Are you new to Spider-Man or are a long-time Spidey fan? Well today, I post up a list of Spider-Man graphic novels, trade paperbacks, and one-shots I recommend you should check out. Originally, I was going to post this up back in August as Marvel Comics calls it "Spider-Man anniversary month" and this year being Spdey's 50th anniversary, but I felt I needed more time to find the best titles to recommend, but better late than never. Anyway, onto the lsit.
- The Amazing Spider-Man: Secret Origin: Sample classic Spidey stories, including Spider-man's debut story (first featured in Amazing Fantasy No. 15).
- Spider-Man Throughout The Decades: Sample Spidey stories from across the decades.
- Spider-Man: Sinister Six: Early stories featuring the original Sinister Six roster.
- Spider-Man: Death of Gwen Stacy: Peter Parker suffers the loss of his beloved Gwen Stacy after Norman Osborn/Green Goblin I learns of his secret identity.
- Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga: In the aftermath of Peter Parker's girlfriend Gwen Stacy's death by Norman Osborn/Green Goblin I, Peter's biology professor Miles Warren, who secretly had a crush on her, becomes the supervillain Jakal and plots to kill Spider-Man with the help a clone of the web-slinger himself.
- Spider-Man: Son of The Goblin: Classic stories featuring Peter Parker's once best pal Harry Osborn as the supervilain Green Goblin II.
- Spider-Man Vs. Black Cat: Early stories featuring Peter Parker's most popular superheroine girlfriend Felicia Hardy/Black Cat.
- Spider-Man: Saga of the Alien Costume: Early stories featuring Peter Parker in the black alien symbiote.
- Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt: In Peter Parker's final battle against Kraven the Hunter, Kraven tries to prove his superiority to his adversary while donning a costume replicating the web-slinger's alien symbiote appearance.
- Spider-Man Vs. Venom: Early stories featuring Eddie Brock as the original Venom.
- Spider-Man: Carnage: Early stories featuring terrorist Cletus Cassady and the Carnage symbiote.
- Spider-Man: Invasion of The Spider Slayers: Alistair Symthe creates an army of mechanical monsters to assinate Spider-Man, whom he accuses of murdering is arachnid expert father Spencer Smythe.
- Venom: Lethal Protector: Eddie Brock/Venom begins his quest to transform himself into hero after forming a truce with Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
- Maximum Carnage: Spider-Man and Venom must join forces with an army of superheroes to take Carnage after Carnage recruits his own set of supervillains for a killing spree.
- Venom: Tooth and Claw: Eddie Brock/Venom teams up with James "Logan" Howlett/Wolverine.
- Spider-Man: The Complete Ben Reily Epic Book (all 6 books): The adventures of Ben Reily from his Scarlet Spider days after Peter's abandonement of the Spider-Man identity up to his days as Spider-Man II.
- Spider-Man: Identity Crisis: Peter Parker tries a variety of superhero egos after his Spider-Man alter ego is framed by Norman Osborn for murder.
- Spider-Man: Chapter One: Writer John Bryne's attempt in revising the main Marvel Universe Spidey's early adventures, now declared by Marvel Comics as no longer part of Marvel Universe canon with the once decanonized stories of Spider-Man's early adventures being canon again. Still a must-read for those into the retro-esque.
- Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do: Spider-Man's attempt to investigate an honoroll student's drug-caused death leads to a reunion with the Black Cat.
- Spider-Man: The Other: Peter Parker faces an evolve-or-die scenario while battling Morlun after coming in contact with a fatal disease that Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic and several other scientists fear may not be cureable. Plus, witness the arrival of Peter's Iron Spider armor created by Tony Stark/Iron Man I.
- {I]Spider-Man: New Avengers: Peter Parker, as Spider-Man, decides to join the New Avengers.
- Spider-Man: Back In Black: In the aftermath of the Civil War disaster (where Steve Rogers/Captain America I and Tony Star/Iron Man led opposing superhero groups against each other over the controversial Superhuman Registration Act), Peter Parker vows revenge against the assassin who shot his beloved Aunt May Reily-Parker and decides to don a costume replicating his alien symbiote appearance as a symbol of his dark hero transformation.
- Spider-Man: One More Day: Following the events in Spider-Man: Back in Black, Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson learn that Ghost Rider's enemy Mephisto has a cure for Aunt May's dying condition..the elimination of Peter's marriage to MJ from history.
- Venom: Dark Origin: The secret origin of Venom as well as a look at Eddie Bock's history.
- Spider-Man: Died in Your Arms: Spider-Man battles a now 8-tentacled Dr. Octopus.
- Spider-Man: Anti-Venom: Eddie Brock, no longer Venom, becomes the superhero Anti-Venom.
- Spider-Man: One Moment in Time: Mephisto reveals the alterations he brought on the history of Peter Parker's relationship with Mary-Jane Watson, starting from the eve of their wedding and going up to the Civil War aftermath.
- Spider-Man: Big Time: Peter Parker finally fullfils his dream of becoming a scientist at his new job at Horizon Labs, and now he puts his Horizon Labs gimmicks to the test as he battles Phil Urich, who just joined the Hobglobin legacy.
- Spider-Man: Return of Anti-Venom: Eddie Brock, as Anti-Venom, must prove his worth a s a superhero in this prelude to Spdier-Island.
- Spider-Man: Spider-Island: The people in Manhattan gain spider-man powers, but Peter's own seem to be gone.
- Spider-Man Season One: An revised retelling of (the main Marvel Universe's) Peter Parker's Spider-Man origin.
- Carnage U.S.A.: Avengers face Carnage.
- Spider-Man: The Real Clone Saga: An revised retelling of Ben Reily's early days of Scarlet Spider.
- Spider-Man: The Fantastic Spider-Man
: Future Foundation help Spider-Man battle the Sinister Six. - Spider-Man: Ends of The Earth: Realizing he has a short time left to live because of severe injuries received from fights against numerous superheroes, Dr. Octopus plans to destroy the Earth before he dies.
- Spider-Men: Peter Parker meets Miles Morales, the Spider-Man II of Earth-1610.
- Spider-Man: Danger Zone: Peter Parker, as Spider-Man, experiences difficulty in mentoring the teenage superhero Andy Maguire/Alpha in the art of using ones super powers to good use. Plus, Spdier-Man withnesses a clash of Hobgoblins.
- Ultimate Spider-Man: Clone Saga: Re-imagining the 1990s clone saga for Earth-1610 Spidey history.
- Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man Book 1: Witness the origin of Earth-1610's 2nd Spider-Man.
And make sure to read The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) No. 698-700 and Avenging Spider-Man No. 15.1 so as to get ready for the premier of The Superior Spider-Man next month because the new ongoing comic book series will introduce a third Spider-Man of the main Marvel Universe, though his secret identity still remains unknown at the moment.
2:00 PM Canada EST