Reading Order

Nick Spencer’s Spider-Man Reading Order, A Fresh Start

by Fabien
Updated on May 14, 2024
2 Comments

Probably the most popular character in the Marvel Comics Universe, Spider-Man needs no introduction. But if you need one, here is the story: bitten by a radioactive spider, teenager Peter Parker, an orphan raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in New York City after his parents Richard and Mary Parker died in a plane crash, woke up with spider-related powers.

He can cling to surfaces, has superhuman strength and agility, and can detect danger with the help of his “spider-sense.” He couldn’t shoot a spider-web, but he corrected that by building wrist-mounted “web-shooter” devices that shoot artificial spider-webbing of his own design. When his Uncle Ben died after he let his killer go free, he learned that with great powers comes great responsibilities. Since then, he has fought crime, even if the Daily Bugle is telling everybody that he is a criminal.

What to read before Spider-Man by Nick Spencer?

Technically, nothing. It’s a new author on the title and a new beginning. Before Nick Spencer, Dan Slott wrote the main Spider-Man series for almost a decade. The time had come for a change.

That said, it would be a good idea to read Superior Foes of Spider-Man, also written by Nick Spencer. That series is about a team of bad guys, not really high caliber: Boomerang, Shocker, Speed Demon, Overdrive, and The new Beetle. They are Spidey’s enemies and they want to become real big criminals. They’re trying to do exactly that together, even if they can’t stand each other’s company long enough to get their hands on the legendary item that will put them in charge of the New York mob. In a way, Spencer is writing more of a follow-up to Superior Foes of Spider-Man than to Dan Slott’s run.

Also, you can check out our Spider-Man Reading Order that covers the adventures of Spidey from the start to today.

Stray Bullets Reading Order, David Lapham’s Crime Comics

by Fabien
Updated on March 30, 2022

Written and drawn by David Lapham since 1995, Stray Bullets is an award-winning crime drama published in black and white by El Capitan Books (from 1995 to 2005) and then by Image Comics (since 2014, after a hiatus of several years).

Dealing with the criminal and often tragic misadventures featuring a nonlinear narrative and a rotating cast of characters, the Stray Bullets series is a collection of stories and story arcs that takes place from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s.

Here is the official synopsis: Follow the lost lives of people who are savagely torn apart by events beyond their control. As the innocent world of an imaginative little girl is shattered when she witnesses a brutal double murder. Or an introverted young boy on the verge of manhood gets a lesson on just how far is too far when he falls for a needy woman who lives life in the fast lane. Or party with a pair of low-rent hoods who learn about what is really important in life just when they shouldn’t. And even learn the story of the most infamous gangster who ever lived, Amy Racecar, who talks to God, lunches with the President, and just may be responsible for the end of the world. These are some of the tales that will rip out your guts and break your heart.

X of Swords Reading Order: Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men 2020 crossover

by Fabien
Updated on August 3, 2022

Coming from writers Jonathan Hickman and Tini Howard and artist Pepe Laraz, X of Swords is the X-Men crossover event of 2020 that marked the end of the Dawn of X era.

The story of X of Swords is about the X-Men as they must go to battle against the ancient, long-lost mutant champions of Arakko (the sister island of Krakoa). In order to save their home and country, the mutant nation must send ten of the X-Men’s best fighters to confront their enemy with ten special blades, each with their own unique properties. A war began.

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