Which Titles Feature the Main Spider-Mang Stories?

[Herrick]

I have never subscribed to Spider-Man before. I've read a few comics here and there over the years. I always thought he was the coolest super hero though. I'm wondering which comics have the "important" things going on in them. It looks like Amazing & Spectacular are the ones. How about Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man? I don't want to miss anything important.

I've always thought that it was annoying how the main comic book stories jump around from title to title.

[Crimson]

Amazing is the main book where the "big" things happen.

It doesn't mean however that things just Spidey don't happen in Spectacular and Friendly, and both books are a great read.

[scottv]

I enjoy all three titles, Amazing, Sensational, and Friendly. I think that on their own they are good stories but if you read them together they really ad to eachother!

[a-spidey]

well at any case amazing spider-man should be on your list. spectacular and friendly are not so important imo and so optional

[Niro]

i thought so that amazing was the main title, guess i'll just continues following that title

[Beacon]

The differences between the books are mostly in terms of who writes them and which version of Spider-Man is in them (the Core books have him as an adult, the MC2 books are set in an alternate future, and all the other universes have different versions of his teenage self)…

Core “In-Continuity” Universe:
Amazing Spider-Man
Beyond
Civil War
Civil War Front Line
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
New Avengers
Sensational Spider-Man (Previously Marvel Knights: Spider-Man)
Spider-Man Family (though some stories are canon and some aren’t)

MC2 Universe:
A-Next
Amazing Spider-Girl (Previously Spider-Girl)

Marvel Adventures Universe (though I’m not sure it’s a single universe):
Marvel Adventures Avengers
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man

Ultimate Universe:
Ultimate Spider-Man

Miscellaneous Unrelated Universes:
New Mangaverse
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
Spider-Man: Reign

And some more detailed explanations from the people at Spider-Fan…

http://spiderfan.org/comics/summary.html

Personally I haven’t bought Amazing Spider-Man in years because I don’t care for the writing but the books I do tend to enjoy (like the recently cancelled Spider-Man Unlimited and Spider-Girl) tend to sell significantly lower so my individual opinions probably aren’t reflective of fandom in general. … unless, of course, they are and everyone else just buying Amazing Spider-Man out of habit in which case they ought to be ashamed of themselves.

I’d recommend Runaways or She Hulk to someone before I’d recommend the actual core Spider-Man books and that’s coming from someone who used to love reading ALL the Spider-Man books.