A new column that swings back to Spidey’s beginnings…
When 13th Dimension launched back in 2013, I made sure to carve out a little section where I could write about Batman to my heart’s content. I originally called the feature Gotham Tribune, after the first newspaper to show up in a Batman comic. But that didn’t feel right, so I renamed it Batman’s Hot-Line, after the old Detective Comics letter column:
Thing is, for quite some time, I’ve wanted to do the same for Spider-Man — hands down my favorite Marvel character — but I’ve never really felt knowledgeable enough to pull that off.
Then a funny thing happened while I was perusing Facebook recently. Alex Segura — you know him as Archie Comics’ co-president, author of the Pete Fernandez mysteries and writer of various Archie series — posted a great piece about an issue of Amazing Spider-Man he’d just read. (He’d been doing them periodically.) I clicked “Like” — and just like that, a jolt went through me as if I’d been bitten by a radioactive spider: I messaged Alex immediately and asked him if he wanted to turn his posts into a column. At the same exact time, he messaged me, asking me if I wanted to do something with his posts at 13th Dimension.
That, as they say, is kismet.
So, to echo Batman’s Hot-Line, we bring you a new column, The Spider’s Web, after the classic Spidey lettercol:
Alex’s columns will analyze specific periods in the web-slinger’s development, with the first installment covering his first several years. And we invite your feedback, whether in the comments section of each column or in the social-media thread where you find a specific installment.
The Spider’s Web will appear periodically — at least once a week to start — and we’ll be collecting the links below, so you should bookmark this post.
THWIP!
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LINKS
— The Days of DITKO to the Reign of ROMITA. Click here.
— The Birth of the PROWLER — and the Coming of the KANGAROO?! Click here.
— Revisiting the Death of CAPTAIN STACY. Click here.
— Six Arms and the DRUG ISSUES. Click here.
— The Timeless Brilliance of GERRY CONWAY’s Launch. Click here.
— The Enduring Power of the CONWAY-ANDRU Team. Click here.
— Swinging High With the ORIGINAL CLONE SAGA. Click here.
— How Len Wein’s SPIDER-MAN Stacked Up Against Gerry Conway’s Run. Click here.
— GREEN GOBLIN III: Len Wein’s Crowning SPIDER-MAN Moment. Click here.
— SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN’s Launch Wasn’t Exactly Spectacular. Click here.
— MARV WOLFMAN Had an AMAZING Handle on SPIDER-MAN. Click here.
— The Ups and Downs of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #200. Click here.
— INSIDE LOOK: DENNY O’NEIL’s Offbeat, Uneven SPIDER-MAN Run. Click here.
— SEEDS OF GREATNESS: Roger Stern’s Sterling Run on SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN. Click here.
— A TRUE JUGGERNAUT: The Launch of Roger Stern and John Romita’s Powerful AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Run. Click here.
— ENTER THE HOBGOBLIN: Stern and Romita Jr.’s Superb Achievement. Click here.
— TOM DeFALCO and RON FRENZ: A Solid SPIDER-MAN Run Hampered by External Forces. Click here.
— SPIDER-MAN’s 1980s Roller-Coaster: A Gang War, a Wedding and a Funeral. Click here.
— KRAVEN’S LAST HUNT: A SPIDER-MAN Epic for the Ages. Click here.
July 1, 2019
I’m a fan of Spider-Man and Alex’s work with the Archie Franchise! Looking forward to the new Spider-Man 13th Dimension feature!
July 2, 2019
Thanks, Mark! Hope you enjoyed the first installment.
October 9, 2021
Found this series of articles for the first time, right in the middle of an 80s Spidey craze. What a gem.
Big thumbs up and congrats for the fantastic work.
May 10, 2022
Funny how this series stalled at the exact same place as my most recent Spider-Man re-read stalled. Not because I didn’t enjoy Michelinie, but because his issues were still so familiar to me.
Michelinie’s long run on ASM (and to a lesser extent, Conway’s concurrent run on Spec/Web) was where I started reading comics as a kid. I couldn’t pick up every issue (when you’re 7 years old, going to the corner store and spending $1.25 every week isn’t always easy) but I would re-read the ones I did have over and over. Those issues from McFarlane, Larsen and Bagley are etched on the backs of my eyeballs.
Like Alex, my childhood interest in Amazing Spider-Man waned about halfway through the Clone Saga. I did pick up one early Ben Reilly issue, but then I didn’t buy another superhero comic until 2001.
May 11, 2022
I actually owe Dan another one of these – I kept reading, powering through most of the McFarlane and Larsen runs, but then skipping over my original reading (right around the end of the Clone Saga). I just finished the Byrne/Mackie era, and started JMS (which I’d read as it was coming out, but never to completion). So, more soon!