10 Greatest Spider-Man Writers Not Named Stan Lee Or Steve Ditko
5. Peter David
Often referred to as the funny writer, one of Peter Davids earliest Spider-Man scripts was the iconic Death of Jean DeWolff arc in Spectacular Spider-Man. Much in the way Gerry Conway changed the tone of the comic book industry with the Night Gwen Stacy Died (see entry No. 6), David and Death of Jean DeWolff revolutionized the franchise by introducing a grimmer sensibility to the Spider-verse akin to what Frank Miller had done with Daredevil and Batman in the early/mid-80s. The critical and commercial success of this storyline (which often ranks among the best Spidey stories ever written), paved his way for a very successful career in comics for David that continues to this day. Over the years, David has enjoyed extended runs on Spectacular Spider-Man and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and has filled in admirably for a few issues on many other Spidey titles. The David-scripted The Commuter Cometh (Amazing Spider-Man #267), which depicts a day in the life of Spider-Man chasing a crook in the suburbs of New York, is considered one of the funniest Spidey tales of all time. In terms of alternative versions of Spider-Man, David co-created Miguel OHara, aka Spider-Man 2099, with artist Rick Leonardi in the early-90s. The character was recently resurrected by Dan Slott for Superior Spider-Man and Marvel announced earlier this year that David would script a brand new Spider-Man 2099 series starting this summer.
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.
