satisfying conclusion to that period of comics and considering how spotty everything is in mainline comics after, you won't feel like smacking your head every time you see some moronic choice of character writing
If you for whatever reason don't feel like reading 500-600 issues of comics Ultimate Spider-Man is there of course and everything up until about Ultimatum is a pretty good modern refresh of the character but unlike people say otherwise, it falls off really hard after that as Bendis was clearly spinning the wheels
and then random anthologies/spinoffs like Blue, Marvel Knights, Untold Tales, Zdarsky's stories, etc.
Ms Marvel/Spider-man 1 and 2
The entirety of Spider-cest
Weaving Fluids 1 - 4
Savage Love
Marvel Team Up: Not in Kansas anymore
Spider-man Heroes for Hire
Spider-man Ryker's bait
Spider-Gwen: Queen of the F-train
Gwen X-posure
Sinful Six
Silk: Uncovered
On the Edge of Spidercest: All New Ultimates
Spider-Women
Antman and the Wasp 1 and 2
Spider-Sex
Spider-Sex 2: Into her Spider-Tush
Amazing Fantasy #15
Amazing Spider-Man #1-300
Spectacular Spider-Man #1-200
Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski
Spectacular Spider-Man by Chip Zdarsky
Amazing Spider-Man by Nick Spencer
Ultimate Spider-man by Brian Michael Bendis
Spider-Man: Blue by Jeph Loeb
Marvel Knights: Spider-Man by Mark Millar
>Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski
>Spectacular Spider-Man by Chip Zdarsky
>Amazing Spider-Man by Nick Spencer
>Ultimate Spider-man by Brian Michael Bendis
skip these
Ultimate is basically a "best hits" of Spider-Man by Bendis mostly for the worse
the only good part was the end and the follow up
skip USM and Spectacular but ASM by Strac and Spencer are the only worthwhile modern Spidey comics
this, JMS has plenty of great material that is only brought down by Quesada and OMD, and Spencer is the only one since who's managed to produce anything worthwhile.
I'd add both Renew Your Vows series to the list as well
Renew your Vows is overrated. Read Spider-Girl instead.
skip breathing, moron
>Not reading ASM through to at least 400
No Web of Spider-Man?
No Crossovers?
Skipping the World Events and Civil War?
>Amazing Fantasy #15
This didn’t age well and is pretty bad compared to the main series. Instead, read “In the Beginning” from the Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #1.
J.M. Dematteis’ stories should be on there. Also add Marvel Adventures.
Take off JMS, Zdarsky, Marvel Knights, Spencer. Those all suck.
>JMS sucks
>MK sucks
No.
Marvel Knights was edgy garbage and wasted concepts.
I started bleeding from all of the edge when Electro blew up kids and Miller had to scream it at you.
>Marvel Knights: Spider-Man by Mark Millar
This is, to date, the only truly good thing Millar has ever written. I don't know how he did it, but somehow writing for a Spider-Man book brought out his A-game.
>I heard Blue is decent for a beginner.
It's a poor substitute for actually reading the 60s books it's revisiting, the people who keep hailing it as a classic are just Gwen Stacy waifugays.
qrd
Can I just read through Amazing Spider-Man #1 to current, or is that just not feasable for some resaon? Assuming I have the time. Or is there a bunch of stuff in side comics that I'd miss?
You can, but there are a few series that run concurrently with it that have additional stories, with some stories spanning across the multiple books.
Yeah you'll go across Amazing and Spectacular a lot with annuals and other event bullshit involved
Web of Shadows rarely too but it rarely matters that much
Will Amazing warn me that these stories are spanning multiple books or will I just be thrown in to plots that are ongoing? How do I know when to start reading these other series? Just through Marvel Masterworks? What is that?
In a way, I know enough from osmosis that I don't think I'll ever really be 'lost' though.
If it’s a single storyline that spans multiple books you will always know. Sometimes they’ll reference plots that happen in the other books and you’ll usually be given the exact issue and book they’re talking about
Alright, thanks.
Masterworks are Marvel's collected editions that basically go from a series beginning to whatever they feel like collecting up to. They collect basically all the stories relevant to a character's chronology. They come with bonus interviews and art. The omnibus's just collect multiple Masterworks. Though the recolors are good at being accurate to which colors are used but not to how that is translated to paper today. Old paper needed bright colors since they would get filtered by newsprint and make it less saturated. Though that varies by taste. And I saw an article say they even redid the masterworks to add more and change the coloring. I haven't seen the differences myself.
Eh I'd say the first issue of Web of Spider-Man, is essential alongside adjectiveless Spider-Man once you get to the 90's and 00's. Spectacular is the most important. It starts out as what you expect a side book is but gradually becomes vital.
Marvel Masterworks volumes gives you the correct reading orders for annuals and other related reading (there's one story that crosses over with Nova lol, but they include the relevant Nova issue).
You don't miss a whole lot by just reading the ASM volumes, you can read the Spectacular volumes at any time.
Just keep in mind that the masterworks volumes are up to ASM #270 and SSM #79.
Some of the wordier silver age volumes take me 4+ hours to get through, with each issue taking about 15-25 minutes depending on how text heavy it is. Compared to modern issues of any character that take me 10 minutes or less to get through.
>to current
The problem is, why would you want to? Clone Saga is famously the first real major frick-up in Spider-Man comics. I suspect its defenders are just coping that "it's not that bad" because other things are worse.
The last real cut-off before Clone Saga is Maximum Carnage, which takes place immediately after Spectacular #200. If you go to Maximum Carnage, you would also be adding ASM up to #380.
The JMS run is the first good run after Clone Saga, and you can pick it up after skipping however much you want from the "classic" era.
The Dan Slott run is contentious. There are storylines that people like, and others that people hate. Slott also has publicly contentious feelings about Spider-Man (he feels Spider-Man's love for Mary Jane is "anti-Marvel"). You will find nobody on Cinemaphile who likes Slott. I personally like his Silver Surfer run and his She-Hulk run.
Nick Spencer tried to course correct, but Marvel fricked him at the end.
Wells is a complete and total dumpster fire with no redeeming qualities.
Nah Clone Saga has a bunch of genuinely great stories set during it, especially near the start
Maybe but most people would drop it out of boredom and anoyance before they reach those.
Honestly I think that the symbiote crap before it (plus the non-JMD LMD parent stuff) and the Byrne crap after it are easily the worst of the 90s when it comes to Spider-Man
>he feels Spider-Man's love for Mary Jane is "anti-Marvel"
God I hate Slott so fricking much. Spider-Man and Mary Jane is THE love story of Marvel. It's so pure that even in destroying it Marvel made it canon that Mephisto saw it as more divine and worth stealing than a human soul. Marvel is fricking stupid to have kept it off limits for 15 years.
The one where Peter kills MJ with semen
roger stern run
Blue what
Was going to make my own thread, but saw this, may as well piggyback on it.
What are the essential storylines for the classic Spider-man villains?
>Kraven
>Kraven's Last Hunt
>Rhino
>The Gauntlet
>Carnage
>Maximum Carnage
What are the equivalents for say, Hobgoblin, Scorpion, Shocker, Electro, Venom?
>Hobgoblin
Really the whole original Hobgoblin saga, then later Hobgoblin Lives
>Electro
Light the Night
Can't pick any for the rest off the top of my head. I guess for Venom you can just say his earliest appearances because the moment he gets a solo (or Carnage is introduced) he becomes complete shit
Based, thanks for the recommendations boys. What about other Spidey villains? Vulture, Doc Ock, Sandman, Mysterio, etc.?
>Vulture
Basically everything Stern did with him.
>Doc Ock
Master Planner Saga/If this be my Destiny, Spectacular 173-175, Web of Death
>Sandman
While not strictly a Spider-Man story Marvel Two-In-One is where Sandman starts on his road to redemption and is pretty good. Marvel Team-Up 138 is where he first works with Spider-Man now that he's reformed and is also good
>Really the whole original Hobgoblin saga, then later Hobgoblin Lives
Not really, those are big stories where he's the main villain, but they're not the same kinds of stories as those others, they don't get under his skin and show us what makes him tick the way those other named stories do for those other villains. Nobody's ever really done that for Hobgoblin, or at least not that version of Hobgoblin.
>Venom
Just read his first few appearances, especially drawn by McFarlane
>Hobgoblin
Stern’s entire Hobgoblin run.
>Scorpion
ASM 20, Amazing Annual 18, Sweet Charity, his Animated Series debut episode, Spider-Man Unlimited 13 and 22
>Shocker
ASM 46, 72, 151-152
>Electro
Light The Night, ASM 9, Spectacular 134-135, ASM 423
>Venom
His first three stories. Goes downhill right after.
Peter David stuff is good too.
Personally speaking I feel you might as well go from AF#15, read through ASM until SSM starts, read those in tandem until Web starts, read that, get to about the mid-90s point, suffer through Clone Saga, and then shortly before the ending switch over to MC2 which is by far a much more satisfying conclusion to that period of comics and considering how spotty everything is in mainline comics after, you won't feel like smacking your head every time you see some moronic choice of character writing
If you for whatever reason don't feel like reading 500-600 issues of comics Ultimate Spider-Man is there of course and everything up until about Ultimatum is a pretty good modern refresh of the character but unlike people say otherwise, it falls off really hard after that as Bendis was clearly spinning the wheels
and then random anthologies/spinoffs like Blue, Marvel Knights, Untold Tales, Zdarsky's stories, etc.
Sins Past, Clone Saga, One More Day.
Seconding JMS run, add Jenkins' Spectacular Spider-Man to the list.
Ms Marvel/Spider-man 1 and 2
The entirety of Spider-cest
Weaving Fluids 1 - 4
Savage Love
Marvel Team Up: Not in Kansas anymore
Spider-man Heroes for Hire
Spider-man Ryker's bait
Spider-Gwen: Queen of the F-train
Gwen X-posure
Sinful Six
Silk: Uncovered
On the Edge of Spidercest: All New Ultimates
Spider-Women
Antman and the Wasp 1 and 2
Spider-Sex
Spider-Sex 2: Into her Spider-Tush
Oh damn. almost forgot
Spider-Friends with Benefits
Oh! What a web