Best story for each villain?

I was thinking about best story for each Spider-Man villain the other day. Some villains like Doctor Octopus and Green Goblin, you've got a number of choices whereas Morlun, I'd say just the one.

Here's mine from the comic books starting with:

[U]Green Goblin:[/U] The Night Gwen Stacy Died, TASM #121-122. Honourable mention to How Green Was My Goblin/The End of the Green Goblin. TASM #39-40.

[U]Doctor Octopus.[/U] A number of choices, I'd go with If This Be My Destiny. TASM #31-33.

[U]Kraven the Hunter.[/U] Kraven's Last Hunt and that's where Kraven needed to stay dead.

[U]Morlun.[/U] Nothing has come close to Coming Home, TASM (Vol. 2) #30-35.

[U]Venom.[/U] TASM #300.
[U]
Boomerang, Shocker, the Beetle, Overdrive and Speed Demon.[/U] The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #1-17.

You get the idea ; ).

Indeed. I will add:

[U]The Kingpin[/U]: [URL="https://comicvine.gamespot.com/kingpin/4050-10989/"]https://comicvine.gamespot.com/kingpin/4050-10989/[/URL]

[U]Carnage[/U]: Maximum Carnage - [URL="https://comicvine.gamespot.com/maximum-carnage/4050-27313/"]https://comicvine.gamespot.com/maximum-carnage/4050-27313/[/URL]

Doc Ock- Obituary For An Octopus, Spider-Man Unlimited#3 (some of it was referenced in the Superior team-up series)
Norman Osborn- How Green Was My Goblin?
Carnage- That one story he goes after his childhood friend, I forget the name
Sandman- Again, I forgot the name, but it's the one story shortly [I]after[/I] Venom took a big bite out of him and left him "dying"

I’ll talk about some villains that haven’t been mentioned much.

[B]Chameleon[/B]—- the criminally underrated Webspinners #10-12 by Paul Jenkins where Chameleon professes his love for Peter (better than it sounds). Runner-up would be Spec Spider-Man #241-244 (or 245?) by JM DeMatteis. It was like the first story after the clone saga and he convinced Peter he was someone else and in an asylum.

[B]Vulture[/B]—— Spec Spider-Man (Vol 1) #186-188 “Funeral Arrangements” by JM DeMatteis in which he tries (and fails) to apologize to Aunt May for accidentally killing Nathan Lubensky. Runner-up would be the classic ASM Roger Stern 2-parter from the early 80s when he befriended Nathan Lubensky in the retirement home before he got busted by Peter. Can’t remember the exact issues but sometime in the #220s-240s.

[B]The Looter[/B]—- Sensational Spider-Man (Vol 1) #8 (very fun one-ish story with Spider-Ben) by Todd Dezago

[B]Kaine[/B]—— tie between ‘Spider-Man: The Lost Years’ and ‘Spider-Man: Redemption’ by JM DeMatteis

[B]Mysterio[/B]—- his best story is actually in another hero’s book. Daredevil (Vol 2) #1-8 “Guardian Devil” arc by Kevin Smith. Runner-up would either be ‘The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ arc by Peter David with the three Mysterios (including undead Beck) stalking Midtown High (forget the issues, but it was during the “unmasked” era) or that classic Stan Lee/John Romita 2-parter in ASM (Vol 1) #66-67 where Mysterio makes Pete think he was small.

[B]Shocker[/B]—— best Shocker story and best story from the Brand New Day era is easily “Unscheduled Stop” by Mark Waid with beautiful art by Marcos Martin, which I think is ASM #578-579 but I could be off an issue. It’s the arc where Shocker traps Peter and other passengers in a section of collapsed subway. It also introduces Jay Jameson. A great story during an overall not so great time for the Spidey books. It really stands out as a classic, imo.

[B]Chameleon[/B]- Who Am I? (Spectacular Spider-Man #241-245)
This has a revelation about characters who have been around for decades that makes sense, and one of the darkest traps for Spider-Man.)

[B]Vulture[/B]- Down Among the Dead Men (Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1-4)
I love how the Vulture is basically a Vulture.

[B]Doctor Octopus[/B]- Dying Wish/ Superior Spider-Man
Honorable Mention- One Small Loss (Fantastic Four #267)
I'll note that the Master Planner saga is the best story of the bunch, but Dr Octopus' role in it is pretty minimal and mostly interchangeable.

[B]Sandman[/B]- Where Stalks the Sandman? (Fantastic Four #61-63)
The End of Spider-Man (Amazing Spider-Man #18) is excellent, but brief.
I don't think he ever surpassed his appearances as a top Fantastic Four foe when he came back to Spider-Man, even if the Spider-Man stories were quite decent.

[B]Lizard[/B]- Shed (Amazing Spider-Man #630-633)

[B]Electro[/B]- Down Among the Dead Men (Marvel Knights Spider-Man #2-4)

[B]Mysterio[/B]- The Burglar Saga (Amazing Spider-Man #193-200)
This is elevated by the way he was lurking in the background for a long time before you realize he's one of the major bad guys.

[B]Green Goblin [/B](Norman Osborn)- The Night Gwen Stacy Died (Amazing Spider-Man #121-122)
[B]
Kraven the Hunter[/B]- C'mon

[B]Scorpion[/B]- The Coming of the Scorpion (Amazing Spider-Man #20)

[B]Spider Slayers[/B]- 24 Hours 'Til Doomsday (Amazing Spider-Man #191-192)

[B]Rhino[/B]- Gauntlet: The Rhino (Amazing Spider-Man #617, 625)

[B]Shocker[/B]- Unscheduled Stop (Amazing Spider-Man #578-579)

[B]Kingpin[/B]- Born Again (Daredevil #227-233)
Best Spider-Man Story: Learning Curve (Ultimate Spider-Man #8-13)

[B]Hammerhead-[/B] Family Ties (Amazing Spider-Man Extra, #575-576)

[B]Jackal[/B]- Spider Island (Amazing Spider-Man #666-673)

[B]Harry Osborn Green Goblin[/B]-Best Enemies (Spectacular Spider-Man #200)

[B]Hobgoblin[/B]- Shadows of Evil Past (Amazing Spider-Man #238-239)

[B]Venom[/B]- Down Among the Dead Men (Marvel Knights Spider-Man #5-12)

[B]Carnage[/B]- Batman/ Spider-Man
A surprisingly excellent one-shot that pairs Carnage with the Joker, and quickly has the lunatics come to a falling out.

[B]Morlun[/B]- Coming Home (Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2 #30-35)

[B]Fusion[/B]- One Small Break (Peter Parker Spider-Man #30-32)
If you're wondering who, go read that story.

[B]Mr. Negative[/B]- Dark Reign: Mr. Negative #1-3[B][/B]

Boy, you’re really a ‘Down Among the Dead Men’ fan. I like it too, but I wouldn’t label it as the best story for all those different villains. They all have fantastic moments in it, but iirc none of them are really focused on individually for long. Well, maybe Venom!

And the Fusion story is great. It’s really a shame he was barely ever used again.

[B]Hydro Man[/B]:Best:Amazing Spider-Man#212.The first story of Hydro Man is still the best one.A cool origin,the villain have cool powers.And the way Spider-Man figures out a way to defeat this villain is quite smart.Reminds me of the scientific way that Spider-Man would win other villains in stories by Stan Lee.
Honorable Mention:Amazing Spider-Man:315. The fight with Hydro Man happens just in few pages in this story.But Hydro Man illustrated by Tod McFarlane is enough to make for this honorable mention.This is likely one of the fights in a Spider-Man story that while it is quite short is one of my favorites.I think this fight with Hydro Man is underated because it happens in the first part of the second story arc of Venom but even with Hydro Man not being the main villain of this story arc is still a great story with Hydro Man.

[QUOTE=HypnoHustler;3912566]Boy, you’re really a ‘Down Among the Dead Men’ fan. I like it too, but I wouldn’t label it as the best story for all those different villains. They all have fantastic moments in it, but iirc none of them are really focused on individually for long. Well, maybe Venom!

And the Fusion story is great. It’s really a shame he was barely ever used again.[/QUOTE]

"Down Among the Dead Men" is among my ten favorite Spider-Man stories, so I'm going to rate it higher than the second-best Vulture story (Probably DeMatteis' "Funeral arrangements") or the second-best Venom story (probably his first appearance in ASM 300.) I do like how it depicts Vulture as a scavenger, and the fight scenes with Venom.

I don't know if the Electro story is that great, although part of it might just be the lack of Electro stories on the level of Roger Stern's Vulture origin. "Light the Night" is good, but a bit over the top in the sensitivity. I suppose ASM #82 is the best bet, and that it might be a better Electro story than "Down Among the Dead Men" (though it is cool to see what happens when Electro uses his powers to cause maximum damage.)

On further reflection, "The Return of the Sin-Eater" is also really good as an Electro story.

[QUOTE=Mister Mets;3912957]"Down Among the Dead Men" is among my ten favorite Spider-Man stories, so I'm going to rate it higher than the second-best Vulture story (Probably DeMatteis' "Funeral arrangements") or the second-best Venom story (probably his first appearance in ASM 300.) I do like how it depicts Vulture as a scavenger, and the fight scenes with Venom.

I don't know if the Electro story is that great, although part of it might just be the lack of Electro stories on the level of Roger Stern's Vulture origin. "Light the Night" is good, but a bit over the top in the sensitivity. I suppose ASM #82 is the best bet, and that it might be a better Electro story than "Down Among the Dead Men" (though it is cool to see what happens when Electro uses his powers to cause maximum damage.)

On further reflection, "The Return of the Sin-Eater" is also really good as an Electro story.[/QUOTE]

There is a lack of great Electro stories. Another good (not great) one is ASM#425 when Peter teams up with X-Man and wears that electric insulation suit (it’s now a variant suit in the PS4 game).

[B]Electro[/B] - Peter Parker #66

[B]Carnage[/B] - Amazing Spider-Man #361-363

[B]Alistair Smythe[/B] - Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19

Richard Fisk (a.k.a. [B]The Rose[/B]) - Web of Spider-Man #30

[B]Titania[/B] - Amazing Spider-Man #283

[B]Mongoose[/B] - Mighty Thor #391

[B]Juggernaut[/B] - Amazing Spider-Man #229-230

[B]Thanos[/B] - Avengers Annual #7/Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2