Spider-Verse

Gwen Stacy: Her Life, Her Death, Her Clones

by Fabien
March 14, 2025

Recently, Marvel Comics announced another storyline about Gwen Stacy, one of those characters who has been killed but never came back to life. At least, it was not the original Gwen who came back. Her death is probably one of the most iconic and well-known in the medium’s entire history, one that had such an impact on Spider-Man that touching it would be considered sacrilegious to many fans. This never stops the House of Ideas from trying to find a way around it, making Gwen Stacy a sensible subject. As a character, her life was short in comparison to many others, but her influence is still felt to this day.

The Creation of Gwen Stacy

Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, Gwen Stacy first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (1965). She was introduced as one of Peter Parker’s college classmates at Empire State University, alongside Harry Osborn. Initially, Gwen was a background character, but as Ditko departed the book and John Romita Sr. took over as the main artist, her role expanded.

Lee and Romita made Gwen a sophisticated and fashionable young woman. She became Peter Parker’s primary love interest, embodying an idealized romance often filled with drama, misunderstandings, and heartbreak. Being Spider-Man always complicated Peter’s relationships, and with Gwen, this often led to conflicts. Following the death of her father, NYPD Captain George Stacy, in The Amazing Spider-Man #90, Gwen blamed Spider-Man for the tragedy, not realizing Peter was behind the mask, and she decided to leave for Europe as a way to grieve far away from everything that reminded her of the tragedy. However, her love for Peter quickly brought her back to New York and they rebuilt their relationship.

Spider-Man Omnibus Reading Order!

by Carole
February 26, 2025

With Great Powers comes many comic book stories! Spider-Man has been web-swinging since his first appearance in 1962. Following his introduction in the pages of Amazing Fantasy #15, Peter Parker has used his intelligence and spider powers to fight crime and help others.

As Marvel’s most popular superhero, the world of Spider-Man has naturally expanded in many directions. He lives many solo adventures in more than one comic book title, has been part of many team-ups, has been a member of several teams, possesses his rogue gallery, and has inspired the creation of countless spider heroes across the Multiverse!

Over the years, Marvel Comics has collected the many tales of Spider-Man in various formats, including classic trade paperbacks, Marvel Masterworks, the popular Epic Collection, and, of course, the Omnibus line!

With more than 30 omnibuses dedicated to Spider-Man—and the number is still growing—, we have decided to create a Specific Spider-Man Omnibus Reading Order. This guide can serve as a roadmap to the spectacular adventures of our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man in this particular collection, helping new and old readers find their ways in the vast world of Spidey’s Web of Life and Destiny!

Meet the Web-Warriors, the protectors of the Spider-Verse

by Carole
September 6, 2024

Thanks to the animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel Across the Spider-Verse, it is no secret that the Marvel Universe contains an infinite number of versions of Spider-Men, Spider-Women, and Spider-villains.

Before Miles Morales and company web-slung onto the big screen, a Spider-Army was created on the pages of Marvel Comics. During the Spider-Verse event, their mission was to protect the Spiders from the Inheritors, a vampiric family who hunt Spider-Totems to access what is called the Web of Life and Destiny, which can be described as a celestial map of the multiverse – and with Spiders created to repair, maintain, and expand it.

Doctor Octopus: Origin Story of Spider-Man’s “Superior” Enemy

by Fabien
June 12, 2024

Among Spider-Man‘s many iconic enemies, Doctor Octopus occupies a notable place–right after the infamous Green Goblin. Octopuses are not natural enemies to the spiders, so this is an exception. Introduced in 1963 in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #3, this supervillain was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Doc Ock’s real name is Otto Octavius. He is a mad scientist who is highly intelligent, myopic, and in control of four mechanical arms that he built himself. Those arms were the original idea of Steve Ditko. He suggested it to Stan Lee who came up with the rest, the name and the origin story.

Marvel’s Black Cat Origin Story, Not Just Another Catwoman

by Fabien
Updated on June 13, 2024

As Spider-Man wasn’t the first spider-themed superhero, Black Cat wasn’t the first comic book cat-themed cat burglar with an ambiguous relationship with a famous vigilante.

Master thief Felicia Hardy was created by Marv Wolfman, Keith Pollard, and Dave Cockrum and made her first official appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #194, in 1979. It wasn’t supposed to be her introduction as she was first drawn for the cover of Spider-Woman #9, before the story was even written. But Marv Wolfman left the book and brought his feline villain to another spider-titled series, the “amazing” one.

Who Is Spider-Ham? The Origin Story of the coolest anthropomorphic pig from Marvel Comics

by Carole
February 6, 2024

Now a well-established character in the Spider-Family, Spider-Ham started his life more than 40 years ago as a character for a one-off Marvel comic, without any real future. But who could resist this funny animal version of Spider-Man? Not long after his introduction, Spider-Ham headlined his own series for a short while before slowly fading into relative obscurity.

This situation changed in the 2010s when Spider-Ham came back slowly but surely into the spotlight. First, with his cameo in the video game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Then, making his real comeback into the comic book world in the big Spider-Verse event, followed by a stint as a main member of the Web Warriors team. And finally, making a splashing entrance in the mainstream area with the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018.

Today, let’s explore Spider-Ham’s creation and origin story, from his improbable invention to his also improbable transformation into a superhero pig!

Kaine Parker Reading Order, The (second) Scarlet Spider (also Peter Parker’s clone)

by Carole
December 2, 2023

Just as there are multiple superheroes named Spider-Man and several superheroines known as Spider-Woman, there are also two members within the Spider-Verse who took the mantle of Scarlet Spider. And they are both clones of Peter Parker. We already covered the life (and multiple deaths) of Ben Reilly. Today, we are covering the superior Scarlet Spider (in my own personal opinion), aka Kaine.

Created by Terry Kavanagh and Steven Butler, Kaine Parker made his first appearance in Web of Spider-Man #119, during the infamous Clone Saga. It was then revealed that Kaine was the initial unsuccessful experiment by Jackal to clone Spider-Man. Dying from day one, Kaine’s life was marked by violence and villainy until Spider-Man intervened and offered him a second chance.

Sometimes presented as a sort of mash-up between Punisher and Spider-Man, Kaine has evolved a lot throughout the years as a character, from his mysterious introduction to his murderous actions, his redemption, and his own cool run as Scarlet Spider.

Let’s dive into his story with this Kaine Reading Order!

The Venomverse: A guide to Marvel’s Main Symbiote Characters

by Fabien
Updated on June 7, 2023
1 Comment

For a long time, there was only one symbiote: Venom. Today, there are apparently more than 40 known symbiotes in the Marvel Universe. But who’s counting?

Introduced into the Marvel Universe during the 1985 Secret Wars event, the “black costume” was more than a new look for Spider-Man. This was an alien creature that bonded with the superhero and started to influence him. When Peter Parker realized that his new clothes were in fact a conscient being that was changing him not in a good way, he got rid of him… But that was just the beginning.

After that, the symbiote found a new host and was officially named Venom. He instantly became one of Spider-Man’s archenemies. That said, as writers explored the creature from outer space, it evolved as well as its mythology. Venom also had children, some really deadly ones! All had different hosts and powers, but all are vulnerable to intense heat and sonic vibrations.

Also, we are calling them the Symbiotes, but Venom is a member of the extraterrestrial species known as Klyntar. As we learned during the last few years, they were created by Knull, a malevolent god, a primordial Deity–and certainly one of Marvel’s most powerful supervillains –read the King in Black storyline for a better understanding of the menace he represented–, and creator of All-Black the Necrosword.

We are not here to talk about Knull (this is a subject for another article), but to speak about his creations. From Venom and Carnage to Rascal, here is a guide to the major symbiotes that appeared in the Marvel Universe during the last three decades.

Explore the Spider-Verse: Your Guide to Marvel’s Spider Family

by Carole
Updated on June 13, 2024

There is more than one Spider-Man out there! It’s no secret, especially since the release of the animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, where a whole new universe of spider heroes swung into the limelight, introducing the large Spider-Family to a new public.

At the center of the web, we naturally find the original and most well know Spider-Man/Peter Parker, created by Stan Lee and Steve Dikto in 1962. Between the comic books and the adaptations on the big screen, Peter Parker’s story is quite known today: When everything started, he was a nerdy high school student from Queens, New York, and an orphan raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. After being bitten by a radioactive spider at a science exhibit, Peter acquired the agility and proportionate strength of an arachnid! At first, he decided to exploit his heightened athletic abilities to make money. But when the robber he refuses to stop becomes responsible for his Uncle Ben’s murder, Peter learns a painful lesson: “With great power there must also come—great responsibility!”

The world of Spider-Man only expanded from there, at first in the mainstream universe with all those clones and the introduction of Jessica Drew as the first Spider-Woman. Then , with all thos different incarnations of the character in alternate universes. From Miles Morales from the Ultimate Universe to the futuristic Miguel O’Hara and more extravagant versions like Spider-Ham, there’s no shortage of Spider-people in the large Marvel Comics Multiverse.

Though most arachnids evolved separately from each other, they had to come together with the event Spider-Verse, and its sequel Spider-Geddon, to defend the multiverse. Such stories are always great occasions to explore old forgotten characters as well as create new ones such as Spider-Gwen. The Spider-Verse is always evolving and growing!

What follows is not an exhaustive Spider-People Guide as there are too many of them out there for that. But you’ll find the most important Spider-Men and Spider-Women, the ones you should know, some fun characters and newly additions to the Spider-Verse in order for you to find your way across the multiverse!

Summer of Symbiotes Reading Order, an entire season of symbiote insanity at Marvel

by Fabien
Updated on October 10, 2023
4 Comments

To celebrate 35 years of the first appearance of Venom, the flavor of the summer ’23 at Marvel will be coming from space. It’s the Summer of Symbiotes! It will be Symbiotes crossovers after Symbiotes crossovers with even more Symbiotes. Yes, a lot of Symbiotes.

In fact, everything begins this spring with Carnage Reigns, a crossover that is presented as Miles Morales vs Carnage written by Alex Paknadel and Cody Ziglar and featuring art by Julius Ohta, Jan Bazaldua, Federico Vicentini, and Francesco Manna. Here is how it starts:

Cletus Kasady is back, and of course, he is more powerful and bloodthirsty than ever before! “With his soul trapped within the Extrembiote Armor created by Tony Stark during the King in Black event, Cletus has the means to level an untold amount of chaos and, well, carnage on New York City and the entire Marvel Universe. But like any good Tony Stark invention, the Extremis coursing through Cletus’ symbiotic veins needs POWER, and that means Cletus is HUNGRY. Good thing Brooklyn’s very own Spider-Man is there to stand in his way! If he survives their first encounter, that is.”