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''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is the title of a Comic Book published by Marvel Comics , a Television Program and a daily Newspaper Comic Strip featuring the adventures of the Superhero Spider-Man . COMIC BOOK Spider-Man first appeared in issue #15 of the comic book '' Amazing Fantasy '' (Aug. 1962). The series was cancelled with that issue, but response to the character was so positive that a solo title, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' was launched in March 1963. The character was created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Steve Ditko , and the pair produced 38 issues of ''Amazing'' from 1963 to 1966. Since then, many writers and artists have taken over the monthly comic over the years chronicling the adventures of Marvel's most identifiable hero. ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is considered to be the “lead” Spider-Man title, as it was the first (and for many years, the ''only'') regular Spider-Man comic, and it has been in print since 1963. Most of the major characters and villains of the Spider-Man saga were introduced in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', and many (but not all) of the key events occurred in the title too. The title was published continuously until 1998 when Marvel Comics decided to begin it anew by renumbering the title with a new issue #1 published in January, 1999. In 2003, Spider-Man's 40th anniversary, this new title reverted to using the numbering of the original series, at issue #500. the ones writen by lee are often called some of the best comics of all The 1960s The initial years of the book, under Lee and Ditko, chronicled Spider-Man’s nascent career with his civilian life as hard-luck (yet perpetually good-humoured) teenager Peter Parker. Peter balanced his career as Spider-Man with his job as a freelance photographer for The Daily Bugle (under the bombastic J. Jonah Jameson ) to help support himself and his frail Aunt May . At the same time, Peter dealt with public hostility towards Spider-Man, the antagonism of his classmates Flash Thompson and Liz Allan at Midtown High School, as well as embarking on a tentative, ill-fated romance with Jameson’s secretary, Betty Brant . By focusing on Peter’s everyday problems and hard-luck crime-fighting career, Lee and Ditko created a flawed, self-doubting superhero readers could more readily identify with. Ditko’s quirky, woodcut-like art provided a stark contrast to the more cleanly dynamic stylings of Marvel’s most prominent artist, (May 1963) featured the first appearance of The Vulture , and it was in this issue that Peter began his career with The Daily Bugle. The Lee/Ditko era continued to usher in a significant number of villains and supporting characters:
Peter began attending Empire State University, in (Feb. 1966), the third part of the “If This Be My Destiny” arc (this issue featured the dramatic scene of Spidey escaping from being pinned by machinery and is still cited by many fans as one of the best Spider-Man stories of all time). Although credited only as artist for most of his run, Steve Ditko would eventually plot the stories as well as draw them, leaving Stan Lee to script the dialogue (some would argue that it was Lee's dialogue that put the heart into Spider-Man and Peter Parker). However, a rift between Ditko and Lee developed, and the two men were not on speaking terms long before Ditko completed his last issue of ''Amazing Spider-Man'' ( (Jun. 1965) with her face obscured and had been mentioned since #15 (Aug. 1964). Some fans feel that the quality of the stories dropped during the Lee/Romita era (1966-1971), despite the fact that the book became more popular during this time. Lee and Romita toned down the prevalent sense of antagonism Steve Ditko imbued in Peter Parker’s world: by improving Peter’s relationship with the supporting characters, and having stories focusing just as much on the social and college lives of Peter/Gwen/Harry/MJ/Flash Thompson as they did on Spider-Man’s adventures, Lee and Romita gave ''Amazing Spider-Man'' a more soap-operatic feel that contributed to the increasing popularity of the book with readers. The stories also became more topical, addressing issues such as (Apr. 1970). The 1970s Two new Spider-Man titles debuted in the 1970s: '' arc of Oct.-Nov. 1970, featuring the death of Capt. George Stacy (which impacted on the serious relationship that had developed between Gwen Stacy and Peter). This was also the first Spider-Man story to be penciled by Gil Kane , who would alternate drawing duties for the next year and a half with John Romita, and who would draw some of the most memorable Spider-Man stories of all time. One such story took place in the controversial issues #96-98 (May-Jul. 1971). Stan Lee defied the Comics Code Authority with this story, in which the Green Goblin’s son, Harry Osborn, was hospitalized after tripping on LSD . Lee wrote this story as a response to a request from The US Department Of Health, Education And Welfare for a story about the dangers of drugs. The Comics Code Authority refused to put their seal on these issues because they depicted drug use (despite the anti-drugs context of the story). With the approval of Marvel publisher Martin Goodman , Lee had the comics published without the CCA 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. Several issues later, the memorable “Six-Arm Saga” of #100-102 (Sep.-Nov. 1971), as well as introducing , and started the era of darker and grittier comics. In any case, the deaths of Gwen in #121 the Goblin in #122 formed a story arc that is widely considered one of the best and most defining the history of Spider-Man. The aftermath of the story also deepened both the characterisation of Mary Jane Watson, and her relationship with Peter Parker. By late 1973, Gil Kane was succeeded by Ross Andru , the most prolific Spidey artist of the 1970s. Andru’s run on ''Amazing Spider-Man'' lasted nearly 60 issues, from 1973 to 1978. The most important issue of the Conway/Andru era was undoubtedly #129 (Feb. 1974), which featured the first appearance of The Punisher (and The Jackal ). The Conway/Andru era of ''Amazing Spider-Man'' included other classic issues such as:
(July 1979). As a love interest for Spider-Man, the Black Cat would go on to be an important supporting character in the Spider-Man comics for the better part of the next decade – arguably, the first decade to begin with Spider-Man established as a worldwide cultural icon. The 1980s The 200th issue of ''Amazing Spider-Man'' (featuring the return and death of the who killed Spidey’s Uncle Ben) was cover-dated January 1980. Marv Wolfman and Keith Pollard both left ''Amazing'' by mid-year. Dennis O'Neil (best-known for his work with Neal Adams for a run on '' Batman '' in the 1970s) became writer, and John Romita, Jr. took over as artist. After a largely unmemorable run which lasted a little over a year, O’Neil was succeeded in late 1981 by Roger Stern , who had previously written nearly 20 issues of ''Spectacular Spider-Man''. Skilled in continuity and writing snappy dialogue, Stern revitalized the writing on ''Amazing Spider-Man'', after a period of inconsistent quality which characterized the book since the end of Gerry Conway’s run in the mid-70s. During his two years on the title, Stern augmented the backgrounds of long-established Spider-Man villains, but arguably, his most important contribution to the Spider-Man saga was a new villain, The Hobgoblin . Co-created by Stern and John Romita, Jr., the Hobgoblin first appeared in a 2-part arc 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 (Sep.-Oct.1983 & Feb.-Apr. 1984). Other highlights of the Stern/Romita Jr. run on ''Amazing'' included Spidey’s confrontation with The Juggernaut in #229-230 (Jun.-Jul. 1982), and the Brand Corporation arc which included the mutation and death of The Tarantula in #233-236 (Oct. 1982-Jan. 1983). Stern’s most celebrated Spider-Man story is “The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man” in #248 (Jan.1984). However, one of the more lasting changes was the reintroduction of a much more serious Mary Jane Watson who becomes Peter's confidant after she reveals that she knows his secret identity. By mid-1984, Roger Stern left ''Amazing Spider-Man'' to write '' West Coast Avengers '', and John Romita, Jr. left to concentrate on penciling '' Uncanny X-Men ''. Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz took over scripting and penciling duties on ''Amazing Spider-Man'', immediately carrying on with the Hobgoblin arc which Stern and Romita, Jr. created. Frenz's lean, quirky rendition of Spider-Man/Peter Parker was closer to the stylings of original Spidey artist Steve Ditko than most of the post-Ditko artists (who followed the Spidey model of John Romita, Sr.). Jim Owsley, who edited the Spider-Man titles at the time, later remarked that “The DeFalco/Frenz run on AMAZING was the crown jewel, a book I thoroughly enjoyed. Frenz was "passionate" about Spider-Man, verging on fanatical, and nobody knew Spider-Man better than former Spider-editor DeFalco.” DeFalco was also an advocate of Peter Parker marrying Mary Jane Watson – although the event would not occur until several issues after his run ended, DeFalco helped establish the maturation in Peter and Mary Jane's relationship that laid the foundation for their eventual wedding, in notable issues such as #257 (Oct. 1984), in which Mary Jane tells Peter she knows he’s Spider-Man, and #259 (Dec. 1984), in which Mary Jane reveals to Peter the extent of her troubled childhood (#259-261 also featured the return of The Hobgoblin). Other notable issues of the DeFalco/Frenz era include:
Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz were both removed from ''Amazing Spider-Man'' in 1986 by Jim Owsley, under circumstances which were acrimonious, to say the least (Owsley candidly discussed them in 2002 on his website ). A succession of various artists (including Alan Kupperberg , John Romita, Jr. and Alex Saviuk ) penciled the book from 1987 to 1988; Jim Owsley wrote the book for the first half of 1987, scripting the 5-part “Gang War” story (#284-288) that DeFalco plotted. Former '' Spectacular Spider-Man '' writer Peter David scripted #289 (June 1987), which revealed the late Ned Leeds as being the Hobgoblin (although this was Retconned in 1996 by Roger Stern into Ned not being the original Hobgoblin after all). David Michelinie (then best known for a run on '' Iron Man '' in the 70s-80s) took over as writer in the next issue, for a story arc in #290-292 (July-Sep. 1987) that led to the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson in ''Amazing Spider-Man'' Annual #21. Issue #298 (Mar. 1988) was the first Spider-Man comic to be drawn by Todd McFarlane , the first regular artist on ''Amazing Spider-Man'' since the departure of Ron Frenz. McFarlane revolutionised Spider-Man’s look. His Spider-Man – large-eyed, with wiry, contorted limbs, and “messier” webbing – influenced the way many subsequent artists would draw the character, and made McFarlane himself an industry superstar. Aside from a new look for Spidey, McFarlane’s most significant contribution to the Spider-Man saga was the designs for the character Venom , a wildly popular villain, created by Michelinie. #299 (Apr. 1988) featured Venom’s first appearance (a last-page cameo) before his first full appearance in #300 (May 1988). #300 also featured Spider-Man reverting back 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, #315-317 (May-July 1989), with the return of Venom, and #320-325 (Sep. 1989-Nov. 1989), “The Assassin Nation Plot.” After the editorial and creative turmoil that beset ''Amazing Spider-Man'' in 1987, the Michelinie/McFarlane team at the tail-end of the 1980s restored a sense of creative consistency and quality to the book – as well as setting the tone for all the Spider-Man books of the next decade. The 1990s With a civilian life as a married man, and a re-vamped and re-energised artistic look, the Spider-Man of the 90s was a different superhero from the Spider-Man of the previous three decades. The rise of the comic-book speculation craze of the 90s also impacted on the Spider-Man books. Controversial times lay ahead for Spider-Man, midway through the decade. Following his 1988-1989 run on ''Amazing Spider-Man'', Todd McFarlane left the title to write and draw a new Spidey book, '''', in 1990. McFarlane’s successor on ''Amazing Spider-Man'' was Erik Larsen , who penciled the book from early 1990 to mid 1991. At first, many fans resented the idea of anybody replacing the immensely popular McFarlane. Some objected to Larsen’s “cartoony” style; others labeled him a McFarlane clone. However, Larsen went on to win the readers over, and the book experienced a significant sale increase during his time as artist. Notable issues of the Michelinie/Larsen era include Spidey vs. Venom in #332-333 and 345-347 (May-Jun. 1990 and Mar.-May 1991), the “Return Of The Sinister Six” arc in #334-339 (Jul.-Sep. 1990), and Spidey vs. Doctor Doom in #349-350 (Jul.-Aug. 1991). After issue #350, Erik Larsen was succeeded by ". With #389, J.M. DeMatteis took over as writer (his previous Spider-Man credits included the controversial '' Kraven's Last Hunt '' story arc in 1987, and a 1991-1993 run on '' The Spectacular Spider-Man ''). DeMatteis immediately imbued a grim psychological tone into ''Amazing Spider-Man'', with the conclusion of the “Pursuit” crossover in #389 (May 1994) and the “Shrieking” story arc of #390-393 (Jun.-Sep. 1994). Spider-Man, at this point, was a noticeably darker and more brooding character than he had ever been before (it is possible that the creative team behind the Spider-Man books wanted readers to feel more sympathy for Peter’s recently re-introduced clone, Ben Reilly , than for Peter, so they could more readily accept the idea of Ben replacing Peter as Spider-Man). From October 1994 to June 1996, ''Amazing'' stopped running stories exclusive to the title and merely ran installments of multi-part stories that crossed over into all the Spider-Man books. One of the few self-contained stories during this period was #400 (Apr. 1995), which featured the death of Aunt May (although the death was later revealed to have been faked). 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 was massively unpopular with readers, and was later reversed in the “Revelations” story arc that crossed over the Spider-Man books in Dec. 1996). The Clone Saga tied into a publishing gap after #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 #407 (Jan. 1996), with Tom DeFalco returning as the book’s writer (for a run which, by his own admission, did not compare to his 1984-1986 stint). By September 1996, Mark Bagley had completed his 5½-year run as artist on ''Amazing Spider-Man''. A succession of artists (including Ron Garney , Steve Skroce , Joe Bennett and Rafael Kayanan ) penciled the book until November 1998, by which time Marvel had decided to bring the curtain down on ''Amazing Spider-Man'' and “reboot” the title. The “last” issue of ''Amazing Spider-Man'' was #441, cover-dated Nov. 1998. The reboot, and beyond .]] Marvel began ''Amazing Spider-Man'' anew with issue #1 in January 1999. as artist. Issue #58 (Nov. 2003) was the final issue of “Volume 2” of ''Amazing Spider-Man''; the title reverted back to its original numbering for #500 (Dec. 2003) (with Vol. 2, #1-58 considered as #442-499 of the original run.). Mike Deodato, Jr. penciled the book from mid-2004 until 2006. Black Issue ''Amazing Spider-Man'' vol. 2 #36 (called the "Black Issue" because of its black cover) explores how Spider-Man and other heroes react to the September 11, 2001 Attacks . The issue was written by J. Michael Straczynski and penciled by John Romita, Jr . It starts with a double page spread of the devastation and of Spidey holding his head in pain/anguish/disbelief, his only word "...God..." as well as a few brief thoughts of the act. The issue continues as Spider-Man swings down to help in the aftermath. Joining with other heroes in the rescue efforts, Spider-Man explores the wreckage and the broken hearts and his thoughts drive on, thinking through it all. At some point his thoughts become Straczynski's reflections and response. The script journeys from horror, pain and loss to end on strength. The story was notable for spotlighting the firefighters sifting through the wreckage, keeping the heroes assisting them few. The emphasis on "real life" heroes is most apparent on the last page, in a full-page splash wherein the super heroes seen in that issue stood in the background, and New York City firefighters and other city workers involved in helping during the events of 9/11 stood in the foreground. Civil War The 2006 '' Civil War '' crossover includes ''The Amazing Spider-Man.'' Spider-Man originally fights alongside Iron Man and the government to fulfill the Superhuman Registration Act , capturing superheroes and jailing them until they register and reveal their identities. Spider-Man reveals his secret identity as Peter Parker to the world, but eventually realizes he is on the wrong side and becomes an opponent of the registration. As Spider-man, he is along side of Captain America , as Iron Spider-man, he works for Iron Man. Back In Black .]] As of issue #539, almost immediately following the Civil War, Aunt May is shot by an unnamed assassin hired by the Kingpin to kill Peter. Peter dodged and knocked Mary Jane down but was unable to save Aunt May, who is badly injured. Peter takes Aunt May to the hospital, leaving instructions with Mary Jane on what to do. He then retrieves the long forgotten black costume to send a new message: when he finds who shot his aunt, he is going to kill them. He then discovers the name of the man who shot her, Jake Martino. As they were fighting, Peter demanded he tell him who hired him. Before he could get the name out, he was shot by an unknown assailant. Peter tracks down the shooter of Jake and discovers he works with the Kingpin of crime. Spider-man then proceedss to hunt down Fisk and promises to kill him. Utterly defeating Fisk in combat, Peter stops short of killing him, revealing that due to the fact their fight was witnessed by an entire prison's worth of witnesses, word will soon spread about Spider-Man's total defeat of Kingpin, and for a man who wants people to believe he's unbeatable, his reputation is everything. Peter promises to kill Fisk immediately after May dies, since it was Kingpin's order to shoot. Peter then tells the inmates to spread the word around the underworld that if anyone targets his family, he ''will'' kill them. While ''Back in Black'' promotions from Marvel stated that this was his first time back in the black costume in twenty years, he made two brief returns to the costume in 1991's ''Spider-Man'' volume 1, #13, to battle Morbius the Living Vampire and in Amazing Spider-Man vol 2 #19 battling Venom which was the issue Brock's wife committed suicide. One More Day "One More Day" is a four-part cross-over, written by J. Michael Straczynski and illustrated by Joe Quesada , running through September's Amazing Spider-Man #544 and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24, October's Sensational Spider-Man #41 and November's Amazing Spider-Man #545. The cross-over issues will be the final issues for Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and Sensational Spider-Man, as they will be replaced by additional monthly issues of Amazing Spider-Man beginning in November. The known story details include one final confrontation with Tony Stark , in which Spider-man, in civilian garb, unleashes all of his internal webbing on Iron Man, wrapping him in a tight cocoon in an alley. This detail was announced in a 4 to 6 page spread in the May 2007 issue of Wizard Magazine . Brand New Day Following One More Day, Marvel has planned a "back to basics" approach to Spider-Man which will see ''Amazing Spider-Man'' ship three times per month. {Link without Title} There will be four creative teams initially consisting of Dan Slott and Steve McNiven , Bob Gale and Phil Jiminez , Marc Guggenheim and Salvador Larroca , and Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo . Each creative team will be producing a story arc (6 issues) released 3 times per month. Editor Steve Wacker said in an interview with Newsarama "I'll be rotating the artists and writers so it's not always the same". See Also: List of The Amazing Spider-Man comics TELEVISION PROGRAM See Also: The Amazing Spider-Man (TV series) Spidey got his shot at live-action TV stardom in April 1977, when he debuted in the "Amazing Spider-Man" TV series. Nicholas Hammond portrayed Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the short-lived series, which had started out as a series of TV-movies, obviously made to capitalize on the The Incredible Hulk television series. The show was canceled a year after its debut. RADIO SERIES In 1995 BBC Radio commissioned a Spider-Man 'audio book' which aired on BBC Radio 1 over 50 episodes on week days between January 15th 1996 and March 24th 1996. The performance was co-produced by Brian May who also contributed to the musical arrangement and wrote and performed the theme tune. The scope of the story included a number of familiar characters from the Spider-Man comic books as well as key figures from the Marvel 'Heroes' universe such as Fantastic Four , Namor The Submariner and Doctor Doom . The role of Spider-Man was performed by William Dufries . Also included in the cast list was Anita Dobson , famous for her role as Angie Watts in BBC's serial drama '' EastEnders ''. NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIP The daily newspaper comic strip began on January 3 , 1977 . It was first written by Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee and illustrated by John Romita . The strip was surprisingly successful in an era with few serialized adventure strips. The strip slowly grew in circulation and As Of 2007 is still being published. Lee's brother Larry Lieber illustrated and later wrote the strip for much of its run. In 1992, Paul Ryan took over the penciling (with Joe Sinnott inking) on the Sunday version of the strip, and drew that feature for just over three years. While the strip and the comic book feature the same characters, they do not share the same Continuity , and the strip has had a decreased emphasis on Supervillain enemies. A rare exception was the 1987 wedding of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson which occurred in both the comic book and the comic strip. Guest stars in the newspaper strip include Wolverine , Daredevil and Dr. Strange . Villains include Dr. Doom , Kraven The Hunter , and The Rhino . Stories from the strip have been reprinted in paperback and in'' Comics Revue '' magazine. VIDEO AND COMPUTER GAMES Numerous video and computer games have been released whereby the player controlled Spider-Man and had to do battle with various enemies. TRIVIA
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