10 Times Spider-Man Was The DARKEST Marvel Comic
4. Gwen Having An Affair With Norman - Amazing Spider-Man #512
What happens when you combine Peter Parker's (originally planned) central love interest with Spider-Man's most famous and feared villain? A messy and depressing love affair, apparently.
The Sins Past storyline explores the inner-workings of Norman Osborn's crazed mind and the true identities of his enhanced twins through one of the most shocking revelations fans have ever had to digest. Issue #512 almost exclusively takes place with Mary Jane explaining to Peter that she had overheard an encounter between Osborn and his ex-girlfriend Gwen Stacy, with the pair running through their secret affair, their attempts to blackmail one another and the gut-wrenching reveal that Gwen is the true mother of the twins currently trying to kill Spidey.
Peter's swings from distraught breakdown to flurries of rage are probably as accurate a representation of what most readers were like when they first picked up the edition, and the story completely altered the way in which Norman and Gwen were seen in the comics going forward.