10 (More) Great Spider-Man Stories


Spider-Man, obviously, is one of the most popular characters in comic books (or movies, or cartoons, or video games, or…) and has been for decades now. His popularity has meant for most of the 60+ years of his publishing history he has had more than one ongoing title running simultaneously. Not counting what if…? or Ultimate stories (those would need to be different lists), I wanted to pick out 10 tales of the webbed wall-crawling wonder that will show you why he, his villains, and his cast of supporting characters are second to none.

I should point out this is NOT a top 10 list, in that these are not ranked in any particular order, nor are they the 10 BEST Spider-Man stories, or my absolute favorite 10. These are just 10 cool stories that maybe slipped your radar or were out before you were reading Spider-Man and/or were born. I imagine I will revisit this topic, because it was hard to narrow it to just 10 for this article.

So, if you haven’t read these, do yourself a favor and check them out, and if you have read them, well… good.

Check out our first installment of great Spidey stories here, and check out some X-Men recommendations here and here!

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Top 100 Comic Book Villains Master List

Everyone knows nothing makes a good hero like a great villain. Sherlock Holmes needed Moriarty, G.I. Joe needed Cobra, the rebels needed Darth Vader, etc. Nothing makes a story better quite like an interesting, intriguing, and yet hated adversary. Readers tend to flock to the villains they love to hate. The best villains bring something out of the hero that nobody else does or force the hero to push themselves further than before to find a way to win.

We wanted to make a top 10 list, but that’s impossible. There are just too many good choices, and we couldn’t agree on any of it. So we increased the list, and increased it, and increased it (honestly, we probably could have kept going, too). So, before it gets too out of hand, here are our choices for the 100 best villains in comics.

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Top 100 Villains 5-1

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Everyone knows nothing makes a good hero like a great villain. Sherlock Holmes needed Moriarty, G.I. Joe needed Cobra, the rebels needed Darth Vader, etc. Nothing makes a story better quite like an interesting, intriguing, and yet hated adversary. Readers tend to flock to the villains they love to hate. The best villains bring something out of the hero that nobody else does or force the hero to push themselves further than before to find a way to win.

We wanted to make a top 10 list, but that’s impossible. There are just too many good choices, and we couldn’t agree on any of it. So we increased the list, and increased it, and increased it (honestly, we probably could have kept going, too). So, before it gets too out of hand, here are our choices for the 100 best villains in comics.

(Click here for our Top 100 Heroes List!)

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Issue #40: All 4 “FANTASTIC FOUR” Movies?! – Podcast

Issue 40: All 4 “FANTASTIC FOUR” Movies?! – Podcast

“Flame On!” – Johnny Storm, the Human Torch

After dreading it for years, Chris and Erik are finally tackling their deep-seated trauma, and reviewing ALL 4 “Fantastic Four” movies!? (Spoilers: they’re all garbage, despite the comics being so good…) As well as some speculation on what the MCU may end up doing with the FF in Phase 5 or 6…

Movies Discussed:

  • Fantastic 4 (1994)
  • Fantastic Four (2005)
  • Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
  • …FANT4STIC ?! (2015)

Also on this episode:

  • Invincible – Season 2: Part 1 (Amazon Prime)
  • What If? – Season 2 (MCU, Disney Plus)
  • ECHO (MCU, Disney Plus)
  • Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Apple Plus)

(Episode edited by Chris Carroll and Erik Slader)

Check out our Essential Reads for the FF and more at our blog – ⁠⁠⁠⁠ComicZombie.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

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Top 15 Rivalries

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Comic books are filled with rivalries. Some are friendly, like Archie and Jughead, and some are… not so friendly. While the friendly ones are fine, and can often inject plenty of drama into stories, it’s the really vitriolic ones that grab our attention and are typically the ones we remember the most fondly. With that in mind, below are my top 15 rivalries in comics. Plenty of these rivalries have had backstories fleshed out after the first time we saw them, like our first entry, but for ‘first altercation’ I’m going with the first published fight or confrontation between them, and not the backstories that were later filled in.

Who makes up your favorite rivalry? Did they place on the list? Let us know!

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Comic Zombie Podcast #30: The “Ultimate Marvel” Comics

Issue 30: Ultimate Marvel

“Hulk Smash Freddie Prinze Junior!” – The Ultimate Hulk (The Ultimates #4)

Chris and Erik review the “Ultimate Marvel” Comics Line (2000-2015) – including: Ultimate Spider-man, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, The Ultimates, and Ultimatum… 

Also On This Episode: 

  • Erik’s (spoiler free) mini-review of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
  • Quick thoughts on “Werewolf by Night” and “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special”
  • Artist Spotlight: Darwyn Cooke
  • Essential Reads: The Incredible Hulk

Check out our blog at ComicZombie.net for more! 

And buy Erik’s new sci-fi / noir novella, “2299” here! 

(Episode edited by Erik Slader)

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Essential Reads: FANTASTIC FOUR

On our latest podcast episode (Issue #26) we gave some recommendations for the FF!

Erik’s Pick: “FANTASTIC FOUR: 1234” by Grant Morrison and Jae Lee (Marvel Knights)

Chris’s Pick(s): “Fantastic Four: Unthinkable” by Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo, and Casey Jones *AND* “Fantastic Four: Authoritative Action” by Mark Waid, Howard Porter, and Mike Wieringo!

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Comic Zombie Podcast #12

Comic Zombie – Issue #12: The Not-So-Great Debate: BATMAN Edition!

On the latest (and greatest?) episode – Erik and Chris argue over the questions that really matter… to comic fans.

  1. Who’s the best Robin?
  2. Should Batman even have a Robin?
  3. Should Batman be in the Justice League?
  4. If DC were to kill off the Joker, who should do it?
  5. Which Batmobile is the coolest?
  6. Who is the best on-screen Batman?
  7. Best movie villain, besides the Joker?
  8. What’s the best bat-comics event storyline?
  9. Best Joker actor?
  10. Most underrated Batman villain?

Do you agree with our picks? Who won? Let us know and feel free to debate us on social media! (@ComicZombie2 on Twitter!)

For more random shenanigans, check out our blog at ComicZombie.net – Including our “Not-So-Great Debates”!

*Also listen to us on Podcasters Assemble!

Network Info

This podcast is a production of the We Can Make This Work (Probably) Network. Follow us below to keep up with this show and discover our many other podcasts! The place for those with questionable taste! Twitter FacebookInstagram: @probablyworkwww.probablywork.com Email: ProbablyWorkPod@gmail.com—This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Top 10 Fantastic Four Villains

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The Fantastic Four are well-renowned for being the first family of Marvel Comics; it was the title that started the Marvel universe as we know it, and the first to show some major aspects of the Marvel U, such as Subteranea (home of the Mole Man and his Atlas/Timely-era monsters), Atlantis, the Negative Zone, Latveria, Wakanda, the blue area of the moon (where the Watcher lives), and Attilan (home of the Inhumans). The book has always gotten credit, especially from the Lee/Kirby era, for exploring new areas of the universe. But what it doesn’t often get credit for is the great villains it has introduced. Sure, everyone knows Dr. Doom, but there are a ton of great FF villains that don’t normally get their due. It was actually difficult to reduce the list to ten, but here are my votes for the ten greatest FF adversaries.

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Top 50 Moments from “Events”

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Both Marvel and DC (and really most publishers) from time to time will throw a lot of their characters (sometimes nearly all) together for a really big story. These have been dubbed ‘event’ titles. Books like Final Crisis, Blackest Night, Metal, Civil War, Spider-Verse, and many, many others have their fans and detractors, but you can’t deny that they provide some of the coolest, most intense, most unforgettable moments in comics history.

Everyone has their favorites, but here are 50 of the best moments (in no particular order). If you have any favorites that we neglected to include, sound off in the comments.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

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