Who are the most important Spider-Man writers?

[Mister Mets]

This was just a question I was thinking about recently...

Who are the most important Spider-Man writers and why?

It's a distinct question, separate from the best writers, although there is likely to be some overlap.

I obviously have my own thoughts, but I'd rather not push people here to a particular outcome.

So, who are the writers who should be included in lists of the most important Spider-Man writers and why?

[hobnob]

Slott's probably up there. He has single handedly set the tone for Spider-Man since OMD.

Before ... that... I'd say Michelinie, Stern, DeFalco, JMD, and Conway.

While Ultimates is another universe, Bendis created Miles Morales and so he is obviously a 'most important' on the basis of how the question in phrased.

I'd also say Jeph Loeb given that he wrote the perfect Spider-Man story.

[bob.schoonover]

Michelinie created Venom and Carnage - I think you can't overstate the impact of those two characters on both Spider-man (during the 90s) and as their own properties afterwards.

JMD is the writer who is probably the most influential on future SM writers, just in terms of how writers reference and homage his work. BND built up to a big Kraven resurrection, Spencer and Wells both have done their own stories that reference KLH, Spencer's finale was a big (messy, convoluted, possibly bad) love letter to the Harry JMD wrote so well in SSM. JMD probably did the most to establish (in his second stint on SSM) the Lex-lite version of Norman that was part and parcel to a number of stories both in the Spider-office and out of it.

[Lairston]

Lee - He started it

Conway - He set up the post-Lee and really raised the bar with the Death of Gwen Stacy storyline and introduced the Punisher

Roger Stern - Came up with the best introduction of a villain since Lee was introducing them- Hobgoblin. Everyone wanted to know

JMD - As someone that paid very little attention to the creators names as a kid its surprising how many of the stories I liked were written by him (and Stern). Then there's Kraven's Last Hunt of course

MIchilenie - Created Venom

[Spider-Tiger]

I agree with the names listed above, but I'll also throw in Bendis as perhaps the most important Spider-Man writer of the 21st century. I am by no means a huge Ultimate fan. However, there's no denying that basically every single Spider-man adaptation since Raimi can be traced to Bendis' work on Ultimate in some way.

Edit: Didn't see that hobnob mentioned Bendis above.

[K7P5V]

Lee - He started it

Conway - He set up the post-Lee and really raised the bar with the Death of Gwen Stacy storyline and introduced the Punisher

Roger Stern - Came up with the best introduction of a villain since Lee was introducing them- Hobgoblin. Everyone wanted to know

JMD - As someone that paid very little attention to the creators names as a kid its surprising how many of the stories I liked were written by him (and Stern). Then there's Kraven's Last Hunt of course

MIchilenie - Created Venom

Excellent list! My only addition would be J. Michael Straczynski
After the Clone Saga, Spidey needed a lift & JMS delivered (IMHO):

[Kevinroc]

(Obviously I agree with creators previously mentioned like Lee, Conway, Stern, JMS, etc. and some not mentioned like DeFalco.)

Probably going to be a controversial pick but...

John Semper.

He was the showrunner for the 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series. That series defined Spider-Man for a generation. And, yes, it influenced the comics as well. The Spider-Verse wouldn't exist without this series.

[your_name_here]

Lee

Conway

Roger Stern

JMD

Michilenie

Straczynski

Bendis

Slott

[Daibhidh]

Nobody has mentioned Ditko and Romita. (I mean, they were the actual writers. Lee edited and did dialogue and captions.)

[Speed Force League Unlimited]

Peter David did create Miguel Stone O'Hara, and offed Jean DeWolf.

Bill Mantlo has some valuable input, he did create DeWolf and brought in some important elements like a gang war and romance with Felicia.

Michellinie wrote the marriage.

Joe Quesada annuled the marriage, the stench of that is still stuck to the character.

Jim Shooter is another E.i.C with brief writing stint that left its significant stamp on the character.

Bendis wrote New Avengers, and his stuff with the raft made its way to the 2018 game.

Nobody has mentioned Ditko and Romita. (I mean, they were the actual writers. Lee edited and did dialogue and captions.)

Ditko definitely deserves the nod.

[wleakr]

Nobody has mentioned Ditko and Romita. (I mean, they were the actual writers. Lee edited and did dialogue and captions.)

Most don't consider plot points as writing.

[exile001]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Marv Wolfman.

Sure, his ASM run is bad but he created Black Cat (to one extent or another). That's huge, even if other writers like Bill Mantlo built her into a character that lasted.

[Mister Mets]

Nobody has mentioned Ditko and Romita. (I mean, they were the actual writers. Lee edited and did dialogue and captions.)

Ditko's role in plotting some of the key Spider-Man stories definitely gets him in the top ten.

He is hard to rank, because it's hard to determine how his obvious contribution as co-writer on these pivotal issues compares to the solo work of a Roger Stern or Brian Michael Bendis.

Romita Sr may very well make it into the top ten, though it comes down to his contributions to the plots of the post-Ditko Spider-Man. If that hadn't worked out, the series might still exist now, but as something on the level of Daredevil or Thor (which outsold Spider-Man for much of Kirby's run.)

Most don't consider plot points as writing.

Ditko and Romita went further than just coming up with plot points.

[wleakr]

Ditko and Romita went further than just coming up with plot points.

Maybe. It's one of those "facts" that only the folks involved will ever truly know for sure.

I do find it interesting that after the Lee-Ditko-Romita period ended, neither Romita or Ditko seemed to do much "writing" on their own.

Didn't Ditko comeback to do Speedball? But he aligned with Tom Defalco on that. Why not just "write" that book on his own?

Couldn't Marvel had reached out to Romita or Ditko to do Amazing Spiderman Annual 18, instead of having Lee script it? I guess we could always use Ditko was a recluse as a reason he wouldn't do such things. But he came back for Speedball!

[exile001]

I do find it interesting that after the Lee-Ditko-Romita period ended, neither Romita or Ditko seemed to do much "writing" on their own.

Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), the Question, the Creeper, Shade the Changing Man, and Hawk & Dove. And, of course, the infamous Mr. A.

Ditko has quite number of writing credits, but was likely hired more as an artists as his contributions to the writing Spidey and Doc Strange weren't as known, or at least celebrated.