One of comics’ best artists brings the webbing…
Hey, have you seen artist Mark Chiarello’s Spider-Man variant covers? They’re pretty groovy — a timeless mix of classic Spidey musculature and design (more man than spider) with modern artistic techniques.
Dig these, going back to last year:
The Amazing Spider-Man #1
The Amazing Spider-Man #4
The Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #1
The upcoming Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day #2, due in June
The Amazing Spider-Man #25
What prompted me to do this post was Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day #2, which gives off such a John Romita Sr. vibe, but it’s The Amazing Spider-Man #25 that I really want to talk about.
See, the second I saw it, I thought, “Oh, Mark’s doing an homage to the Ralph Bakshi seasons of the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon series.
So, I messaged him and he pretty much laughed and said his influences were Romita, Andru and Steranko. Well, yeah, sure, and Ditko, too. But I wouldn’t let it go.
Look at the eyes and — more importantly — look at the sky:
That’s not exactly a stretch, is it? I even sent him the image.
After considering it, he replied, “Maybe it was subliminal? I used to WORSHIP that show.”
Didn’t we all. And still do.
—
MORE
— MIGHTY Q&A: DC’s Mark Chiarello — One of the Most Popular Guys in Comics. Click here.
— A SPIDER-MAN COVER You Never Knew Existed — Because It Didn’t. Click here.
March 28, 2026
To be honest, I don’t see it. But definitely I see Ditko’s eyes on a few of those. To get my stamp of ”Classic”, you need to include the underarm webbing. But that’s a minor detail…these do look very nice. To be honest, I haven’t purchased Spider-Man since the late ‘90s. The writing is just not my Spider-Man.
March 28, 2026
The second I opened this post and saw his art I thought “Bashki Spider-man”