Spider-Man #1

History

The project's origins stretch back roughly a decade before publication: Marvel editor Nick Lowe first approached J.J. Abrams about collaborating on a Spider-Man venture around 2009, and the idea only crystallized when Abrams began developing story concepts with his son Henry. The announcement — made exclusively through a New York Times interview on June 20, 2019 — was kept so tightly under wraps that Marvel's own editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski publicly teased that fans would never guess the project, and indeed a fan-fueled countdown of webbed numbers had led readers to guess everything from a Sam Raimi Spider-Man 4 adaptation to a Fantastic Four crossover. The creative team paired the Abramses' script with interior art by Sara Pichelli, celebrated as a co-creator of Miles Morales, and cover art by Olivier Coipel, with colors throughout by Dave Stewart and lettering by Joe Caramagna; the series subsequently suffered notable production delays before completing its five-issue run, which was collected as Spider-Man: Bloodline in a 2021 trade paperback.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Ben Parker II (Benjamin 'Benny' Parker), the spider-powered teenage son of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson on alternate Earth-29320.
• First appearance of Cadaverous (real name: Ivan Renz per the Grand Comics Database), the series' original cyborg villain, whose attack on New York opens the issue.
• First appearance of Faye Ito, a teenage character Ben meets in detention who becomes a significant supporting figure across the miniseries.
• Written by J.J. Abrams (his first-ever comic book writing credit) and his son Henry Abrams, marking both creators' Marvel debuts.
• Interior art by Sara Pichelli (co-creator of Miles Morales), cover art by Olivier Coipel, colors by Dave Stewart, and lettering by Joe Caramagna.
• The story establishes an alternate universe (Earth-29320) in which Mary Jane is killed by Cadaverous early in the issue, Peter subsequently retires as Spider-Man, loses his right arm, and becomes an emotionally withdrawn photojournalist — leaving Aunt May to raise Ben.
• The five-issue limited series was announced exclusively via The New York Times on June 20, 2019 — an unusually mainstream publicity rollout for a Marvel launch.
• The complete miniseries (#1–5) was collected and published as the trade paperback Spider-Man: Bloodline in 2021 (ISBN 978-1302917883).

Cast · 7 characters

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