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Cover: Larry Lieber & Steve Ditko & Joe Rubinstein

The Amazing Spider-Man #275

Name: The Amazing Spider-Man #275
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Apr 1986 · Marvel · 1.25 USD; 0.50 GBP; 1.50 CAD

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“The Choice and The Challenge!”

About this Issue

Amazing Spider-Man #275 is a structurally ambitious double-sized milestone that weaves eleven reprinted pages of Spider-Man's original 1962 origin from Amazing Fantasy #15 — penciled by Steve Ditko, scripted by Stan Lee — directly into a new Tom DeFalco story, using Peter Parker's conversation with Mary Jane as the narrative bridge. This device made the issue both a continuation of the ongoing Hobgoblin saga and an accessible entry point for new readers, reflecting mid-1980s Marvel's strategy of celebrating its history on anniversary-adjacent issues. The issue also advances the contentious question of Peter's commitment to his heroic identity: Mary Jane's appeal to his sense of responsibility pulls him back from quitting, a character beat that would be revisited repeatedly in the Copper Age era. Coming squarely in the middle of the unresolved Hobgoblin mystery — one of the most discussed serialized mysteries of 1980s comics — it deepened the web of intrigue surrounding the Kingpin's criminal underworld and the Hobgoblin's alliance with the Rose.

In "The Choice and The Challenge!", Peter Parker faces his toughest test yet as the Hobgoblin escalates his campaign with a terrifying new weapon and a hostage in tow. With Aunt May recovering and Mary Jane urging him to stay, Peter must decide whether to walk away from the mask—or face his greatest threat yet. Written by Tom DeFalco and Stan Lee, with dynamic art by Ron Frenz and Steve Ditko, and a cover by Larry Lieber and Steve Ditko, this 1986 classic captures Spider-Man at a breaking point.

writer Tom DeFalco · writer Stan Lee · artist Ron Frenz · artist, inker Steve Ditko · inker Josef Rubinstein · colorist Nel Yomtov · colorist Andy Yanchus · letterer Joe Rosen · cover Larry Lieber, Steve Ditko, Joe Rubinstein

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (VF) $8

CGC 9.8 · 561 in census $114

CGC 9.6 · 366 in census $51

CGC 9.4 · 198 in census $50

CGC 9.2 · 105 in census $34*

CGC 9.0 · 63 in census $30

CGC 8.5 · 58 in census $28

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CGC 8.0 · 24 in census $23*

CGC 7.5 · 14 in census $21*

CGC 7.0 · 18 in census $20*

CGC 6.5 · 4 in census $20*

CGC 6.0 · 10 in census $20*

CGC 5.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 3.5 · 2 in census $20*

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CGC 9.8 ▾ $94.99–$200 4 listings

CGC 9.8 $94.99 CGC 9.8 $99.99 CGC 9.8 $123.45 CGC 9.8 $200

CGC 9.6 ▾ $49.99–$97.89 4 listings

CGC 9.6 $49.99 CGC 9.6 · Newsstand $74.95 CGC 9.6 $93.49 CGC 9.6 $97.89

CGC 9 $48.95 1 listing CBCS $70 1 listing Raw — MINT $19.99 1 listing

Raw — NM ▾ $11–$55 7 listings

NM $11 NM · Newsstand $14.95 NM $19 NM · Newsstand $24 NM $30.97 NM · Newsstand $45 NM $55

Raw — NM- ▾ $14.95–$39.93 5 listings

NM- $14.95 NM- $15 NM- $34.99 NM- $38.75 NM- $39.93

Raw — VF/NM ▾ $12.99–$61 4 listings

VF/NM $12.99 VF/NM $13 VF/NM $39.99 VF/NM $61

Raw — VF ▾ $9.99–$27 5 listings

VF $9.99 VF $10.2 VF $14.5 VF · Newsstand $15.95 VF $27

Raw — FN/VF ▾ $8–$28 4 listings

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Raw — FN+ $14 1 listing

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VF $9.99 CGC 9.2 $79 Amazing Spider-Man (Marvel Comics) issue 275 (Origin of Spider-Man Retold) $11.99

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History

Writer Tom DeFalco and penciler Ron Frenz were the core creative team on Amazing Spider-Man at this point, having inherited a Hobgoblin storyline that Roger Stern and John Romita Jr. had originated in 1983 with ASM #238. Stern had departed the title before revealing the Hobgoblin's true identity; DeFalco picked up the threads with his own plans — reportedly intending a Richard Fisk/Kingpin's-son revelation — while using Ned Leeds as a deliberate red herring, a plot direction DeFalco kept close to his chest even from his own editor. Issue #275 falls within that period of behind-the-scenes editorial maneuvering, and DeFalco — like Stern before him — ultimately left the series before resolving the mystery himself. Inker Joe Rubinstein and colorist Nel Yomtov completed the production team, and the issue ran at 52 pages, reflecting its special double-sized status.

Trivia · 8 facts

Published April 1986 by Marvel Comics; written by Tom DeFalco, penciled by Ron Frenz, inked by Joe Rubinstein, colored by Nel Yomtov, lettered by Joe Rosen.
Double-sized issue (52 pages) titled 'The Choice and the Challenge!' — Part 1 of a 2-part story.
Woven into the new story are 11 reprinted pages of Spider-Man's origin from Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962), with the original Stan Lee script and Steve Ditko art; the cover depicts Spider-Man and Hobgoblin bursting through a page of that classic story.
Peter Parker, guilt-ridden over failing to protect Aunt May's tenant Nathan Lubensky, tells Mary Jane he is giving up being Spider-Man — one of his most prominent 'quit' moments of the Copper Age; Mary Jane ultimately convinces him to return.
The Hobgoblin debuts a new randomized finger-blaster weapon specifically engineered to defeat Spider-Man's spider-sense, advancing his ongoing technological arms race with the wall-crawler.
Cameo appearances by the Kingpin, the Arranger, and the Rose tie the issue firmly into the sprawling Kingpin criminal-underworld subplot running through the era; flashback cameos include the Green Goblin, Gwen Stacy, Jean DeWolff, and the Sin-Eater.
The Hobgoblin character had been created by Roger Stern and John Romita Jr. in ASM #238 (1983); by issue #275, the mystery of his secret identity — which Stern had intended to resolve as Roderick Kingsley but left unfinished — was still entirely unsolved, and DeFalco was steering the storyline toward his own planned (also unfinished) revelation.
The issue was later reprinted in Marvel Tales #283 (March 1994), and portions of the story appeared in international editions including Marvel UK's Spider-Man and Zoids #27 (1986) and L'Uomo Ragno #70 (1991, Italy).