Depending on the Artist in
Spider-Man.
Comic Books
- The eyes on Spider-Man's mask change sizes quite frequently, even allowing for expressiveness. As do the sizes of the web nets under his arms, ranging from connecting elbow and waist to nonexistent, it varied depending on whether or not a given artist remembered - or was aware in the first place - that they were supposed to be there. It has been known to appear and disappear from one issue to the next even if it's part of the same story; within the world of the story they were there five second ago but are now gone even as he continues to chase Doc Ock with no time having passed. The spider emblem on his chest has gradually become less and less goofy. In some cases, some artist even drew the suit as red and black instead of red and blue. And don't even get started on what colour shading the symbiote suit is supposed to have...
- Ditko's early work suggests that Spidey's costume was originally red and black; black was often shown with blue highlights back in the four-color days. As the series progressed, the "highlights" slowly became the base color; John Romita's advent on the book entrenched that as canon.
- Spider-Man's appearance in his red and blue costume was standard for years, based on the John Romita Sr. version. Then when Todd McFarlane became the artist in the late Eighties he made the eyes bigger, brought back the black base color and made the weblines look like spaghetti. Even after McFarlane left this remained the look for most of the Nineties.
- Peter Parker’s appearance
is as varying as his costume, the only consistent is that he’s got brown hair and brown eyes, although it isn’t unheard of for a few artists (even John Romita Sr) to slip up and give him blue eyes, while some others give him grey or all black pupils. Whether Peter has average facial features or is handsomely rugged/an outright Pretty Boy (to more justify him being a Chick Magnet) is up all to the artist. Although one consistent is that Peter is much better looking than he was before he got superpowers although at least a few flashbacks have Peter look the same then as he does now, only with oversized glasses and dorkier clothing.- Spider-Man’s size and musculature differs from comic to comic, usually he has a decent build albeit somewhat skinner than other heroes. In modern comics however, artists such as Mark Bagley and Humberto Ramos make Spidey quite skinny usually as a contrast to his bigger villains. While Ryan Ottley and other artists like Marcelo Ferreira have Spider-Man be noticeable muscly in the same run, which can be quite jarring.
- Mary Jane Watson has had numerous artists take stab at her over the years so consistency is rare. Even MJ's iconic red hair which is usually vibrant◊, at other times is much darker with red highlights◊, her eye colour varies between blue or green. Also does MJ have freckles like most ginger haired people? Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. J Scott Cambell even joked about it in MJ Memoirs.
- Aunt May is probably the most glaring example of this as for decades she’s been drawn as a withered old woman but in modern years and thanks to her younger depiction in Ultimate Spider-Man it’s been more common for artists to draw her way◊ younger appearing to be in her early 70s rather than 80s or 90s. This may also due to the idea of May being close to death’s door (something that was a staple of the original Lee and Ditko run) being downplayed and discarded, especially given she’s died before and it’s never stuck.
- The hairstyle of Ghost Spider (aka Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman of Earth-65) is entirely dependent on whoever happens to be drawing her that day. While the pages of the character's original run give her chin-length and unkempt hair, and also have her lack the Most Common Superpower, it's a toss-up whether subsequent artists (both in comics and adaptations) follow this design or choose to have this Gwen share the original's long and straight hair — with or without the iconic black headband — in addition to giving her a more generous figure.
- Classic Gwen likewise was drawn with a very alternating appearance throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s. Her most well-known look (the green coat, black top, and purple skirt) stuck primarily because they were the clothes she infamously died in. The only real consistent part of her ensemble is her headband, which at least helps distinguish her from other Marvel blondes, though she has also been drawn without it plenty of times. Her figure is also inconsistent as she jumps between lithe or curvaceous like MJ, to say nothing of her Mexican comics version.
- J. Jonah Jameson has had many different looks based around his original Ditko design, he seems to jump in age from middle aged looking to a man in his late seventies or early eighties (he was a young man when classic Human Torch and Captain America were around but that seems to be ignored). Whether he’s got a bushy moustache or his more infamous and classical Hitler stache and while the latter is more rare, it’s still cropped up in modern Spidey books.
- Speaking of Jonah, other Daily Bugle employees Robbie Robertson and Betty Brant have had countless different looks in the decades they have been around in Spidey’s life. Betty in particular has jumped between various hairstyles before defaulting back to her 60s bubble flip, not helped by some artists making her redheaded as seen in Spectacular Spider-Man.
- Black Cat has an immensely varied appearance usually centred around how much fanservice the artist wants, her signature Navel-Deep Neckline actually only came later on as she had a more modest v when she first debuted and some comics don’t have have bearing her cleavage at all. Not to mention whether she has a zip or not. Whether Felicia has a collar or not is also up in the air and while she usually has furred gloves and boots, she’s been drawn without them as well. Some artists also have her with bare shoulders while at other times the white fur around her v covers them. Her iconic white hair is also debatable as some artists suggest it is actually blonde and she dyes it white (likely inspired by Spider-Man: The Animated Series where that was the case) while other artists make it clear she’s always had white hair.
- Venom has a lot of this going on. His size can from slightly more burly than Spidey, to the Incredible Hulk with a symbiote. His Scary Teeth can go from a fair amount to More Teeth than the Osmond Family (ironically in first appearance Todd Mc Farlane drew his teeth as normal and square). The ridged curling angular design of Venom’s Blank White Eyes eyes is entirely up the artists fancy, sometimes they are no bigger than the lenses in Spidey’s mask while at other times they are so big the wrap around Venom’s head. Some artists have even given Venom actual eyes seperate from the white spots or just give him black beady eyes in the white. There’s also spider symbol on his chest and the other white streaks on his body which can come and go, especially the white patches on his hands.
- Carlie Cooper falls victim to this a lot, to the point where fans aren't even sure what she's supposed to look like beyond "White and has glasses". Most notably is ever changing hair style and color which have NEVER been consistent between two issues. It ranges from pixie cut and light brown to past the shoulders and red-ish to just above the shoulders and more of a blondish to anything else. A lesser example is that initially colorist couldn't figure out how dark Lilly Hollister was supposed to be.
The rest of Spider-Man’s Rogue Gallery has a lot of this going on.
- Norman Osborn aka Green Goblin has varied appearance both in and out of costume. Steve Ditko drew Goblin with pronounced eyelashes, that were dropped for later appearances. The green in his costume can have a scaled look but more often it doesn’t while in Dark Avengers it’s armoured. His Slasher Smile face can go from merely sinister to “green-faced Joker with yellow eyes” and other times he straight up looks like a Skrull. His eyes usually have pupils, but sometimes like in Dark Avengers they are just featureless yellow, Alex Ross as seen in Marvels curiously draws them as clear lenses so you can see Norman’s regular eyes in the mask.
- His unmasked face is also inconsistent, originally Norman had a more square jaw to differentiate him from Harry while other comics just had him look older. Mike Dedato famously made Norman a Ink-Suit Actor of Tommy Lee Jones in Dark Avengers: which stuck around for two years. Thankfully all artists consistently give him the horizontal cornrows.
- The Goblin Gilder is almost never consistent. Usually it looks like a bat while at other times it looks like a stealth bomber. Modern comics have taken cues from the films and made it larger, armoured and more spikey. Norman occasionally mentions there are different models, so like Iron Man’s armour this justified. Originally, the glider was instead a mechanical flying broomstick although it was quickly changed.
- Doctor Octopus has had many different looks, even his iconic green jumpsuit with yellow boots and gloves came later on, originally he just had a white outfit and casual clothes before changing to jumpsuits and long coats. Otto’s face goes from broad and brutish to fairly regular looking albeit perpetually frowning and his bowl-haircut occasionally goes away. Even Otto’s obesity sometimes goes from genuinely fat to merely potbellied while the rest of his body is surprisingly well built. Another common inconsistency is whether or the mechanic arms come out of his stomach or are behind his back. The design of the arms themselves are extremely varied, some with some being clawed and sinister while other artists have them look more in line with the 60s design with square pincers.
- Otto’s costume in Peter’s body as Superior Spider Man is also varying, for a good while the eyes of his Spidey mask were glasses lens with a creepy circular beveled look but that soon disappeared, in other comics the lenses were extremely dark. He was also often drawn with claw-like fingers, but at other times had regular ones.
- Wilson Fisk aka the Kingpin like Hulk has had his size and shape vary from artist to artist. A few artists have him be “large but still human”, while a lot of others make him a “golem in a white suit”. The size of Fisk’s hands in particular jump between massively oversized to realistic, so he can crush people with them in one comic and have a regular handshake with Daredevil in another comic. Sometimes he isn’t even drawn wearing his iconic white suit and has a nondescript black one.
- Mysterio while the fishbowl, green suit with square pattern, gold gauntlets and purple cape is considered his main design, he’s had dozens of other appearances some of which remove the cape while others artists make him look completely different. Such as in the The Clone Saga which replaces the fishbowl with a head of fire similar to Dormammu, a similar look was also used for the Mysterio android who appeared in Ultimate Spider-Man. Even the fishbowl is often drawn inconsistently as usually it’s opaque, but it’s not uncommon for Quentin Beck’s actual face to visible inside. Not to mention whether Mysterio is wreathed in a smokey aura or not.
- Kraven the Hunter has gotten away with the usual Lion-skin vest with Leopard spot pants for multiple decades, but a lot of artists have given him a loincloth flap on his pants and a necklace of animal teeth. Kraven’s foot wear also changes, sometimes he has his classic sandals while in other comics he has boots. His facial hair is either a handlebar with goatee or full on beard.
- Scorpion gets his design changed up a lot as well, his height changes between about as tall as Spidey as his Evil Counterpart, to hulking as The Brute of the Sinister Six. In the Dan Slott era his costume got a mechanical look before being brought back to the classic green jumpsuit. Scorp’s mask also changes frequently sometimes he has a open mouth and no eye lenses while at other times his face is covered like Spidey but his eyes and teeth are visible. Even his stinger tail was a later addition as when Steve Ditko first drew Scorpion, his tail was blunt and he used it for crushing rather than stabbing. Not to mention Scorpion’s appearance when he was Venom which was all over the place.
- Electro’s appearance has changed rapidly through artist to artist, the traditional garish green and yellow outfit has sometimes been traded out for a black and blue look while his skin has gone all Doctor Manhattan as seen in Amazing Spider-Man 2014, while other artists have brought back the yellow and green look but removed the ostentatious headpiece and given Electro lightning bolt-esque face markings to substitute for it. His electricity has changed colour from yellow to blue to back to yellow again depending on the artist.
- Rhino despite having a simplistic design, has multiple artists change his appearance. Often he’s given a bloated look while at other times he’s as muscular as the Hulk. Also the skin of Rhino suit sometimes it looks like an actual Rhinoceros’s skin, while at times it’s a simple grey texture or even armoured looking. Whether or not there’s eyes near his horn is up in the air too.
- The Lizard, does he look like a upright iguana? An alligator? A Komodo dragon?◊ Or a humanoid dinosaur? Most artists go for all the above or something else entirely, the only consistent is that he’s still wearing the tattered remains of a lab coat. Originally Lizard had a flat face, but eventually he got a big snout that’s been the norm ever since.
- Carnage's host Cletus Kasady's appearance varies throughout the series; originally he was depicted looking like the Joker with a normal skin tone and curly red hair, other times he has wild wavy hair, and some of his more recent appearances depict him looking like a redneck with a receding hairline, and some artists depict him as a blonde rather than a redhead. It also varies whether he's scrawny or muscular.
- One creepy explanation is offered for some of his variations: Cletus is more susceptible to staying "monstered up" than any other symbiote wearer. If he's been in Carnage mode for weeks or months at a time, his human form is more likely to be emaciated and pale.
