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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Issue #47: The MCU – Phase 4 (Part 2: The Movies!)

The MCU – Phase Four (Part 2: The Movies!)

“I thought I could change my name, start a new life… but I could never escape his shadow.” – Shang-Chi

Chris, Erik, and Zack (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Podcasters Assemble⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Neat Cast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) assemble once again to kick off The Multiverse Saga!

MCU Phase 4 Movies:

  • Black Widow
  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
  • Eternals
  • Spider-man: No Way Home
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
  • Thor: Love and Thunder
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Be sure to listen to our previous MCU episodes as well:

(Episode edited by Chris Carroll)

Check out our blog at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ComicZombie.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more! 

10 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.


* * * * * *

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Top 100 Villains 60-51

4427-wizard_lms_dc_villains_vs_marvel_vi

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!)

(Also click here for parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 of our list so far!)

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Comic Zombie #17: “Spider-man: No Way Home” Review!

Issue 17: “SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME” Review! *Spoiler Alert!*

“I’ve watched you from deep behind Norman’s cowardly eyes, struggling to have everything you want while the world tries to make you choose. ” – The Green Goblin to Peter Parker

SPOILER ALERT for “Spider-man: No Way Home”, “Hawkeye” Episode 5, the post-credits scene for “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”, Marvel’s “What If…?”, “Wandavision”, “Loki”, “Into the Spider-verse”, and the teaser trailer for “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”! 

In this spoiler-filled review, Chris and Erik are joined by their good friend Jimmy Lester to talk about their (emotional) reactions to the latest MCU movie, “Spider-man: No Way Home”! 

Also on this episode: 

  • Where does Peter Parker go from here?
  • Will we see some of these villains (and heroes) again?
  • Who will Spidey team up with next?
  • Venom predictions
  • Miles Morales predictions
  • Speculation about “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”! 
  • Do Marvel trailers reveal too much?
  • More Kingpin / Daredevil / Hawkeye talk
  • Theories on Marvel’s Cinematic Multiverse – who’s responsible for reality breaking? (Loki, the Scarlet Witch, or Doctor Strange?)

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Issue #10: “Ranking the Spider-man Movies” and Issue #16: “No Way Home” Predictions! 

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Comic Zombie Podcast #10: Ranking the Spider-man Movies!

COMIC ZOMBIE – Issue #10: Ranking the Spider-man Movies!

“With Great Power comes Great Responsibility.” – Uncle Ben

Chris and Erik try and rank all the (live action) Spider-man movies! (so far!)

  • Spider-man (2002)
  • Spider-man 2
  • Spider-man 3
  • The Amazing Spider-man (2012)
  • The Amazing Spider-man 2
  • Spider-man: Homecoming
  • Spider-man: Far From Home
  • Venom

*Note: Although we didn’t include “Into the Spider-verse” on our lists, we’re planning on covering that one in a future episode. Like our ‘Ranking the X-Men Movies’, this episode was also recorded several months ago.

Also on this episode:

  • What we’ve been reading (Chris: “The Immortal Hulk” by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett, Erik: Donny Cates’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”)
  • What we’ve been watching (CW / DC “Arrow-verse” shows, “The Mandalorian” Season 2)
  • Essential Reads: Spider-man (“Marvel Knights: Spider-man” by Brian Michael Bendis and “Spider-man: Blue” by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale)

(Episode edited by Erik Slader)

For more random shenanigans, check out our blog at ComicZombie.net – Including our Spider-man movie articles!

*Also listen to us on Podcasters Assemble!

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The Amazing Spider-Movies! – Part One

Tobey Maguire / Andrew Garfield

Check out our Podcast Episode on ranking the Spider-man movies here!

Because you demanded it, we’re back with more breakdowns of the super hero movies you love, hate, and love to hate! Last time we covered the terrifying highs and gut wrenching, suicide inducing lows of the Batman franchise. This time we’re going with something a bit lighter, the Sam Raimi and Marc Webb Spider-Man franchises. That’s right, five movies of web slinging, cool villains, not so cool villains, great character moments, horrible character misfires, great casting, worst case scenario casting, all of it. From Raimi to Webb, Dunst/Howard to Stone, Maguire to Garfield, we’ll cover it all.

First up, the one that started it all, and really kicked the super hero movie craze of the early 21st century into gear…

Spider-man Movie Poster

Spider-man (2002)

Directed by: Sam Raimi

Starring: Tobey Maguire (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Willem Dafoe (Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin), Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson), James Franco (Harry Osborn), Cliff Robertson (Uncle Ben), Rosemary Harris (Aunt May), J. K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson), Joe Manganiello (Flash Thompson), Elizabeth Banks (Betty Brant), and Bruce Campbell

Plot: Peter Parker is bit by a genetically modified spider gaining the proportionate strength and agility of a human spider. After his Uncle Ben is killed by a car jacker and he learns the killer is a man he could have stopped before, he tragically learns the lesson ‘with great power must also come great responsibility’. Now, as Spider-Man, he tries to balance fighting crime and the new menace of the Green Goblin with his personal life, which includes his now widowed Aunt May, his best friend (and son of his new enemy) Harry Osborn, and the girl he loves, Mary Jane Watson, as well as a new job taking pictures for J Jonah Jameson and the Daily Bugle.

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