The Amazing Spider-Man #310
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAmazing Spider-Man #310 is a self-contained chapter within the celebrated David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane run — one of the most artistically influential stretches in the title's history — that captures McFarlane at the height of his dynamic, web-heavy Spider-Man style while also advancing a meaningful character beat: Peter Parker formally enrolling in post-graduate studies at Empire State University, a status shift that Michelinie wove through the surrounding arc as a grounding counterweight to the larger Jonathan Caesar and Venom storylines. The issue also showcases the Tinkerer's evolution from direct antagonist to underworld arms supplier, a characterization that stuck and informed how later writers used the character. As part of a run later collected in a major Marvel Omnibus, the issue has been continuously anthologized, keeping it in print and in front of new readers for decades.
In "Shrike Force!", Spider-Man dives into a mysterious case at the Empire State University science lab, where strange activity has him on high alert. Facing off against the tech-savvy menace Killer Shrike and the cunning Tinkerer, Spidey must unravel a dangerous scheme before it escalates. Written by David Michelinie and brought to life with sharp, dynamic art by Todd McFarlane—both interior and cover—this 1988 issue delivers a tense, inventive clash of wits and webs.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was written by David Michelinie and drawn — pencils, inks, and cover — entirely by Todd McFarlane, with background inking assists from Terry Fitzgerald, and lettering by Rick Parker; it carried a cover date of December 1988. McFarlane had taken over the art chores on Amazing Spider-Man earlier that year, and by issue #310 his signature style — exaggerated webbing, kinetic page compositions, and expressive character silhouettes — was fully developed and driving the book's identity. The Michelinie-McFarlane partnership on the title ran roughly from issue #298 through #329, a sustained collaboration that Marvel later assembled into the hardcover Amazing Spider-Man by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane Omnibus, first published in 2011.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Story titled 'Shrike Force!'; script by David Michelinie, full art (pencils and inks) by Todd McFarlane, background inking assists by Terry Fitzgerald, letters by Rick Parker — cover date December 1988.
- First appearances of Dr. Evan Swann (ESU graduate professor who becomes a recurring supporting character in the run) and research assistant Anne-Marie Baker; both continue to appear sporadically through at least Amazing Spider-Man #350 (August 1991).
- The Tinkerer appears not as a direct combatant but as a blackmailing underworld gadgeteer — he coerces Dr. Swann into letting him use an ESU lab to build a weapons-enhancement module, a characterization that reframes the villain as a criminal arms supplier rather than a super-villain.
- Killer Shrike (Simon Maddicks) is the secondary antagonist; the issue is one of several Spider-Man confrontations with the character, who had previously appeared against Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up #90 and Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #102.
- The issue is part of the ongoing Jonathan Caesar subplot: Mary Jane had been kidnapped by Caesar (owner of their Bedford Towers condo) across issues #307–310, and the safety measures taken at home in this issue — including changing the apartment locks — are a direct consequence.
- Reprinted in the Brazilian anthology Os Maiores Clássicos do Homem-Aranha #6 (Panini Brasil, 2008), the French Marvel Omnibus: Spider-Man par McFarlane (Panini France, 2012), and the English-language Amazing Spider-Man by David Michelinie & Todd McFarlane Omnibus (Marvel, 2011).
- The issue includes an in-house advertisement for the Inferno crossover event, which would begin flowing through Marvel's Spider-Man titles starting with issue #311.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in El Hombre Araña / El Asombroso Hombre Araña #458 (1990), Strange #244 (1990), Spindelmannen #9/1991 (1991), Edderkoppen #10/1991 (1991), The Amazing Spider-Man #10/1991 (1991), L'Uomo Ragno #98 (1992), Spider-Man Legends #[nn] (2003), Os Maiores Clássicos do Homem-Aranha #6 (2008), Amazing Spider-Man by David Michelinie & Todd McFarlane Omnibus #[nn] (2011), Marvel Omnibus : Spider-Man par McFarlane #[nn] (2012), Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection #18 (2018), De spectaculaire Spider-Man [De spektakulaire Spiderman] #113, Die Spinne #173, Marvel Oro #9, Σπάιντερ Μαν [Spider-Man] #495, Spiderman #208
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