Marvel Knights Spider-Man

[your_name_here]

Was the Mark Millar run in canon? I’ve been looking back recently and a lot of the stuff in there seems like a separate reality but obviously the Max Gargan Venom stuff stick around for a while. Is it like that, most stories, some bits were dissected and taken in future stories and other bits weren’t?
Also, what did everyone think of it?

[oldschool]

It was definitely in canon and it was generally well received and is still a pretty well-regarded tale by most. I personally loved the setup (and the art throughout was phenomenal) but I didn't care as much for it as the story went along. It came out during a time when Norman Osborn was behind everything bad that happened to Peter and it just seemed like "here we go again" to me. I also never loved Mac as Venom; Scorpion is such a badass villain on his own and I never understood why putting him in the Venom suit was necessary or what it brought the table that was different. Overall, it suffered a bit as it went along; a bit too much of a good thing to me. Just my two cents.

[Snoop Dogg]

VenoMac was cool enough in every book except Sinister Spider-Man, the book where I was probably meant to like him the most.

[Vortex85]

I loved the story, the art, and think every Spider-man fan should read this 12 issue arc. Probably the best 12 consecutive issues of Spider-Man for me, although no single issue is a stand alone best, but the run itself was awesome as a whole.

It is also way better than other 12 parters like Maximum Carnage and The Other.

[Huntsman Spider]

The best part of Millar's Spider-Man, aside from how he wrote Peter and his relationships with Mary Jane, Aunt May, and Felicia/Black Cat, was the issue where Gargan, of all people, revealed to Peter that there was a secret cabal of corrupt industrialists and politicians deliberately engineering the creation of supervillains as a counterweight to the rising superhero population that would have otherwise threatened their economic and political power, and Norman Osborn used to be part of that cabal before he went and became a supervillain himself. Personally, I thought that was a great way to update the earlier supervillains' origins for modern times, given that when this story was first published, the Cold War had been over for more than a decade.

[WebSlingWonder]

The best part of Millar's Spider-Man, aside from how he wrote Peter and his relationships with Mary Jane, Aunt May, and Felicia/Black Cat, was the issue where Gargan, of all people, revealed to Peter that there was a secret cabal of corrupt industrialists and politicians deliberately engineering the creation of supervillains as a counterweight to the rising superhero population that would have otherwise threatened their economic and political power, and Norman Osborn used to be part of that cabal before he went and became a supervillain himself. Personally, I thought that was a great way to update the earlier supervillains' origins for modern times, given that when this story was first published, the Cold War had been over for more than a decade.

HOLY SPIT! What?! I need to get this story.

[Mister Mets]

It was in canon, although the cabal hasn't mentioned since.

[WebLurker]

Don't know much about the series, but I was kinda aware of the canon/not canon question. Any news if this stuff is getting a new trade release, like they did for the Marvel Knights Punisher stuff recently?

[Vortex85]

If anyone is interested there is a fan made video of Marvel Knights Spider-Man 1-12 comic on youtube by Thwip Studios with some pretty terrible voice acting and some dialogue changes / not every panel shown, etc. But I really enjoyed it for what it is anyway. I think the book has more impact and is better when read than it appears watching with the cheesy voice acting...

I would sugget not watching this if you have not read the book as it may be spoilers and ruin the experience, but if you never plan to read it, or you've read it and want to check out, here it is:



The channel has a lot of other content too which is worth checking out.

[comicscollector]

I will have to re-read it again one day.
It´s been a while since i read this story,but i remember enjoying the story when i read it,be it art wise or story wise.

[oldschool]

The Dodsons' artwork is really well suited to Spidey and his world, especially his rogues gallery. It's surprising that they haven't done more Spidey work over the years.

[Huntsman Spider]

HOLY SPIT! What?! I need to get this story.

You should. It's collected as Spider-Man by Mark Millar: The Ultimate Collection, and it's a pretty good, if not great, read.

It was in canon, although the cabal hasn't mentioned since.

Which is a shame, especially given the universe-shaking potential in it. For example, they could have been pulling the political strings of the Superhero (or Superhuman) Registration Act that propelled the original Civil War and was nearly brought back in the second Civil War. Also, given how many corporate-connected supervillains there are in Marvel, even supervillains who are CEOs in their day-to-day lives and have costumed villainy as a "side hustle," who's to say none of them are or were part of that secret cabal?

[Mister Mets]

I forgot to say what I think about it. It's one of my favorite Spider-Man stories ever. Excellent attempt to put everything great about Spidey (the villains, the supporting cast, the Marvel Universe, the kind Peter Parker) into one story.

[Chubistian]

I’ve tried but I just can’t get to love it. There are things I like, but overall I have always felt that it was way too long for its own good and many of the ideas introduced by Millar were burnt out years before or satured by his way of writing characters that I tend to approve more in his non canon comics. The most crucial revelation should have been more important to the plot and the Marvel Universe. But I do enjoy the story and some of the moments I like are pretty good, like Peter giving the money to Toomes’ grandchildren instead of keeping it. Yes, it’s canon and as far as I know it’s the last story with Osborn as an enemy solely of Peter Parker, before he became an oponent of the whole heroes of the MU, with some few encounters with Peter along the way., Though nowadays he’s back at his place as a Spider-Man villain

[Huntsman Spider]

I’ve tried but I just can’t get to love it. There are things I like, but overall I have always felt that it was way too long for its own good and many of the ideas introduced by Millar were burnt out years before or satured by his way of writing characters that I tend to approve more in his non canon comics. The most crucial revelation should have been more important to the plot and the Marvel Universe. But I do enjoy the story and some of the moments I like are pretty good, like Peter giving the money to Toomes’ grandchildren instead of keeping it. Yes, it’s canon and as far as I know it’s the last story with Osborn as an enemy solely of Peter Parker, before he became an oponent of the whole heroes of the MU, with some few encounters with Peter along the way., Though nowadays he’s back at his place as a Spider-Man villain

On that much, I definitely agree with you. I mean, the revelation that a shadow council of corrupt corporate executives and politicians was responsible for the rise of supervillains to keep superheroes distracted from using their abilities to create lasting social change that would've reduced those executives' and politicians' economic and political power should have been a game-changer for the Marvel Universe as a whole. Given that Millar also went on to write Civil War, who's to say that the events depicted couldn't have been a form of escalation to try to put the superhero population in check, especially with the twist in Wolverine's Civil War tie-in that a corrupt corporate executive's illegal profiteering was actually more responsible for the Stamford tragedy than the superheroes everyone in-universe was blaming? What wasted potential.