Comics: Current Title Summary

Well, here's a quick summary to the current Spider-Man titles. You can find a complete listing and detailed reviews in the Comics Index.

Spider-Man Core Titles

• Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1): Amazing Spider-Man is the original Spider-Man title, launched in 1963 under Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and it's still going strong. From January 1999 to December 2003 it was renumbered Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2), which is why there are no issues #442-499 listed here. Obviously, there's been a few creative changes since Stan and Steve's day. Currently, this title is published three times per month and has four different teams of writers and artists working on alternating story arcs. It is the core Spidey title in the mainstream Marvel Universe, and an absolute must for even the casual Spidey fan.
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• Amazing Spider-Man Family: A collection of tales staring Spider-Man piled high in one title. We can look forward to seeing Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, The Private Life of Peter Parker, Spider-Girl, Aunt May, and whomever else has wandered through any of Spidey's titles over the past half century.
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• New Avengers: Spider-Man is a founding member of the New Avengers created by Brian Michael Bendis. Spider-Man is a major character in most issues so far, and a significant part of Spider-Man's continuity occurs in this title, and hence it must be considered a core title. The early issues are expensive these days, if you didn't grab them at the time then you might want to consider a TPB.

  The first issues had a retailer incentive Variant cover, which is normally very hard to find and quite expensive. You might want to stick with the regular covers unless your comics budget is particularly generous.
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• New Avengers (Vol. 2): After the fall of Asgard, Steve Rogers, the once (and future?) Captain America, reformed the Avengers, and then grouped them into various teams, this team operates out of the refurbished Avengers Mansion, and is (apparently) lead by Luke Cage.
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• Peter Parker (Vol. 3): Yes, we all show up for Spidey, but behind the red and blue Spandex, there is Peter Parker, who also deserves his time in the Sun. Here (once again), is a book named after May Parker's favorite nephew.
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• Spider-Man Family (Vol. 2): Based on the success of the Spider-Man Family series of one-shots, this on- going Spider-Man Family title has been created. The book contains both new and reprint material, as well as Mini-Marvel one-page shorts (that have appeared in other Marvel titles) scattered throughout the issue.
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• Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 2): Taking the place of The Amazing Spider-Man Family, this Spider-Anthology title is designed to deal with some of the ancillary characters in the Spider-verse, including (but not limited to) Spider-Girl (Pete and MJ's daughter in the M2 Marvelverse), as well as whatever characters and/or villains are currently running around in the main Amazing Spider-Man title.
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Spider-Man Limited Series & One Shots

• Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine: Spider-man and Wolverine together again!
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• King Size Spider-Man: Here is a big summer blast of Spider-Man stories.
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• Mr. Negative: Mr. Negative is a crime-lord wana-be. He has been a thorn in Spider-Man's side for quite some time now. Here he learn more about his mysterious figure.
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• Secret Invasion: The Amazing Spider-Man: The Skrulls are coming! The Skrulls are coming! They've replaced key figures in world's political and super-hero communities, and now they're attacking en masse! Who can you trust in a world gone mad? Welcome to Secret Invasion, Marvel's big summer crossover for 2008. In these enlightened times we seldom get crossovers into ongoing titles unless they need a sales boost, so the Spideyverse's contribution to the crossover can be found in this three-issue limited series.
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• Sinister Spider-Man: Mac Gargan (Scorpion) is now not only both Venom and (through the manipulation of Osborn)an Avenger, but he is apparently the new Spider-Man as well!
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• Spider-Man Clone Saga: Here it is, a concise (six-issue) re-telling of the Classic Clone Saga that gave us Ben Reilly and the Scarlet Spider.
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• Spider-Man Fever: This Spidey story offers a truly unique and surreal story evoking the classic Silver-Age psychedelia reminiscent of Steve Ditko's Dr Strange. In this limited series, Spider-Man is abducted into a bizarre dimension by a depraved tribe of spider-demons, where he is to be eaten alive. Dr. Strange goes on a perilous occult quest to rescue his friend, and winds up tangling with some very peculiar characters along the way.
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• Spider-Man Secret Wars: Do you remember the Secret Wars? Well here is a retelling of parts of that event from Spider-Man's point of view.
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• Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four: A four-issue mini-series teaming up the stars of Marvel's 2007 summer movies.
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• Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four (v2): The story starts in the 60s, showing an early meeting of Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four while the latter are on assignment protecting none other than Dr. Doom; After all, he has diplomatic immunity. Of course, things all go pear-shaped when Namor shows up with an Atlantean army. And if that sounds like there’s a lot going on, well, the issue itself is even more complicated, but in a good way.

  Since the series will be visiting characters at several points in their history, Gage has apparently chosen to deliberately ape the style of that era. Admittedly, we won’t know until next issue, but it’s not difficult to see what he’s trying. Thought balloons feature prominently, the character drama has that light, 60s touch, and the plot itself wouldn’t be out of place in any Stan Lee book. Gage’s version of Doom is an absolute riot, while he gives Spider-Man the kind of snappy dialogue that makes every page fun to read.
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• World War Hulks Spider-Man vs. Thor: Spider-Man, Thor, and other superheroes have been "Hulked out" during the World War Hulk sage, and now Spidey-Hulk and Thor-Hulk are going at it in an all-out-no-holds-bared match.
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• X-Men & Spider-Man: Spider-Man and the X-Men meet again and again over the years.
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Spider-Man Spin-Offs

• American Son: This is a Limited Series offshoot from Amazing Spider-Man. Harry Osborn was offered an Iron Man-derived battle armor by his father Norman Osborn in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #599. He declined then, but perhaps with his father's recent downfall this is Harry's chance to make amends?
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• Anti Venom: New Ways to Live: Eddie Brock is no longer Venom, now he is something completely different while (in some ways) totally the same. Now he is Anti-Venom.
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• Black Cat (Vol. 2): This is a four-part limited series featuring Black Cat. 'Nuff said.
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• She-Hulk Sensational: Thirty years ago (wow, can you believe it? I can’t, and I was there to buy the very first issue!) Stan Lee created She-Hulk, this is one of the last characters that he created for Marvel, and now, in this issue, the company celebrates her 30th anniversary with a pair of new stories as well as a classic story from her John Byrne series. It was Byrne’s run on the title that had her break the fourth wall to directly address the audience, a trend that continues off-and-on to this day.
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• Venom: Dark Origin: A new, darker, more explicit and revealing take on the origin of Venom.
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• Young Allies: A group of young heroes, including Arana, Firestar, Toro, Nomad, and Gravity team up to fight crime and stuff.
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Spider-Man Marvel Adventures Universe

• Marvel Adventures Spider-Man: This is another retelling of Spider-Man, aimed at re-capturing the younger market. While the regular continuity titles are pitched at the long-term faithful, and Ultimate Spider-Man appeals to savvy teenagers, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man is shamelessly looking to sell to the pre-teen market.

  Perhaps the most unusual thing about this title is that it follows so closely on the heels of another very similar book - Marvel Age: Spider-Man which ran to 20 issues of reworking Spider-Man's early day. For no apparent reason, Marvel canned that book and immediately replaced it with this title which started right back at the beginning once more. Maybe that's the plan, just keep re-telling the first 20 Spidey stories in different ways.
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Spider-Man MC2 Universe

• Amazing Spider-Girl: Like its predecessor, Spider-Girl The Amazing Spider-Girl is set in the MC2 Universe, a "What If" world where the daughter of Peter and Mary Jane Parker did not die (as told in Amazing Spider-Man), but instead survived to become a hero.

  This book follows immediately on the heels of the cancellation (after 100 issues) of Spider-Girl.
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Spider-Man Ultimate Universe

• Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Magneto all but participated a worldwide, catastrophic life-ending event by crashing a celestial object into the Atlantic Ocean and causing a worldwide tsunami the likes of which haven't been seen since biblical times.

  New York City was buried under hundreds of feet of seawater, killing thousands, including numerous superheroes. A new world order is about to arise out of these cataclysmic events.
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• Ultimate Spider-Man One Shots: Ultimate Spider-Man doesn't get a lot of one-shots, but when they do happen, here's the place we put them.
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• Ultimatum Spider-Man Requiem: The East Coast has been hit with a tidal wave of epic proportions that was caused by Magneto, and New York is all but destroyed. Spider-Man is missing, and presumed dead.
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Spider-Man Other Universes

• Marvel Heroes (UK Magazine): A new ongoing title produced by Panini in the UK, in the same style as the Spectacular Spider-Man (UK Magazine). There are two comic strips in every issue. Spidey's not always in the title role, but he's always in the issue somewhere.
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• New Avengers Transformers: Spider-Man! Captain America! Luke Cage! Wolverine! It's the New Avengers against the highly merchandised might of Hasbro's Transformers! In a not-so- subtle tie-in to Michael Bay's Transformers movie (at cinemas Summer 2007!), we are treated to a four issue limited series of battling robot action and superhero tomfoolery. What more do you need to know?
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• Spectacular Spider-Man (UK Magazine): While sharing the same name as the long-running main continuity title, this Spectacular Spider-Man is in fact a Kids Magazine produced in the UK once every three weeks. Aimed at the pre-teen market, each issue features an 11-page Spidey story, plus a centrefold wall poster, puzzles, games, villain profiles and all sorts of other goodies. As an extra incentive, each issue also ships with a plastic Spider-Man toy or giveaway cellotaped to the front cover. The "Spider-Man" of these stories is a generic cartoon version, essentially based on the popular 90's TV cartoon. You probably won't find this in the U.S., but for UK collectors it's a nice little bonus.
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• Spider-Man & Friends (UK Magazine): This UK kids Magazine is produced by Panini, and it's a companion to the Spectacular Spider-Man (UK Magazine) produced by the same guys.

  The new "Spider-Man & Friends" range is based around Spider-Man, his cousin Spider-Girl, plus Hulk and Wolverine, though there's plenty of guest appearances. You should be able to find plenty of Spider-Man & Friends toys still in the shops, the style is a western/manga cross, and the target group is the 3-9 year old market.

  Published every four or five weeks, this UK magazine features a toy taped to the front of each issue. Inside you'll find a four page Spidey & Friends story with three panels per page, captions of 8-20 words per panel. Then there's some nice simple kids puzzles, some coloring, a couple of competitions, and a page or two of Spidey merchandise. Essentially, it's the same format as the older kids magazine, just with a much younger target market.
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• Spider-Man Marvel Adventures: This title is simply a re-numbering and reboot of Marvel Adventures Spider-Man.
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• Spider-Man/Power Pack: Spider-Man, one of Marvel's "oldest" heroes teams with Power Pack, a team of Marvel's "youngest" heroes in a four-issue mini-series. Let the fun ensue!
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Spider-Man Books

• Spider-Man Color/Activity Books (HarperCollins): HarperCollins produced a series of movie tie-in coloring and activity books to cash in on the Spider-Man 3 film hype.
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