10 Greatest Spider-Man Writers Not Named Stan Lee Or Steve Ditko
6. Gerry Conway
At only 19-years-old, Gerry Conway succeeded the legendary Stan Lee as the main writer on Amazing Spider-Man. Over the course of his nearly 40 issue run (Amazing Spider-Man #111-149), Conway scripted some of the most memorable Spider-Man stories of all time, including what is arguably the most important comic book story of the last 50 years in The Night Gwen Stacy Died. Many comic book historians cite the 1972 issue of Amazing Spider-Man as the official transition point from the kinder, happier Silver Age, to the darker, grimmer Bronze Age of comics. Being responsible for that comic alone makes Conway one of the greatest Spidey scribes ever, but he still managed to pump out a number of other landmark issues. In Amazing Spider-Man #129, he and artist Gil Kane created Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, another comic book icon. Conway also planted the seeds of romance between Peter Parker and Mary Jane, and repackaged Harry Osborn as the second Green Goblin. After a hiatus, Conway came back to Spider-Man in the 1980s, providing scripts for Web of Spider-Man and Spectacular Spider-Man. While not as famous as his Amazing Spider-Man run, Conways second stint with Spidey was marked by his overall growth as a writer. He created the villain Tombstone, and was responsible for many critically acclaimed stories such as The Trial of Robbie Robertson and the Lobo Brothers Gang War.
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.
