Welcome to the Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide, where we take you through the Wellington City Libraries’ collection of a comic book character. This post is all about the first to do whatever a spider can: Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man!
(via GIPHY)
This blog will just cover what we have of The Amazing Spider-Man, the main Spider-Man series which has published continuously since 1963, and any other Peter Parker-centric comics.
If you want to read about Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, and the other heroes from across the Spider-Verse, check out their blogs here (Part One) and here (Part Two).
Who is The Amazing Spider-Man?
Let’s do this one more time….
Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, and gained superhuman abilities like incredible strength and reflexes, adhesive fingers and toes to climb along walls, and a ‘spider-sense’ that could predict danger. After the tragic death of his Uncle Ben, Peter learned that with great power must also come great responsibility, and he became the crimefighting hero Spider-Man.
An Amazing Fantasy
Spider-Man first appeared in the fifteenth (and final) issue of an anthology comic called Amazing Fantasy in 1962. Proving to be a hit with readers, he received his own series the following year, The Amazing Spider-Man.
On Libby, we have the first twenty issues of the series (plus the original Spider-Man story from Amazing Fantasy), which introduces Peter’s supporting cast, like his Aunt May, his boss J. Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle newspaper, and his first love interest Betty Brant.
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 1 (only on Libby)
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2 (only on Libby)
For a contemporary take on Spider-Man’s early years, check out the Learning to Crawl volume, which takes place between Amazing Fantasy #15 and The Amazing Spider-Man #1, or the recent Spidey miniseries.
The amazing Spider-Man [1.1] : learning to crawl / Slott, Dan
Spidey. Volume 1, First day / Thompson, Robbie
Spidey. Vol. 02, After-school special / Thompson, Robbie
The whole run on Spidey is also collected in one volume as
Spidey. [1], Freshman year / Thompson, Robbie
Brand New Day and The Gauntlet
Brand New Day was a mid-2000s Amazing Spider-Man arc which re-established a classic status quo for Peter Parker, working once more for the Daily Bugle and struggling to stay afloat in post-recession New York. In the now-classic The Gauntlet arc, Spider-Man faces revamped versions of his classic foes, like Sandman, Electro, the Lizard, and Mysterio.
The Amazing Spider-Man: Brand New Day (only on Libby)
The amazing Spider-Man : brand new day. Vol. 2 / Gale, Bob (also on Libby)
The amazing Spider-Man : brand new day / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man : election day / Guggenheim, Marc
The amazing Spider-Man : crime and punisher / Guggenheim, Marc
The amazing Spider-Man : death and dating / Waid, Mark
The amazing Spider-Man : the gauntlet [1] : Electro & Sandman
The amazing Spider-Man : the gauntlet. [Vol. 2], Rhino & Mysterio
The amazing Spider-Man : the gauntlet [3] : Vulture & Morbius
The amazing Spider-Man : the gauntlet [4] : Juggernaut
The amazing Spider-Man : the gauntlet. [Vol. 5], Lizard
Spidey hits the Big Time
Big Time sees Peter Parker joining Horizon Labs, a tech company specialising in cutting-edge research and development. This era focused more on Peter’s scientific smarts, as he used his personal lab to develop tech for fighting villains as Spider-Man and then repurposed it into consumer technology at Horizon.
The amazing Spider-Man : big time
The amazing Spider-Man : matters of life and death / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man : the return of Anti-Venom
The amazing Spider-Man : flying blind
The amazing Spider-Man : ends of the Earth
The Amazing Spider-Man : Lizard : no turning back / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man : dying wish / Slott, Dan
Into the Spider-Verse
After having his mind taken over by Doctor Octopus (see Superior Spider-Man in our Spider-Verse blog), Peter returned just in time to join the Spider-Verse crossover, where he first met Silk, Spider-Gwen, and the rest of the Spider-Army.
The amazing Spider-Man [1] : the Parker luck / Slott, Dan (also on Libby)
The amazing Spider-Man [2] : Spider-Verse prelude / Slott, Dan (also on Libby)
The amazing Spider-Man [3] : Spider-Verse / Slott, Dan (also on Libby)
The amazing Spider-Man [4] : graveyard shift / Slott, Dan (also on Libby)
The amazing Spider-Man [5] : spiral / Conway, Gerry
Spider-Man Worldwide
Continuing Dan Slott’s 100+ issue run on Amazing Spider-Man, this series has Peter Parker going global after becoming the multi-millionaire owner of Parker Industries, with Spider-Man acting as his ‘security consultant’.
The amazing Spider-Man : worldwide [1] / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man : worldwide [2] / Slott, Dan
Civil war II : amazing Spider-Man / Gage, Christos
The amazing Spider-Man : worldwide [3] / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man : worldwide [4] / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man : worldwide [5] / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man : worldwide [6] / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man : worldwide [7] / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man : worldwide [8] / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man : worldwide [9] / Slott, Dan
Spider-Geddon (ONLY on Libby)
Spider-Man goes Back to Basics
Nick Spencer (Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Captain America) took over the series and brought Spider-Man down to Earth and back to New York. Here, Peter rekindled his romance with Mary Jane Watson and became roommates with one of his B-list villains, Fred Myers aka Boomerang.
The amazing Spider-Man. Vol. 1, Back to basics / Spencer, Nick
The Amazing Spider-Man [2] : friends and foes / Spencer, Nick
(also on Libby)
The amazing Spider-Man. Vol. 3, Lifetime achievement / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man [4] : hunted / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man. Vol. 5, Behind the scenes / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man : absolute Carnage
The amazing Spider-Man [7] : 2099 / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man [8] : threats & menaces / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man [9] : sins rising / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man [10] : Green Goblin returns / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man. Vol. 11, Last remains / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man : last remains companion / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man [12] : shattered web / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man [13] : king’s ransom / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man [14] : Chameleon conspiracy / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man. Vol. 15, What cost victory / Spencer, Nick
Spider-Man Beyond
Peter Parker’s clone Ben Reilly (see Scarlet Spider in our Spider-Verse blog) takes on the Spider-Man mantle while Peter is out of commission, joining up with the Beyond Corporation as their corporate-sponsored hero.
The amazing Spider-Man : beyond [1]
The amazing Spider-Man : beyond [2]
The amazing Spider-Man : beyond [3]
The amazing Spider-Man : beyond [4]
The Return of Peter Parker
The current run of Amazing Spider-Man has no shortage of ups and downs for Peter Parker, as he gains a new suit courtesy of the reformed Green Goblin, teams up with the X-Men to prevent a demonic invasion in Dark Web, and faces an upgraded Doctor Octopus.
The Amazing Spider-Man. Volume 1, World without love / Wells, Zeb
The Amazing Spider-Man. Volume 2, The new sinister / Wells, Zeb (also on Libby)
The amazing Spider-Man. Volume 3, Hobgoblin / Wells, Zeb (also on Libby)
The amazing Spider-Man. Vol. 4, Dark web / Wells, Zeb
The amazing Spider-Man. Volume 5, Dead language, part 1 / Wells, Zeb
The amazing Spider-Man. Vol. 06, Dead language, part 2
The amazing Spider-Man [7] : armed and dangerous / Wells, Zeb
Spider-Man and… Spider-Boy?
Dan Slott returns to Spider-Man for this series that runs concurrently with the main Amazing Spider-Man series. After saving the Spider-Verse once more, Peter reconnects with his old trusty sidekick, Spider-Boy. But why does Peter not remember him?
Spider-Man [1] : end of the Spider-Verse / Slott, Dan
Spider-Man [2] : who is Spider-Boy / Slott, Dan
More Spider-Man series
Spectacular Spider-Man
Published around the latter half of Amazing Spider-Man‘s ‘Worldwide’ arc, this series has Spider-Man reveal his identity to J. Jonah Jameson, and the two form a belligerent crime-fighting duo.
Peter Parker : the spectacular Spider-Man. Vol 2, Most wanted / Zdarsky, Chip
Peter Parker : the spectacular Spider-Man [3] : amazing fantasy / Zdarsky, Chip
Peter Parker : the spectacular Spider-Man. Vol. 4, Coming home / Zdarsky, Chip
Peter Parker : the spectacular Spider-Man. Volume 5, Spider-geddon
Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man
A smaller-scope Spider-Man series, famous for the ‘Spider-Byte’ issue in which Peter takes on a junior apprentice for a day.
Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Vol. 1, Secrets and rumors / Taylor, Tom
Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man [2] : hostile takeovers / Taylor, Tom
Ultimate Spider-Man
In the Ultimate Universe of Earth-1610, the world is in a superhuman arms race in the early 2000s. It was during this period that teenager Peter Parker was bitten by a genetically altered spider and became Spider-Man. Intended to be a modern update of Spider-Man separate from the main Amazing series, this run is celebrated for its strong writing, expressive art, and interesting reinventions of the Wall-Crawler’s classic foes and supporting cast.
We don’t have much of this series left in the collection, but we have enough up to roughly the point where Miles Morales takes over as Spider-Man in this universe (for more on his adventures, check out our Spider-Verse guide here)
Ultimate Spider-Man Peter Parker reading order
Ultimate Spider-Man : double trouble / Bendis, Brian Michael
Ultimate Spider-Man : death of a goblin / Bendis, Brian Michael
Ultimate Spider-Man and his amazing friends / Bendis, Brian Michael
Ultimate Spider-Man : war of the symbiotes / Bendis, Brian Michael
Ultimate Spider-Man : ultimatum / Bendis, Brian Michael
Ultimate comics Spider-Man. Vol. 1, The world according to Peter Parker / Bendis, Brian Michael
Ultimate comics Spider-Man : death of Spider-Man fallout / Bendis, Brian Michael
Miles Morales: the ultimate Spider-Man [1] : revival / Bendis, Brian Michael
Other Spider-Man volumes
Amazing Spider-Man : family business / Waid, Mark
Non-stop Spider-Man : big brain play / Kelly, Joe
Deadly neighborhood Spider-Man / Taboo
The sensational Spider-Man : feral / Aguirre-Sacasa, Roberto
Spider-Man : Spider’s shadow / Zdarsky, Chip
Spider-Man : bloodline / Abrams, J. J.
Legends of Marvel : Spider-Man / David, Peter
Spider-Man Team-ups
These books cover the various times Spider-Man has teamed up with other Marvel heroes, including the X-Men, Deadpool, the Avengers, and the Harlem-based heroes the Santerians.
Spider-Man and the X-Men / Kalan, Elliott
X-Men : with great power / Gischler, Victor
Spider-Man/Deadpool. Vol. 1, Isn’t it bromantic / Kelly, Joe
Avenging Spider-Man : my friends can beat up your friends / Wells, Zeb
Avenging Spider-Man : the good, the green and the ugly
Avenging Spider-Man : threats & menaces
The amazing Spider-Man : amazing grace / Molina, Jose
The Amazing Mary Jane
Peter Parker’s most famous love interest is Mary Jane Watson, a model and actress who has more than held her own against Spider-Man’s many villains. Marvel briefly published a manga-influenced series focusing on Mary Jane’s high school days, and she recently got her own miniseries where she works alongside Mysterio in Hollywood.
Spider-Man loves Mary Jane : the real thing / McKeever, Sean
Spider-Man loves Mary Jane : sophomore jinx / Moore, Terry
The amazing Mary Jane. Vol. 1, Down in flames, up in smoke / Williams, Leah
Mary Jane & Black Cat : Dark Web / McKay, Jed
The Sinister Foes of Spider-Man
Spider-Man has one of the most iconic rogues galleries in comic books, so I’ve included some of their notable stories here. We’ve already covered The Kingpin, The Prowler, and The Spot in our Spider-Verse blogs.
The Sinister Six
Usually lead by either Doc Ock or one of the many Goblins, the Sinister Six are a rotating team of Spider-Man’s greatest enemies. Recently, multiple Sinister Six teams fought each other with Spider-Man in the crossfire in the ‘Sinister War’.
Notable Sinister Six stories
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2 (contains the Sinister Six’s first appearance, only on Libby)
The Amazing Spider-Man : the deadly foes of Spider-Man / Fingeroth, Danny
The amazing Spider-Man : ends of the Earth
Spider-Man : Miles Morales [4] / Bendis, Brian Michael
Superior Foes of Spider-Man
A comedy-oriented series featuring a group of less-respected Spider-Man villains. Boomerang, Beetle, Shocker, Speed Demon and Overdrive team up to be the best Sinister Six ever…despite the fact there’s only five of them.
The superior foes of Spider-Man [1] : getting the band back together / Spencer, Nick
The superior foes of Spider-Man [2] : the crime of the century / Spencer, Nick
The superior foes of Spider-Man. Volume 3, Game over / Spencer, Nick
Green Goblin (Norman Osborn)
Industrialist and “something of a scientist” Norman Osborn awakened his dark alter ego, The Green Goblin, following exposure to an strange chemical formula. After years of menacing Spider-Man, Norman gained a brief period of respectability leading the Thunderbolts and the Avengers, before succumbing to villainy once more.
Notable Norman Osborn stories
Thunderbolts : caged animals / Ellis, Warren
Thunderbolts : secret invasion / Gage, Christos
Thunderbolts : burning down the house / Diggle, Andy
Dark Avengers (only on Libby)
The superior Spider-Man [6] : Goblin Nation / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man : worldwide [6] / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man : Red Goblin / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man [10] : Green Goblin returns / Spencer, Nick
Gold Goblin / Cantwell, Christopher
Doctor Octopus
Embittered physicist Doctor Otto Octavius was fused to his multi-armed prosthesis in a radiation accident. Empowered by his transformation, he proclaimed himself ‘Doctor Octopus’ and became one of Spider-Man’s greatest enemies, even going as far to replace him for a time (see Superior Spider-Man in our Spider-Verse blog).
Notable Doctor Octopus stories
The invincible Iron Man [8] : unfixable / Fraction, Matt
The amazing Spider-Man : ends of the Earth
The superior Spider-Man [1] : full Otto / Gage, Christos
The superior Spider-Man. Vol. 2, Otto-matic / Gage, Christos
The amazing Spider-Man : worldwide [7] / Slott, Dan
Devil’s reign : Superior Four / Thompson, Zac
Kraven the Hunter
Professional hunter and tracker Sergei Kravinoff grew tired of chasing the same old game, and rededicated himself to hunting someone who would give him an actual challenge: Spider-Man.
Notable Kraven the Hunter storylines
Marvel-verse : Kraven the hunter
Spider-Man : Kraven’s last hunt / DeMatteis, J. M
The unbeatable Squirrel Girl. 9, Squirrels fall like dominoes / North, Ryan
The amazing Spider-Man [4] : hunted / Spencer, Nick
Spider-Man : the lost hunt / DeMatteis, J. M
Sandman
After accidentally escaping into an island nuclear test facility, criminal Flint Marko was transformed into a Sandman, able to shape his particulate body into any form. Recently, Spider-Man fought a future Sandman with new and greater powers, such as turning into glass and gifting sand-controlling powers to others.
Notable Sandman stories
The amazing Spider-Man : the gauntlet [1] : Electro & Sandman
The amazing Spider-Man : ends of the Earth
Peter Parker : the spectacular Spider-Man. Vol. 4, Coming home / Zdarsky, Chip
Mysterio
Special effects artist Quentin Beck uses his expertise in illusions to commit crime and confound Spider-Man as Mysterio. Recently, Beck returned to Hollywood and worked alongside Spider-Man’s girlfriend Mary Jane Watson.
Notable Mysterio stories
Friendly neighbourhood : Spider-Man. [Vol. 2], mystery date / David, Peter
The amazing Spider-Man : the gauntlet. [Vol. 2], Rhino & Mysterio
Spider-Men (only on Libby)
The amazing Spider-Man. Vol. 5, Behind the scenes / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Mary Jane. Vol. 1, Down in flames, up in smoke / Williams, Leah
Electro
Lineman Max Dillon was electrocuted on the job and discovered he had the power to absorb and discharge bolts of electricity, which he immediately used to commit crime. Dillon has since been replaced as Electro by his ex-girlfriend, Francine Frye. Recently, a multiversal team of Electros teamed up to take over the Web of Life and Destiny from the Web Warriors.
Notable Electro stories
The amazing Spider-Man : the gauntlet [1] : Electro & Sandman
The amazing Spider-Man [1] : the Parker luck / Slott, Dan (also on Libby)
The amazing Spider-Man. Vol. 5, Behind the scenes / Spencer, Nick
Web Warriors, protectors of the Spider-verse. Volume 1, Electroverse / Costa, Mike
The Lizard 
Using altered lizard DNA to grow back his amputated arm, Dr Curt Connors inadvertently transformed himself into a reptilian monster. Now dubbed The Lizard, the creature seeks to eliminate all mammal life on Earth.
Notable Lizard stories
The sensational Spider-Man : feral / Aguirre-Sacasa, Roberto
The amazing Spider-Man : the gauntlet. [Vol. 5], Lizard
The Amazing Spider-Man : Lizard : no turning back / Slott, Dan
The amazing Spider-Man [4] : hunted / Spencer, Nick
Black Cat
Felicia Hardy is the Black Cat, New York’s premier cat burglar and an on-again/off-again romantic interest of Spider-Man.
Black Cat [1] : grand theft marvel / MacKay, Jed
Black Cat [2] : on the run / MacKay, Jed
Black Cat [3] : all dressed up / MacKay, Jed
Black Cat [4] : queen in black / MacKay, Jed
Black Cat [5] : I’ll take Manhattan / MacKay, Jed
Mary Jane & Black Cat : Dark Web / McKay, Jed
Venom
Venom might require an entire blog all to himself (not to mention his extended symbiote family). Till then, check out the first volume of his recent series and watch this space!
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