10 Things Marvel Wants You To Forget About Spider-Man
1. Chapter One
Many comic book fans consider Spider-Mans origin, as featured in Amazing Fantasy #15, the most perfect story the medium has to offer. In the span of only 11 pages, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko manage to perfectly plot a tale thats thrilling, inspiring, and tragic. The story is considered untouchable - except for that one time Marvel actually touched it.
In 1999, industry all-star John Byrne scripted and penciled a re-imagining of Spidey's earliest days as part of a 12-part miniseries dubbed Spider-Man Chapter One. And just in case anyone doubted how serious Marvel was about Chapter One, the publisher promoted the miniseries as canon, claiming what Byrne put forward was the NEW origin story for Spider-Man.
While the series sold fairly well, fans have grown to detest Chapter One and all it represented. The mini is the comic book equivalent of tracing over the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Nothing Byrne presented changed Spider-Man's origin story that dramatically, but things were altered enough that the creator managed to put his own stamp on things. Such changes included linking the birth of Spider-Man and his long-time enemy Doctor Octopus via the same lab explosion. Rubbing more salt in the fanbase's wounds, Byrne completely ignored the critically acclaimed Untold Tales of Spider-Man story in his origin retelling.
Fortunately, Marvel dropped the 'Chapter One is canon' charade after a short while, and the story is very rarely referenced today except by fans who have an infatuation with the worst comic book stories of all time. Spider-Man fans might think the character hit rock bottom during the Clone Saga or One More Day, but a case could be made that Chapter One is the worst and most forgettable of them all.