The Original Spider-Man Storyline

I'm reading the ESSENTIAL SPIDER-MAN reprint volumes and I love how there seems to be one long story being told.

My question is, when did the original 'story' end? Is there an issue that more-or-less ends the classic Stan Lee era, or did it just get more and more cluttered and unwieldy?

Thanks in advance,

Gerry Conway actually took over with issue 111, almost a full year before Gwen was killed off. Conway's first issue was the second part of a story introducing a minor character named the Gibbon begun by Stan in the previous issue.

Stan is given credit on 116-118 because those issues reprinted a story that originally appeared in the Spectacular Spider-Man # 1, a black and white magazine originally published 5 years before in 1968 (it was just reprinted recently). Conway did some major rewriting of the story to fit it into the then current continuity, which is why he also was given credit when it was reprinted in 116-118.

From the desk of S Mephistophilis

The recent storylines, in recent decades, has Peter Parker married and in graduate school. Other cultural developments and changes have appeared in the comics.

There is a pretty easy history to the Amazing Spider-man. He lived with his Aunt & Uncle and never knew his parents. In the first story, created 1963, he discovered his powers when he was bitten by a radioactive spider - and discovered that he was much, much stronger and could cling to walls. As strong as 100 men because he had the strength proportionate to that of an actual spider. Hence, Spider-man can prove an even match for even an insanely strong creature like The Hulk.

There was a burglar who broke into their home and killed Uncle Ben, but Peter Parker was very dismayed when he realized that he had allowed the burglar to escape capture earlier - and thereby inevitably he found himself to blame for his uncle's death.

Peter had a number of friends including Flash Thompson, Ned Leeds, Robbie Robertson and to some degree publisher J. Jonah Jamison, and Harry Osborne. JJJ (Jamison) quickly became a Spider-man hater and tried for years to smear the name of Spider-man by trying to make it seem that Spider-man caused the very incidents at which he appeared to rescue innocents. His smear campaign never seemed to take hold and the residents of the city remained unconvinced.

Three girls were in Peter Parker's life at various times, they were Betty Brant, Gwen Stacy, Mary-jane Watson, and Felicia Hardy. Betty later broke up with Peter and they remained friends, she married Ned Leeds but he was a reporter and was killed in an important story featuring Spider-man and Wolverine. Gwen Stacy was killed by the Green Goblin, in another well-documented storyline. Peter dated Mary-Jane and later Felicia Hardy, but eventually was married to MJ. Felicia was a cat-burglar in her guise as the Black Cat, and because of powers given her by scientific experiments she really did later have the agility and instincts almost like that of a cat. Mary-Jane was (stupidly) killed in a recent story however she seemed to have died in a plane crash, so this tells us it could be another awful writer's trick and since the body was never recovered she will of course turn up some time later.

Flash Thompson was a big Spider-man advocate but pretended Peter was a huge nerd (which is his own bookwormish way he was; Peter had glasses in the earliest story) and took every chance he could to tease the lad. Harry and Peter became roommates, and at one point Peter worked with Dr Connors (the man who became - against his will - the Lizard) and Norman Osbourne at OsCorp. Norman tested an experimental green gas and became insane but much, much stronger. Osbourne proved Spider-man's deadliest foe until his death - though at times there were several man in various guises as the Green Goblin, the new Green Goblin, and the Hobgoblin who had various devices, pumpkin bombs and incendiary devices and a special small glider to fly at will. There was a special issue devoted to drug use in which Harry Osbourne - then roommate of Peter Parker - who took uppers and at one point LSD. The Comics Code (which basically suppressed most of the EC comics horror titles like Haunt Of Fear and Vault of Terror as well as Tales From The Crypt - refused to put approval on the book. Years later Marvel comics, founding publisher of The Fantastic Four, Captain America, Amazing Spider-man, The Incredible Hulk, and The X-Men, began using their own code and means of watching the language and content of book intended for any age comics reader.)

Spider-man was whisked to another planet in SECRET WARS with many other characters from the Marvel storylines; his costume was damaged on the planet Battleworld and a machine created a new costume for him. Which later turned out to be an alien, though controlled and shape changing, and the creature tried to bond with Peter. He later had help to remove the costume for good - and it found and bonded, permanently, with a reported by the name of Edward Brock. He had his career ruined when a prize-winning expose on crime he'd published was proven by Peter Parker to be based on false information. He and the costume/symbiote had a longtime hatred of Peter Parker and as Venom he wreaked havoc on Peter's life numberous times. The cosume created a spawn at one time which bonded with insane killer Cletus Cassidy, and become Carnage - one of the toughest and to date most popular Spider-man villains

She doesn't really appear until around issue 42 (IIRC) and doesn't become a love interest until a great many years later.

I couldn't tell you when exactly. They get married in Annual 16 or thereabouts (would have to check..)

Thanks, Richard, I'd forgotten the exact issue number for Stan's last issue, and had just glanced at a reference to get the 118. When I saw the numbers yesterday, I actually thought to myself that it seemed as if Conway had been writing the book longer before killing off Gwen.

Bill Turner

They get married in Annual #21 (1987 I think) and got no real media attention unlike Superman's Wedding almost a decade later. Peter proposed years earlier (real time I don't know about Marvel Time) and she turned him down. She comes back in #259 and some issues later tell Peter she knows he is really Spider-man and they get married shortly after that.

-Mark

Yep, I didn't even know Peter was getting married (I hadn't restarted reading comics again) until I saw Willi on CNN? talking about his design for MJ's wedding dress. As a matter of fact, I hadn't heard of Willi Smith either up to that point. He ended up dying of AIDS didn't he?

Jim Wilkerson

Wasn't Betty Brant the woman in the movie who gave Peter his first Bugle paycheck?

Will she come between Peter and MJ in the sequel?

Just ink wiring...

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Actually, they did have Betty Brant on the credits (saw the movie on an IMAX screen so the credits were easily readable). I just guessed it was referring to the 'paycheque girl'.

John Northey. 'Professional baseball is on the wane. Salaries must come down or the interest of the public must be increased in some way. If one or the other does not happen, bankruptcy stares every team in the face.'