Spider-Man books come and go all the time, but one we're particularly sad to see draw to a close is Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man - or rather, Chip Zdarsky's stint on the book.
From issue 1 to... 310 (praise be to Marvel's numbering), Zdarsky cut to the very core of Peter Parker and told a genuinely brilliant story packed with plenty of humour, charm, and drama. Joining him were superstar artists Adam Kubert, Chris Bachalo, and Joe Quinnones, but Zdarsky himself handled art duties for his final issue, which ended up being the perfect conclusion to the run.
Channelling the spirit of Lee and Ditko's original Spider-Man run, Zdarsky emphasised the duality of Peter Parker's identity, his legacy, and gave fans just about the best portrayal of J. Jonah Jameson yet.
Needless to say, not only is Spectacular Spider-Man a great comic, it's 2018's most superior Spidey story.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
