10 Greatest Spider-Man Writers Not Named Stan Lee Or Steve Ditko
8. Paul Jenkins
This longtime British comic book writer joined the Spider-verse during a creative low point for the character in 2000. He and artist Mark Buckingham were assigned to the Spidey B title Peter Parker: Spider-Man, starting at issue #20. Jenkins instantly brought a more meditative, introspective tone to the character. He later collaborated with current Spider-Man artist Humberto Ramos for the relaunch of Spectacular Spider-Man in 2003. Jenkins has said many times that his focus as a writer is more on why characters act the way they do, and this thoughtful and restrained approach produced some of the most intelligent Spider-man series ever published. One highlight from the Jenkins's tenure is a sentimental issue that shows Peter continuing his annual tradition of attending a baseball game because it was one of the last things he did with Uncle Ben before he died (Peter Parker: Spider-Man #30). He also scripted an incredibly poignant take on race and how children of different ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds view their superheroes in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #35. But Jenkinss masterwork is his Death in the Family storyline (Peter Parker: Spider-Man #44-47), which is arguably one of the most cerebral depictions of the Peter/Norman Osborn dynamic ever captured. Despite the critical success of his work, Jenkins never received an opportunity to script the main Spider-Man title, Amazing Spider-Man, meaning a lot of his best work often got lost in Marvel's marketing shuffle.
Mark is a professional writer living in Brooklyn and is the founder of the Chasing Amazing Blog, which documents his quest to collect every issue of Amazing Spider-Man, and the Superior Spider-Talk podcast. He also pens the "Gimmick or Good?" column at Comics Should Be Good blog.
