Spider-Woman is the code name of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics . The first major version is Jessica Drew (and later impersonated by Veranke ), the second major version is Julia Carpenter , and the third major version is Mattie Franklin . Several alternate reality incarnations of the character have additionally received notoriety, including the Ultimate Spider-Woman , Ashley Barton , and Gwen Stacy .
155-515: Marvel Comics ' then-publisher Stan Lee said in 1978, shortly after Spider-Woman's debut in Marvel Spotlight #32 (Feb. 1977) and the start of the character's 50-issue self-titled series ( cover-dated April 1978 – June 1983), the character originated because, I suddenly realized that some other company may quickly put out a book like that and claim they have the right to use the name, and I thought we'd better do it real fast to copyright
310-653: A Once Upon a Time graphic novel was announced for publication in September. With Disney, Marvel announced in October 2013 that in January 2014 it would release its first title under their joint "Disney Kingdoms" imprint "Seekers of the Weird", a five-issue miniseries. On January 3, 2014, fellow Disney subsidiary Lucasfilm announced that as of 2015, Star Wars comics would once again be published by Marvel. Following
465-414: A Cold War culture that led their creators to revise the superhero conventions of previous eras to better reflect the psychological spirit of their age. Eschewing such comic book tropes as secret identities and even costumes at first, having a monster as one of the heroes, and having its characters bicker and complain in what was later called a "superheroes in the real world" approach, the series represented
620-617: A Marvelcon '76. At the 1975 event, Stan Lee used a Fantastic Four panel discussion to announce that Jack Kirby , the artist co-creator of most of Marvel's signature characters, was returning to Marvel after having left in 1970 to work for rival DC Comics . In October 1976, Marvel, which already licensed reprints in different countries, including the UK, created a superhero specifically for the British market. Captain Britain debuted exclusively in
775-552: A Wave Disruption Field to trap the main spider. Getting a confession from him, Superior Spider-Man reveals to Modell about the Norman Osborn of Earth-44145 who operates as the Spider-Man of his reality. Spiders-Man of Earth-11580 states that Spider-Man of Earth-44145 is safe on his world and that they will never reach him. In Horizon University's sub-basement two, Superior Spider-Man states that they will not be able to power
930-586: A brief time. During his time as president, he appointed his associate editor, prolific writer Roy Thomas , as editor-in-chief. Thomas added "Stan Lee Presents" to the opening page of each comic book. A series of new editors-in-chief oversaw the company during another slow time for the industry. Once again, Marvel attempted to diversify, and with the updating of the Comics Code published titles themed to horror ( The Tomb of Dracula ), martial arts ( Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu ), sword-and-sorcery ( Conan
1085-541: A cash and stock deal worth approximately $ 4 billion, which if necessary would be adjusted at closing, giving Marvel shareholders $ 30 and 0.745 Disney shares for each share of Marvel they owned. As of 2008, Marvel and its major competitor DC Comics shared over 80% of the American comic-book market. As of September 2010, Marvel switched its bookstore distribution company from Diamond Book Distributors to Hachette Distribution Services . Marvel moved its office to
1240-502: A change that proved to be a great success. Marvel often presented flawed superheroes, freaks, and misfits—unlike the perfect, handsome, athletic heroes found in previous traditional comic books. Some Marvel heroes looked like villains and monsters such as the Hulk and the Thing . This naturalistic approach even extended into topical politics. Comics historian Mike Benton also noted: In
1395-518: A chord with the older readers, including college-aged adults. In 1965, Spider-Man and the Hulk were both featured in Esquire magazine's list of 28 college campus heroes, alongside John F. Kennedy and Bob Dylan . In 2009, writer Geoff Boucher reflected that, Superman and DC Comics instantly seemed like boring old Pat Boone ; Marvel felt like The Beatles and the British Invasion . It
1550-414: A continuation of the history of Otto Octavius after the events of " Go Down Swinging ", and also serves as a tie-in to the " Spider-Geddon " storyline. The same year, a second volume of The Superior Spider-Man debuted as part of the "Spider-Geddon" with 12 new issues, written by Christos Gage and drawn by Mike Hawthorne . In 2023, the manga series Spider-Man: Octopus Girl was launched, serving as
1705-505: A controversial personality, Shooter cured many of the procedural ills at Marvel, including repeatedly missed deadlines. During Shooter's nine-year tenure as editor-in-chief, Chris Claremont and John Byrne 's run on the Uncanny X-Men and Frank Miller 's run on Daredevil became critical and commercial successes. Shooter brought Marvel into the rapidly evolving direct market , institutionalized creator royalties, starting with
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#17327717578621860-611: A counter-offer that will restore his body without disease, the physical mental, and the taint of Peter Parker. As Superior Spider-Man tells Anna that there is no other option, he expects Mephisto to uphold his end of the bargain. At the Lowe Hotel, the Brothers Grimm have collected their payment from Spider-Man of Earth-44145 when they are attacked by Doctor Octopus. He demands the location of Spider-Man of Earth-44145 from them or else they will die. As Spider-Man of Earth-44145
2015-518: A crossover that allowed Marvel to relaunch some of its flagship characters such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four , and outsource them to the studios of two of the former Marvel artists turned Image Comics founders, Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. The relaunched titles, which saw the characters transported to a parallel universe with a history distinct from the mainstream Marvel Universe, were
2170-478: A date with Emma Hernandez, they notice a news that asks if Superior Spider-Man is really Doctor Octopus. Spider-Man, Mister Fantastic, and Doctor Strange had noted their collaboration with Superior Spider-Man and his involvement in fighting the Frost Giants. Even the Brothers Grimm made their comment about working for them. The next day, Max Modell calls Elliot Tolliver to his office where Tolliver admits that he
2325-524: A deal brokered by Malibu Comics ' owner Scott Mitchell Rosenberg . Three years later, on November 3, 1994, Rosenberg sold Malibu to Marvel. In purchasing Malibu, Marvel now owned computer coloring technology that had been developed by Rosenberg, and also integrated the Ultraverse line of comics and the Genesis Universe into Marvel's multiverse . Earlier that year, the company secured
2480-535: A deal with Harvey Comics , whereas Marvel took on the publishing and distribution of Harvey's titles. In late 1994, Marvel acquired the comic book distributor Heroes World Distribution to use as its own exclusive distributor. As the industry's other major publishers made exclusive distribution deals with other companies, the ripple effect resulted in the survival of only one other major distributor in North America, Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. Then, by
2635-590: A direct sequel and narrative continuation to the first two volumes, while a stand-alone third volume written by Slott and drawn by Mark Bagley would launch in November 2023, along with the spin-off/sequel Spider-Man: Octo-Girl written by Hideyuki Furuhashi and drawn by Betten Court. The first volume was adapted into the second season of Marvel's Spider-Man , with the character voiced by Robbie Daymond (Superior Spider-Man's body) and Scott Menville (Otto Octavius' inner thought monologues), with Otto Octavius as
2790-466: A funeral is held for Elliot Tolliver that is attended by Max Modell, Anna Maria, Emma, and James. As Doctor Octopus watches from afar, Digger is informed to distribute the severance pay to the remaining members of the Night Shift so they will not bother him again and to warn them not to go visit the Brothers Grimm in the hospital. Doctor Octopus then walks away leaving his Superior Spider-Man outfit in
2945-535: A hero, Spider-Man consoled Superior Spider-Man by observing that Octavius feeling this hurt over random deaths proved that he was moving on from his old villainous history. Unbeknownst to Elliot Tolliver on his date with Emma Hernandez, he is being spied upon by one of the spiders that makes up Spiders-Man of Earth-11580 on behalf of Norman Osborn of Earth-44145. After being told the information he received from Spiders-Man of Earth-11580, Norman Osborn of Earth-44145 begins his revenge plans on Superior Spider-Man. Following
3100-442: A line of digital comics , Marvel AR, a software application that provides an augmented reality experience to readers and Marvel NOW! , a relaunch of most of the company's major titles with different creative teams. Marvel NOW! also saw the debut of new flagship titles including Uncanny Avengers and All-New X-Men . In April 2013, Marvel and other Disney conglomerate components began announcing joint projects. With ABC ,
3255-591: A month, maybe more, and ... suddenly we went ... to either eight or 12 books a month, which was all Independent News Distributors would accept from us." The company was briefly renamed to Goodman Comics in 1957 under the distribution deal with Independent News . The first modern comic books under the Marvel Comics brand were the science-fiction anthology Journey into Mystery #69 and the teen-humor title Patsy Walker #95 (both cover dated June 1961), which each displayed an "MC" box on its cover. Then, in
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#17327717578623410-598: A monthly or annual subscription fee. At the December 2007 the New York Anime Fest, the company announcement that Del Rey Manga would published two original English language Marvel manga books featuring the X-Men and Wolverine to hit the stands in spring 2009. In 2009 Marvel Comics closed its Open Submissions Policy, in which the company had accepted unsolicited samples from aspiring comic book artists, saying
3565-469: A new Atlas Comics line, but this lasted only a year and a half. In the mid-1970s a decline of the newsstand distribution network affected Marvel. Cult hits such as Howard the Duck fell victim to the distribution problems, with some titles reporting low sales when in fact the first specialty comic book stores resold them at a later date. But by the end of the decade, Marvel's fortunes were reviving, thanks to
3720-442: A new Spider-Man centric title was revealed to be The Superior Spider-Man . In December 2018, Otto, in his Superior Spider-Man avatar, returned once again in a series written by Christos Gage and illustrated by Mike Hawthorne. In June 2023, it was announced that a new volume of The Superior Spider-Man would launch later in 2023, which also the 10-year anniversary of the original storyline, and that Dan Slott would return to write
3875-578: A new Spider-Man protect New York City, and decides to take on the mantle himself, becoming the self-proclaimed "Superior Spider-Man", influenced by Parker's mind, which survives within his. The series is a continuation of the long running series The Amazing Spider-Man , which concluded with The Amazing Spider-Man #700. The Superior Spider-Man also crosses over into other Spider-Man titles such as Avenging Spider-Man and its superseding title Superior Spider-Man Team-Up , in addition to other Marvel titles. The series ended with issue #31, which determined
4030-499: A new ongoing series by Slott and Bagley. The events of the recent Spider-Man series, also written by Slott and drawn by Bagley, is set to kick off the newest chapter in the series which has been teased as a "Superior Reckoning". As Otto Octavius arrives at the sight of his infamous accident that turned him into Doctor Octopus in the first place, he works to get to the sub-levels and find what he needs to finally rid himself of his greatest enemy. As his new tentacles make quick work of
4185-657: A new suit, with a similar pattern to the Superior Spider-Man suit, Otto dubbed himself the "Superior Octopus". After fighting Spider-Man for control of Parker Industries, Otto fails and is dismayed at being a Hydra soldier. He becomes a member of Hydra's short-lived version of the Avengers, which later disbands following Hydra's defeat. Otto later defects from Hydra, deciding to resume his former self's career in heroism and bases himself in San Francisco, using
4340-525: A number of different titles. Goodman's business strategy involved having his various magazines and comic books published by a number of corporations all operating out of the same office and with the same staff. One of these shell companies through which Timely Comics was published was named Marvel Comics by at least Marvel Mystery Comics #55 (May 1944). As well, some comics' covers, such as All Surprise Comics #12 (Winter 1946–47), were labeled "A Marvel Magazine" many years before Goodman would formally adopt
4495-512: A recording of Jameson's kill-order to blackmail Jameson. Otto then assaults Shadowland, the domain of Kingpin and the new Hobgoblin, with his arach-naught tanks and army of Spiderling minions. Kingpin flees and frames his death with a body double . The Goblin's soldiers rejoice in the fact their boss now owns over half of New York's organized crime. Tiberius Stone sabotages the Hobgoblin, ruining him. Spider-Man publicly reveals Phil Urich as
4650-543: A reputation for focusing on characterization and adult issues to a greater extent than most superhero comics before them, a quality which the new generation of older readers appreciated. This applied to The Amazing Spider-Man title in particular, which turned out to be Marvel's most successful book. Its young hero suffered from self-doubt and mundane problems like any other teenager, something with which many readers could identify. Stan Lee and freelance artist and eventual co-plotter Jack Kirby 's Fantastic Four originated in
4805-552: A role in the war. After that, Superior Spider-Man and the West Coast Avengers returned to Earth to continue protecting its citizens. Once the War was over, the Superior Spider-Man received an award from the city for his role in its defence, but Superior Spider-Man found himself troubled by the ceremony, confessing to Spider-Man later that he felt as though he should have been able to save more. Offering his own experience as
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4960-487: A secret account. Spider-Man heads for a date with Anna Maria only to meet the Black Cat . Spider-Man punches her and webs her for the police. Peter/Otto starts Parker Industries . At ESU, Professor Lamaze accuses Peter of (ironically) plagiarizing Otto. Angelina Brancale, Otto's former girlfriend, learns Octavius is dead after coming out of her coma. She restarts her VR power suit and becomes Stunner again. Stunner attacks
5115-404: A series of junk bonds that he used to acquire other entertainment companies, secured by MEG stock. Marvel earned a great deal of money with their 1980s children's comics imprint Star Comics and they earned a great deal more money and worldwide success during the comic book boom of the early 1990s, launching the successful 2099 line of comics set in the future ( Spider-Man 2099 , etc.) and
5270-533: A solid success amidst a generally struggling industry. In 1997, Toy Biz bought Marvel Entertainment Group to end the bankruptcy, forming a new corporation, Marvel Enterprises . With his business partner Avi Arad , publisher Bill Jemas , and editor-in-chief Bob Harras , Toy Biz co-owner Isaac Perlmutter helped stabilize the comics line. In 1998, the company launched the imprint Marvel Knights , taking place “with reduced [Marvel] continuity,” according to one history, with better production quality. The imprint
5425-637: A specialized set of web-shooters made for those lacking spider-strength as a "real" Spider-Woman. After the Spider-Queen escapes from Spider-Force custody, the game's protagonist Spider-Man realizes that since Erin isn't a Spider-Totem, the Queen cannot control her, and sends her on a mission to Horizon Labs to collect a device to suppress the Queen's control over other spiders and Spider-People. Listed as "Spider-Gwen (Erin Hasko"; in her character description, Erin
5580-611: A spin-off/sequel series, Spider-Man: Octo-Girl , by Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court. The third volume would conclude with issue 8 in June 2024. After Peter Parker 's death at the " Dying Wish " storyline's climax in The Amazing Spider-Man #700, Otto Octavius has implanted his mind into Peter's body, determined to prove himself the "Superior" Spider-Man by being both a better superhero and person than Parker ever could be. Octavius earns public acclaim when he defeats
5735-516: A staple gun. Superior Spider-Man tells Anna Maria that he cannot call Spider-Man or the Avengers without endangering James. With no other choice, Superior Spider-Man uses a signal move he learned from Doctor Strange to call Mephisto who states that Spider-Man of Earth-44145 is out of his jurisdiction. Superior Spider-Man asks Mephisto to restore him to the man he once was for a day so that he can fight Spider-Man of Earth-44145. While Mephisto states that he either has or does not have his soul, he does have
5890-470: A sudden they've got Power Girl [after Marvel had introduced Power Man ]. Oh, boy. How unfair. Following that initial Spider-Woman series, more followed. Volume two was a miniseries published from November 1993 through February 1994; volume three was published from July 1999 through December 2000; and volume four, featuring Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman, was published from November 2009 through May 2010. Volume Five ran from November 2014 through
6045-576: A time, drive-in film monsters another time—and even other comic books, particularly the EC horror line. Atlas also published a plethora of children's and teen humor titles, including Dan DeCarlo 's Homer the Happy Ghost (similar to Casper the Friendly Ghost ) and Homer Hooper (à la Archie Andrews ). Atlas unsuccessfully attempted to revive superheroes from late 1953 to mid-1954, with
6200-493: A warning to anyone who comes after him for what he has done as Superior Spider-Man who is a "disease of the mind". At the hospital, Anna Maria Marconi informs Emma Hernandez about Doctor Octopus' broadcast which Emma doesn't want to see. Doctor Octopus visits Anna Maria and Emma stating that he no longer remembers Spider-Man's true identity, but remembers his life as Elliot Tolliver. As Anna Maria and Emma try to persuade Doctor Octopus to stay with them, but he runs off. One week later,
6355-640: Is a New York City -based comic book publisher , a property of The Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics , and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics . The Marvel era began in August 1961 with the launch of The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee , Jack Kirby , Steve Ditko , and numerous others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over
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6510-401: Is cut in half) to take on Terrax, Otto refuses to back down despite being heavily injured during the fight against him. With help from Anna Maria and the Night Shift, Otto is able to use a device to siphon a fraction of Terrax's Power Cosmic and transfer it to himself, giving Otto cosmic powers. Despite this upgrade, Otto is still unable to defeat Terrax until he is able to change the frequency of
6665-708: Is forced to transfer his consciousness from his body into the Living Brain before eventually reaching Spider-Man's body and trapping Peter Parker's mind inside of the Living Brain's Neuro Cortex computer. Becoming inspired by his host's memories of Ben Parker , Octavius vows to reinvent and prove himself superior. While inside the web-slinger's body, Octavius efficiently balances out crime-fighting with his regular life and befriends Midtown High assistant science teacher Anna Maria Marconi . However, his aggressive behavior raises Miles Morales 's suspicions, so he calls in
6820-400: Is just a common criminal who has purchased the costume from Hobgoblin. Otto then turns on Flash. Flash flees to a hospital, before going to meet Peter Parker. "Peter" invites him in. Otto gleans knowledge about Flash's relationship with Peter during the visit. Otto asks Flash to come to Parker Industries, under the guise of giving him prosthetic legs. Flash doesn't realize Otto intends to remove
6975-574: Is keeping an eye on James Martin, Elliot Tolliver comes in with a hooded man who Spider-Man of Earth-44145 will be his first victim. He is caught by surprise when the hooded man sheds his disguise to be Doctor Octopus while Elliot Tolliver was actually a mindless clone that Doctor Octopus' Octobot was controlling as he states that it does count as an innocent life being killed. When Spider-Man of Earth-44145 tries to call for Spiders-Man of Earth-11580, Doctor Octopus reveals that he unleashed his Octobots on him. As Spider-Man of Earth-44145 drops James, he turns on
7130-513: Is kidnapped. Monster/Carlie reveals that she is partially in control and offers herself as a test subject to create a cure for the Goblin Serum. The Goblin King destroys everything Otto created/saved to build his new legacy: his childhood home, the research center where he created his arms, the "BoneYard" where all his paraphernalia is held, the soda factory where he did his first heroic act, and
7285-476: Is revealed to have been acting since she was three-years-old, with the film she was filming on her recruitment having been titled Spider-Woman: Goblin's Revenge . An unrelated earlier Spider-Woman was published by Harry "A" Chesler 's Dynamic Comics in 1944. She was Helen Goddard , a non-superpowered crime-fighter who made her first and only appearance in the Golden Age comic book Major Victory #1. In
7440-509: Is the Proto-Clone created by New U Technologies and is hosting Otto Octavius' mind. Modell stated that he already knew of him being the Proto-Clone and Superior Spider-Man as well as stating that he believes in second chances. Upon analyzing the security footage of the leak, Superior Spider-Man finds small spiders and figures out that Spiders-Man of Earth-11580 was responsible. Spiders-Man of Earth-11580 attacks them as Superior Spider-Man uses
7595-553: The Exiles series. Mayday Parker, Peter and MJ's daughter from the alternate future MC2 who is commonly known as Spider-Girl, began calling herself Spider-Woman after her father's death. A character called Spider-Woman ( Valerie the Librarian ) appears in the recurring live-action skit " Spidey Super Stories " on the 1970s PBS children's television series The Electric Company , portrayed by Hattie Winston , who originated
7750-639: The War of the Realms storyline, Superior Spider-Man worked to save the civilians from a Frost Giant invasion. Then, he came up with the idea to work with the West Coast Avengers to make use of America Chavez 's powers. After rescuing them with his Octavian Lens, Superior Spider-Man barely manages to convince them to help fight the Asgardian invasion at the source. They later go to New York City, since
7905-576: The X-Men: The Animated Series which was aired on Fox Kids , they later released Spider-Man: The Animated Series on the network as well. In 1993, Marvel teamed up with Thomas Nelson to create Christian media genre comics, including a Christian superhero named The Illuminator, they made adaptions of Christian novels too, including In His Steps , The Screwtape Letters , and The Pilgrim's Progress . In 1996, Marvel had some of its titles participate in " Heroes Reborn ",
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#17327717578628060-507: The American News Company —which shortly afterward lost a Justice Department lawsuit and discontinued its business. Atlas was left without distribution and was forced to turn to Independent News , the distribution arm of its biggest rival, National (DC) Comics , which imposed draconian restrictions on Goodman's company. As then-Atlas editor Stan Lee recalled in a 1988 interview, "[We had been] turning out 40, 50, 60 books
8215-557: The Avengers and they bring him in for questioning after a brutal beating of pranksters Jester and Screwball. The Avengers' tests fail to expose Octavius' mind-swap. Otto uses a brain scanner to treat a young girl's brain injury, then uses the device on himself to discover Parker's presence within his mind. A mental battle ensues between himself and Parker. Octavius defeats Parker, then seemingly eliminates Peter by erasing Peter's memories. Police Captain Yuri Watanabe questions
8370-401: The Avengers to investigate. All the while, Peter attempts to escape from the Living Brain and avoid being deleted by Max Modell before downloading himself into Octavius' discarded tentacle harness, discovering Octavius' troubled past along the way. After forming a fragile alliance with him to stop A.I.M. 's new leader MODOK , the Avengers are unable to find proof that something is wrong with
8525-682: The Comics Code Authority (CCA) approval seal, due to the violence depicted in the issue. The CCA, which governed the content of American comic books, rejected the issue, requiring that changes be made. Instead, Marvel simply stopped submitting comics to the CCA. It then established its own Marvel Rating System for comics. Marvel also created new imprints , such as MAX (an explicit-content line) and Marvel Adventures (developed for child audiences). The company also created an alternate universe imprint, Ultimate Marvel , that allowed
8680-515: The Epic Comics imprint for creator-owned material in 1982; introduced company-wide crossover story arcs with Contest of Champions and Secret Wars ; and in 1986 launched the ultimately unsuccessful New Universe line to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Marvel Comics imprint. Star Comics , a children-oriented line differing from the regular Marvel titles, was briefly successful during this period, although hampered by legal action by
8835-725: The Inheritors , before returning to the Wastelands in " Venomverse " and " Old Man Quill ". On Earth X , a character named Spidra appears. She was one of the last survivors of the Microverse following Psycho-Man 's attempt to drive the entire realm mad. Escaping with the rest of the Ant Men, who were formerly known as the Microns , Spidra and the rest of the Ant Men are charged with watching Immortus. They are later present at
8990-436: The Inheritors . Spider-UK , Spider-Woman of Earth-982 , Spider-Gwen of Earth-65 , Doctor Octopus (Octavia Octo) of Earth-1104, Spider-Ham , Spider-Punk of Earth-138 , and Spider-Man Noir gather at the lab to warn him of the risk. Morlun emerges from one of the machines as they talked as well as Verna and Jennix, who kill Spider-Man Noir and Spider-UK as Morlun departs to target Peter Parker. Otto resumes his career as
9145-647: The Silver Surfer , and such memorable antagonists as Doctor Doom , Magneto , Galactus , Loki , the Green Goblin , and Doctor Octopus , all existing in a shared reality known as the Marvel Universe , with locations that mirror real-life cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Marvel even lampooned itself and other comics companies in a parody comic, Not Brand Echh (a play on Marvel's dubbing of other companies as "Brand Echh", à la
9300-608: The Sinister Six . Unbeknownst to Octavius, he is subconsciously held back by Parker's consciousness which still exists within his body, buried underneath Octavius' own, intent on stopping the villain and reclaiming his life. Peter proves unable to influence Octavius in any more than the slightest of ways. Octavius inadvertently causes himself to share Peter's genuine love for Mary Jane Watson . When his old Sinister Six teammate Vulture resurfaces, Octavius attempts to convince Parker's old friend Harry Osborn to give up crime. Upon
9455-489: The United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare approached Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee to do a comic book story about drug abuse. Lee agreed and wrote a three-part Spider-Man story portraying drug use as dangerous and unglamorous. However, the industry's self-censorship board, the Comics Code Authority , refused to approve the story because of the presence of narcotics, deeming
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#17327717578629610-602: The Venom symbiote. At the lab, the Venom symbiote attaches itself to Otto. The Venom symbiote soon tries to flee back to Flash, but Otto gains control. Superior Venom dispatches criminality more ruthlessly than ever before. Iron Man carries Flash to confront Superior Venom. Superior Venom is ambushed by Flash in Iron Man's armor. During the mental struggle between the Venom symbiote and Otto, Peter's consciousness separates Otto from
9765-879: The Asgardian magic was interfering with America's powers. In the midst of the battle between the Fantastic Four and Malekith the Accursed 's forces, Superior Spider-Man worked with Mister Fantastic to enable America Chavez to duplicate the Bifrost Bridge's energy. After the two of them failed to locate the strike team in Svartalfheim, Superior Spider-Man and Mister Fantastic located the strike team in Jotunheim. Those in Jotunheim (specifically Peter Parker) order Superior Spider-Man to focus on protecting Earth. After he initially refuses to leave, Gwen Poole assists Superior Spider-Man in his coming to terms with his lack of
9920-526: The Atlas years, allowing him now to release as many titles as demand warranted. Late that year, he sold Marvel Comics and its parent company, Magazine Management , to the Perfect Film & Chemical Corporation (later known as Cadence Industries) , though he remained as publisher. In 1969, Goodman finally ended his distribution deal with Independent by signing with Curtis Circulation Company . In 1971,
10075-570: The Barbarian in 1970, Red Sonja ), satire ( Howard the Duck ) and science fiction ( 2001: A Space Odyssey , " Killraven " in Amazing Adventures , Battlestar Galactica , Star Trek , and, late in the decade, the long-running Star Wars series). Some of these were published in larger-format black and white magazines, under its Curtis Magazines imprint. Marvel was able to capitalize on its successful superhero comics of
10230-521: The Barbarian title was canceled in 1993 after 275 issues, while the Savage Sword of Conan magazine had lasted 235 issues. Marvel published additional titles including miniseries until 2000 for a total of 650 issues. Conan was picked up by Dark Horse Comics three years later. In a cross-promotion, the November 1, 2006, episode of the CBS soap opera Guiding Light , titled "She's a Marvel", featured
10385-639: The Bugle. Otto shuts down her VR interface and takes it back to his base. When she awakes, Otto appears holographically as his old self and tells her he has moved on. Lamaze drops his accusations after also being visited by Otto. Carlie and Wraith learn Spider-Man is getting money from Otto's bank account. Carlie believes their minds have swapped, but she is kidnapped and brought to the Goblin King. Flash Thompson (Agent Venom) returns to New York. Flash confronts Crime Master , but Otto intervenes. Crime Master
10540-519: The Cloak of Levitation. At the fight's conclusion, Superior Spider-Man asks if Doctor Strange could cast the same spell that he used to make the world forget about Peter's identity. Doctor Strange rejects that request as the original spell could only be cast under specific circumstances and in any case he feels that it does Superior Spider-Man good to have people aware of his past so that he won't be tempted to "regress". Listen big guy, I get it. Everyone's
10695-588: The Earth-616 timeline but has no recollection of the Spider-Verse events. It is later revealed that Otto had used the technology acquired in 2099 to make a copy of his consciousness right before being sent back, and stored the copy in his gauntlets and programmed it activate in 100 days. When the gauntlets reactivated, the duplicate made an octobot body out of the gauntlets. This duplicate would initially plan to take control of Peter's body, while hiding inside
10850-799: The Galaxy . Its stable of well-known supervillains includes Doctor Doom , Magneto , Green Goblin , Kingpin , Red Skull , Loki , Ultron , Thanos , Kang the Conqueror , Venom , and Galactus . Most of Marvel's fictional characters operate in a single reality known as the Marvel Universe , with most locations mirroring real-life places; many major characters are based in New York City. Additionally, Marvel has published several licensed properties from other companies. This includes Star Wars comics , twice from 1977 to 1987 , and again since 2015 . Pulp-magazine publisher Martin Goodman created
11005-523: The Goblin "King", as his army grows. Spider-Man is asked to supervise Alistair Smythe 's execution. As the execution begins, mini Spider-Slayers allow Smythe to attempt escape. J. Jonah Jameson tells Spider-Man to ensure that Smythe dies by any means necessary. Otto predicts Smythe's every escape attempt and eventually fatally stabs Smythe. Smythe attempts to transfer his mind into Spider-Man, but Otto also planned for this possibility. Later, Spider-Man uses
11160-555: The HEART Clinic. To make things worse, Jameson releases an army of Spider-Slayers built by Alchemax, but they are hacked by the Goblin King. Spider-Man 2099 comes to help, but Otto abandons him to save Anna Maria. After hesitating about whether to save a young girl, Amy Chen (whom Otto had helped via brain surgery), or go after the Goblin King, Otto realizes that saving Anna Maria is beyond him, and allows Peter to take back control of his body. Parker helps O'Hara and cures Menace with
11315-579: The Human Torch (art by Syd Shores and Dick Ayers , variously), the Sub-Mariner (drawn and most stories written by Bill Everett ), and Captain America (writer Stan Lee , artist John Romita Sr. ). Atlas did not achieve any breakout hits and, according to Stan Lee, survived chiefly because it produced work quickly, cheaply, and at a passable quality. In 1957, Goodman switched distributors to
11470-462: The Living Brain. However, after learning that his true self had sacrificed himself and willingly gave Peter his body back, Otto (due to his massive ego and lack of his true self's final memories) believes that Peter's body corrupted his original self's personality and instead decided to get a new body modeled after his own physique, after causing the Living Brain to self-destruct. After finding out his original body has been stolen by New U Technologies and
11625-690: The Proto-Clone but is instead electrocuted into unconsciousness (as a fail-safe Otto made if anybody other than him tries to transfer their conscience into the Proto-Clone), before Otto takes the body for himself and leaves Ben for dead. He then tracks down an old base of his and finds out Hydra has taken over it. After defeating various henchmen, he is offered an alliance by Armin Zola to help him take down Parker Industries (a company Otto had founded during his time in Peter's body), which Otto agreed to. After making
11780-731: The Spider-Woman name. Veranke is a Super-Skrull and a queen of the Skrulls who impersonated Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman over a long period of time and was a founding member of the New Avengers . A gender-swapped clone of Spider-Man appears in the Ultimate Marvel imprint. Gwen Stacy is Earth-65's version of Spider-Woman. She plays this role in the animated movies Spiderman Into the Spiderverse and Spiderman across
11935-476: The Spiderlings fight with A.I.M. Agents led by Quintronic Man. When they get to the miniature star in A.I.M.'s possession, it begins to overload until Otto places it in a dodecahedron. In the aftermath, Estrella cracks the equation to create a sustainable miniature sun, but Otto takes the credit for her breakthrough. Later that night, Otto is dining with Anna Maria as Estrella tries to get back at Otto by taking
12090-605: The Spiderverse. In the pages of Old Man Logan , Ashley Barton is the daughter of Tonya Parker and Hawkeye who did not like the way that Kingpin was running Hammer Falls. She becomes "Spider-Bitch", allying herself with a new Punisher and Daredevil, and plans to take back Hammer Falls, only for the group to be captured and Daredevil and Punisher to be fed to the carnivorous dinosaurs. Hawkeye breaks his daughter out of her cell, whereafter Ashley immediately beheads Kingpin which avenges Daredevil and Punisher's deaths. Then she attempts to kill her father, before taking over Hammer Falls as
12245-760: The Sports Illustrated Building in October 2010. Marvel relaunched the CrossGen imprint, owned by Disney Publishing Worldwide , in March 2011. Marvel and Disney Publishing began jointly publishing Disney/Pixar Presents magazine that May. Marvel discontinued its Marvel Adventures imprint in March 2012, and replaced them with a line of two titles connected to the Marvel Universe TV block . Also in March, Marvel announced its Marvel ReEvolution initiative that included Infinite Comics,
12400-595: The Superior Spider-Man also appearing in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) as a member of Spider-Man 2099 's Spider-Society. Marvel Comics first teased The Superior Spider-Man in September 2012 by releasing an image of the word Superior without the creative team. A short time before the NYCC 2012 Marvel released a new Superior teaser, this time with the creative team of Dan Slott, Ryan Stegman, Humberto Ramos and Giuseppe Camuncoli. A week later
12555-407: The Superior Spider-Man and call off their investigation. Furthermore, Morales and Peter, after discovering that the harness' circuitry was also slowly degrading the latter's consciousness, are unable to convince Octavius to switch bodies again. After Venom attacks and takes Marconi hostage in exchange for the "real" Spider-Man, Octavius realizes the error of his ways just as Peter arrives and reverses
12710-427: The Superior Spider-Man once again, protecting San Francisco with the hired assistance of the Night Shift. His identity as Dr. Elliot Toliver is uncovered by Anna Maria, who confronts him with the rebuilt Living Brain, but the appearance of Terrax gives Otto a chance to temporarily evade this. Despite lacking the weaponry, technology, and the Night Shift's assistance (who ran away in fear after one of their undead members
12865-520: The UK, and later appeared in American comics. During this time, Marvel and the Iowa-based Register and Tribune Syndicate launched a number of syndicated comic strips — The Amazing Spider-Man , Howard the Duck , Conan the Barbarian , and The Incredible Hulk . None of the strips lasted past 1982, except for The Amazing Spider-Man , which is still being published. In 1978, Jim Shooter became Marvel's editor-in-chief. Although
13020-434: The Venom symbiote, letting it to re-bond with Flash. When the Avengers confront Spider-Man about his brutality, Otto lies by saying the Venom symbiote was in control over the past months, and then leaves the Avengers. Meanwhile, the Goblin King sprays Carlie with goblin serum and transforms her into "Monster". The Goblin King and the original Hobgoblin fight for control over NYC; the latter is killed, but Urich discovers that
13175-409: The abandoned Atomic Research Center, she meets up with Spider-Man and the Living Brain where they spend days working together to create a sustainable miniature sun. It's while working with Estrella that Otto comes up with the idea to update his suit to include four mechanical limbs and to also hire henchmen, later becoming his Spiderlings. Sometime later, Estrella is piloting a giant robot during Otto and
13330-470: The alias of "Eliot Tolliver", and gains a position at Horizon University. Superior Octopus establishes himself as the local hero of San Francisco, where he has defeated the Night Shift , Arnim Zola , and Count Nefaria . He has a lab with his inventions, including a machine that makes clones of himself, allowing his consciousness to jump to one of those in case of death. This machine uses technology of
13485-600: The ambulances, Anna Maria Marconi tells Superior Spider-Man that she will go to the hospital to keep an eye on them. As he goes to look for the Night Shift members that are still loyal to him, Superior Spider-Man asks her to keep James Martin safe. After defeating Dansen Macabre, Digger, and Skein with the help of Spiders-Man of Earth-11580, Spider-Man of Earth-44145 starts to target James as Superior Spider-Man catches up to him. Upon being subdued, Superior Spider-Man begs for mercy on James. Spider-Man of Earth-44145 states that he will spare of James if he kills three citizens in front of
13640-513: The anti-Goblin serum. During his fight with the Goblin King, he loses the last serum, before removing the Goblin King's mask, revealing him to be Alchemax's associate Mason Banks. However, he confirms he is indeed Norman Osborn , having undergone plastic surgery to move undetected, allowing him to build the Goblin Nation, hijack Octavius' security network, and secretly having secured Alchemax to be inherited by his grandson . Without his mask,
13795-506: The book. In July 2023, it was announced that a one-shot, called Superior Spider-Man Returns , would launch in October that same year, with Slott writing, and Stegman, Ramos, Camuncoli, and Mark Bagley on art, which would lead into a new ongoing launching in November that same year by Slott and Bagley. It was also revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that the series would replace the Spider-Man (2022–23) series by Slott and Bagley, along with
13950-468: The cameras and fights Doctor Octopus who summons all his old harnesses to aid him by rescuing James and entrapping Spider-Man of Earth-44145. After injuring Spider-Man of Earth-44145, Doctor Octopus uses his fragment of the Web of Life and Destiny to send him back to Earth-44145. Afterwards, Doctor Octopus speaks through the cameras about his return stating to let what happened to Spider-Man of Earth-44145 serve as
14105-419: The cameras that does not involve cheating, criminals, or terminally-ill patients. That way, people will see that Superior Spider-Man is a fraud. Awakening in the infirmary, Superior Spider-Man learns from Anna Maria that James' aunt and uncle are in shock, Skein and Dansen are recovering form their injuries, and Emma is in a medically induced coma while Digger is still living with his head detached while asking for
14260-519: The character Harley Davidson Cooper (played by Beth Ehlers ) as a superheroine named the Guiding Light. The character's story continued in an eight-page backup feature, "A New Light", that appeared in several Marvel titles published November 1 and 8. Also that year, Marvel created a wiki on its Web site. In late 2007 the company launched Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited , a digital archive of over 2,500 back issues available for viewing, for
14415-469: The character as the girlfriend of Easy Reader (portrayed by Morgan Freeman ) before she become Spider-Woman. She also appears as Spider-Woman in the spin-off comic book series Spidey Super Stories #11 (August 1975) where she has no superpowers. In the Squadron Supreme series, Nell Ruggles was a young troubled girl, who upon gaining her powers killed her classmates, who had bullied her in
14570-584: The company later known as Marvel Comics under the name Timely Publications in 1939. Goodman, who had started with a Western pulp in 1933, was expanding into the emerging—and by then already highly popular—new medium of comic books. Launching his new line from his existing company's offices at 330 West 42nd Street, New York City, he officially held the titles of editor , managing editor , and business manager , with Abraham Goodman (Martin's brother) officially listed as publisher. Timely's first publication, Marvel Comics #1 ( cover dated Oct. 1939), included
14725-668: The company to reboot its major titles by revising and updating its characters to introduce to a new generation. Some of the company's properties were adapted into successful film franchises, such as the Men in Black film series (which was based on a Malibu book), starting in 1997, the Blade film series, starting in 1998, the X-Men film series, starting in 2000, and the highest grossing series, Spider-Man , beginning in 2002. Marvel's Conan
14880-442: The company's entire publishing line. This branding pattern, being typically either a full-body picture of the characters' solo titles or a collection of the main characters' faces in ensemble titles, would become standard for Marvel for decades. In 1968, while selling 50 million comic books a year, company founder Goodman revised the constraining distribution arrangement with Independent News he had reached under duress during
15035-579: The context of the story irrelevant. Lee, with Goodman's approval, published the story regardless in The Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 (May–July 1971), without the Comics Code seal. The market reacted well to the storyline, and the CCA subsequently revised the Code the same year. Goodman retired as publisher in 1972 and installed his son, Chip, as publisher. Shortly thereafter, Lee succeeded him as publisher and also became Marvel's president for
15190-541: The creatively daring though commercially unsuccessful Razorline imprint of superhero comics created by novelist and filmmaker Clive Barker . In 1990, Marvel began selling Marvel Universe Cards with trading card maker SkyBox International . These were collectible trading cards that featured the characters and events of the Marvel Universe. The 1990s saw the rise of variant covers , cover enhancements, swimsuit issues , and company-wide crossovers that affected
15345-448: The debris, he recalls the radiation exposure and beatings from Spider-Man put him in near death and how he took over Spider-Man's body. Upon coming across a dodecahedron which he has no memory of, Doctor Octopus tries to recall what it was for. In a flashback, Otto, as the Superior Spider-Man, is told by his Spider-Bots about criminal activity in the city, and focuses on taking out Slyde . Otto manages to catch up to Slyde after he falls into
15500-566: The dimensional transporter without something that can replicate the energies of the Cosmic Cube. Anna Maria and Living Brain revealed that they harnessed the cosmic energies from the fight with Terrax in the Cosmic Harness invention. When Living Brain enters the cosmic energies into the system, he starts to overload and it causes an explosion. As Superior Spider-Man holds up the rubble, Spider-Man of Earth-44145 appears revealing that he
15655-742: The discovery that the Vulture employs children as henchmen Otto brutally takes the Vulture down, blinding him in the process. Vulture's remaining henchmen are taken in by the Green Goblin. With his merciless reputation growing, Octavius focuses on increased efficiency, developing thousands of "Spider-Bots" that patrol the city for him while returning to college as Parker to complete his doctorate, in turn growing close to his tutor Anna Maria Marconi . Otto locates escaped killer Massacre , whom he then executes publicly to prevent further murders. His decision to execute Massacre sits ill with his teammates in
15810-503: The duo Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal . Goodman hired his wife's 16-year-old cousin, Stanley Lieber, as a general office assistant in 1939. When editor Simon left the company in late 1941, Goodman made Lieber—by then writing pseudonymously as " Stan Lee "—interim editor of the comics line, a position Lee kept for decades except for three years during his military service in World War II . Lee wrote extensively for Timely, contributing to
15965-497: The events of the company-wide crossover " Secret Wars " in 2015, a relaunched Marvel universe began in September 2015, called the All-New, All-Different Marvel . The Superior Spider-Man The Superior Spider-Man is the name of three separate superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics , following Otto Octavius as he becomes Spider-Man . The first volume , that ran between January 2013 and September 2014,
16120-462: The fall of 2015, featuring Jessica Drew as Spider-Woman. In the March 2015 issue of The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3 #13, Jessica boasts "I have never needed rescuing. Ever. See my wiki entry." In November 2015, Spider-Woman Vol. 6 launched as part of Marvel's All-New, All-Different event with the same creative team as Volume 5. This volume saw her wearing the same costume as in Volume 5, but now she
16275-407: The fate of Parker's mind, and was followed up by a relaunch of The Amazing Spider-Man series, with the new volume depicting Parker regaining his body and the Spider-Man mantle. Despite The Superior Spider-Man being considered a different series to The Amazing Spider-Man , the first 33 issue run goes towards the legacy numbering of The Amazing Spider-Man acting as issues 701–733. In December 2013,
16430-505: The film. On clearing up the misunderstanding, Octavia nonetheless makes the offer again, if either of them would be open to it, and excitedly noting that she learned three different types of martial arts for a previous role, Erin joins the Web Warriors and ventures into the multiverse with them, leaving her shocked crew behind, as Felix asks if they were still filming. Erin returns in the video game Spider-Man Unlimited , now wielding
16585-526: The first appearance of Carl Burgos ' android superhero the Human Torch , and the first appearances of Bill Everett 's anti-hero Namor the Sub-Mariner , among other features. The issue was a great success; it and a second printing the following month sold a combined nearly 900,000 copies. While its contents came from an outside packager, Funnies, Inc. , Timely had its own staff in place by
16740-402: The following month dropped its comics to 20 cents for 36 pages, offering a lower-priced product with a higher distributor discount. In 1973, Perfect Film & Chemical renamed itself as Cadence Industries and renamed Magazine Management as Marvel Comics Group. Goodman, now disconnected from Marvel, set up a new company called Seaboard Periodicals in 1974, reviving Marvel's old Atlas name for
16895-516: The following year. The company's first true editor, writer-artist Joe Simon , teamed with artist Jack Kirby to create one of the first patriotically themed superheroes, Captain America , in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). It, too, proved a hit, with sales of nearly one million. Goodman formed Timely Comics, Inc., beginning with comics cover-dated April 1941 or Spring 1941. While no other Timely character would achieve
17050-507: The future technology to find a way back, but instead discovers the existence of the Inheritors . He recruits the help of other "Spider-Men" to fight back. After his transportation, the Superior Spider-Man believed he was encountering a prior version of Peter Parker as Spider-Man, as opposed to a future version since he believed he had defeated Parker permanently. After the defeat of the Inheritors, Superior Spider-Man returns to his spot in
17205-405: The garbage. It was revealed at the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con that a one-shot issue entitled Superior Spider-Man Returns would be released in October 2023 for the character's 10th anniversary. The issue is written by Christos Gage from a story by Dan Slott and features interior art by Ryan Stegman , Mark Bagley , Giuseppe Camuncoli , and Humberto Ramos , with the one-shot set to lead into
17360-525: The hero of their own story. So when you find out there are other stories where you don't even rate a mention , it sucks. But I'll tell you something. I've been paying attention. To the redshirts . The extras. The day players. They're people too. Even if the powers that be don't think of 'em that way. If, in this whole war, all you do is save one guy ... ...You are the most important person in that guy's world. You coming? Gwendolyn Poole , The Superior Spider-Man , Vol. 2, Issue 8. During
17515-512: The latter's axe and trick him into taking it back, causing a feedback which shocks Terrax unconscious. With the fight over, Otto returns the Power Cosmic back to the machine and passes out. When he awakens, he is being treated by Anna Maria who decides that she will help Otto be a real hero. She also warns Otto that if he ever returns to his Doctor Octopus persona, she will have him arrested or worse. Otto agrees to this, believing she would make
17670-483: The man was a body double. The Goblin King lures the Superior Spider-Man to his hideout, revealing that he knows Otto is inhabiting Spider-Man's body. He offers Octavius a truce if Otto submits to him. Otto refuses. The Goblin King attacks and destroys his Spider-Base. Otto and Living Brain barely escape. The Goblin King goes after all of Parker's associates, but Mary Jane has been prepared with an evacuation plan, rescues May Parker , and warns everybody. Only Anna Maria
17825-495: The middle of the decade, the industry had slumped, and in December 1996 MEG filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In early 1997, when Marvel's Heroes World endeavor failed, Diamond also forged an exclusive deal with Marvel —giving the company its own section of its comics catalog Previews . Marvel in the early to mid-1990s expanded their entries in other media, including Saturday-morning cartoons and various comics collaborations to explore new genres. In 1992, they released
17980-469: The most part and expanded into a wider variety of genres than even Timely had published, featuring horror , Westerns , humor, talking animal , men's adventure -drama, giant monster, crime , and war comics , and later adding jungle books, romance titles, espionage , and even medieval adventure, Bible stories and sports. Goodman began using the globe logo of the Atlas News Company,
18135-416: The name in 1961. The company begin identifying the group of its comic division as Marvel Comic Group , on some comics cover-dated November 1948, when the company set up an in-house editorial board to compete with the likes of DC and Fawcett , even though the legal name is still Timely. The post-war American comic market saw superheroes falling out of fashion. Goodman's comic book line dropped them for
18290-404: The name. So we just batted one quickly, and that's exactly what happened. I wanted to protect the name, because it's the type of thing [where] someone else might say, "Hey, why don't we put out a Spider-Woman; they can't stop us." ... You know, years ago we brought out Wonder Man , and [ DC Comics ] sued us because they had Wonder Woman , and ... I said okay, I'll discontinue Wonder Man. And all of
18445-573: The new Hobgoblin. Phil realizes that he has nowhere to run and takes Norah Winters hostage. Spider-Man arrives at the Daily Bugle and defeats Urich. Urich is later freed by Menace and brought to the Goblin King, then given new armor and the "Goblin Knight" title. In the year 2099, Miguel O'Hara is surprised by the appearance of dinosaurs and World War I biplanes. Alchemax 's CEO Tyler Stone sends Spider-Man 2099 back to stop it. Otto in
18600-545: The new Kingpin. Old Man Logan rescues Hawkeye as Ashley sends her men after them. The character appears in the " Spider-Verse " and Spider-Geddon storylines, now referred with her father's surname as Ashley Barton, and alternately referred to as "Spider-Girl" and "Spider-Woman" due to the family-friendly nature of the narrative, and is among the spider-powered characters who are recruited by Superior Spider-Man ( Doctor Octopus 's mind in Peter Parker's body) to help fight
18755-501: The newsstand-distribution company he owned, on comics cover-dated November 1951 even though another company, Kable News , continued to distribute his comics through the August 1952 issues. This globe branding united a line put out by the same publisher, staff and freelancers through 59 shell companies, from Animirth Comics to Zenith Publications. Atlas, rather than innovate, took a proven route of following popular trends in television and films— Westerns and war dramas prevailing for
18910-616: The officers present during the Massacre killing. An autopsy reveals Massacre was unable to fire a gun and was shot point blank, confirming Yuri's suspicions. The Green Goblin hacks the Spider-Bots tech to allow his followers to bypass detection. Former Vulture henchmen torch Mary Jane's nightclub in revenge for an earlier failed attempt. Mary Jane believes Peter will come to rescue her, but is saved by local firemen. Otto becomes closer with Anna Maria Marconi. The Green Goblin declares himself
19065-521: The original Jackal, he was driven over the edge and for the time being went down a more malicious path) to perfect New U Technologies' currently flawed cloning process. Otto succeeded in creating an improved clone with spliced DNA from him and Peter Parker, calling it the "Proto-Clone". He stands with the Jackal, until he insults a captured Anna Maria Marconi (who the original Otto had a lengthy relationship with during his occupation of Peter's body that reached
19220-410: The overall continuity of the Marvel Universe . In early 1992, seven of Marvel’s prized artists — Todd McFarlane (known for his work on Spider-Man ), Jim Lee ( X-Men ), Rob Liefeld ( X-Force ), Marc Silvestri ( Wolverine ), Erik Larsen ( The Amazing Spider-Man ), Jim Valentino ( Guardians of the Galaxy ), and Whilce Portacio ( Uncanny X-Men ) — left to form Image Comics in
19375-403: The owners of the recently defunct Harvey Comics for purposefully plagiarizing their house style. In 1986, Marvel's parent, Marvel Entertainment Group , was sold to New World Entertainment , which within three years sold it to MacAndrews and Forbes , owned by Revlon executive Ronald Perelman in 1989. In 1991 Perelman took MEG public. Following the rapid rise of this stock, Perelman issued
19530-659: The past. However, her superhuman powers allowed her to be traced back to a device which the Icarus One astronauts brought back from the Moon. Running away from home, she was captured by the Blur and turned over to Nick Fury 's S.H.I.E.L.D. Thanks to an electroshock collar, she has been prevented from leaving, though she appears to be making the best of the situation, having made friends and eventually falling in love with Tucker Ford, Biogeneral. Marvel Comics Marvel Comics
19685-466: The perfect partner for him. While helping the authorities rebuild San Francisco and rescue survivors, Otto learns about humility and begins to connect with the people. Unbeknownst to him, Master Pandemonium emerges from the wreckage planning to strike. When Master Pandemonium attacks, Superior Spider-Man is forced to work with Doctor Strange to stop Pandemonium after he possesses Elliot Tolliver's new associate Emma Hernandez, revealing in flashbacks that
19840-440: The point where Otto admitted he loved her) causing Otto to turn against him, discovering he was a Spider-Clone the entire time, causing him to feel manipulated. He and the Jackal fight as their bodies began to degenerate into dust and Otto destroys Reilly's webware, which was sending a signal that would've healed their bodies, but Otto intends for him to die. As their bodies further degenerate, Reilly attempts to transfer his mind into
19995-442: The power source out. When she does this, it starts to cause a blackout that alerts Otto and has him return to his base. Upon entering his lab, he finds Estrella transformed into an energy being after she merged with the miniature sun, as she begins attacks him over the problem that she solved while taking on the name of Supernova . Otto manages to trick Supernova into entering the dodecahedron and seals her within. Hours later, Otto has
20150-500: The predominantly child audiences of the medium, thus ushering what Marvel later called the Marvel Age of Comics . Modern Marvel's first superhero team, the titular stars of The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961), broke convention with other comic book archetypes of the time by squabbling, holding grudges both deep and petty, and eschewing anonymity or secret identities in favor of celebrity status. Subsequently, Marvel comics developed
20305-574: The present attacks Tiberius, but is stopped by Spider-Man 2099. Grady Scraps uses the Time Gate to see the day of the Alpha Incident. He returns to find them surrounded by explosive chronal energy. Otto accesses Peter's memories, to try to stop the time explosion. This causes Peter's consciousness to re-emerge. Tyler destroys his time machine in the future, stranding Spider-Man 2099. Carlie Cooper discovers that Spider-Man's funds comes from
20460-406: The previous decade by acquiring a new newsstand distributor and greatly expanding its comics line. Marvel pulled ahead of rival DC Comics in 1972, during a time when the price and format of the standard newsstand comic were in flux. Goodman increased the price and size of Marvel's November 1971 cover-dated comics from 15 cents for 36 pages total to 25 cents for 52 pages. DC followed suit, but Marvel
20615-438: The rise of direct market distribution—selling through those same comics-specialty stores instead of newsstands. Marvel ventured into audio in 1975 with a radio series and a record, both had Stan Lee as narrator. The radio series was Fantastic Four . The record was Spider-Man: Rock Reflections of a Superhero concept album for music fans. Marvel held its own comic book convention , Marvelcon '75, in spring 1975, and promised
20770-570: The river while avoiding his web barricade and leaves him webbed up for the police. However, Otto tells the cops the Tridium that Slyde had stolen was washed away in the river, when in actuality, he took it for his own purposes. Back at Horizon Labs, Otto begins works on making a miniature star with Living Brain present as they are visited by Grady Scraps. Later, at Empire State University and after speaking with Anna Maria Marconi, Estrella Lopez answers an ad to be Spider-Man's assistant. When she arrives at
20925-519: The second Spider-Woman, a former member of the Avengers and Omega Flight , and also used the Arachne and Madame Web mantles. Mattie Franklin briefly impersonated the then-retired Spider-Man before receiving her own short-lived comics series as well as also appeared in Alias #16–21, before going on to appear in the 2007–2008 Loners miniseries . Charlotte Witter is a supervillain who used
21080-414: The series returned for five issues, numbered 700.1 through 700.5, with the first two written by David Morrell and drawn by Klaus Janson . The series returned for two additional issues (#32 and #33) that fill a gap left by an earlier storyline, as well as lead into the " Spider-Verse " storyline. They were released in August 2014. In 2018, a one-shot titled The Superior Octopus was released, serving as
21235-529: The spider-bots recognize Osborn as a threat and administer the goblin anti-serum. He escapes and vows revenge, proclaiming that "they'll never see [him] coming". Tiberius reobtains and intends to sell the Spider-Slayers on the black market. Jameson then resigns as mayor of NYC. During the time Superior Spider-Man was missing after the Horizon Lab explosion, he was teleported to 2099, where he used
21390-448: The spiderlings shut the place down to ensure Supernova can't escape. Back in the present, Doctor Octopus works on a weapon that would possess the powers of a solar flare. As he hooks it up to the dodecahedron, Supernova breaks free. Otto, remembering what he had done, begs for Supernova to spare him. She remarks she has no qualms with Otto, as she plans to get revenge on Spider-Man for imprisoning her, unaware that Otto had been in his body at
21545-611: The success of these three characters, some notable heroes—many of which continue to appear in modern-day retcon appearances and flashbacks—include the Whizzer , Miss America , the Destroyer , the original Vision , and the Angel . Timely also published one of humor cartoonist Basil Wolverton 's best-known features, " Powerhouse Pepper ", as well as a line of children's talking animal comics featuring characters like Super Rabbit and
21700-433: The then-common phrase "Brand X"). Originally, the company's publications were branded by a minuscule "Mc" on the upper right-hand corner of the covers. However, artist/writer Steve Ditko put a larger masthead picture of the title character of The Amazing Spider-Man on the upper left-hand corner on issue #2 that included the series' issue number and price. Lee appreciated the value of this visual motif and adapted it for
21855-439: The time-consuming review process had produced no suitably professional work. The same year, the company commemorated its 70th anniversary, dating to its inception as Timely Comics , by issuing the one-shot Marvel Mystery Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1 and a variety of other special issues. On August 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced it would acquire Marvel Comics' parent corporation, Marvel Entertainment, for
22010-522: The time. Otto then comments that his plan went better than he thought as he quotes "Good luck Wallcrawler!" Two Superior Spider-Man annuals were published during the series' run. The first one was written by Christos Gage and drawn by Javier Rodríguez and Alvaro Lopez. It involved Spider-Man tracking down Blackout after the latter kidnapped Aunt May . The second annual was written by Gage and drawn by Rodríguez and focused on Phil Urich 's relationship with his uncle Ben Urich . Initially when it
22165-427: The two met before they adopted their later identities, with Doctor Strange rejecting a request to help Octavius develop the original harness and Octavius later ignoring the now-destitute Strange after the accident. While fighting Master Pandemonium, the two are forced to 'swap' for a time, with Doctor Strange using Superior Spider-Man's 'spinnerets' to operate on Pandemonium and shut him down while Superior Spider-Man uses
22320-597: The unified Marvel 2099 reality of Earth-2099, a Spider-Woman with the real name of Sivern Dru appears as a member of the 2099 version of the New Avengers . She comes from an as-yet-unidentified alien species. There are several alternate versions of Mary Jane Watson known as Spider-Woman. The first version is a ninja of the Spider-clan in the Marvel Mangaverse , and another version is featured in
22475-530: The wake of DC Comics ' success in reviving superheroes in the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly with the Flash , Green Lantern , Batman , Superman , Wonder Woman , Green Arrow , and other members of the team the Justice League of America , Marvel followed suit. In 1961, writer-editor Stan Lee revolutionized superhero comics by introducing superheroes designed to appeal to older readers than
22630-479: The wedding of King Britain and Medusa . During the Web Warriors ongoing series, on accidentally coming across actors Felix Lifson and Erin Hasko , in a world where Spider-Man is fictional, shooting a Spider-Man movie (in which Erin is playing Gwen "Spider-Gwen" Stacy / Spider-Woman ), Octavia Otto and the Web Warriors invite the duo to join the team, initially not noticing the pair to be actors shooting
22785-587: The world of [rival DC Comics '] Superman comic books, communism did not exist. Superman rarely crossed national borders or involved himself in political disputes. From 1962 to 1965, there were more communists [in Marvel Comics] than on the subscription list of Pravda . Communist agents attack Ant-Man in his laboratory, red henchmen jump the Fantastic Four on the moon, and Viet Cong guerrillas take potshots at Iron Man. All these elements struck
22940-472: The years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand. Marvel counts among its characters such well-known superheroes as Spider-Man , Iron Man , Wolverine , Captain America , Black Widow , Thor , Hulk , Daredevil , Doctor Strange , Black Panther , Captain Marvel , and Deadpool , as well as popular superhero teams such as the Avengers , X-Men , Fantastic Four , and Guardians of
23095-623: Was Kirby's artwork with its tension and psychedelia that made it perfect for the times—or was it Lee's bravado and melodrama, which was somehow insecure and brash at the same time? In addition to Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, Marvel began publishing further superhero titles featuring such heroes and antiheroes as the Hulk , Thor , Ant-Man , Iron Man , the X-Men , Daredevil , the Inhumans , Black Panther , Doctor Strange , Captain Marvel and
23250-541: Was announced that Marvel was killing off Peter Parker and that his body would be taken over by Doctor Octopus it was criticized universally by fans of the previous series. However, as the series progressed, some critics were won over by the fresh approach and its smart writing. The Superior Spider-Man storyline is adapted into the second season of Spider-Man , with the character voiced by Robbie Daymond (Superior Spider-Man's body) and Scott Menville (Otto Octavius' inner thought monologues). In this continuity, Octavius
23405-485: Was being restored, Otto infiltrated New U's lab and transferred his consciousness into his renewed body and quickly destroyed a copy of Peter Parker's consciousness, created as a side effect of Peter inhabiting Otto's body as it died, before reclaiming his title as Dr. Octopus and making a pact with The Jackal (who was secretly Ben Reilly, a clone of Peter Parker having initially been a hero, but due to being killed and resurrected countless times by Miles Warren, his creator and
23560-487: Was helmed by soon-to-become editor-in-chief Joe Quesada ; it featured tough, gritty stories showcasing such characters as the Daredevil , the Inhumans , and Black Panther . With the new millennium, Marvel Comics emerged from bankruptcy and again began diversifying its offerings. X-Force #116 X-Force #119 (October 2001) was the first Marvel Comics title since The Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 in 1971 to not have
23715-451: Was on Earth-616 all this time thanks to the fragment of the Web of Life and Destiny that he holds that enables him to travel to different dimensions. Upon knocking down Superior Spider-Man, Spider-Man of Earth-44145 reveals that he's going to kill everyone that he cares about as part of his revenge on Superior Spider-Man for insulting him. Rescue crews work to save those caught in the explosion. As Max Modell and Emma Hernandez are loaded onto
23870-401: Was pregnant and working as a private investigator. In October 2020, Spider-Woman #5, the fifth issue of Volume 7, being written by Karla Pacheco, marked the 100th issue of the title and Marvel celebrated the occasion with a special giant-sized issue. Jessica Drew is the original Spider-Woman who left the role in the early 1980s and returned to her mantle by the late 2000s. Julia Carpenter is
24025-430: Was written by Dan Slott , with artwork by Ryan Stegman , Humberto Ramos , and Giuseppe Camuncoli , continuing from the events of the 2012 storyline " Dying Wish ", in which Peter Parker is killed off and replaced with his nemesis Otto Octavius , who swapped consciousnesses with Parker and left him to die in his decaying body to ensure his own survival. However, Octavius becomes inspired by Parker's dying wish to have
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