10 Essential Storylines To Read If You're Just Getting Into Spider-Man

The first port of call for True Believers everywhere.

By Ewan Paterson /

Marvel Comics

Spider-Man is, to this day, Marvel's most popular and iconic comic book character. With films, TV shows, games and more to his name, everyone's favourite web-head has worked up a fame comparable only to Batman and Superman, weaving an intricate history that has plenty to say both on the screen and off.

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Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962, Spider-Man was Amazing Fantasy's biggest success and would later become Marvel's most storied character. Lee, Ditko and later John Romita Sr. were instrumental in forming this perception and in turn laying the groundwork that would propel the wall-crawler to new literary heights in the decades following. As a consequence, the character's resulting bibliography is as expansive as it is absorbing and, while it can look a tad intimidating on the surface, there's always a route to take if you're reading Spidey for the first time, or are just confused as to where on Earth you're meant to start.

Spidey's one of the world's most beloved heroes, and while getting into any aspect of the medium can look like a challenge, we can all do our little bit to make things less difficult than they have to be.

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With dozens of story-arcs, events, tie-ins and more, the web-slinger's world can be a tricky one to get around. Here are the reads that'll make things a little easier.