Top 5 Spider-man Stories

Tell me what you guys think:

Nice list

In no particular order:

• The Other
• Kraven's Last Hunt
• Death Of Jean DeWolfe
• Death Of Gwen Stacy
• Spider-Island

Hmmmmm didn't realize how morbid most of those choices were until I saw them written down.

First of All Great vid!

Well i have a weird taste in spiderman and my favorite stories are:

1. MARVEL KNIGHTS
2. THE OTHER
3. Back In Black
4. Ultimate Spiderman/Ultimate Fallout (everything until his death haven't read the Miles issues yet )
5. If This Be My Destiny…

The Classics are nice but i can't really fell in love with them...

Very nice choices. Mine would be:

5. Big Time Vol 1 (Peter gets a real job and gets to use his intellect!!! Also lost his spider sense.)

4. Alien Costume (ASM 252-259)

3. Spider Island (Best modern Spidey Story [thus far] by Slott & crew)

2. Cosmic Spider-Man: Seeing Peter with Greater Power & Greater Responsibility.

1. Death of Gwen Stacy & Norman Osborn (I agree with your views but despite the retcon the 2nd part was just as Iconic).

5. The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man (AMS #248) - An obvious tear-jerker story, but a good one none-the-less. A must read for any Spider-Man fan.

4. Kraven's Last Hunt (AMS #293-294, SSM #131-132, WoSM #31-32) - Good, creepy dark psychological story-line, that legitimately catapults Kraven from a cheesy B-list villain, up to a genuine A-lister.

3. Origin of the Hobgoblin (AMS #238-239, 244-245, 249-251) - Might be cheating, as this is technically three stories (Shadow of Evils Past, The Search for the Green Goblin Formula, & Secrets, Confessions & Endings). The three flow in with each other well, and can be found collected together in the Origin of the Hobgoblin TPB. This was Roger Stern's great super-villain mystery story-arc. Unfortunately he was fired from Marvel due to creative differences before he could finish it. Still a great read regardless.

2. Venom (AMS #300, 315-316) - Again, might be cheating as this is really two related stories (Venom & Return of Venom). These are the original two Eddie Brock/Venom stories, complete with beautiful artwork by Todd McFarlane. A short but fun Spider-Man vs Venom story, that every Spider-Man and Venom fan should read.

1. The Night Gwen Stacy Died (AMS #121-122) - The most iconic Spider-Man story ever written (besides maybe the origin story), and one of the most iconic comic book storylines period. Admittedly parts of it (particularly the dialog) comes across a little cheesy by today's standards. But when compared to what was out at the time it was a very dark story-arc. One that not only changed Spider-Man, but the comic industry as a whole.

1. The Death of Gwen Stacy - This is the single most meaningful Spiderman story ever. It humanized the wallcrawler in a way I'd never dreamed, giving justification to every bit of the doubt and fear that Parker had expressed over the years. Not just that Gwen dies, but how it happens with Spiderman forced to question and blame himself, and again enhanced by the fact that the writers allowed it to stand rather than bring Gwen back 6 issues later, this is a powerful moment in Spider-history.

2. The Six Arms Saga - This boasts the first appearance of Morbius, but that is not what madet his arc stand out to me. Rather, this was a point when Spiderman's doubts and fears got the better of him. After the death of Captain Stacy, Gwen blames Spiderman for the loss of her father and Spiderman finds that he blames himself too. Then Parker comes to a drastic conclusion that: he cannot be both Peter Parker and Spiderman. Parker decides that the risk to those close to him is too great, and rather than responding as he typically does in these moments of self-doubt, pulling away from his friends and digging himself deeper into his role as Spiderman, this time Parker decides that there isn't a way for him to simply stop being Peter Parker, so the only solution is to eliminate Spiderman. Parker brews up an antidote designed to to strip himself permanently of his Spider powers, trying to kill off the persona of Spiderman forever. The antidote backfires, however, and instead of removing his powers, it amplifies them, causing him to grow four additional arms and making it impossible for him to try and be Peter Parker. While the arc resolved quickly and Parker was able to revert to normal, this was a story that impressed upon me heavily that the real person was Peter Parker and Spiderman was merely a costume, and while Parker could quit being Spiderman, Spiderman could never quit being Parker.

3. Carnage. The original arc (Amazing Spiderman 361-363) spawning Carnage did one of the greatest jobs laying the foundation for the Venom symbiote of any arc in Spider-history. The Venom Symbiote had been unique among symbiotes because of it's desire to to have a mutual relationship with it's host, rather than strictly wishing to dominate. The origin of Venom seems to spawn out, not as an evil alien attempting to control Spiderman, but rather because Spiderman discovers the symbiote is attempting to permanently bond to him. (Between Parker and the Symbiote, it's not a matter of an alien trying to take him over. Rather, the symbiote wishes to hold a partnership, but wants it to be forceably permanent, and Parker fears the bond, almost like a guy breaking up from his girlfriend because she's too clingy and insistant about marriage. In that light, it is no wonder that the Symbiote feels rejected and hostile.) The symbiote even made a final good-will offering of carrying Spiderman away from the church bell before being bonded to Brock at the end of the Venom origin, so the ongoing saga of Venom just being evil rubbed me wrong, when it was always intended for the symbiote rather to be jealous and rejected but not outright bad. With the birth of Carnage, Venom was granted his opportunity to step into the light and briefly play the hero, working alongside Spiderman and putting aside their differences for the greater good. Carnage demonstrates the true evil and insanity, which puts Venom into perspective as simply mistreated and rejected. Using Carnage as a plot point, Michelinie was able to write a story that took Venom from the ranks of 'generic Spiderman villain' and turned him into one of the most interesting, enduring characters in the Marvel history. This story is great, not for Carnage, but for the development of Venom it provides and the growth it brings not only the character but the entire universe in terms of the symbiotes.

4. Behind the Mustache - The essential backstory to J. Jonah Jameson. This gives the character depth and purpose, explaining how his abuse at the hands of his war-hero father caused him to become disillusioned with "heroes" and believe that no one could be good all the time. Triple-J admits that his resentment of Spiderman stems from an inability to catch Spiderman doing wrong, and from a self-doubt imposed that with Spiderman doing good without compensation, Jameson is forced to look at himself as a less-than-noble figure. If a character is going to be around for over a thousand issues, it's nice for them to have enough of an origin that their actions make sense.

5. Road to Civil War/Civil War - Until it was reconned away in one of the most vicious butchering of a title I've ever seen, the Civil War arc of Spiderman was incredibly compelling. Parker's growing friendship with Stark, coupled with an opportunity to make a larger difference for a cause he believes in, prompts Spiderman to unmask publicly. Spiderman becomes the posterboy for registration, going against everything he'd ever thought, but exposed to large amounts of peer pressure from both sides of the argument, Parker eventually finds himself disillusioned with Stark, only to learn that some decisions once made can never be undone. [Unless you sell your unborn child to the devil in the most horrible, awful retcon attempt ever.]

I really liked New ways to Die. I also Liked the last time Spider Man fought Kraven's family and donned the Black Suit.

As for old Arcs I loved the Black suit days, the fights with HobGoblin and anytime he would be near death facing venom.