3. If This Be My Destiny...!
Marvel ComicsThe story that really cemented the Spider-Man ethos that has driven the friendly neighbourhood wall crawler for all this time came a lot earlier than either the Sensational title or Unscheduled Stop, however. Arguably both of those stories drew heavily on this, which is inarguably the highlight of the Lee/Ditko collaboration that made up the majority of the character's early adventures. The three-part Master Planner story, otherwise known as If This Be My Destiny, is the arc that made Spider-Man the hero he is today. Before all that though, known that we also got introduced to two vital parts of Peter Parker's supporting cast in the first part: Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn make their first appearances as classmates of Spidey, who just started college, and anybody who's seen...basically any other media involving Spider-Man know that both of them play pretty big parts in some of his biggest stories. Right now, however, we're occupied with involves Aunt May succumbing to a mysterious and lethal virus. Around the same time a new villain called the Master Planner is stealing experimental technologies, one of which could save May's life... We don't want to spoil anything - least of all the identity of the Master Planner, or just what it is that makes the climactic sequence in this story one of the most celebrated in Spider-Man's history, if not in the history of comics as a whole - but needless to say, this is one of the most dramatic and powerful stories in the character's back catalogue. And one of the most essential.
Where to read it: If you liked the first Essential Spider-Man collection, you'll love the second one, which includes this arc in its entirety