All throughout November, guest writers will be weighing in on fandom, specifically guest writers who identify strongly with characters, teams, or franchises online. Each piece will feature a personal look at why a writer gravitates to a character, what keeps their interest, and — most importantly — a set of reading recommendations for folks looking to better understand that character.

Today, Kevin Ewing writes about Spider-Man…

Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, has money problems and can barely pay the bills. His boss is a big jerk, when he can even hold down a job. He is awkward in social situations. Significant others? Yep, has difficulty there too, though the famed Parker luck tends to take a back seat when it comes to the attractiveness of those significant others. He can be a jerk that doesn’t always say or do the right thing at first. Basically he is you and me. While none of us have the proportionate strength and speed of a spider, we can all relate to what life tends to throw at Peter Parker. It is all this and his unwillingness to never give up no matter the odds, to keep going, to dig deep down and fight and to ultimately do what is right is what makes him special to me.

When I was three years old, my mother was in a bad accident. A tractor trailer with a full load lost its brakes going down a hill, lost control and careened into my mother and two of her sisters as they were walking to the funeral home for their mother’s funeral. Tragedy on a comic book superhero level! All survived thankfully, but not without major injury. Many weeks were spent in the hospital followed by many months of rehab at home. During this time, it was superheroes, specifically Spider-Man, that played an important part in getting me through this traumatic time period. All that stuff mentioned at the beginning about being able to relate to Spider-Man? That came later. To my young self he was just plain old cool. Great costume. Awesome powers. Defeating scary bad guys. The perfect thing to keep my mind occupied. My mom’s accident was in the late 70s, so I first encountered Spider-Man on reruns of his ‘67 cartoon and his voiceless appearances on the Electric Company.

I only had a couple comic books back then but my first one ever, which I still have the tattered and beaten issue, was Spidey Super Stories #39, most notable for the first appearance of the infamous Thanos-Copter. Into the 1980s I kept up with Spider-Man’s adventures via his cartoons but eventually Transformers and GI Joe came along to grab my attention. I was regularly getting the GI Joe comic book, and when I would get the latest issue at our local pharmacy, I would always check out the covers of the other comics, especially the Spider-Man books. Eventually one day I was allowed to get a second comic book. It was either Amazing Spider-Man #296 or #297. It was a weird story where the villain was afraid of the hero, and I probably had no idea what was happening and why. But I loved it and thankfully was able to get two comics from then on out. A couple months later Amazing Spider-Man #300 hit and 13 year old me was absolutely blown away by the art and the terrifying new villain, Venom.

I was hooked and needed more. We soon found a comic book store and access to back issues (plus I was given an allowance!) and the rest was history as I’ve been reading continuously since then. It was early on in this time period where Spider-Man and Peter Parker went from someone super cool to someone I could relate to and believe in. -Kevin Ewing

Spider-Man Reading Recommendations

Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider-Man! by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko: Best origin in superhero comics? This only 11 page story makes a strong case.
Amazing Spider-Man #31 - #33, If This Be My Destiny by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko: Stan and Steve at their best and one of Spider-Man’s most famous and duplicated moments of never giving up, digging deep and overcoming the impossible.
Amazing Spider-Man #121 - #122, The Night Gwen Stacy Died by Gerry Conway and Gil Kane: If anything had a bigger impact on Spider-Man’s life than the aftermath of letting the burglar run by him in his origin story, it is this battle with the Green Goblin and the terrible price paid for a villain knowing his identity.
Amazing Spider-Man #229 - #230, Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut by Roger Stern and John Romita Jr.: Spider-Man alone versus an unstoppable foe, a villain that requires a full team of super-powered mutants to defeat. Another great example of Spidey keeping on fighting and never giving up.
Amazing Spider-Man #248, The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man by Roger Stern and Ron Frenz: Just like the origin story, this one didn’t need a full issue to tell a classic tale. Heartwarming and heart wrenching, have tissues handy.
Web of Spider-Man #31 - #32, Amazing Spider-Man #293 - #294, Spectacular Spider-Man #131 - #132 Kraven’s Last Hunt by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck: A very un-Spider-Man-like dark tale of a former one note villain finally defeating the opponent he never could and Spider-Man overcoming that defeat for the woman he loves.
Amazing Spider-Man #300, Venom by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane: The breakout issue for an artist that would redefine Spider-Man imagery and the debut of a terrifying villain that would go on to much bigger things.
Amazing Spider-Man Vol 2 #30 - #35, Coming Home, by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr.: A new writer teamed with a classic Spider-Man artist to reinvigorate Marvel’s flagship title and they deliver with a new take on the origin of Spider-Man’s powers, a powerful new villain and a fun new career for Peter Parker.
Amazing Spider-Man #698 - #700, Superior Spider-Man #1 - #31, Dying Wish and Superior by Dan Slott, Christos N. Gage and numerous artists: A bold new era where we find out what would happen if one of his greatest villains took over Spider-Man’s body and decided to be a better hero than Spider-Man ever was.
Amazing Spider-Man #801 by Dan Slott and Marcos Martin, Spectacular Spider-Man 310 by Chip Zdarsky and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man vol 2 6 by Tom Taylor and Juan Cabal: Modern instant classics that capture the essence of what makes Spider-Man great.