Spider-Man: Amazing, Spectacular, Web Of

[Norrin Radd]

Where there any thematic differences between these Spidey titles or where they just an excuse to have three Spider-Man comic books, and hence, more profit?

[Sparda]

Well those titles were for demanding spidey fans and difference between them is artist and writer. They all tell different stories and sometimes one is to be continued and goes on in another title.

They cancelled Specacular spidey and web of but they still have amazing (it's tradition). There's always sensational spidey and friendly neighborhood.

[MythicBrawn]

I'd say it was more profit. I'm sure corporate Marvel would say it was about giving the fans what they wanted. But, it was about profit and over-saturating the character. Amazing has been the consistent title since the beginning but his other titles have come and gone. Look at the history of his books and he's had numerous monthly titles.
1) Peter Parker, Spectacular
2) Marvel Team-Up
3) Web
4) Adjectiveless
5) Marvel Knights
6) Spider-Man Unlimited (quarterly)
7) Spectacular (restarted Peter Parker)
8) A couple of titles that reprinted his old adventures.

I'm sure others can add to this list. These are the titles that are just off the top of my head.

[Sean Whitmore]

Yeah, pretty much the only reason Spider-Man ever had three titles is that Jim Shooter knew he could sell three titles. Editor Christopher Priest (then Jim Owsley) tried to give them a creative reason to exist.

Amazing Spider-Man, obviously, was THE book. It didn't need justification or an identity, this is where stuff happened.

Peter David was put on Spectacular Spider-Man, with a focus on complex stories and a serious, adult tone. These stories would mostly happen at night, so Spidey would wear his black costume.

Web of Spider-Man had perhaps the weakest premise, which was that stories mostly took place out of town while Peter was on assignment for NOW Magazine.

After Owsley was replaced by Jim Salicrup, there really became no differen between the books. Web and Spectacular even had the same writer for a while, with storylines bouncing back and forth between them.


SEAN