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
Also on a more minor, but still significant note is if you prefer Spider-Girl over Spider-Man as it did The Gathering of Five and Final Chapter isn't just the the couple getting Baby May back.
It even confirmed via letter page that The Amazing Spider-Man #400 in it's original intent is still valid and was the real May Reilly passing on after giving her blessing for Peter being Spider-Man.
As regards What Ifs, there's a scene in Reckoning War where Uatu gets Kangaroo Court'd by the other Watchers for constantly breaking his non-interference clause, and is sentenced to an eternity of watching the one universe he's never watched before - the one where he refused to help the Fantastic Four defeat Galactus. Turns out that they would've figured out how to do it on their own, and in the process Reed would invent a new miracle fuel that solves all social and environmental problems.
...except later, when the heroes save him, we learn the Watchers put their recording of this reality on loop so Uatu wouldn't see the ending, where the super-fuel causes the Earth to explode, meaning Uatu was right to intervene and the other Watchers were just being dicks.
I feel like there's some sort of commentary on the "What Ifs that seem undeniably better than canon always turn out worse" phenomenon there but I can't quite put my finger on what it is.
So the existence of that really poor Sony Spiderverse film that has nothing to do with its title character made me realize that I'd have loved to see a confrontation between Madame Web (classic or Julia Carpenter version) and Mystique.
Scry vs. Scry is always an interesting battle.
One Strip! One Strip!I only know Madame Web from her appearance on the 90s Spider-Man show but I really loved her introduction where Doctor Strange senses the presence of someone far more powerful than him, and then we cut to Madame Web looking over him in her crystal ball.
Like the framing of that scene really sold her as this powerful and mysterious figure.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
It was an encounter with Madame Web in the comics that lead to Peter having his first ever encounter with The Juggernaut.
He seemingly didn't know who Cain was. But he learned. Boy did he learn.
He still won, and is one of the few people barring the X-Men who've beaten Juggie in a fight (who's strength isn't on par with the Juggernaut), but still.
Peter's never forgotten that encounter.
One Strip! One Strip!Yeah there's even a scene at the end where Spider-Man meets Stan Lee(long story.) and Stan Lee meets Madame Web and calls her an exotic woman.
It's nice when you know the RL trivia behind these things.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"I know that scene. I did watch the show.
I just never knew Madame Web was played by Stan's wife.
One Strip! One Strip!“ So the existence of that really poor Sony Spiderverse film that has nothing to do with its title character made me realize that I'd have loved to see a confrontation between Madame Web (classic or Julia Carpenter version) and Mystique.
Scry vs. Scry is always an interesting battle.”
Did you mean Destiny? Mystique just does shapeshifting, right?
Forever liveblogging the AvengersYes I did.
As always, I change nothing for prosperity.
Though maybe I should just fix it. No matter how many times I leave that stuff in to remind myself not to do it, I do it again.
One Strip! One Strip!
x7 Spidey vs Juggernaut is still hands down one of my favorite fights in Marvel history. That arc did an amazing job with that match-up, emphasizing how totally out of his depth Spidey was, but also that he had more than enough cunning to give Juggy a run for his money anyways and ultimately just barely come out on top.
The bit where Peter drives a fucking gas tanker into Juggernaut and blows it up to try and slow him down even slightly and it does nothing is the best.
Yeah, it'd be interesting to interpret Paul as the self-insert, given what happens to the kids, which deprives him of that future as a dad, it could be both are a self-insert, with Peter his self-pitying side that he'd ideally want his spouse immediately forgiving for all the trouble he causes and remain friends with him even if he's been a jerk.
I shouldn't be playing the role of therapist though, not without demanding 25 cents.
Edited by Zarius on Feb 19th 2024 at 1:39:15 AM

In regards to the "What Ifs ending ridiculously horribly as if to say that's why canon had to be" issue, I think that's a small but important part of why I vastly prefer What Ifs/Elseworlds that are more radically different continuities than just For Want Of A Nail style stuff. Stuff like MC2, 1602, Mangaverse, both Ultimate Universes, Spider-Gwen, Last Stand, 2099, the various Edge of Spider-Verse realities, etc. are always going to be vastly more interesting and fun than a dozen issues of "if our shitty canon story didn't happen, everything would've sucked forever".
Plus it would make the multiverse lore more interesting and more meaningful, each universe being it's own thing with it's own people and only variations on vague themes rather than a trillion Peter Parkers who's stories go nearly exactly the same.
Edited by immortaleditor on Feb 17th 2024 at 3:15:18 AM