Spider-Man has long been one of Marvel Comics’ most popular superheroes, and has been the subject of more comic books than any other company character. He started in the 1960s and became famous in the 1970s when he graduated from high school and quickly rose to the ranks of world heroes. In the 1980s, he was on top of the world, appearing in multiple titles every month and taking part in some of the most well-written stories of any superhero in that decade. This includes personal stories and jokes about major events.
Here are seven of the best Spider-Man comic book stories from the 1980s.
7) “The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man”
Not all Spider-Man stories need to be epic comedies. In fact, one of the best Spider-Man stories was a one-act story about Spider-Man meeting his first patron. This founder was a boy who collected bits of information about Spider-Man’s career and looked up to him, believing him to be a superhero despite what J. Jonah Jameson was trying to make people believe.
To The Amazing Spider-Man #248 (1984), Spider-Man shared stories with the kid and answered any question he had. Finally, Spider-Man even unmasks to reveal that he is Peter Parker, whose name the boy recognized from the Daily Bugle photos. However, what makes this always fun is after Spider-Man left, the story revealed that he was in a cancer center and the boy was dying. It was heartbreaking and heartbreaking, and showed how great Spider-Man is.
6) Spider-Man vs. Wolverine
There are several different heroes like Spider-Man and Wolverine, but that’s what makes Logan one of Spider-Man’s greatest allies. To Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1 (1987), the title of the comic reveals what this was about. However, there was more to this comic than the loss of a superhero because this had huge implications for Spider-Man in the years to come. J. Jonah Jameson sent Ned Leeds and Peter Parker to Germany to follow the story and Wolverine happened to be there at the same time.
This story saw several things happen. The alien sent some men to kill Ned Leeds, and they succeeded in this, sending fear into the world of Spider-Man. However, when an assassin named Charlemagne deliberately attacked Spider-Man from behind, knowing that he was going to hit him, it was death by suicide. However, it plagued Spider-Man’s life for a long time and it was then that Wolverine began to grow closer to him, knowing the inner pain that was taking life from him.
5) “Burn, Spider, Burn”
“Burn, Spider, Burn” was a two-part story from Amazing Spider-Man #269-270 (1985) that saw Firelord returning to Earth, and looking for a restaurant to eat at. However, without the public’s knowledge, and in a society that had begun to fear mutants, people attacked him and when he defended himself, Spider-Man appeared and attacked him, believing him to be a villain. This led to a terrible war.
Spider-Man and Firelord battled their way through New York City, and when Spider-Man considered escaping the defeated Herald of Galactus, he remembered his mission to save everyone he could and came back stronger than ever. He then single-handedly beat Firelord until he was unconscious before the Avengers arrived to pull him off and stop the beating. It was one of Spider-Man’s major victories in Marvel Comics.
4) “Tombstone Saga”
Tombstone is not just another mafia boss in the Spider-Man comics. “The Tombstone Saga” made him more than that, gave him a good relationship with Robbie Robertson, and turned him into one of the most interesting villains in the Spider-Man comics. Tombstone is Lonnie Lincoln, and even though he’s in Kingpin status, he might be the most powerful and fearsome crime boss after Wilson Fisk. It’s almost hard to believe that he didn’t exist until 1988.
This was published in several comic books and was not only the story of the origin of Tombstone, including what his old time with Robbie Robertson was like and why their relationship was not comfortable. Honestly, Robbie Robertson has never been better in any comic book story, and while Spider-Man did a good job here dealing with Tombstone, Robbie’s story is what really makes this stand out as one of the best of the 80s.
3) “Pain”
There is an argument that the first “Venom” story was all flash and little. However, that doesn’t take into account how important this story was and what a great feeling Venom had when he finally appeared in all his glory for the first time. Spider-Man had a black suit since his return from the Secret series and gave it up when he learned he was an alien.
Feeling abandoned, the symbiote sought revenge and found Eddie Brock, a former journalist who lost his job when Sin-Eater framed him and Spider-Man proved the truth. Both men hated Spider-Man and that made them the perfect host and symbiote. When Venom saved Eddie before the man could die by suicide, they set their sights on Spider-Man, and one of his most famous villains was introduced to the world.
2) “The Death of Jean DeWolff”
“The Death of Jean DeWolff” was a story that was played out Amazing Spider-Man # 107-110 in 1985. For the setup, Jean DeWolff was a police chief who was one of the officers who trusted and worked with Spider-Man. However, when he was found murdered, Spider-Man set out to find out who did it and bring that person to justice by any means necessary.
This was the first story that introduced Sin-Eater, but that wasn’t as important as the emotional beat as Spider-Man tried to deal with someone close to him dying in a horrible way that he couldn’t save. Spider-Man has always been a comic book series about a man who knows he can’t save everyone, but he won’t stop trying. Knowing he had no way to stop this was heartbreaking and his plan to take down the Sin-Eater was an emotional story from start to finish.
1) Kraven’s Last Hunt
Kraven’s Last Hunt remains one of the best Spider-Man stories ever told, and for good reason. Kraven was never a typical villain, and he didn’t care about robbing banks or being a crime lord. He was only concerned with being the best hunter of the world’s largest animals, and although he had killed everything he hunted, the prize that kept escaping was Spider-Man. All of that culminated in this story.
This happened in Spider-Man’s Web #31-32, The Amazing Spider-Man #293-294, and Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132 in 1987, and Kraven finally won when he shot Spider-Man. He then hides Spider-Man and replaces him to prove that he can be a better hero than Peter Parker. However, the biggest change was that he never killed Spider-Man and only used a tranquilizer to knock him out. When Spider-Man returned, Kraven believed he had finally achieved his ultimate goal and killed himself, knowing there was nothing he could do.
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