Hey Webheads!

I thought it was about time we updated the Recommended Reads section of the sidebar.

I picked 8 people that are active in comic discussion on the subreddit and discord to come up with a list of their favourite Spider-Man arcs, as well as choosing one side character/mini series each. We then discussed and voted on our favourites over a couple weeks.

Spider-Man Recommended Reads

• Kraven's Last Hunt (ASM Vol 1/1963 #293-294, Spectacular Spider-Man Vol 1/1976 #131-132, Web of Spider-Man #31-32). A rightly beloved classic set very early during the Peter/MJ marriage, with a lot of raw emotion and drama, full of psychology and dark storytelling.

• Spider-Man: Blue (Spider-Man: Blue #1-6). A limited series in which Peter is reminiscing events and encounters from his past and how he and Gwen Stacy fell in love.

• The Alien Costume Saga (ASM Vol 1/1963 #252-263, Spectacular Spider-Man Vol 1/1976 #90-100, Web of Spider-Man #1). A bit long, but features some truly great stuff and has very often been misrepresented in media. This is not the story you may think you know from other adaptations and has a lot going for it like Black Cat.

• If This Be My Destiny.. (ASM Vol 1/1963 #31-33). This storyline really highlights what makes Spider-Man work so well, letting Peter Parker's character truly shine with compelling drama.

• Happy Birthday (ASM Vol 2/1999 #57-58, 500-502). Doctor Strange sends Spider-Man through time and space in order to help stop Dormammu. During his trip he encounters all of his greatest friends and foes.

• Ock/Owl Gang War (Spectacular Spider-Man #73-79). One of the hands down best Otto Octavius storylines and one of the last times he was relevant for nearly a decade, this story also is the groundwork for the budding romance between Black Cat and Spider-Man that took hold in the early 1980s. Often an overlooked gem despite its immense historical impact on the webslinger.