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
Re: Ultimate Spider-Man
Well, I guess we know who the new Green Goblin is now. Or who he'll throw off a bridge. One or the other, right?
Nah. They wouldn't.
Edited by Mrph1 on Jan 9th 2024 at 3:00:52 PM
Generally, one of my frustrations with Hickman is that he's more interested in big ideas and world-changing plot than characters.
But, as other folk pointed out last time I said this, when he does do smaller scale stuff the characterisation and emotional beats are often done really well.
I've got high hopes.
I’m still on Ultimate Invasion, because unlimited, and I’m finding it interesting but not engaging.
He’s doing a lot of interesting things but nothing is hooking me enough I’d go out of my way to read it. But he’s also changed so much that it’s not giving me a continuity uncanny valley like the original ultimate material sometimes did
Forever liveblogging the AvengersI got home from eating out and Ultimate Spider-man came out while I refreshed my brower.
The chapter ends with Peter's bite, so no spidey action yet. Instead it's an entirely emotional issue, and I'm really interested in it.
The Green Goblin looks to be in an interesting position, as he first appears attacking the Kingpin, who seems to be attempting to cover up any investigations into the terrorist attack that was blamed on Stark. So, Harry might not initially be poised to be Peter's enemy? Also, Peter apparently doesn't know Harry, but MJ has old history with them. That could lead to some interesting dynamics.
God damn I want issue 2 already!! 44 pages was not enough!
I liked it a lot. Especially fond of the way we start with breakfast and a weary Peter who couldn't sleep - and at the end of the issue we find he got the spider and the costume the previous evening. The sleepless night and the events of the day are while he's trying to make his Red Pill, Blue Pill decision.
Should I have recognised Fisk's sidekick?
I wonder if we'll get a genuinely heroic Anti-Hero Goblin, somewhere between Spidey and the Punisher, or if they're about to go down the slippery slope into villainy. And is it Harry? Or Norman? Or...
Over in 616, Jonah and Peter's relationship has radically changed.
Is there any reason he has to be an antagonist in 6160? Could we flip it - Jonah gets killed and Ben blames Spider-Man?
Either way, one of the selling points of this Ultimate vision is a Peter who's sorted more of his life out. I want to see him being competent and mature, avoiding the Conflict Ball moments.
I kinda do miss OG Ultimate Peter being young and still learning to crawl.
Like yeah, he got the shit kicked out of him by Kingpin and unmasked but he still managed to get one over Fisk by the end of the story.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"Just read the first issue for new USM and wow! I'm genuinely blown away by how good it was, definitely a massive step up from Ultimate Invasion. Hickman's usually known more for "big" ideas than character work, but he seems to be doing a smaller, character-driven story VERY well here. The Parker family dynamics, Jonah and Ben's story, the general themes and feel of it is all really fantastic stuff. This is unironically exactly what the 616 Spider-Man should be like in terms of writing and status quo. I've been kind of half in on 6160 - I've been LOVING the world-building and how committed it is to being a "weird" new take on Marvel, but found Invasion very slow and like it was squandering the concept - but now I'm fully one hundred percent on board with it. If Ultimate X-Men and Black Panther are at the same quality of this, I'll be even more on-board.
6160 Matt Murdock as a priest was a cute little cameo.
That zoom on Kingpin's eyepatch-wearing henchman as Green Goblin attacked makes me think there's maybe going to be a twist where it turns out Gobbie is after that goon instead of Fisk.
So, following on from that -
We've got a Green Goblin in 6160. No spoilers there, he's on covers. We've also got a Kingpin.
But which other classic Spider-Man villains do we want to see in the first year? Or do we want to see villains more associated with other Earth-616 heroes reinvented as 6160 Spider-Man villains?
Are there some iconic losers who ought to be genuinely scary in the new setting? Or villains we just don't want to see any time soon?
Should there be a few entirely new villains in the mix early on?
For my part, a bit of a brain dump:
- No Venom for a couple of years, minimum. Arguably no Carnage at all. And I don't want to see dozens of symbiotes or Knull 6160.
- Minimise the Spider-Verse elements. Peter's starting from a point with time travel and high-powered weirdness in the setting, but I think it largely needs to stand alone.
- Minimise the magic.
- Minimise the other spider-people.
- I'd like to see a new take on Kraven. Possibly a genuinely scary Vulture, Electro or Chameleon, too.
- Can some Daredevil villains make the jump to Spider-Man? Mister Fear or Bullseye, maybe?
- Otto and Curt Connors are often more interesting as allies than antagonists. If we're going to get them, I'd like to see them as good guys and possibly civilians for an extended time before any tragic villainy. And maybe don't leave them as villains at all.
- Maybe establish some newer 616 villains as core members of Peter's 6160 rogue's gallery from the very start.
- Maybe a little more diversity and variety in Peter's core supporting cast compared to original 616. Again, there's an opportunity to build it in from the start. And maybe keep Gwen or other big names offstage and let some of the more minor/temporary supporting characters play big roles. Keeping Cindy Moon or Jessica Jones as civilians might be fun.
- If we're getting a 6160 Miles, they need a good plan for him. I'd quite like to see the original Miles back to mentor the older but inexperienced Peter, though.
- It is not, in fact, Morbin' time.
A version of Shocker that doesn’t suck ass, just sucks the normal fun amount
Forever liveblogging the AvengersI prefer the itchy quilt costume to whatever unmemorable thing he had in Ultimate
Bendis did him dirty by making him the wrong flavor of loser
Forever liveblogging the Avengers

Are they trying another publicity stunt?
"Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It's unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don't have to try."