Web of Spider-Man in the 1980s
Web of Spider-Man was yet another Spider-Man title added to Marvel’s line-up in 1985, taking the place of Marvel Team-Up,* a title that usually featured Spider-Man teaming up with other heroes in the Marvel Universe. The first issue picks up were Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #100 left off. Written by Louise Simonson and drawn by George La Rocque it featured the alien symbiote attempting to merge with Peter Parker once more. It ended with the creature seemingly being killed, but it would later return to plague Spider-Man for years as one of his greatest foes. Simoson and La Rocque worked on the first three issues.
Danny Fingeroth took over as writer with rotating artists during is run. Issue #4-5 was a two parts story featuring Doctor Octopus. Issue #6 was a Secret Wars II crossover issue with Spider-Man trying to figure out what to do with building that was turned into gold by the Beyonder in Secret Wars II #2. It was the first of a two part story that would continue in Amazing Spider-Man #268. Peter David wrote the following issue which featured Peter Parker being tormented by Nightmare. David Michelinie took over for the next two issues telling a two part tale about Spider-Man helping a small-town hero named the Smithville Thunderbolt. That year’s annual was an odd story about a young inventor named Future Max.
Danny Fingeroth was back with issue #10 wherein Spider-Man helps Dominic Fortune find his long lost lover. This was followed by a series of “down to Earth” stories were Spider-Man dealt with small time crimes. Issue #11 (By Fingeroth and Bill Mantlo) was about Peter Parker running afoul of a gang that lights is apartment on fire. While Issue #12 (by Peter David) was about the people in Peter’s neighbourhood forms a vigilante group. The following issue was another Peter David yarn where Spider-Man is tackling an thief who targets people at ATM machines. David Michelline was back for the next two issues which featured the return of the Black Fox, it also featured the first appearance of the villain known as Chance. This was followed by issues #16-19 which were all part of a the Missing in Action storyline that took place across all three Spider-Man titles. It’s notable that it tried to “end” Spider-Man’s classic red and black costume in favour of a cloth version of his black and white suit. This wouldn’t stick since the writers of the other Spider-Man titles would still alternate between the wall-crawler’s red-and-black and black-and-white costumes. This run is also notable because it is one of few Spider-Man titles pencilled by popular artist Marc Silvestri, who is best known for his work on X-Men and his own self-published comics under Top Cow Comics. It is also notable because during the story a mystery character who doesn’t set off Peter’s spider-sense tries to kill him in this story.
Issue #19, also by Michelinie and Silvestri, introduced readers to the character Solo, an counter-terrorist with guns, because that was oh-so-original even back then. The 1986 Annual by Ann Nocenti and Arthur Adams featured Spider-Man team-up wit Warlock of the New Mutants.
In issue #20, David Micelinie told a topical story about the Irish Republican Army during at time when they were responsible for violent car bombings and other terrorist activities against the British. While issue #21, written and drawn by Larry Lieber, featured a story were Spider-Man stops a pair of crooks who are impersonating him. In issue #24, while Spider-Man is trying to stop the Vulture in Atlantic City, the mystery attacker tries to kill him again. This is the last time this mystery character appears in the pages of Web of Spider-Man, but we eventually learn that it was Eddie Brock — aka Venom — making early attempts on Peter Parker’s life. While Venom makes his debute in Amazing Spider-Man #298-300, his involvement in these attacks isn’t revealed then. This isn’t told to readers until many years later in Amazing Spider-Man #388. Better late than never I guess?
Subsequent issues were all one-off stories with rotating artists and writers until issue #29-30 by James Owsley and Steve Geiger. It stood as an epilogue to that year’s Spider-Man Versus Wolverine one-shot . Issue #29 sees Wolverine teaming up with Wolverine again and coming to terms with the lives that were lost during their last encounter, while the following issue reveals that the criminal known as the Rose was really the Kingpin’s son, Richard Fisk, and details his conspiracy to destroy his father’s criminal empire. This was followed by the 1987 Annual which featured a series of profiles and pin-ups as opposed to an actual story.
Issues #31 and 32 were written by J.M. DeMatteis and drawn by Mike Zack they were the 1st and 4th chapters of the iconic Kraven’s Last Hunt saga which ran across every Spider-Man title for six issues. This was followed by a less memorably mutli-title story, Life in the Mad Dog Ward the first part appeared in issue #33 of Web of Spider-Man. This is followed by another one-off story about the Watcher and an alien wagering on a children’s football game that Spider-Man happens to join. It’s as stupid as it sounds.
Gerry Conway then came on as writer starting in issue #35, a throw back to Amazing Spider-Man #8 and features the return of the Living Brain. While issue #36, Conway created the villain called Tombstone, who goes on to play a larger role in Spectacular Spider-Man. The next recurring writer on the title was Fabian Nicieza who wrote a series of one off stories. This was followed by Peter David returning to the title to pen the four part Cult of Love story arc which featured Betty Brant joining a cult and Spider-Man and Flash Thompson’s efforts to rescue and deprogram her. It also featured a b-plot about Mary Jane debating on doing nude modeling and Peter’s issues with it. It’s a story that hasn’t aged well, even for a progressive writer like Peter David. The 1988 Annual was a tie in for the Evolutionary War event. In it, Steve Gerber introduced readers to the female super-hero named Poison, who has only made a smattering of appearances because by this point Gerber was just turning out pretentious garbage. Back on the main title, Peter David used issue #44 to as a cross-over with the other title he was writing, Incredible Hulk, having Spider-Man and the new grey Hulk battle mercenary cyborgs called Warzone.
There was another spate of one-off stories until the issues #47-48 which were part of the Inferno event. In these issues Gerry Conway had the wall-crawler battle the demonically possessed Hobgoblin. This was followed by a Peter David human interest story about Spider-Man taking down some street level drug dealers. Conway was back with issue #50 where he tried to group a bunch of Spider-Man related characters into a team including Silver Sable, Sandman, Prowler, Puma, Rocket Racer, and Will O’ the Wisp. So not any good Spider-Man characters. Conway was locked in as a regular writer for the title using both Web of Spider-Man to tell another angle of is sprawling gang war storyline that was going on in the pages of Spectacular Spider-Man. Web focused on the Chameleon and Hammerhead’s attempts to take control of the criminal underworld, which included a scheme wherein the Chameleon took the place of Daily Bugle owner J. Jonah Jameson, while the 1989 annual was part of the Atlantis Attacks events. The decade ended off with Spider-Man’s involvement in the Acts of Vengeance storyline were a now cosmic powered Spider-Man faces off against various foes he had never faced before.
