Spider-Tracer: 10 Reasons to Read The Spectacular Spider-Man, Vol. 1

Welcome back, Spidey fans! It’s September, and with Fall and the inevitable chilly weather imminent, what better activity is there than to relax and do some back issue reading? A few years ago, I took a look back at the first volume of “Web of Spider-Man” and gave you ten reasons to read the series. This time around, we’ll be doing the same thing for the first volume of “The Spectacular Spider-Man”!

 

Originally known as “Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man”, the book made it with 264 issues under its belt, and as such, it’s one of the longest lasting satellite books that the character of Spider-Man has ever had (Not counting its 14 Annual issues and a -1 issue). As a kid, this was one of my favorite books to pick up from the back issue bins, as I was rarely ever let down by the great content those issues contained. There is no particular order to this list; it’s simply a list of the many things I enjoyed about the book, for trying to put them in order would be rather maddening. With that said, let’s take a look…

 

Roger Stern Begins

 

 

Ask a longtime Spider-Man fan who their favorite writer for the character is, and one writer that will inevitably come up as a popular choice is Roger Stern. He had a really great run on “The Amazing Spider-Man”, which included Spidey’s titanic battle with the Juggernaut, the Mr.Hyde and Cobra affair, and, of course, the introduction of the original Hobgoblin. But did you know this run actually kicked off in “Peter Parker: Spectacular Spider-Man” # 43? With only two fill-in issues, Stern’s run on the book continues up through issue #61, before transitioning over to “Amazing” #224. During Stern’s run on “Spectacular”, the writer introduces us to Roderick Kingsley (his choice for the original Hobgoblin), features an awesome first fight with Jack O’Lantern, a major upgrade for the Beetle, and much, much more. So if you’re a fan of Stern’s run on “Amazing”, you owe it to yourself to check out his run on “Spectacular”, as well! You can do so in the “Spider-Man: Roger Stern” Omnibus. I assume we’ll one day get a second volume of the “Spectacular Spider-Man” omnibus, which should include this run, as well.

 

The Carrion Saga

 

 

Bill Mantlo’s Carrion Saga is an excellent sequel to the original “Clone Saga” of the 70’s! It features the creepy mystery villain with a dark fixation on not only Spider-Man, but Peter Parker as well. I won’t spoil who Carrion really is, even if the story is over 40 years old at this point, but I’ll just say that it was a pretty cool reveal, and a fun read in general. This story also features a team-up with Daredevil, which includes the earliest Daredevil artwork by Frank Miller; so if you’re into his run of Daredevil comics, you should really read this one. This story ran through issues #25-31, and you can read it in the “Spectacular Spider-Man, Vol. 1 Omnibus”, or “The Original Clone Saga” TPB from several years ago, though it is, I believe, out of print.

 

The Owl/Octopus War

 

 

For anyone curious as to just how much of a threat Doctor Octopus can be, look no further than “The Owl/Octopus War”! While the Owl wants to use a neutron bomb to blackmail New York City, Otto actually wants to use the bomb on the city to prove just how dangerous he is! This story has it all! Black Cat is seriously wounded, which leads to bringing Spider-Man and Black closer together than ever before in the long run. Spider-Man gets so angry that he actually tears Doc Ock’s metal limbs off! It’s brutal, but Otto isn’t one to take this lying down, and once he recovers, he goes back after Spider-Man again for the insult and for foiling his plans for the bomb. To this day, it is, by far, one of the best Spidey vs Doc Ock fights of all time! When someone makes the argument that Doctor Octopus is Spider-Man’s number one villain, this story really helps to make the case for that way of thinking.

 

The Death of Jean DeWolff

 

 

Peter David and Rich Buckler crafted one of Spidey’s best and most important tales in issues 107-110 with the murder of supporting character, Jean DeWolff, and the introduction of the sinister Sin-Eater. It’s a terrible shame that we lost Jean, but I have to say, it was the loss of this character that made me appreciate her far more than I probably would have, otherwise. And Sin-Eater is so chilling! I find him particularly terrifying because he is so down to earth; he’s just a human with a shotgun. I remember when I read this for the first time, and not knowing who was going to be next on the Sin-Eater’s hitlist.  This story also features an important Daredevil team up, and one that would influence all future team-ups between them going forward. I won’t spoil anything, despite how old this tale is, but enough good can’t be said about this story! Be sure to give it a read. Fortunately, this story has been reprinted in several TPBs over the years, both solo, and alongside other great Spidey stories. If you do read (or have read) this story, do yourself a favor and check out the sequel, which took place in “The Spectacular Spider-Man” #s 134-136, which was also written by Peter David.

 

Big Clone Saga Moments

 

 

One of the things I talked about in my look back on “Web of Spider-Man” were some of the important 90’s “Clone Saga” characters introduced there. While “Web” introduced some of the major players, “Spectacular” got to issue some of the biggest moments from the entire “Clone Saga”. In issue #220, Mary Jane reveals she’s pregnant to Peter. IN the following issue, Doc Ock is murdered by Kaine. Issue #226 feature’s Seward Trainer’s “conclusive” findings that Peter is the clone, while issue #229 was meant to be Peter’s last time as Spider-Man before Ben took over the following issue (after a 2 month gap where the title was renamed “The Spectacular Scarlet Spider”; needless to say, it didn’t last long. At all!). Of course, most of these huge changes have seen been undone by this point, but, for the time, “Spectacular” was delivering some of the biggest shakeups in the Spidey books. You can see a lot of these changes take place across the “Clone Saga” TPB and Omnibus editions. Marvel’s Epic Collection books are also diving into the 90’s mega-story, as well.

 

Peter Parker’s Supporting Cast

 

 

By the time issue one came out in 1976, there were already two monthly Spidey books on stands (“Amazing” and “Marvel Team-Up”). One of the things “Spectacular” was going to focus on, in order to stand out from the other 2 Spidey books, was Peter Parker’s supporting cast and social life. Unfortunately, this wasn’t always a main focus, despite the intention to do so. With that said, the early years, particularly during Mantlo and Stern’s early runs, showed a lot of Peter’s college cast, including Deb Whitman, Phillip Chang, Steve Hopkins, Marcy Kane, and Dr. Morris Sloan. In issue #145, artist Sal Buscema and writer Gerry Conway, who had returned to write both “Spectacular” and “Web”, introduced Mary Jane’s young cousin, Kristy. Both books detailed and fleshed the character out who was living with Peter and MJ for a time. When Aunt May turned her house into a boarding house, this was a book where you would see them often pop up. Longtime supporting character, Harry Osborn, was also given a character-defining storyline here, which we’ll also be discussing on this list.

 

Cloak and Dagger

 

 

In the 90’s, I was first introduced to this bizarre duo thanks to the “Maximum Carnage” storyline and videogame. As it turns out, Cloak and Dagger first appeared in “Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man” #64; they were introduced by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Ed Hannigan. Their introduction would lead to Silvermane becoming a cyborg (they sought revenge on him for his role in their origin, which led to the destruction of his original body), and, eventually, the duo would eventually receive several of their own solo books, while also drifting back into Spidey’s orbit from time to time. Cloak and Dagger even received their own action figures over the years, as well as a short-lived television show.

 

Norman Osborn vs the Hobgoblin

 

 

Years after his original run ended, writer Roger Stern returned for the 3-part story entitled “Hobgoblin Lives” in which he detailed who the original Hobgoblin was, which turned out to be Roderick Kingsley. He, along with fellow writer, Glenn Greenberg and artist Luke Ross, crafted a sequel which saw Roderick Kingsley finally come face to face with the original Green Goblin, Norman Osborn! Unfortunately, Norman was trying to distance himself from the Green Goblin role at the time in order to throw off suspicion. This meant that we never got to see both Goblins confront each other in full costume, sadly, as Norman had a genetic construct acting as his personal Green Goblin (I kid you not!). While Kingsley and Norman both escaped to fight another day, we have yet to get a huge, definitive fight between the two, but their animosity for each other began here. The story in which they met was entitled “Goblins at the Gate” and took place in issues 259-261 of “Spectacular”.

 

The Spot

 

 

Ahhhh, the Spot. Such a loser… And yet, he’s made it into the second “Spider-Verse” film, as well as the 90’s Spider-Man cartoon, where he left an indelible mark with his portal technology. Not bad for a loser, eh? Created by Allen Milgrom and Herb Trimpe, Johnathan Ohn first appeared in issue 97, and his original storyline ran through to issue #100 (the guy even ranked himself a special anniversary issue!). Debuting as a scientist working for the Kingpin, Ohn was studying Cloak’s powers under orders from Fisk, which led to him being able to generate and fight with black holes. He’s clearly a wacky villain, but he’s also one of those obscure villains I love to see pop up in Spider-Man comics from time to time! It’s worth noting that he, along with fellow losers Gibbon, Grizzly, and Kangaroo II, formed the Legion of Losers in issues 245-246, which was only the second storyline in which the villain appeared at that time! Wild!

 

The Harry Osborn Saga

 

 

How could I discuss “The Spectacular Spider-Man” without mentioning the Harry Osborn Saga? Starting with issue #178, JM DeMatteis became the book’s regular writer, and kicked off “The Child Within” storyline, which began Harry Osborn’s descent into madness, which culminated in the masterpiece that was “The Spectacular Spider-Man” #200, which depicted the death of Harry. JM Dematteis’ run on the title, alongside artist Sal Buscema, was so good, that calling it lightning in a bottle isn’t quite good enough. DeMatteis and Sal worked like a well-oiled machine; their words and pictures always complimented each other so perfectly. If you only read one issue of “Spectacular”, make it issue #200! Sure, the issue is greatly enhanced by reading the entirety of the saga, but it stands on its own with great ease. I’ve read this issue so much over the years, that it’s not looking quite as good as it once did; but the love I have for it should be obvious given it’s imperfect condition. Marvel has yet to collect the Harry Osborn Saga in its entirety (I honestly don’t understand the logic here, and it makes even less sense typing it up. Seriously, Marvel what’s up with that?! Are we seriously going to have to wait for several omnibus volumes to get this run fully collected?). While he may not have been the main focus, or villain, of every issue during this saga, Harry was constantly a looming threat during this time; which can be perfectly exemplified by issue #190, which had him hiring the Rhino to attack Peter Parker just to mess with him! And that’s not even mentioning the previous issue’s rather… unorthodox dinner party.

 

And there you have it, my top ten list of reasons you should be checking out the first volume of “The Spectacular Spider-Man”.

 

And, if you’ve read thus far, I’m sure you noticed something verrrrrrrry important missing. If you read my previous article detailing “Web of Spider-Man”, then you’ll recall there was a separate section dedicated to discussing that book’s long time artist, Alex Saviuk. Well, this article is no different, Spidey fans! Let’s take a moment to discuss…

 

Sal Buscema

 

 

Our Pal Sal, as he’s affectionately called by fans, penciled 8(!) years on the “Spectacular” title! That’s not even counting the hefty stack of issues that he also inked himself! Let’s not forget that Sal also did the first 20 issues of “Spectacular” (minus two fill in issues)! Sal is clearly a legend! I would say that some of the finest work of his career was on “The Spectacular Spider-Man”, as evidenced by issue 200. JM DeMatteis often discusses how, upon seeing Sal’s final pages for the issue, he decided to cut the words, and let Sal’s pictures do the talking; it was a brilliant move, and chokes me up every time.

 

I was fortunate enough to meet Sal in the mid 2000’s at a convention, and he is, by far, one of the kindest souls I’ve ever met from the comic book industry. His Spider-Man sketch (which I purchased by making a donation to the Make-a-Wish Foundation) is one of my most prized possessions! Thank you, Sal, for being a pal, indeed.

 

You can read the transcripts from an interview Brad Douglas did with Sal here:

https://www.spidermancrawlspace.com/2009/02/transcript-of-sal-buscema-podcast/

 

What was your favorite issue or story from “The Spectacular Spider-Man”? Did you prefer when “Peter Parker” was part of the title? Let me know in the comments section below!