5 best Spider-Man comics every fan should read

Some of Spidey's best stories (Image via Marvel Comics)
Some of Spidey's best stories (Image via Marvel Comics)

Spider-Man is no doubt one of Marvel's most popular characters. Now, having been around for 60 years, the Wall-Crawler has become a lot of fans' favorite superhero of all time. Peter Parker's story is one that everyone can relate to. His struggle to maintain a personal life, a professional life, and even his life behind the mask, just makes him one of the best characters that fans can easily root for.

Peter Parker is just a guy from Queens trying to do his best and fulfilling the great responsibility that was bestowed upon him. Spidey himself has become a really big cultural icon and fans have been going crazy over him all these years.

Having starred in a bunch of amazing films, games, and animated shows, this comic character is definitely one of the most iconic. So, to celebrate Spidey's 60th year, let's take a look at five of his best comics.


Top 5 Spider-Man comics include Kraven's Last Hunt, Superior Spider-Man, and more

5) Superior Spider-Man

Doc Ock as Spidey (Image via Marvel Comics)
Doc Ock as Spidey (Image via Marvel Comics)

Over the years, Dan Slott has proven himself to be one of Spider-Man's best writers. Having crafted some of the superhero's best stories, Slott outdid himself with his iconic run of the Web-Slinger that saw Otto Octavius take over Peter Parker's body.

After Doc Ock successfully transferred Peter's mind into his dying body, Otto transferred his own into Peter's, thus killing the superhero in the process. Otto then became the Superior Spider-Man.

The run is filled with many iconic and fun moments that see Otto be the best Spidey he can be, while Parker's consciousness still haunts him in his head. It's a great story that really explores just how difficult Peter's life was and how Otto is failing at it. It also features a great finale that will leave any Spidey fan grinning from ear to ear.


4) The Amazing Spider-Man #31 - 33

The Amazing Spider-Man comic's cover (Image via Marvel Comics)
The Amazing Spider-Man comic's cover (Image via Marvel Comics)

Do you remember that one moment from Spider-Man: Homecoming where Peter was trapped under a bunch of rubble and had to use all his strength to get out of it? That moment was inspired from this comic. Not only that, though, the comic itself is quite important in the comic mythos as it introduced Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn as well.

Steve Ditko's artwork and Stan Lee's writing filled this comic with such charm and greatness that fans will never want to put it down. This is one of those Spidey comics about the Web-Slinger that everyone has to read at least once.


3) Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt

Kraven's Last Hunt comic cover (Image via Marvel Comics)
Kraven's Last Hunt comic cover (Image via Marvel Comics)

Kraven's Last Hunt features as one of the superhero's darkest stories. With Kraven taking the center stage here, he wants to complete the ultimate challenge of killing and replacing the superhero. The story takes many dark twists and turns that will definitely have the jaws of Spidey fans drop.

What makes this story so special is the way Kraven was written by DeMatteis and just how dark and mature the story got. The comic features friendly neighorhood superhero being buried alive, Kraven fulfiling his goal and unleashing absolute chaos. It's all top notch stuff.


2) Peter Park: The Spectacular Spider-Man #308 - 309

Web-Crawler and Sandman (Image via Marvel Comics)
Web-Crawler and Sandman (Image via Marvel Comics)

Everything Chip Zdarsky puts out, he makes sure that it will be the best thing fans have read in a while. With his run of the iconic comic series, he put out a two-part story that gave the audience one of the best Sandman stories ever. It was an emotional tale that really highlighted the best parts of both these characters.

The story really showed a more vulnerable Sandman who was nearing death. Flint Marko had never felt more human and Spidey had some of the best moments here with one of his biggest villains. Dealing with some really heavy themes, this is a two-parter that should definitely be read.


1) The Amazing Spider-Man #121 - 122

The Death of Gwen Stacy (Image via Marvel Comics)
The Death of Gwen Stacy (Image via Marvel Comics)

These two issues are iconic for many reasons, the one most important one being the death of Gwen Stacy being showcased here. Peter and Gwen's relationship has been a highlight of Spidey's stories in the comics, so this definitely hit fans like a chest kick when reading it. It has also had a great impact on the portrayal of the character in the media as many of its scenes have been adapted for films.

After murdering Gwen Stacy, Spidey was almost on the verge of killing Norman Osborn but didn't go through with it, only for Norman to be killed by his own glider. These two issues did a great job at developing Peter as a character as he faced his biggest loss in life since the death of Uncle Ben.

Edited by Abu Amjad Khan
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