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

9. Spider-Man No More! (Found In Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection Vol. 3)

Spider-Man No More
Marvel Comics

1967's Spider-Man No More! has already had its day on the big screen, with Sam Raimi's second Spidey film having replicated John Romita Sr.'s famous panel from the book, so it stands to reason that fans are already familiar with the comic without having actually read it.

There's a reason for that though; Spider-Man No More! may just be the high point of Lee and Romita's stint on Spider-Man, with its tale of a worn down Peter walking away from his web-sling responsibilities typifying the House of Ideas' then revolutionary commitment to make vulnerability a key tenet of their storytelling. There wasn't a story quite like it when it first released, and when all's said and done, you'd struggle to find a superhero story more influential than it.

Marvel's sixties books are taylor-made for new readers, meaning that, if you are looking for a crash-course on Spidey's history, it's the perfect place to start. Add on the fact that Lee, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby et al. where crafting amazing stories in and of themselves, and you have as good a reason as any to check out the publisher's most important years in the industry.

Marvel have made a decent effort of collecting these earlier texts in trade paperbacks, so if it sounds like your cup of tea, they're only a quick call to your comic book store away from being yours.

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Content Producer/Presenter

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.