Spider-Man's Tangled Web

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Spider-Man's Tangled Web
Tangledweb1.jpg
Cover to Spider-Man's Tangled Web #1 (June 2001). Art by Glenn Fabry.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
ScheduleMonthly
FormatOngoing
Publication dateJune 2001 - March 2003
No. of issues22
Creative team
Written byvarious
Artist(s)various

Spider-Man's Tangled Web was an American superhero comic book series starring Spider-Man and his supporting cast published by Marvel Comics for 22 issues from June 2001 to March 2003. The title was an anthology series, where various creative teams not usually associated with Spider-Man could display their take on the character.

Contents

Creation

The series was devised by Joe Quesada and Axel Alonso shortly after they became Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief and senior editor respectively. [1] Creators for the series were directed to focus more on the characters connected to Spider-Man rather than focusing on the character himself. [2] [3] A similar approach had previously been tried with Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man in 1999–2000. However, Alonso's contacts from his work with DC Comics and their Vertigo imprint attracted a number of acclaimed creators to the series, including Darwyn Cooke, Garth Ennis, Duncan Fegredo, Jim Mahfood, Ted McKeever, Peter Milligan, Paul Pope and Greg Rucka. [1] [4] [5] While the series was nominally set in the Marvel Universe, the creative teams were given considerably leeway in terms of how strongly they adhered to continuity. [6]

Publishing history

The series' title was initially styled as Tangled Web for the first four issues, with Spider-Man's name not featured on the cover. From #5 it was changed to Spider-Man's Tangled Web. [1] Issue #1 was the subject of a recall due to the incorrect paper stock being used for the cover. A second print run was ordered with the correct paper stock, thus making a collector's item of the rarer first print. [7]

Sales on the series lagged behind the other Spider-Man titles throughout its run, [8] and it was finally cancelled in 2003 to make way for the new The Spectacular Spider-Man vol. 2 comic by Paul Jenkins and Humberto Ramos. [9]

Stories

Peter Parker is targeted by former high-school bully Carl King, who knows that his old punching-bag became Spider-Man. However, King's attempt to replicate the accident that gave Peter his powers by ingesting the irradiated spider have instead turned him into the Thousand, a swarm of spiders carrying his consciousness and capable of taking over the skins of his victims.
Tom Cochrane is a trusted and experienced lieutenant of the Kingpin. However, after an operation under his watch is foiled by Spider-Man he must prepare for the consequences of failing the crime lord.
A laughing-stock after repeated defeats at the hands of Spider-Man, Rhino undergoes intelligence enhancement to impress the daughter of a Russian mobster. However, he soon finds himself missing his simpler, stupider previous life.
Cab driver Charlie Clemmens discovers Spider-Man's secret identity, and must weigh up exposing the secret to pay his medical bills against the hero's safety.
Two brothers watching the cartoon Insect-Man find themselves in the middle of a battle between Spider-Man and Electro.
The staff of the Daily Bugle finish work on Valentine's Day, with reporters Jill and Kay both thinking they're going on a date with Peter Parker. Meanwhile Spider-Man himself is recovering in a dumpster after a fight with the Vulture.
Eugene has to deal with being the son of loser super-villain Leap-Frog; his efforts to carve a more positive legacy as the hero Frog-Man are no more successful.
Alyosha Kravinoff, the Vulture and Norman Osborn trade stories about their encounters with Spider-Man at The Bar with No Name. [5]
Crusher Hogan's wrestling career is impacted by a bout with the 'Masked Marvel'.
  • At the time the comic was made Levy was wrestling in the ECW under the name Raven. [11]
A teenage girl focuses on her admiration of Spider-Man to cope with her dysfunctional home life.
After suffering a heart attack during a bank job, Tombstone is imprisoned along with several minor-league villains, including Kangaroo.
Minor league villain Typeface discovers even he has a nemesis - Spellcheck.
Grizzly finds himself tormented by the Rhino.
J. Jonah Jameson gets help with his anger management issues.
Peter Parker and the Fantastic Four try to find Christmas gifts.
Spider-Man's unorthodox crime-fighting creates difficulties for the police.

Collected editions

#TitleMaterial collectedFormatPagesReleasedISBN
1Spider-Man's Tangled Web Vol. 1Tangled Web: The Thousand #1-4; Spider-Man's Tangled Web #5-6TPB14419 Nov 2001 978-0785108030
2Spider-Man's Tangled Web Vol. 2Spider-Man's Tangled Web #7-11TPB12815 Apr 2002 978-0785108740
3Spider-Man's Tangled Web Vol. 3Spider-Man's Tangled Web #12-17TPB16028 Oct 2002 978-0785109518
4Spider-Man's Tangled Web Vol. 4Spider-Man's Tangled Web #18-22; Peter Parker: Spider-Man #42-43TPB17631 Mar 2003 978-0785110644
Spider-Man's Tangled Web OmnibusTangled Web: The Thousand #1-4; Spider-Man's Tangled Web #5-22Omnibus56027 Jun 2017 978-1302906825

Reception

In an overall series review before #20, Wizard rated Spider-Man's Tangled Web as 'B-', noting the format was "both the strength and weakness" of the title. [5] Screen Rant considered it a title that was cancelled too early. [13]

Wizard listed "Severance Package" as one of their 'Top 10 Books of the Last Decade'. [5] "Severance Package" was named as one of the '10 Best Spider-Man & Kingpin Comics' by Comic Book Resources . [14] Wizard also described "I was a Teenage Frogman" as "tepid". [5]

"'Twas the Fight Before Christmas" was listed in Screen Rant's '10 Marvel Comics That Could Inspire Another MCU Holiday Special' [15] [16]

"Flowers for Rhino" was one of the most acclaimed stories from the series; Screen Rant named it among the '10 Best Comic Issues Of The 2000s' featuring Spider-Man; [17] it was listed at 49th on Comic Book Resources' '50 Greatest Spider-Man Stories Master List'. [18] and was named as one of the '10 Weirdest Spider-Man Comics' by Tilt Magazine, writer David Gelmini describing it as "an enjoyably offbeat insight into the psyche of the most imbecilic member of the Sinister Six". [19] Comic Book Resources would also list it as a fine example of a villain-centric Spider-Man story. [20]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Tangled Webs on Tangled Web Part 1 - Spider Man Crawlspace". 23 May 2022.
  2. ↑ "Slings & Arrows".
  3. ↑ Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman. Abc-Clio. 2013. ISBN   9780313399237.
  4. ↑ "Tangled Webs on Tangled Web Part 2 - Spider Man Crawlspace". 30 June 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Spider-Man's Tangled Web". Wizard . No. 134. Wizard Entertainment. November 2002.
  6. ↑ "What Happened to the Spider That Bit Spider-Man?". 23 August 2017.
  7. ↑ Childs, Kelvin (18 November 2018). "Totally Recalled: 15 Comics the Stores Had to Send Back". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Top 50". Wizard . No. 119. Wizard Entertainment. August 2001.
  9. ↑ "Spider-Man's Tangled Web Primer".
  10. ↑ The Art of Painted Comics. Dynamite. June 2016. ISBN   9781606903537.
  11. ↑ "Spider-Man: How ECW's Raven Took Marvel Readers Inside the Ring". 11 May 2021.
  12. ↑ "The Tangled Web of Racial and Gender Progress in Comics". 10 January 2017.
  13. ↑ "Superior Spider-Man & 9 Other Spider-Man Comics That Got Canceled Too Early". Screen Rant . 5 January 2022.
  14. ↑ "10 Best Spider-Man & Kingpin Comics". 26 March 2023.
  15. ↑ "10 Marvel Comics That Could Inspire Another MCU Holiday Special". Screen Rant . December 2022.
  16. ↑ "7 Best Comics to Get You in the Holiday Mood".
  17. ↑ "Spider-Man: 10 Best Comic Issues of the 2000s". Screen Rant . 27 September 2021.
  18. ↑ "50 Greatest Spider-Man Stories Master List". 4 May 2013.
  19. ↑ "10 Weirdest Spider-Man Comics". 13 October 2022.
  20. ↑ "The Six Essential Kinds of Spider-Man Stories". 17 March 2022.
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