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Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide
An updated edition of a definitive guide examines the life of Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man, profiling his origin, friends and family, enemies, and various incarnations from the time of his creation to the present.
184 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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564 people want to read
About the author
Tom DeFalco
2,479 books108 followersTom DeFalco is an American comics writer and editor, well-known for his association with Marvel Comics and Spider-Man.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 10, 2012
This compendium includes heroes, villains, and civilians from the Spider-Man comics. It covers Spidey’s comics from 1963 (his first appearance) to 2000, and features many illustrations and panels from the comics. The text details the bios and origins of the characters, as well as memorable events in the web-slinger’s history.
The book isn’t well-organized; it’s not always clear what order it follows. The pages aren’t laid out well either; there are blocks of text and captions scattered all over, and it’s difficult to tell in which order you’re supposed to read them.
One thing that I knew about Marvel comics, which this book reinforced, is that no story is final; everything’s open to revision. Characters turn out to be other than they claim, people “die” and return to life; and shocking events are later revealed to be illusions or hoaxes. It’s clear from this book that the writers of Spider-Man created increasingly outlandish stories over the years in an attempt to retain readers.
I read this because Spider-Man is my favorite superhero. Most of my Spider-Man knowledge comes from the 1990s cartoon, so I was unfamiliar with several characters and events in this book. It’s worth a read for Spider-Man fans. I also highly recommend Essential Spider-Man (my review).
The book isn’t well-organized; it’s not always clear what order it follows. The pages aren’t laid out well either; there are blocks of text and captions scattered all over, and it’s difficult to tell in which order you’re supposed to read them.
One thing that I knew about Marvel comics, which this book reinforced, is that no story is final; everything’s open to revision. Characters turn out to be other than they claim, people “die” and return to life; and shocking events are later revealed to be illusions or hoaxes. It’s clear from this book that the writers of Spider-Man created increasingly outlandish stories over the years in an attempt to retain readers.
I read this because Spider-Man is my favorite superhero. Most of my Spider-Man knowledge comes from the 1990s cartoon, so I was unfamiliar with several characters and events in this book. It’s worth a read for Spider-Man fans. I also highly recommend Essential Spider-Man (my review).
November 11, 2024
(Read as a kid, review from 2024)
I read this one right after reading its X-Men equivalnet. I owned the X-Men one so I read that one more regularly. This was still a solid overview of Spidey's cast of characters and major storylines pre 2000. So defintely worth reading if you're a Marvel fan, particularly Spider-Man.
I read this one right after reading its X-Men equivalnet. I owned the X-Men one so I read that one more regularly. This was still a solid overview of Spidey's cast of characters and major storylines pre 2000. So defintely worth reading if you're a Marvel fan, particularly Spider-Man.
October 12, 2016
love it tells you everything you need to know about your freindly neighborhood wall crawler.
August 20, 2024
Tom DeFalco is one of the ultimate Spider-Man authors. And really, a John Romita Sr. Cover. This is the Spider-Man Encyclopedia I’ve been looking for.
The introduction by Stan Lee brings a voice that will sadly never be heard again. A voice that sounds as familiar to me as my own. A friendly, silly, funny voice that enjoyed comics as much as you did. I know he has his detractors but from my meeting with him he was one hero who did not disappoint. He CARED what you thought. It was amazing. I’m grateful I got to meet him.
The biographies presented tell interesting information even I didn’t know about Spider-Man’s cast of characters.
I’m not really sure how to review an encyclopedia. It’s fun to read. The art is pretty good (though I think “Peter’s Girlfriends” got the short stick).
He may appear to be a grouchy, self-centered old skinflint on the outside, but peel away his protective layers and you will discover that the real J. Jonah Jameson is even worse!
One of the pleasures of reading these types of encyclopedias is that when you get the ‘whole’ story of a character, you get additional information from comic books you may have never read. Not as good as reading the original, but still a nice reward for reading the character’s entry.
”With this ring, I thee.. ..WEB?
Doctor Octopus marrying Aunt May. Good times.
And I did not know that there was a female and kid Octopi.
“Spider-Man in the ‘70s” points out all the amazing creators that graced Spider-Man in those years and those were the years I was reading the book and they were every bit as wonderful as they say. Sure, there’s some nostalgia in there, but it was also an amazing amount of good writing and good art.
I’m pretty unfamiliar with all of the Spider-Women. Not deliberately but they just came and went quickly before I ever got a chance to read any of them. And then there were ssoooo many of them! I do have a digest-sized book of “Arachne” (?) who was like a hispanic spider-woman, but that looked like it was just a one-shot cause I never saw her again. I’d love to know if they were any good! (And I LIKED the Madame Web movie!)
How is it that comic book characters are the only people capable of recovering after a broken spine?
Honestly, the Death of Aunt May section almost made me cry! I wasn’t reading comics when this happened (though I understand they’ve since reversed it all!).
Now we get to the Clone Saga, Scarlet Spider and Kaine. This was where I stopped reading Spider-Man. They had screwed over the character so badly at this point that I couldn’t take it any more.
But I differ from most fan’s in that what I hated was the ‘reset button’ that put everything back the way it was. Whereas Ben Reilly, the ACTUAL Spider-Man was the most refreshing and smartest reboot ever seen in comics! And then they just threw it all away….
Then we have Judas Traveller and Scrier two absurd characters that never made any sense and was the result of the Clone Saga being stretched the breaking point. Thankfully I believe they have both been forgotten.
The Relaunch pages tell the stories of how Marvel had to reboot Spider-Man after they chickened out of the brilliant way to keep him a brand-new character (as Ben Reilly). This was what made me stop reading Spider-Man. That and the ‘super-model’ wife. And the ‘hoax’ of Aunt May’s death. Jeesh.
SPIDER-GIRL! is considered an alternate time line but truly, it reads like ‘What if all the Clone Saga BS didn’t happen and Spider-Man just aged pretty normally?’. It seems far more like the REAL story of Spider-Man than anything that happened to Peter Parker in the other books! I came to Spider-Girl later and had a devil of a time tracking down all these books. But they are wonderful! They were all reprinted in digest size which is fine, but they were recently reprinted full-size.
Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz create Spider-Girl and it’s a fantastic breath of fresh air. If you’re like me and love the ‘classic’ Spider-Man these are really fun books to read.
Ending with a nice afterword by Tom DeFalco, like Stan Lee before him, he gives the impression that is just simply a fan who got lucky. I love that.
This is probably the only Spider-Man guide that reflects my Spider-Man and I’m perfectly okay that others will have their own favorites. But I’m glad I have this one.
Five stars and a definite keeper. Right beside my Clone Wars reprints. I’ll have to get to them someday!
The introduction by Stan Lee brings a voice that will sadly never be heard again. A voice that sounds as familiar to me as my own. A friendly, silly, funny voice that enjoyed comics as much as you did. I know he has his detractors but from my meeting with him he was one hero who did not disappoint. He CARED what you thought. It was amazing. I’m grateful I got to meet him.
The biographies presented tell interesting information even I didn’t know about Spider-Man’s cast of characters.
I’m not really sure how to review an encyclopedia. It’s fun to read. The art is pretty good (though I think “Peter’s Girlfriends” got the short stick).
He may appear to be a grouchy, self-centered old skinflint on the outside, but peel away his protective layers and you will discover that the real J. Jonah Jameson is even worse!
One of the pleasures of reading these types of encyclopedias is that when you get the ‘whole’ story of a character, you get additional information from comic books you may have never read. Not as good as reading the original, but still a nice reward for reading the character’s entry.
”With this ring, I thee.. ..WEB?
Doctor Octopus marrying Aunt May. Good times.
And I did not know that there was a female and kid Octopi.
“Spider-Man in the ‘70s” points out all the amazing creators that graced Spider-Man in those years and those were the years I was reading the book and they were every bit as wonderful as they say. Sure, there’s some nostalgia in there, but it was also an amazing amount of good writing and good art.
I’m pretty unfamiliar with all of the Spider-Women. Not deliberately but they just came and went quickly before I ever got a chance to read any of them. And then there were ssoooo many of them! I do have a digest-sized book of “Arachne” (?) who was like a hispanic spider-woman, but that looked like it was just a one-shot cause I never saw her again. I’d love to know if they were any good! (And I LIKED the Madame Web movie!)
How is it that comic book characters are the only people capable of recovering after a broken spine?
Honestly, the Death of Aunt May section almost made me cry! I wasn’t reading comics when this happened (though I understand they’ve since reversed it all!).
Now we get to the Clone Saga, Scarlet Spider and Kaine. This was where I stopped reading Spider-Man. They had screwed over the character so badly at this point that I couldn’t take it any more.
But I differ from most fan’s in that what I hated was the ‘reset button’ that put everything back the way it was. Whereas Ben Reilly, the ACTUAL Spider-Man was the most refreshing and smartest reboot ever seen in comics! And then they just threw it all away….
Then we have Judas Traveller and Scrier two absurd characters that never made any sense and was the result of the Clone Saga being stretched the breaking point. Thankfully I believe they have both been forgotten.
The Relaunch pages tell the stories of how Marvel had to reboot Spider-Man after they chickened out of the brilliant way to keep him a brand-new character (as Ben Reilly). This was what made me stop reading Spider-Man. That and the ‘super-model’ wife. And the ‘hoax’ of Aunt May’s death. Jeesh.
SPIDER-GIRL! is considered an alternate time line but truly, it reads like ‘What if all the Clone Saga BS didn’t happen and Spider-Man just aged pretty normally?’. It seems far more like the REAL story of Spider-Man than anything that happened to Peter Parker in the other books! I came to Spider-Girl later and had a devil of a time tracking down all these books. But they are wonderful! They were all reprinted in digest size which is fine, but they were recently reprinted full-size.
Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz create Spider-Girl and it’s a fantastic breath of fresh air. If you’re like me and love the ‘classic’ Spider-Man these are really fun books to read.
Ending with a nice afterword by Tom DeFalco, like Stan Lee before him, he gives the impression that is just simply a fan who got lucky. I love that.
This is probably the only Spider-Man guide that reflects my Spider-Man and I’m perfectly okay that others will have their own favorites. But I’m glad I have this one.
Five stars and a definite keeper. Right beside my Clone Wars reprints. I’ll have to get to them someday!
August 29, 2018
your friendly neighborhood spiderman! great encyclopedia of peter parker's entire life, what he's done while he's around, his enemies, relationships and so many others. i myself have never read any of the spider-man comics, yet am still completely able to understand whats happened in the timeline. spiderman's enemies, the mystery of his parents, mary jane and so much more. it's great to be able to flip to any page and be entertained and attracted for long amounts of time. would recommend to any fan of the marvel series who isn't too familiar with spidey!
January 6, 2019
Great reference for Spider Man. I introduced my kids to the Spider-Man universe with this book.
A little dated just by necessity, this came out before the Miles Morales storylines, or Spider-Gwen, expansion of Venom, or the mainstreaming of the spider-verse stuff. I’d like to find an update for my youngest daughter, who is SUPER into Spider-Man.
A little dated just by necessity, this came out before the Miles Morales storylines, or Spider-Gwen, expansion of Venom, or the mainstreaming of the spider-verse stuff. I’d like to find an update for my youngest daughter, who is SUPER into Spider-Man.
Read
December 13, 2020Great book! The very first Spider-Man DK book that I have had since I was in Elementary School. It is a must-have for all Marvel fans around the world.
January 22, 2021
What I can add to what other reviewers have already mentioned except the title upholds it's promise to give you all the information available on Spiderman in this oversized hardcover book.
July 25, 2021
A great history of Spider-Man and his supporting cast up to 2000. A perfect read for any webhead and comic fan.
October 25, 2023
Great reference book for all things Spiderman 🕷
October 28, 2024
Organised a bit oddly, but a fun nostalgic run-through and a neat time capsule of where the character was in the early aughts.
February 12, 2025
Nothing new here, but still very interesting to read and wonder those beautiful pictures.
August 23, 2019
The book was definitely great.
September 10, 2016
Major nostalgia from when I read this as a kid. Good guide if you want to learn about Spider-Man history in general (up to about the turn of the millennium). Nice artwork too.
April 29, 2008
well for one if you like spiderman like i do its a tight book and everything you know and then extras is in that book. Im a spiderman fan and the stuff that i learned in that book was cool like. I finnaly found out what happened to peters parents when he was a boy they died in a plane crash so from there his aunt may and uncle ben took him from there. Also i found out that he has fought the hulk who is also tight the juggernaunt. I also found out who is going to be in the spider-man 4 its going to be doctor conores as playing as the lizard and red carnage is going to be in there. Carnage is a evil exact type of spider-man exept red and i found out that mary jane is going to be pregnant but the baby dies though during birth aunt may will die soon also theres alot about that tight book go check it out if you a true fan alright peace aka spider-man
July 10, 2019
This is a great resource for all things Spider-man. The book is well put together and manages to be comprehensive and informative without information overload.
He discuss this more in a special Spidey themed episode of the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/ep...
He discuss this more in a special Spidey themed episode of the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/ep...
December 2, 2018
This guide is more than 15 years old.
An interesting mix of pre 2000 Spider-Man facts, storylines, villains and friends.
A good guide to dip into.
I have a couple of issues. The layout wasn't great, and the panels were too small to read clearly.
An interesting mix of pre 2000 Spider-Man facts, storylines, villains and friends.
A good guide to dip into.
I have a couple of issues. The layout wasn't great, and the panels were too small to read clearly.
November 1, 2007
Spidey fans, this is what you have been waiting for. THE ULTIMATE GUIDE. Every character, every story, there powers and there costumes. Be prepared for some knowledge... on SPIDER-MAN!!!
July 25, 2008
Worth every penny...It's exhaustive and it covers all aspects of Spidey lore, from the original version to the modern updated ones. A must for every Spiderman fan
July 28, 2008
well worth whatever i originally spent on it plus...has devored countless hours entertaining my son in boring waiting rooms, train rides, etc.
April 10, 2010
5,059 stars!
Read
March 7, 2011cool
August 7, 2011
boring, exciting, interesting, weird, that kind of book.
July 11, 2013
The greatest book ever written about Spider-Man
February 19, 2014
Good coffee-table book for fans of the web-slinger.
May 1, 2019
I miss spider man
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews