The Most Important Spider-Man Stories

[Mister Mets]

Derek Faracci made a ranking of the top ten most important Spider-Man stories.
https://www.cbr.com/spider-man-pivot...es-storylines/

What do you guys think?

It does seem more than a little weird to rate The Night Gwen Stacy Died above Amazing Fantasy #15.

[Riv86672]

Derek Faracci made a ranking of the top ten most important Spider-Man stories.
[url]It does seem more than a little weird to rate The Night Gwen Stacy Died above Amazing Fantasy #15.

I can -sort of- see why one might rank it higher than Spidey’s first appearance.
It was a landmark moment in his life, right up there w. Uncle Ben in shaping him from that moment on. It was a pointless, accidental death to boot, which is way sadder than it being done purposely. It bound Spidey and Norman Osborn on a personal level not seen in comics at the time...there’s more, but yeah, there’s a case to be made imo.

Also, really glad to see the list is almost all what I personally consider good/important Spidey stories. The 90s on up have never been my favorite Spidey era (Nick Spencer has done a great job getting me excited about Spidey again though), and a lot of fans I interact w. on the Internet seem to think nothing before the 90s is even relevant.

[Batman Begins 2005]

If it's 616 only...

10. Anti-drugs. The Amazing Spider-Man #96-98
9. Kraven's Last Hunt.
8. The formation of the Sinister Six. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1.
7. The Conversation. The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #38
6. The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #30-35. Spidey needed JMS.
5. How Green Was My Goblin/The End of the Green Goblin. The Amazing Spider-Man #39-40.
4. One More Day which is loathsome.
3. The Wedding. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21.
2. The Night Gwen Stacy Died.
1. Amazing Fantasy #15.

If we count Ultimate Spider-Man...

10. Kraven's Last Hunt.
9. The formation of the Sinister Six. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1.
8. The Conversation. The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #38
7. The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #30-35. Spidey needed JMS.
6. How Green Was My Goblin/The End of the Green Goblin. The Amazing Spider-Man #39-40.
5. Ultimate Spider-Man #1-13. #13 the standout.
4. One More Day which is loathsome.
3. The Wedding. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21.
2. The Night Gwen Stacy Died.
1. Amazing Fantasy #15.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Clickbait driven list so low-expectations. On the whole I'd say not bad.

I'd do a different list but some of the stuff I'd pick is here. I am glad that Secret Wars 1984 is represented there.

As for Night Gwen Stacy Died being above AF#15, yeah that's ridiculous but at the same time Night Gwen Stacy Died would be there. The Drug Trilogy maybe not so much.

[Scott Taylor]

Seems like the list is going for stories that are important to comics in general rather than Spider-Man in particular, so in that way it makes sense to have Night Gwen Stacy Died as #1.

We've had this discussion before - not many Spider-Man stories are historically significant outside of the Spider-Man saga itself.

[Celgress]

My own Top Ten List -

1.) Amazing Fantasy #15.

2.) The Night Gwen Stacy Died

3.) The Sinister Six (formation)

4.) The Saga of the Symbiote (up to Amazing #300)

5.) Kraven's Last Hunt

6.) The Clone Saga (both original and 1990s' Era)

7.) One More Day (even though I hate it the event is essential reading to understand modern Spidey)

8.) Spiderverse

9.) Death of Jean DeWolff

10.) Superior Spider-Man

Honorable mention The Wedding. If not for OMD The Wedding would be in my top ten. Sadly, OMD has rendered its continued relevancy moot, IMO.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

My Top 10 Most Important Spider-Man Stories (with the caveat of Importance does not correspond to Quality) are:
-- AF#15
-- ASM #31-32 (The Master Planner Saga)
-- ASM #121-122 (The Night Gwen Stacy Died)
-- Superman Versus the Amazing Spider-Man
-- Secret Wars 1984.
-- ASM# 248 ("The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man)
-- ASM Annual #21 - "The Wedding"
-- ASM #300 ("Venom")
-- Ultimate Spider-Man #1
-- One More Day

Aside from OMD, all of these stories are very good, some are great.
-- A lot of people have put KLH here and I would have done so too but I thought it was important to spotlight Kid Who Collected Spider-Man as an "important" Spider-Man too, because it is, so I gave it to that. The 80s is the period where Spider-Man grew up and dealt with more serious subjects and adult themes (KLH, DoJD) but this story is the start of that.
-- Superman Vs. The Amazing Spider-Man is important as the comic you can point to and say, "that was when we knew, that was when Spidey became the biggest Marvel hero, and as prominent and big as Superman and Batman". And again this comic was a huge f--king deal.
-- A way to measure importance is thinking in terms of stepping stones. Let's say the first stone is heaviest and then it gets smaller and smaller after that, some more sturdy than others, until the next big stone. After AF#15, which is the story that came after that is as important as the first one, and the MP saga comes to mind, then after MP saga, which is the next story as important as that one, and that would be Night Gwen Stacy Died, most important after that and so on and so on.
-- Ultimate Spider-Man is the most influential version of Spider-Man in the last thirty years, certainly most influential since ASM#300.
-- The simple question to be asked "Is there a story after OMD that's as important that has come since?", "Is there a story that has come after that is more important?", the answer to that is no.

Honorable mention The Wedding. If not for OMD The Wedding would be in my top ten.

Regardless of continuity, the Wedding will always be more important, vastly so than OMD. On a sheer eyeball level, the fact is that more readers have read Spider-Man as a married man around the world, and the comics than have ever read, or will ever read, OMD and Post-OMD Spider-Man. That much is an empirical certainty.

[Celgress]

....Regardless of continuity, the Wedding will always be more important, vastly so than OMD. On a sheer eyeball level, the fact is that more readers have read Spider-Man as a married man around the world, and the comics than have ever read, or will ever read, OMD and Post-OMD Spider-Man. That much is an empirical certainty.

As time rolls on and the current status quo (sadly) remains that'll change which is why I didn't place it on my list. I stand by the logic behind my choice.

[Mister Mets]

My own take.

I don't think Death of Jean Dewolff is important enough to be in the top ten. The Harry Osborn drug saga is probably overrated as an example of comics dealing with real issues/ defying the comics code (Marvel already went in that direction with the Spectactular Spider-Man stories.)

Amazing Spider-Man #39-40 is quite important with the arrival of Romita on art, and the establishment of Norman Osborn as a major force. It keeps the Goblins a major part of the series even when the Green Goblin is unmasked.
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 is an impressive villain team-up, and sets a template for a particular type of epic story. It is worth noting that the Sinister Six don't pop up again until the 90s (although there are other groups and there are other villainous team-ups.) I'm not as sure about this one.
One More Day is quite consequential, shaping the direction of the series.
The wedding is probably more important than Kraven's Last Hunt.
Secret Wars/ The Alien Costume Saga obviously matter.
"The Night Gwen Stacy Died" is really important, but it isn't top the first appearance, which established a new type of superhero.

I would add...
"The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man" (Amazing Spider-Man #248) An example of superhero comics telling different types of stories.
Ultimate Fallout/ Ultimate Comics Spider-Man- The debut of Miles Morales
Ultimate Spider-Man

And I almost forgot the Master Planner saga, with the debuts of Harry & Gwen, one of the most iconic Spider-Man moments ever and Peter going to college, which established the Spider-Man comics as a series where things change in big ways.

My top ten would be...
10. The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man
9. Miles Morales
8. One More Day
7. Ultimate Spider-Man
6. The Wedding
5. The Master Planner Saga
4. Spider-Man and the Green Goblin...Both Unmasked
3. Secret Wars/ The Alien Costume Saga
2. Amazing Spider-Man #121-122
1. Amazing Fantasy #15

[Revolutionary_Jack]

As time rolls on and the current status quo (sadly) remains that'll change...

No it won't.

With few exceptions, the biggest audience any comic will have will be on period of release, either NCBD or in TPB. Since comics readership are smaller now than ever before, they start with a small audience, and that grows smaller and smaller since only a small group re-read comics and the ones who do privilege older comics over newer ones. And then after a gap, people will read the older classic stuff over the recent stuff.

[Celgress]

No it won't.

With few exceptions, the biggest audience any comic will have will be on period of release, either NCBD or in TPB. Since comics readership are smaller now than ever before, they start with a small audience, and that grows smaller and smaller since only a small group re-read comics and the ones who do privilege older comics over newer ones. And then after a gap, people will read the older classic stuff over the recent stuff.

Those people will eventually die, sorry to be morbid. I know younger people who have no idea Spider-Man was ever married in time this fan cohort will only grow.

Edit - Look I know you are an MJ/Peter shipper but this is a sad reality Marvel Editorial's plan is slowly working.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Those people will eventually die, sorry to be morbid.

Don't be sorry. Be Morbid.

I know younger people who have no idea Spider-Man was ever married in time this fan cohort will only grow.

Most of those young people will never read Spider-Man comics. But they will see ITSV which does have a married Spider-Man. The ones who get interested in reading those comics will look up the classics eventually, stuff like KLH and so on.

[Celgress]

Don't be sorry. Be Morbid.



Most of those young people will never read Spider-Man comics. But they will see ITSV which does have a married Spider-Man. The ones who get interested in reading those comics will look up the classics eventually, stuff like KLH and so on.

Perhaps, but I can tell you that the younger fans I know don't see MJ as a vital character to the Spidey Mythos. Unlike with Clark and Lois, there are many different shipping communities for Pete. I blame this in part on the last decade of Spider-Man stories distancing the characters of Peter and MJ along with the recent animated series that has done the same thing. Being married to a superhero is one thing being their occasional girlfriend/boyfriend at the whims of whoever is writing the stories at the time is quite the other. With OMD MJ took a major downgrade in character connection there is no denying that fact.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I blame this in part on the last decade of Spider-Man stories distancing the characters of Peter and MJ along with the recent animated series that has done the same thing.

Nobody sees the Spider-Man cartoon series on Disney. It's got low ratings and kids are more interested in DuckTales 2017 than that. Whereas the Spider-Man PS4 game was played by people in the millions.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

In either case, regardless of whether something is forgotten or remembered, doesn't have a lot to do with importance. For instance, as the movie The Irishman notes, Jimmy Hoffa was among the most powerful political figures in USA in the '50s and '60s, as famous as Elvis and the Beatles, and very important in the history of US labour, but he's been totally forgotten in the decades that came after. Does that mean Jimmy Hoffa wasn't important? No.

On a smaller case. Among some Spider-Man fans, Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man doesn't register as an important story for Spider-Man, even if it was highly important and a landmark, and a totally unprecedented thing at the time.

Importance isn't something affected by the temporary sentiments of fandom or passing fads.