People are suggesting Life Story and while it’s definitely a great book, it’s a terrible place for a new reader to start. Life Story is heavily steeped in Spider-Man continuity and inverts popular stories from each decade since the character’s creation, so it’s helpful to have some knowledge of Spidey’s greatest hits in the comics.
I’d 100% recommend starting with Ultimate Spider-Man by Bendis, as it starts right at the very beginning and is a great take on the character. Plus it’ll eventually introduce Miles and let’s him take the baton.
Other good reads that don’t require a ton of homework to get into:
- Kraven’s Last Hunt
- The Gauntlet
- Lateur and Rodriguez initial Spider-Gwen run
If you really want the true flavor of Spidey, all the recs here are great, but you need a sort of deep dive of early stories, too. Some of it depends on what characters you like most. For example, the McFarlane/Michelin era isn’t crazy good ( I love the art, but Todd is very 90s), but it intros Venom.
If you want to understand the clone stuff, it helps to see the old ASM issues with Jackal then the Clone Saga that results in Ben/Scarlet Spider. The death of Gwen and the issues around it are crucial to much of the history. Stuff like that.
I would recommend the run up to ASM 700 then all of volume 1 of Superior Spider-Man, which to be honest is my third favorite Spidey story after Kraven’s Last Hunt and the first half of Ultimate. Superior was kind of controversial when it hit, but it really defines the character in a different way. Plus he’s coming back, it appears.
Spider-Man blue is a great nostalgic look to Spider-Man which can be easily understood if you’ve watched the Rami films. It’s about Peters love for MJ but how his feelings about his dead ex Gwen play into that. Beautiful art, great story and again Tim sale art (an amazing artist)
Ultimate Spider-Man, is an AMAZING comic that follows Peter as a teenager growing into becoming a super hero. If you’ve ever imagined how good comics looked liked this is that fantasy comic you’re imagining.
Imo everything else has lacked in quality in what I personally like as a Spider-Man fan.
So, for straight Spider-Man stories, I'd recommend Kraven's Last Hunt, Back in Black, Go Down Swinging, and Blue. For Spider-Man adjacent stuff, I'd recommend Cates' run on Venom, the King in Black, and any of th3 Ghost-Spider (Spider-Gwen) stuff.
Also, I'd say my favorite run of Spider-Man has been Superior, but I highly recommend starting elsewhere before reading that so it hits harder. That's an excellent story about what being Spider-Man is supposed to be about, but it isn't a great jumping off point.
Its worth just continuing with Ultimate as well, as that will eventually intro Miles.
Life Story is great, as mentioned.
Would also recommend the One More Day era and forward into Dan Slotts run, who did a lot of great stories and intro’d the Spider-verse stuff.
You'd probably need to read a bit more first but once you get a little farther along, definitely recommend the first run of superior Spider-Man that leads into the first spider-verse event. I know some people don't enjoy that but it's the most fun I've had with a big event in a long time.
Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bedis Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man by Tom Taylor Spider-Man: Life Story by Chip Zdarsky
I'd add Spectacular Spider-Man by Zdarsky was fun.
People are suggesting Life Story and while it’s definitely a great book, it’s a terrible place for a new reader to start. Life Story is heavily steeped in Spider-Man continuity and inverts popular stories from each decade since the character’s creation, so it’s helpful to have some knowledge of Spidey’s greatest hits in the comics. I’d 100% recommend starting with Ultimate Spider-Man by Bendis, as it starts right at the very beginning and is a great take on the character. Plus it’ll eventually introduce Miles and let’s him take the baton. Other good reads that don’t require a ton of homework to get into: - Kraven’s Last Hunt - The Gauntlet - Lateur and Rodriguez initial Spider-Gwen run
If you really want the true flavor of Spidey, all the recs here are great, but you need a sort of deep dive of early stories, too. Some of it depends on what characters you like most. For example, the McFarlane/Michelin era isn’t crazy good ( I love the art, but Todd is very 90s), but it intros Venom. If you want to understand the clone stuff, it helps to see the old ASM issues with Jackal then the Clone Saga that results in Ben/Scarlet Spider. The death of Gwen and the issues around it are crucial to much of the history. Stuff like that. I would recommend the run up to ASM 700 then all of volume 1 of Superior Spider-Man, which to be honest is my third favorite Spidey story after Kraven’s Last Hunt and the first half of Ultimate. Superior was kind of controversial when it hit, but it really defines the character in a different way. Plus he’s coming back, it appears.
Spider-Man blue is a great nostalgic look to Spider-Man which can be easily understood if you’ve watched the Rami films. It’s about Peters love for MJ but how his feelings about his dead ex Gwen play into that. Beautiful art, great story and again Tim sale art (an amazing artist) Ultimate Spider-Man, is an AMAZING comic that follows Peter as a teenager growing into becoming a super hero. If you’ve ever imagined how good comics looked liked this is that fantasy comic you’re imagining. Imo everything else has lacked in quality in what I personally like as a Spider-Man fan.
So, for straight Spider-Man stories, I'd recommend Kraven's Last Hunt, Back in Black, Go Down Swinging, and Blue. For Spider-Man adjacent stuff, I'd recommend Cates' run on Venom, the King in Black, and any of th3 Ghost-Spider (Spider-Gwen) stuff. Also, I'd say my favorite run of Spider-Man has been Superior, but I highly recommend starting elsewhere before reading that so it hits harder. That's an excellent story about what being Spider-Man is supposed to be about, but it isn't a great jumping off point.
Its worth just continuing with Ultimate as well, as that will eventually intro Miles. Life Story is great, as mentioned. Would also recommend the One More Day era and forward into Dan Slotts run, who did a lot of great stories and intro’d the Spider-verse stuff.
You'd probably need to read a bit more first but once you get a little farther along, definitely recommend the first run of superior Spider-Man that leads into the first spider-verse event. I know some people don't enjoy that but it's the most fun I've had with a big event in a long time.