WEB Of Spider-Man #1

Web of Spider-Man (1985)

by Louise Simonson

"Til Death Do Us Part!" Story by Louise Simonson. Art by Greg LaRocque and Jim Mooney. Painted cover by Charles Vess. The alien symbiote (aka black costume) ambushes Peter Parker while he is getting dressed. Now Spider-Man must battle the black costume and the new Vulturions on his way to the Baxter Building! Meanwhile, Aunt May laments Peter's decision to drop out of graduate school. ( The Web of Spiderman series essentially replaced the Marvel Team-Up title as Marvel's third regular series featuring Spider-Man.) 32 pages Cover price $0.65.

Genres: Spider Man, Comics, Marvel, Comic Book

Comic

Published January 1, 1985

About the author

Louise Simonson (born Mary Louise Alexander and formerly credited as Louise Jones, when married to artist Jeff Jones) is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as Power Pack, X-Factor, New Mutants, Superman, and Steel. She is sometimes referred to by the nickname "Weezie".

Since 1980 she is married to comic book writer and artist Walter Simonson

Reviews

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first issue in a new series (that apparently replaced Marvel Team-Up)!

Honestly, were these Vulture wannabes truly necessary? Sure, that ONE helped Spidey right at the end but I feel like they were mostly included so there'd be a ‘cool’ fight.

Mainly, this issue concluded the symbiote story line that had been going on within the Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man series.

Right at the end, it showed the symbiote was destroyed (evaporated?) however, we know that it eventually comes back and becomes Venom!
I can’t wait for when THAT happens!

[William Vaudin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another one with a moment that every Spider-Man fan will recognise, mixed in with a load of other stuff you won’t recognise. We have the part where Peter uses church bells to get rid of the symbiont on his body, but we also have a gang of criminals with a colourful version of the Vulture suit.

Unlike in all the other versions, where this moment is the end of the black suit arc, here, it’s the end of part 2, after that plotline was already finished. So, this story's existence is ultimately puzzling, as we already had an ending to the Black Suit arc, so why did we need it again? The only reason I can think of is that the ending of the last arc was very anticlimactic, so they decided to have a story where the symbiote comes back and reattaches itself to Peter for all but twelve pages so that they could have a more epic finish to the saga.

You can see why every adaptation of this arc cuts out the Fantastic Four stuff and makes this the moment where Peter is free of the symbiote. So overall, this one wasn’t bad by any means; it just felt redundant.

[itchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

That's two sets of villains right of the bat.

[Katherine (Kat) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 Stars
"'Till Death Do Us Part."

[Jakob Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

'In a very short while Peter Parker will awaken and wonder... why did it save him? It's a question that will haunt him for the rest of his life!'

What an ending! Chills

[Richard Kenneth Conde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Web of Spider-Man #1

0.65 USD @ April 1985

"'Til Death Do Us Part"

Writer: Louise Simonson
Illustrator: Greg LaRocque
Inker: Jim Mooney
Colorist: George Roussos
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editor: Danny Fingeroth

Synopsis: Peter Parker is about to leave his Manhattan apartment and grabbed his red and blue costume in the closet. Unknown to him, his black costume disguised itself as the red and blue costume. At the roof time, his black costume has turned to show itself. Elsewhere, a mugging occurred and the group of men went to a warehouse and changed into Vulture costumes. Meanwhile, Spider-Man found out it's the black costume, and that his web shooters are malfunctioning, and when they do, it doesn't go to the direction he wanted. And he can't even swing properly as he kept crashing into buildings. Above, the Vultures see Spider-Man, and one of them swooped and grabbed him. In the air, Spider-Man is still battling his black spider suit. And at the same time it battled both Parker and the Vulture. Seeing a church coming their way with an opening to the church bell, Spider-Man maneuvered the Vulture to land in the church bell area. And the damning noise was so intense that it was going to kill them both. Spider-Man, the hero that he is, threw the Vulture outside to save himself, as he stayed to get the costume off him. The loud noise placed Peter into subconscious and is about to kill him. The symbiote removed itself from Peter Parker, but also pulled him downstairs to safety, saving his life. Peter will never know why the symbiote saved his life.

Comments: This is one of the best covers I have ever come across as a kid back then. And it still resonates with me. The story... not so much. The villains are jabronis. The symbiote wasn't presented clearly, it's as if Simonson had a story concept, but got lost along the way. What came across is basically, Spider-Man versus his costume. And it came across rather flat and uninspired. The generic criminal group of Vultures could have been done away with and it wouldn't matter to the story as well. LaRocque's Spider-Man is fantastic. Action sequences were well done, it's like joining in on the action. The only drawback is his background illustration is lacking, where half of the panels is almost a complete blank background. He could've painted a better background of NYC instead of being blank.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Til Death Do Us Part!

[Austin Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5