This thread's for the Spider-Man comics and spin-offs, whether they're decades old or brand new.
- Apart from the main Marvel Universe titles, Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Man "What If?" stories, crossovers, guest appearances in other books, Alternate Universe tales and things like Marvel's manga adaptations are all on-topic here.
- Spider-Man 'family' books are on-topic (as are their own crossovers, guest appearances etc.) - e.g. Spider-Man 2099, Miles Morales, Spider-Woman, Silk, Spider-Gwen, Venom, Carnage, Black Cat, Red Goblin and Spider-Verse.
- Characters and comics that originated in Spider-Man but are no longer directly connected to the spider-franchise (e.g. Punisher, Silver Sable) are not on-topic, unless you're discussing historical connections and crossovers. If in doubt, check before you write a long post. If this isn't the right place, there's a more general Marvel Comics thread
which covers them.
Technically, Marvel's Infinity Comics (and their predecessors, Infinite Comics) are webcomics, not comic books, but it's fine to talk about their Spider-Man stories here.
Discussions that are only about Spider-Man adaptations in other media (films, video games etc.) are off-topic, but discussing the differences between the adaptations and the original comics is fine - as long as spoilers for the adaptations are tagged.
Please follow the spoiler policy rules
- tag spoilers for the latest issues, for any previews or content leaks, and for off-topic comics. When including spoiler tags, try to write so that tropers can make an informed decision before viewing them (e.g. which series and issue will they spoil?).
Edited by MacronNotes on Jul 10th 2023 at 10:58:13 AM
There's something to be said for how Ben and Kaine have swapped places as the "good clone, evil clone." Assuming we ignore Spidercide who...frankly I'm still not sure where he is right now to be honest. I keep thinking he's in a coma because of the 2022 Ben Reilly Spider-Man miniseries, but no, that was its own self-contained thing.
@Peter slapping MJ: The reason people don't care about this as much despite the fact he hit her harder than Hnak did Janet. Is pretty simple.
Peter has a bunch of fantastic story lines before and after this and this story line is right before maximum clonage (yikes). In contrast Hank's best story line is still the yellow jacket stuff so yes a moment like this will linger in people's heads. Tbh I prefer Scott as main ant man anyway. Hes way more interesting anyway.
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."Let's get back to Spider-Man for a bit.
I've been really enjoying revisiting the Civil War era lately. Anyone still remember Mystery Date?
Now that's a story that really used the Peter Parker teacher angle in a really neat way.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"You mean from Peter David’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man? That was great. I’ve said it before, but I feel like when Peter settles down into a permanent job, it should be as a teacher if it’s not something like working from home as a webmaster or something like in Ultimate. Its such a great evolution for him and literally every story that’s had him as a teacher has been great, Spidey is often at his best when he’s being a mentor to people who went through the same things he did as a youth.
Looks as though Ben Reilly has a Win Back the Crowd moment this week, as he refuses to side with Orchis and beats the crap out of them
Man, it's never not going to be wild that people who aren't in the Spider-Office's domain are better at writing Spider-Characters than the people in the Spider-Office.
You'd think they'd take a few hints by now.
(And I bring this up fully expecting Wells to demonize Ben about this somehow because he gotta be Wells.)
Saw this neat post on Harry:
Yes. Harry is a VERY troubled person, but he was the first guy (as in male) to extend the olive branch to Peter and make an attempt to be Peter’s friend
Contrary to later media portrayals, Peter didn’t meet Harry until college. All throughout high school, Flash was a total jerk to Peter. Peter and Flash didn’t really become friends (really more friendly acquaintances tbh) until college. And you know what was the catalyst for Flash becoming friends with Peter? Harry convincing Flash that Peter is a good guy
Harry reached out to Peter (not the other way around!) because he saw a kindred spirit in Peter. Harry was stressed about Norman being a terrible father and Peter was stressed over the usual stuff (Spidey, money, Aunt May, grades, etc.). Harry continuously made attempts to be Peter’s friend until he finally wore Peter down and Peter finally reciprocated.
Harry then offered Peter to be his roommate in his lavish apartment for free because Harry was lonely and because he had learned that Peter was having trouble finding an apartment due to his finances. I don’t know about you guys, but that sounds like an AMAZING friend to me
Harry gets a VERY unfair reputation as a “bad friend” from some fans. Yes, Harry eventually does become a bit of a jerk to Peter, but I think the circumstances have to be considered. Harry had slowly grown frustrated with Peter over the course of dozens of issues because Peter consistently flaked on Harry and Peter is the one who came across as a bad friend. Naturally WE know that this is due to Peter being Spider-Man, but from Harry’s perspective it just comes across like Peter not caring about Harry and not caring about their friendship
And of course, we have to consider that most of Harry’s behavior as a “bad friend” occurred during the period where Harry was addicted to drugs. This naturally affected Harry’s behavior and judgement. So while this may not necessarily be an “excuse” for Harry being a huge jerk during this period, I think it’s a legitimate factor/explanation that we can’t ignore
So all in all, Harry was consistently a flawed but great friend to Peter when Peter felt completely alone in the world. Because of the very strong bond they formed during these college years, I would absolutely call Harry Peter’s best friend.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
Yeah, that’s a really good summary of Harry. There’s a reason Peter loves him like a brother, and it’s because Harry was one of the first people who really tried to push through the shell Peter put around himself and reach the good person inside.
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It is really funny right now how anytime Spider-Man or any of his characters appear outside the main Spider-Book, they suddenly get transmogrified and start acting like their usual selves.
Edited by immortaleditor on Nov 14th 2023 at 9:37:36 AM
NGL, Spider-Man 2 does make me wish for a Peter and Harry friendship story.
Peter Parker has such a small supporting cast of people outside his super hero identity, I like Jameson as his friend, but Peter needs that social life outside of being Spider-Man.
It's a shame Spencer thought killing Harry was something to do while deleting Sins Past, Dan Slott actually wrote him well in Go Down Swinging.
Edited by RedHunter543 on Nov 15th 2023 at 1:37:26 AM
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"I feel like even without Harry, Peter’s got an okay social circle, or rather should. Robbie, Randy, Flash, Betty, Liz, Max, Anna Marie, his various superhero friends like Miles and Cindy and Matt… Peter should have a pretty good band of friends to rely on. But of course, Spider-Editorial prefers to have him be off on his own and only cares about a select number of Peter’s supporting cast, plus him constantly being miserable and on the outs with people. Peter being alienated from all his friends and family because “WHAT DID PETER DO” has definitely been one of the big sources of mockery for the Wells-Lowe run, with people pointing out how weird it is that Peter’s been reduced to hanging out with nobody except Norman, Jonah, and occasionally Aunt May when he’s got all these people who care about him.
It still astounds me that NORMAN OSBORN is now the red head who cares for Peter and helps him with his struggles as Spider-Man, while MJ is treating him like shit.
It's like they swapped minds.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"I read a recent spider man annual and MJ was saying stuff like Peter’s pain gives her life
Which whoa geez MJ that’s a bit much
It was the story where Peter fucked up Aunt Anna’s birthday cake and then wacky Krakoa drugs made her try to kill people
Forever liveblogging the Avengers

Edited by immortaleditor on Nov 11th 2023 at 9:42:06 AM