Here is a look at the seven best Spider-Man comic book stories from the 1980s.
7) “The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man”
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Not all Spider-Man stories need to be massive event comics. In fact, one of the best Spider-Man stories of all time was a single issue drama story about Spider-Man meeting his number one fan. This fan was a young boy who had collected news clippings about Spider-Man’s career and looked up to him, believing he was a great hero no matter what J. Jonah Jameson tried to make people believe.
In Amazing Spider-Man #248 (1984), Spider-Man then shared stories with the child and answered any question he had. In the end, Spider-Man even unmasked to reveal he was Peter Parker, who the boy recognized the name of from the photos in the Daily Bugle. However, what makes this such an all-time great was after Spider-Man left, the story revealed this was at a cancer center and the boy was dying. It was heart-wrenching and devastating, and showed how great Spider-Man really is.
6) Spider-Man Versus Wolverine
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There are few heroes as different as Spider-Man and Wolverine, but that is also what makes Logan one of Spider-Man’s greatest allies. In Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1 (1987), the title of the comic reveals what this was all about. However, there was more in this comic than a superhero throwdown because this had huge ramifications for Spider-Man for years to come. J. Jonah Jameson sent Ned Leeds and Peter Parker to Germany to follow up on a story and Wolverine happened to be there at the same time.
This story saw several things happen. The Foreigner sent some men to kill Ned Leeds, and they succeeded at this, sending shockwaves through Spider-Man’s world. However, when an assassin named Charlemagne attacked Spider-Man from behind on purpose, knowing he would strike her, it was death by suicide. However, it haunted Spider-Man’s life for a long time and this was where Wolverine began to grow closer to him, knowing the inner pain taking a life had on him.
5) “Burn, Spider, Burn”
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“Burn, Spider, Burn” was a two-part story from Amazing Spider–Man #269-270 (1985) that saw Firelord return to Earth, and seeking a restaurant to eat at. However, having no social skills, and in a society that had begun to fear mutants, people attacked him and when he defended himself, Spider-Man showed up and attacked him, believing him to be a villain. This led to a monstrous fight.
Spider-Man and Firelord battled across New York City, and when Spider-Man considered running from the overpowered former Herald of Galactus, he remembered his mission to save everyone he could and returned with more energy than before. He then single-handedly beat Firelord into unconsciousness before the Avengers arrived to pull him off and stop the beating. It was one of Spider-Man’s most dominant wins in Marvel Comics.
4) “The Tombstone Saga”
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Tombstone isn’t just another mafia boss in Spider-Man comics. “The Tombstone Saga” made him much more than that, gave him a great connection to Robbie Robertson, and turned him into one of the most interesting bad guys in Spider-Man comics. Tombstone is Lonnie Lincoln, and while he isn’t quite on Kingpin’s level, he might be the most powerful and intimidating crime boss after Wilson Fisk. It is almost hard to believe he didn’t even exist until 1988.
This was spread across several comic books and it was more than just the original origin story of Tombstone, including what his past with Robbie Robertson looked like and why their relationship is so uneasy. Honestly, Robbie Robertson has never been better in any comic book story, and while Spider-Man was great here dealing with Tombstone, it was Robbie’s story that really makes this stand out as one of the best of the 80s.
3) “Venom”
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There is an argument that the first “Venom” storyline was all flash and little substance. However, that doesn’t take into account how important this storyline was and how great of an impression Venom left when he finally appeared in all his glory for the first time. Spider-Man had the black costume since returning from the Secret Wars storyline and then he ditched it when he learned it was an alien.
Feeling rejected, the symbiote wanted revenge and found Eddie Brock, a former reporter who lost his job when the Sin-Eater manipulated him and Spider-Man proved the truth. Both men hated Spider-Man and that made them the perfect host and symbiote. When Venom saved Eddie before the latter could die by suicide, they set their sights on Spider-Man, and one of his most iconic villains was introduced to the world.
2) “The Death of Jean DeWolff”
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“The Death of Jean DeWolff” was a storyline that played out in The Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110 in 1985. For the setup, Jean DeWolff was a police captain who was one of the only officers who trusted and worked with Spider-Man. However, when she was found murdered, Spider-Man set out to find out who did it and bring the person to justice by any means neccesary.
This was the storyline that first introduced Sin-Eater, but that wasn’t as important as the emotional beats as Spider-Man tried to deal with yet another person close to him dying in a horrific manner that he couldn’t save. Spider-Man has always been a comic book series about a man who knows he can’t save everyone, but will never stop trying. Knowing he had no possible way to stop this was was heartbreaking and his mission to bring down Sin-Eater was an emotional story from start to finish.
1) Kraven’s Last Hunt
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Kraven’s Last Hunt remains one of the best Spider-Man stories ever told, and for good reason. Kraven was never a normal villain, and he didn’t care about robbing banks or being a crime lord. He only cared about being the world’s best big-game hunter, and while he had killed everything he hunted, the one prize that kept getting away was Spider-Man. That all ended in this storyline.
This took place in Web of Spider-Man #31-32, Amazing Spider-Man #293-294, and Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132 in 1987, and Kraven finally won when he gunned down Spider-Man. He then buried Spider-Man and replaced him to prove he could be a better hero than even Peter Parker. However, the biggest twist was that he never killed Spider-Man and only used a tranquilizer to knock him out. When Spider-Man returned, Kraven admitted he finally achieved his ultimate goal and then he took his own life, knowing he had nothing left to do.
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