Peter Parker: Spider-Man
Encyclopedia
Peter Parker: Spider-Man is the name of two comic book
series published by Marvel Comics
, both of which feature the character Spider-Man
.
series published by Marvel Comics that ran for 98 issues from 1990-1998. The series was retitled Peter Parker: Spider-Man with issue #75, but only on the covers (the series was still under its original Spider-Man title in the comic's legal indicia, printed on the title page, from #75-98; the comic book would not officially be titled Peter Parker: Spider-Man until the Vol. 2 series relaunch).
The series originally was conceived as a showcase for Todd McFarlane
. McFarlane, who until then had only been known as an artist
, was hugely popular at the time and the series was created by editor
Jim Salicrup
so that McFarlane could pencil
, ink
, and write
a Spider-Man title of his own, starting with the "Torment
" storyline.
Though panned by critics, the series was a massive sales success. McFarlane stayed on the title until issue #16 in 1991. He would go on to create the character Spawn
and help found Image Comics
in 1992.
He was succeeded on the title by Erik Larsen
, who had succeeded McFarlane on The Amazing Spider-Man
two years earlier, and would later join him in the founding of Image. Larsen wrote and drew the six-issue story arc "Revenge of the Sinister Six
" (#18-23).
After that came a quick procession of different contributors, including writers Tom DeFalco
, Ann Nocenti
, David Michelinie
, J. M. DeMatteis
and Terry Kavanagh
, and pencillers Marshall Rogers
, Ron Frenz
, Klaus Janson
and Jae Lee
. The creative-team musical chairs
settled with Spider-Man #44 (March 1994) when writer Howard Mackie
and penciller Tom Lyle
began a run on the title — Lyle through #61, and Mackie for over 6 years, through cancellation and into Vol. 2.
The series went on to play a key role throughout the infamous Clone Saga
, becoming one of two Spider-Man titles that shifted focus to the new Ben Reilly
Scarlet Spider character. The series' run was interrupted by that saga in issues #63 and 64 (Nov.-Dec. 1995), when the title was renumbered to #1 and renamed Scarlet Spider. Spider-Man resumed with #65 (Jan. 1996), with Ben Reilly replacing Peter Parker as Spider-Man.
Intended as a permanent change, Reilly's status as the new Spider-Man was cut short when Bob Harras
was named new Editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics in February 1996, and ordered the reinstatement of the character's Peter Parker identity. Spider-Man was the title in which this was to ultimately occur and so, in #75 (Dec. 1996), by Mackie and the series' then regular penciller, John Romita Jr., Ben Reilly was killed by the resurrected original Green Goblin
— who had seemingly died nearly a quarter-century before, real time, in The Amazing Spider-Man #122 (July 1973) — and Peter Parker returned to the role of Spider-Man. That same issue, the title of the series was changed to Peter Parker: Spider-Man to concretely establish that the original Spider-Man was being depicted. This addition to the title also referenced the original title of the Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man series, which had been renamed simply The Spectacular Spider-Man
years earlier in 1988.
The series had a brief interlude in July, 1997 with Marvel's one-month "Flashback" stunt, when all Marvel titles were numbered -1 and each was set before the events of Fantastic Four #1. This #-1 was published between #81-82. The series then continued uninterrupted until the arrival of John Byrne to the Spider-Man titles heralded a relaunch of the entire line. The book was cancelled with #98 (Dec. 1998) and relaunched as Vol. 2 almost immediately afterward.
The series was a continuance of volume 1, with the creative team having migrated to the new, identical title. The renumbering of the title to a new #1 appeared to be a marketing
device intended to raise sales in the short term. The unimportance of the renumbering was highlighted when Marvel in June 2001 began a dual numbering system on all its titles that had been relaunched and renumbered. The first issue of Peter Parker: Spider-Man to be dual-numbered was listed as both #30 and #128 on the cover - the second figure achieved by adding the total of issues of the new volume (30) to the first volume's 98. However, the comic's legal indicia, printed on the title page, still listed the series as vol. 2 #30.
Mackie and Romita Jr. remained through #20 (Aug. 2000) when writer Paul Jenkins
and artist Mark Buckingham
came aboard. Jenkins would go on to write the character over different titles for the next five years. Buckingham and Jenkins left Peter Parker: Spider-Man after #50 (Jan. 2003) and were briefly succeeded by writer Zeb Wells
and an assortment of artists on what was meant to be a two-issue story before cancellation, but due to delays on the replacement book, became seven issues before the title was finally retired with #57 (Aug. 2003). This series was replaced with a new Spider-Man title, Spectacular Spider-Man vol. 2, which debuted with the team of Jenkins and penciller Humberto Ramos
, running for 27 issues until 2005.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, both of which feature the character Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
.
Volume One (1990-1998)
Peter Parker: Spider-Man (originally titled simply Spider-Man), was a monthly comic bookComic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series published by Marvel Comics that ran for 98 issues from 1990-1998. The series was retitled Peter Parker: Spider-Man with issue #75, but only on the covers (the series was still under its original Spider-Man title in the comic's legal indicia, printed on the title page, from #75-98; the comic book would not officially be titled Peter Parker: Spider-Man until the Vol. 2 series relaunch).
The series originally was conceived as a showcase for Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane is a Canadian cartoonist, writer, toy designer and entrepreneur, best known for his work in comic books, such as the fantasy series Spawn....
. McFarlane, who until then had only been known as an artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, was hugely popular at the time and the series was created by editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
Jim Salicrup
Jim Salicrup
Jim Salicrup is an American comic book editor, known for his tenures at Marvel Comics and Topps Comics. At Marvel, where he worked for twenty years, he edited books such as The Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic Four, Avengers and various Spider-Man titles...
so that McFarlane could pencil
Penciller
A penciller is an artist who works in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms.The penciller is the first step in rendering the story in visual form and may require several steps of feedback with the writer. These artists are concerned with layout to showcase...
, ink
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
, and write
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
a Spider-Man title of his own, starting with the "Torment
Torment (comics)
"Torment" is a story arc written by Todd McFarlane, which encompassed the first five issues of the new ongoing Spider-Man comic book. It was published in 1990 by Marvel Comics...
" storyline.
Though panned by critics, the series was a massive sales success. McFarlane stayed on the title until issue #16 in 1991. He would go on to create the character Spawn
Spawn (comics)
Spawn is a fictional comic book superhero who appears in a monthly comic book of the same name published by Image Comics. Created by writer/artist Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1...
and help found Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
in 1992.
He was succeeded on the title by Erik Larsen
Erik Larsen
Erik J. Larsen is an American comic book writer, artist and publisher. He is best known for his work on Savage Dragon, as one of the founders of Image Comics, and for his work on Spider-Man for Marvel Comics.-Early life:...
, who had succeeded McFarlane on The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man. Being the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a monthly periodical and was published continuously until it was...
two years earlier, and would later join him in the founding of Image. Larsen wrote and drew the six-issue story arc "Revenge of the Sinister Six
Sinister Six
The Sinister Six are a group of supervillains in the Marvel Comics universe, drawn from Spider-Man's rogues gallery. The original incarnation of the group was organized by Doctor Octopus, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 ....
" (#18-23).
After that came a quick procession of different contributors, including writers Tom DeFalco
Tom DeFalco
Tom DeFalco is an American comics writer and editor, well known for his association with Marvel Comics and in particular for his work with Spider-Man.-Career:...
, Ann Nocenti
Ann Nocenti
Ann "Annie" Nocenti is an American journalist, writer, editor, and filmmaker best known for her work on comic books and magazines. As an editor for Marvel Comics, she edited New Mutants and The Uncanny X-Men...
, David Michelinie
David Michelinie
-Biography:Some of his earliest work is for DC Comics's House of Secrets and a run on Swamp Thing , following Len Wein and preceding Gerry Conway, illustrated by Nestor Redondo. Michelinie did a run on Aquaman in Adventure Comics which led to the revival of the Sea King's own title in 1977...
, J. M. DeMatteis
J. M. DeMatteis
John Marc DeMatteis is an American writer of comic books.-Early career:Born in Brooklyn, DeMatteis graduated from Midwood High School and Empire State College. He worked as a music critic before getting his start in comic books at DC Comics in the late 1970s...
and Terry Kavanagh
Terry Kavanagh
Terrence "Terry" Kavanagh is an American comic book editor and writer.-Biography:Kavanagh was a Marvel Comics editor during the late 1980s and 1990s...
, and pencillers Marshall Rogers
Marshall Rogers
Marshall Rogers was an American comic-book artist best known for his work at Marvel and DC Comics in the 1970s, particularly as one of the illustrators of Batman and Silver Surfer...
, Ron Frenz
Ron Frenz
Ronald Wade Frenz is an American comic book artist known for his work for Marvel Comics. He is well-known for his 1980s work on Amazing Spider-Man, and more recently, for his work on Spider-Girl...
, Klaus Janson
Klaus Janson
Klaus Janson is a German-born American comic book artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies...
and Jae Lee
Jae Lee
Jae Lee is an American comic book artist best known for his work on Inhumans and The Sentry, both with Paul Jenkins.-Career:Lee first rose to prominence in the industry for his work on Marvel's Namor the Sub-Mariner, Inhumans , and The Sentry, as well as his creator-owned character Hellshock at...
. The creative-team musical chairs
Musical chairs
Musical chairs is a game played by a group of people , often in an informal setting purely for entertainment such as a birthday party...
settled with Spider-Man #44 (March 1994) when writer Howard Mackie
Howard Mackie
Howard Mackie is an American comic book editor and writer. He has worked almost exclusively for Marvel Comics.- Childhood :...
and penciller Tom Lyle
Tom Lyle
-Biography:Lyle first came to prominence as penciler on DC Comics' Starman vol. 1 where he worked with writer Roger Stern.He went on to work on the first Robin limited series with writer Chuck Dixon...
began a run on the title — Lyle through #61, and Mackie for over 6 years, through cancellation and into Vol. 2.
The series went on to play a key role throughout the infamous Clone Saga
Clone Saga
The Clone Saga or Spider-Clone Saga was a major story arc in Marvel Comics which ran from 1994 to 1996 involving many clones of Spider-Man.The story is considered to be one of the most controversial Spider-Man stories ever told...
, becoming one of two Spider-Man titles that shifted focus to the new Ben Reilly
Ben Reilly
Benjamin "Ben" Reilly is a fictional character in the . He is a clone of Peter Parker , and is prominent in the "Clone Saga" story arc...
Scarlet Spider character. The series' run was interrupted by that saga in issues #63 and 64 (Nov.-Dec. 1995), when the title was renumbered to #1 and renamed Scarlet Spider. Spider-Man resumed with #65 (Jan. 1996), with Ben Reilly replacing Peter Parker as Spider-Man.
Intended as a permanent change, Reilly's status as the new Spider-Man was cut short when Bob Harras
Bob Harras
Robert "Bob" Harras is an American comics writer and editor, who was editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics from 1995 to 2000 and currently serves as editor-in-chief of DC Comics.-Career:...
was named new Editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics in February 1996, and ordered the reinstatement of the character's Peter Parker identity. Spider-Man was the title in which this was to ultimately occur and so, in #75 (Dec. 1996), by Mackie and the series' then regular penciller, John Romita Jr., Ben Reilly was killed by the resurrected original Green Goblin
Green Goblin
The Green Goblin is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 ....
— who had seemingly died nearly a quarter-century before, real time, in The Amazing Spider-Man #122 (July 1973) — and Peter Parker returned to the role of Spider-Man. That same issue, the title of the series was changed to Peter Parker: Spider-Man to concretely establish that the original Spider-Man was being depicted. This addition to the title also referenced the original title of the Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man series, which had been renamed simply The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man is the name of several comic books and one magazine series starring Marvel Comics' Spider-Man.The character's main series, The Amazing Spider-Man, was extremely successful, and Marvel felt the character could support more than one title. This led the company in 1968 to...
years earlier in 1988.
The series had a brief interlude in July, 1997 with Marvel's one-month "Flashback" stunt, when all Marvel titles were numbered -1 and each was set before the events of Fantastic Four #1. This #-1 was published between #81-82. The series then continued uninterrupted until the arrival of John Byrne to the Spider-Man titles heralded a relaunch of the entire line. The book was cancelled with #98 (Dec. 1998) and relaunched as Vol. 2 almost immediately afterward.
Volume Two (1999-2003)
Peter Parker: Spider-Man vol. 2, was a monthly comic book series published by Marvel Comics that ran for 57 issues between 1999 and 2003.The series was a continuance of volume 1, with the creative team having migrated to the new, identical title. The renumbering of the title to a new #1 appeared to be a marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
device intended to raise sales in the short term. The unimportance of the renumbering was highlighted when Marvel in June 2001 began a dual numbering system on all its titles that had been relaunched and renumbered. The first issue of Peter Parker: Spider-Man to be dual-numbered was listed as both #30 and #128 on the cover - the second figure achieved by adding the total of issues of the new volume (30) to the first volume's 98. However, the comic's legal indicia, printed on the title page, still listed the series as vol. 2 #30.
Mackie and Romita Jr. remained through #20 (Aug. 2000) when writer Paul Jenkins
Paul Jenkins (writer)
Paul Jenkins is a British comic book writer and Gary Gygax's stepson. He has had much success crossing over into the American comic book market. Primarily working for Marvel Comics, he has had a big part shaping the characters of the company over the past decade.-Life and career:Paul Jenkins...
and artist Mark Buckingham
Mark Buckingham
Mark Buckingham is a British comic book artist. He is better known for his work on Marvelman and Fables.-Biography:Born as Mark John Buckingham May 23, 1966 in Clevedon, United Kingdom...
came aboard. Jenkins would go on to write the character over different titles for the next five years. Buckingham and Jenkins left Peter Parker: Spider-Man after #50 (Jan. 2003) and were briefly succeeded by writer Zeb Wells
Zeb Wells
Zeb Wells is an American comic book writer known for his work at Marvel Comics, as well as his work on Robot Chicken.-Career:Wells is an Emmy and Annie Award winning writer and actor for the TV show Robot Chicken, including the Emmy-nominated Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II.Wells has written...
and an assortment of artists on what was meant to be a two-issue story before cancellation, but due to delays on the replacement book, became seven issues before the title was finally retired with #57 (Aug. 2003). This series was replaced with a new Spider-Man title, Spectacular Spider-Man vol. 2, which debuted with the team of Jenkins and penciller Humberto Ramos
Humberto Ramos
Humberto Ramos is a Mexican comic book penciller, best known for his work on American comic books such as Impulse, The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man and his creator-owned series Crimson.-Career:...
, running for 27 issues until 2005.