Spider-Man Reads For Newbie Web-Heads
December 16, 2021
With a new Spider-Man flick hitting the theaters, now is the perfect time to share some Web-Head Love!
The trickiest part of being a Spider-Fan is that Spidey has been around for a looooong time. He’s gone through a lot of changes, he’s been a vampire, sort of, a Man-Spider, for awhile, and he’s been dead like…a dozen times. Who knew spiders, like cats, had 9 lives!?
We’re taking some of the challenge out of loving the world’s greatest web slinger by bringing you this list of Spider-Man books you can read and enjoy without a whole lot of background. If you’re just getting started with Spidey, these are for you. And if you’ve been on board since Amazing Fantasy 15*, but you haven’t read these, you’re missing out!
*Amazing Fantasy 15 is the first appearance of Spider-Man -Smilin’ Pete. I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do that just like my hero, Smilin’ Stan Lee!
Spider-Man: Life Story
Imagine a Spider-Man who ages in real-time. Spidey first appeared in the early 60’s as a teenager, which would easily make him a card-carrying member of AARP by now.
This book takes that idea, a Spider-Man through the decades, and makes it into a wonderful, imaginative, super-fun story.
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man
There are several different books under this title. Don’t worry about that. Spider-Man has been published as The Amazing, The Spectacular, The Sensational. Hey, where’s “The Library-Loving Spider-Man?” C’mon, Marvel…
I, the writer of this list have read A LOT of Spider-Man, and this book is easily the best encapsulation of what Spider-Man is: A good guy doing his best with what he’s got. The final issue in this short series is the finest comic book I’ve ever read. It’s the one I’ll be buried with. I guess I should’ve warned you earlier that I’m that nerdly of a nerd, that I’ve seriously considered being buried with a specific comic book.
Spider-Man 2099 Classic
In the 90’s Marvel launched a series of comics that took place in the impossibly-distant future of 2099! You could tell these were futurisitic because the first issues all had totally rad foil covers.
Spider-Man 2099 was one of the best 2099 titles, featuring a new Spider-Man in Miguel O’Hara and a lot of 90’s dystopic goodness, a very Blade Runner future with mega corporations and all that.
It’s a fun dive into the past. Or maybe into the future. Kind of both.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
These stories aren’t groundbreaking Spidey yarns with multiverses and Spider Slayers and whatnot, they’re just really solid, very sweet stories about Spider-Man.
One of the strengths of Spider-Man comics is that Spider-Man can still interact with regular people, and this book puts that heart on front-street display.
Marvels
This isn’t a 100% Spider-Man book, but it’ll do, I’ll allow it. Marvels tells the stories of the first decades of the Marvel Universe as seen by an average person. What’s it like to see Galactus appear out of nowhere? How do people feel about Captain America, The Hulk, Iron Man, and how is Spider-Man different?
This is a great way to get an idea of how chaotic and exciting those early decades were, and Alex Ross’ painted art gives the book a truly spectacular feel. Amazing feel? Sensational— alright, I’ll stop.
Spider-Man: Nothing Can Stop The Juggernaut
This villain-of-the-week story of Spidey battling The Juggernaut has really gained a lot of popularity over the years. Probably because it’s kind of awesome. How does Spider-Man, a strong but not world-shattering superhero, battle the unstoppable Juggernaut without ending up like a bug splattered on the windshield of a truck?
While not a story that will leave you forever changed, it’s a great example of what Spidey was up to in those issues you’d pick up off the rack at the grocery store. It sets up a premise, gives you just enough time to think that maybe Web-Head can’t pull it off, then makes with a satisfying end.
Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man
Most casual comics fans have at least heard of Miles Morales, who took on the mantle of Spider-Man. This is the start of his story and the place you want to go to follow his adventures from the beginning.
These early issues have a flavor really similar to the newest crop of Spider-Man movies, including a sidekick ripped straight from the panels!
In this version of the Marvel Universe, Peter Parker died while saving the day. Miles has an accident that gives him similar, but slightly different spider powers, and he somewhat reluctantly takes on the Spider-Man role. What makes this book really cool is that characters in the book, even villains, question whether or not this is respectful to Peter’s legacy, and the comic asks and answers the questions and complaints of fans in the real world. The comic acknowledges that Miles has big webs to fill.
I’m a long-, longtime Spider-Man reader, and I want to tell you, if you’ve avoided Miles because you don’t think you could love another Spider-Man the way you love Peter Parker, give him a shot. I see it like I see cats: you’ll always have favorites, but there’s room enough and time enough to love more than one cat with all your heart.
Spider-Man/Deadpool: Isn’t It Bromantic?
Spider-Man comics can be overly sincere. It doesn’t all have to be kneeling and shouting at the sky about responsibility.
This one is silly. What’s amazing about it is that it totally shouldn’t work, and it totally does. The bizarre, murderer-for-hire that is Deadpool has a reason to team up with Spider-Man that makes sense. Pretty much. Mostly. Enough, anyway.
Our days can’t be all caviar and Masterpiece Theater. Sometimes you need a cheeseburger and a carnival.
Spidey
You know what’s tough? Finding comics for kids. Really young kids have good options, and teenagers have options, but kids between about 6 and 10 have a hard time.
This book might be PERFECT for that crowd. It’s not childish, but it’s not so adult that you’ll have to stop every few pages to explain something to your kid.
And I don’t mean this as an insult, by the way. I had a lot of fun reading Spidey, and I’m old. I think this is good if you’re young at heart, even just a little, and I definitely felt young at heart after reading this book. Though my doctor says that “young at heart” feeling I describe might be related to my cholesterol. See, I told you I’m old.
Untold Tales of Spider-Man
In the 90’s someone had a genuinely good idea. See, one of the hard things about comics by then was that continuity, the string of events that had occurred within a fictional character’s life, was so long, and so many things had happened that it could be tough to tell new stories. It’s not like you could just write a story where Uncle Ben miraculously was alive again.
So what they did is go back to Spider-Man’s earliest days and weave some new tales in between those issues published in the 60’s.
The result is just so *swoon* charming. They used a similar art style to those early days, but updated it a little. There are little callbacks and fan service moments that serve hardcore readers, but you’ll easily follow the action if you’ve never read those early issues. It’s like the Star Trek reboot movies that way.
This one isn’t on the shelf at HPLD, but I want to remind you that you can get comics through Prospector, Interlibrary Loan, and you can find lots of digital Spidey comics (and novels, and audiobooks) on Hoopla!