Before everything went tits up with the Clone Saga and all that, Marvel were already trying a bunch of new gimmicks to try and save the flagging Spider-Man sales. One of those gimmicks was a particularly massive change in the character's status quo, as your friendly neighbourhood webhead was when the clumsy Peter Parker was involved in yet another lab accident - what are the chances, eh - and once again, instead of suffering some horrible injuries or dying, he was granted another set of superpowers. Only this time it had nothing to do with the proportional strength and agility of a spider, oh no; the accident in question saw him chosen by an ancient being called the Uni-Power to wield the power cosmic, at which point he stopped being Spider-Man and became Captain Universe! When we say he stopped being Spidey, by the way, we really mean it. He got a shiny, star-covered new costume, found himself virtually indestructible, able to fly, shoot cosmic energy blasts, and possess unimaginable strength, and was tasked with dealing with some villains more befitting a hero wielding such power; he chucked the Hulk into space once, and even managed to take down Magneto. In the end it turned out he was supposed to take on the powers and consciousness of Captain Universe, in order to stop something called the Tri-Sentinel taking over the world, but Peter rose to the challenge as he always does. It was unlike anything in any Spider-Man comic before or since, but it explored the character's foibles and quirks from a new, interesting angle. With art by Mark Bagley and Todd Mcfarlane, no less, if that sweetens the pot any.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
