Spider-Man #29

Name: Spider-Man #29
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Dec 1992 · Marvel · 1.75 USD; 2.15 CAD; 1.20 GBP

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“Hope and Other Liars (Return to the Mad Dog Ward, Part One)”

★ 1st appearance — Daniel

About this Issue

Spider-Man (1990) #29 opens 'Return to the Mad Dog Ward,' a three-part sequel to Ann Nocenti's acclaimed 1987 crossover 'Life in the Mad Dog Ward' — itself an immediate follow-up to J.M. DeMatteis's 'Kraven's Last Hunt.' The issue reintroduces Captain Zero (David Stack), the delusion-afflicted former asylum patient last seen in Amazing Spider-Man #295, now attempting to function as a street-level superhero after Pleasant Valley Sanitarium's closure. Thematically, Nocenti uses Zero's precarious recovery and the persistence of Doctor Hope's illegal experimentation to interrogate questions of mental health, institutional corruption, and the ethics of lying — weaving those ideas through Peter Parker's dual-identity anxieties in a way that distinguished her run from the action-first voice dominant at Marvel in 1992. The arc, spanning issues #29–31, was eventually collected alongside the original 1987 storyline in the Spider-Man: Life in the Mad Dog Ward trade paperback, cementing it as the formal sequel chapter of a minor but distinctive corner of Spider-Man continuity.

writer Ann Nocenti · artist Chris Marrinan · inker Sam de la Rosa · colorist Marie Javins · letterer Chris Eliopoulos · cover Chris Marrinan, Sam de la Rosa

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (NM) $2

CGC 9.8 · 87 in census $31

CGC 9.6 · 9 in census $20

CGC 9.4 · 8 in census $20

CGC 9.2 · 4 in census $20

CGC 9.0 · 4 in census $20*

CGC 8.5 · 2 in census $20*

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CGC 8.0 · 3 in census $20*

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CGC 9.8 ▾ $69–$199 2 listings

CGC 9.8 · Variant $69 CGC 9.8 · Signed · Variant $199

Raw — NM ▾ $3.75–$55 9 listings

NM · Variant $3.75 NM · Variant $4.74 NM $5.99 NM · Variant $7.99 NM · Variant $7.99 NM · Variant $7.99 NM · Variant $13.99 NM · Variant $14.99 NM · Virgin $55

Raw — FN ▾ $175–$225 2 listings

FN $175 FN $225

Raw / ungraded ▾ $2.9–$31.99 21 listings

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History

By the time issue #29 reached stands in December 1992, the 'adjectiveless' Spider-Man title was deep into its post-McFarlane era. Todd McFarlane had launched the series in 1990 and departed after issue #16 following a creative dispute with incoming editor Danny Fingeroth; Ann Nocenti was among the writers who carried the book afterward. For this arc, Nocenti reunited with penciler Chris Marrinan and inker Sam DeLaRosa — the same core team she had used on her other issues of the series — and deliberately revisited characters and settings she had originated during the original 1987 'Mad Dog Ward' crossover she wrote across Web of Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man, and Spectacular Spider-Man. Editors Tom DeFalco and Danny Fingeroth oversaw the issue, as confirmed by Marvel's own credits.

Trivia · 8 facts

Story title: 'Return to the Mad Dog Ward, Part 1 of 3: Hope — and Other Liars'; the arc runs through Spider-Man (1990) #29–31 (December 1992 – February 1993).
Written by Ann Nocenti; penciled by Chris Marrinan; inked by Sam DeLaRosa; cover art by Chris Marrinan; edited by Tom DeFalco and Danny Fingeroth.
First appearance of Maggie Lorca, a reporter at the Daily Bugle who is paired with Peter Parker to cover a story on the Liars Anonymous Clinic.
First appearance of Daniel, a homeless boy who appears among the supporting cast of this issue.
Captain Zero (David Stack) makes his return appearance after his debut in Amazing Spider-Man #295 (1987); here he is shown living as an outpatient following the closure of Pleasant Valley Sanitarium and attempting — clumsily — to operate as a costumed hero.
Doctor Hope, the villain behind the original Mad Dog Ward experiments, reappears; Spider-Man learns that Hope has relocated his illegal operation to a city mental health clinic, continuing to experiment on patients including a subject called Brainstorm.
The issue is part of the 'adjectiveless' Spider-Man Vol. 1 ongoing series (1990–1998), which launched under Todd McFarlane and became the fourth concurrent monthly Spider-Man title; Nocenti took over writing duties after McFarlane's departure following issue #16.
The complete 'Return to the Mad Dog Ward' arc (#29–31), together with the original 1987 storyline (Web of Spider-Man #33, Amazing Spider-Man #295, Spectacular Spider-Man #133), was later collected in the Spider-Man: Life in the Mad Dog Ward trade paperback.