Who makes your Top 10 Spider-Characters list?

[Abishai100]

If I take out Peter Parker himself as well as Mary Jane I'm left with these 10:

1. Eddie Brock / Venom
2. Norman Osborn / Green Goblin --- tied with Harry Osborn (the New Goblin)
3. Felicia Hardy / Black Cat
4. Cletus Kasady / Carnage
5. Gwen Stacy
6. Doctor Octopus
7. Doctor Doom
8. Kingpin
9. Electro
10. Hobgoblin


The reason that Venom tops my list is for two main reasons:

1. He is the evil version of Spider-Man
2. He is the comic book re-presentation of Jack the Ripper






Venom

[Darth Phoenix]

In fav 2 lesser order

1 Spiderwoman (Julia Carpenter)
2 Black Cat
3 Gwen
4 Demogoblin
5 Osborne
6 Firestar
7 Venom (Eddie)
8 Puma
9 Madame Web (Cassandra Webb)
10 spiderman 2099

[MajorHoy]

Just like the title question suggestions, I'm curious as to which characters are favored by those of us who post here and why we like them. Fans of the Spider-Man comics are blessed, as the character has one of the strongest cast of characters in comics (if not all literature); there are great villains and interesting upstanding civilians and all manner of morally grey character in between. Who shines brightest in your eyes?

The only rules, I guess, is that you don't pick Peter Parker - it's too easy; also, the choices have to be legit parts of the Spider-mythos. Like, villains who only appear once and fight Spidey are fine, but guest stars don't count.

Thought this might be an interesting topic to revive for those who weren't around when this thread was active (from August 2014 to February 2015).

And for those of you who already did respond, are your original "Top 10" still valid these days?

[Celgress]

...And for those of you who already did respond, are your original "Top 10" still valid these days?

In my case they are.

[dkrook]

1. Miles Morales
2. Miguel O' Hara
3. Cardiac
4. Venom
5. Kraven
6. Black Cat
7. Solo
8.Carnage
9. MJ
10. Mr. Negative

[MajorHoy]

In my case they are.

You could have quoted that old post . . .

Wow very challenging to narrow it down to ten, minus Spidey. Anyhow here are my top ten of all time:

1.) J. Jonah Jameson (in many ways Spidey's ultimate foil)

2.) Aunt May (Spidey's mother figure)

3.) Mary Jane Watson (Spidey's true love, she helps make him stronger)

4.) Norman Osborn (the most personal of foes)

5.) Dr. Otto Octavius (what Spidey could become if he lacked morals and was driven solely by intellect)

6.) Gwen Stacey (Spidey's original love interest, her tragic passing marked his life)

7.) Harry Osborn (Spidey's best friend and sometimes enemy, frenemies before the idea was coined)

8.) Flash Thompson (Spidey's high school bully who evolved into an interesting character)

9.) Roderick Kingsley (The cold, calculating successor to the goblin mantle)

10.) Eddie Brock (the dark, twisted reflection of Spidey)

[Revolutionary_Jack]

In my view the three best and most essential Spider-Man characters are Peter, Mary Jane, and J. Jonah Jameson. I was first exposed to Spider-Man in the newspaper strip and the strip featured Jonah and MJ as regular characters and to me, if you want to understand Spider-Man and what makes him unique and special, the comedy, the heart of it, you need these three characters. Get these characters right and you get Spider-Man in his most transcendent and timeless state.

So excluding those three, the best Spider-Man characters are (in no order):

Aunt May: There are two versions of May. The actual character. And the plot device used by Marvel writers/editors to keep Peter infantile. The actual character is awesome especially in the L-D Era where she gives the iconic "Parkers don't quit" speech, when she told MJ to fight for her man when Clone Gwen showed up, when she joined Civil Rights, and in ASM #400, and when JMS wrote her, and recently in Spencer and Taylor's stories. The other Aunt May's in-between are infantilizing plot devices and not characters.

Flash Thompson: Who was Peter's bully and Spider-Man's most loyal supporter at the same time, and who became Peter's friend and best man at his wedding.

Frederick Foswell: Even after all these years, one of the coolest characters in Spider-Man. A reporter turned gangster turned reporter and the most interesting and well-developed supporting character in the Lee-Ditko era.

Captain George Stacy: Far more compelling and interesting than his daughter. And the sequence dealing with his death is an all-time classic in terms of the emotional roller-coaster and sadness it deals with.

Joseph "Robbie" Robertson: The "good cop" to Jameson at the Daily Bugle is a fascinating character in his own right. People often forget that this is the guy who helped Spider-Man track Osborn in ASM #122.

Ultimate Kitty Pryde: In my view the best second-romance Peter had was with the Ultimate Kitty Pryde who was also an incredibly deep supporting character. Better than Gwen, Black Cat, or Betty Brant. Their romance was believable and it was something that could have worked and you still felt bad for Kitty when it didn't turn out and she still remained as a cool supporting character in Spider-Man's corner.

Miles Morales: Peter's greatest legacy character and the true heir to his power and responsibility. He has a cool supporting cast and an iconic villain in Aaron Davis. The great thing about Miles is that he works on his own, and yet he also fits hand-in-glove in Peter's corner as in Ultimate Spider-Man where he met and bonded with the Ultimate Peter's supporting cast, bringing something new to the table there, and also in Spider-Man PS4. He allows Peter to finally become a mentor and mature father figure at least outside of 616 and outside of Slott's pen that is.

Timothy Harrison: He appeared in one issue as the titular "Kid Who Collected Spider-Man" but this brave kid with an earthy sense of humor and humanity is like Miles a chance to allow Peter to grow up. And he was developed far better in his one appearance than say Uncle Ben in AF#15. He allowed Peter to reveal and confirm his tragic life while also providing him compassion and validation even if Peter's supposed to be the one to give it to him.

Human Torch: Johnny Storm's relationship with Peter is one of the most curious in comics history. The Junior member of the Fantastic Four was once Peter's elder brother figure. Then he was Peter's colleague and then Torch started looking up to Spider-Man and envying him for having it better than him to the point that he redefined "Good luck" differently than how Peter saw it.

Green Goblin/Norman Osborn: The Green Goblin is Spider-Man's greatest villain and the most malignant force in Spider-Man's entire life. The old rich businessman who fails and yet lands on his feet is the embodiment on a social and class sense, and also in a power and ability sense, i.e. Peter's the guy who swings and comes from below, while Norman glides above from a height and looks down on everyone. He's also the father of Harry Osborn and he knows Peter inside out. Unique among Spider-Man's villains, what Norman wants more than anything is to break Spider-Man's hope, his spirit and resolve that allowed him time and time again to recover from tragedy. Norman killed Gwen, Peter moved on with MJ, Norman killed Peter's child, but Peter still remains strong. If Peter is at times Job, then Norman is Satan.

[FeliciaSpidey]

1. Felicia Hardy
2. Flash Thompson
3. MJ
4. J Jonah Jameson
5. Cindy Moon
6. Harry Osborn
7. Aunt May
8. Uncle Ben
9. Venom (Eddie Brock)
10. Doctor Octopus

[Celgress]

You could have quoted that old post . . .

I did not want to lengthen the word count of this thread for a superfluous reason (if someone wants to go back and find my earlier post they can, as you have shown).

[Jeramas]

No particular order:

J Jonah Jamerson
Spiderman
Mary Jane
Kingpin
Uncle Ben/Aunt May
Gwen Stacy
Dr Octopus
Miles Morales
Flash Tompson
Venom

[your_name_here]

J Jonah Jameson
Uncle Ben
Gwen Stacy
Aunt May
Miles Morales
Mary Jane
Flash Thompson
Green Goblin
Venom
Doc Ock

[Nathan84]

1. Ben Reilly. The best thing about the Clone saga. A great character connected to a bad saga. Better than all those other Spiders that are hanging around (yes, I am looking at you, overrated Miles)
2. Kaine. Even during the Clone saga, he was kinda interesting. The man who wanted to live. Yost made him one of the most interesting characters. He needs more space and time, especially with Peter.
3. Demogoblin. It is a shame that he is not around anymore.
4. Peters parents. One of the worst things is that those two who appeared during the 90s where androids. It would have been much better if they were his real parents. Peter needs more family around him.
5. Venom. Nuff said.
6. Lizard.
7. Mary Jane.

[MajorHoy]

. . . 4. Peters parents. One of the worst things is that those two who appeared during the 90s where androids. It would have been much better if they were his real parents. Peter needs more family around him.

Wouldn't mean marginalizing the importance of Aunt May to his history?

Aunt May and Uncle Ben played such an important role because he had no other family. Suddenly introducing his parents back into his life would be extremely suspicious, like suddenly giving somebody a twin sibling who was separated at birth.
(These things can work, but only if done sparingly.)

[K7P5V]

1. Mary Jane Watson-Parker
2. Arana (Anya Corazon)
3. Earth-X Venom (May Parker of Earth-9997)
4. Ultimate Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew of Earth-1610)
5. Ultimate Kitty Pryde
6. Lana Baumgartner
7. Betty Brant
8. Agent Venom (Flash Thompson)
9. Miguel O'Hara (Spider-Man 2099)
10. Superior Spider-Man (Otto Octavius)

[NC_Yankee]

My top 10 are as follows.

1: MJ
2: JJJ
3: Norm/Green Goblin.
4: Otto/Doc. Ock.
5: Felicia.
6: Aunt May.
7: Flash.
8: Gwen.
9: Eddie/Venom
10: Connors/Lizard.