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Cover: Sal Buscema & John Romita

The Spectacular Spider-Man #1

Name: The Spectacular Spider-Man #1
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Dec 1976 · Marvel · 0.30 USD

📊 ~118,317 copies sold its debut month

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“Twice Stings the Tarantula!”

★ 1st appearance — Lightmaster

About this Issue

Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #1 marked a pivotal expansion of Spider-Man's publishing footprint at Marvel, making him the first Marvel character to anchor three simultaneous ongoing monthly series — Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel Team-Up, and this new title — at the height of his Bronze Age popularity. The series was conceived with an ambitious editorial philosophy: the writers of all three Spider-Man books would coordinate Peter Parker's life in real time, weaving characters and subplots across titles in a way that, as the Marvel Fandom wiki notes, 'no Marvel comic had attempted before.' Although that cross-title ambition was only partially realized, the launch of this series established the structural template — multiple concurrent ongoing titles sharing a single hero's continuity — that would become a defining feature of mainstream superhero publishing for decades. The issue also introduced Edward Lansky, the civilian alter ego of Lightmaster, seeding a villain whose light-based powers would pay off across the three-issue opening arc.

In "Twice Stings the Tarantula!", Spider-Man faces a double threat when the Tarantula strikes again—first targeting Vice Chancellor Lansky, then attempting to assassinate the mayor of New York. Written by Gerry Conway and illustrated by Sal Buscema, with inks by Mike Esposito and Dave Hunt, this 1976 issue delivers a tense, action-packed showdown that keeps the web-slinger on his toes. The cover, a dynamic collaboration by Sal Buscema and John Romita, captures the high-stakes drama in bold, classic Marvel style.

writer Gerry Conway · artist Sal Buscema · artist, inker Mike Esposito · artist, inker, colorist Dave Hunt · letterer Joe Rosen · cover Sal Buscema, John Romita

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $14

CGC 9.8 · 923 in census $309

CGC 9.6 · 1815 in census $128

CGC 9.4 · 1544 in census $90

CGC 9.2 · 982 in census $78

CGC 9.0 · 775 in census $65

CGC 8.5 · 662 in census $65

Show all 22 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 465 in census $65

CGC 7.5 · 298 in census $49

CGC 7.0 · 222 in census $48

CGC 6.5 · 130 in census $32

CGC 6.0 · 81 in census $32

CGC 5.5 · 61 in census $32

CGC 5.0 · 44 in census $32

CGC 4.5 · 28 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 · 26 in census $20*

CGC 3.5 · 14 in census $20*

CGC 3.0 · 11 in census $20*

CGC 2.5 · 4 in census $20*

CGC 2.0 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 1.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 1.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 0.5 · 2 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

This exact issue on ebay

CGC 9.8 $480 1 listing

CGC 9.6 ▾ $140–$150 2 listings

CGC 9.6 $140 CGC 9.6 $149.99

CGC 9.4 $99.99 1 listing

CGC 9.2 ▾ $74.95 2 listings

CGC 9.2 $74.95 CGC 9.2 $74.95

CGC 9 $325 1 listing CGC 8.5 $74.99 1 listing Raw — NM $5.98 1 listing Raw — NM- $94.97 1 listing

Raw — VF ▾ $39.99–$50 3 listings

VF $39.99 VF $39.99 VF $50

Raw — FN $30 1 listing Raw — VG $30.74 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $15–$63.99 12 listings

Newsstand $15 Raw / ungraded $24.97 Raw / ungraded $25 Raw / ungraded $26.99 Raw / ungraded $29.97 Raw / ungraded $29.99 Raw / ungraded $31.99 Raw / ungraded $34 Raw / ungraded $35 Newsstand $40 Raw / ungraded $44.65 Raw / ungraded $63.99

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History

Writer-editor Gerry Conway originated the series partly out of a contractual deal to script multiple ongoing Marvel titles; as Conway himself explained (quoted in the Wikipedia article on the series), he did not want to displace Len Wein from Amazing Spider-Man, so editor-in-chief Stan Lee seized on the arrangement as an opportunity to launch a second solo Spider-Man monthly he had long wanted. Conway scripted the debut alongside penciler Sal Buscema and inker Mike Esposito, with a cover finished by Buscema and John Romita Sr. The letters page of the issue itself — unusually, a prose editorial essay rather than reader mail — had Conway laying out the book's mission statement for new readers. Despite that clear vision at launch, Marvel struggled to maintain a consistent writer on the series through its first eight issues before Bill Mantlo took over with #9 and stabilized the title.

Trivia · 8 facts

Published December 1976 (on-sale September 1976) by Marvel Comics; the series ran 263 numbered issues plus 14 Annuals through November 1998.
Became Spider-Man's third simultaneous ongoing monthly title, joining The Amazing Spider-Man and Marvel Team-Up on stands at the same time.
Written by Gerry Conway; penciled by Sal Buscema; inked by Mike Esposito; cover by Sal Buscema and John Romita Sr.
Story titled 'Twice Stings the Tarantula!' — Part 1 of a three-issue arc in which Spider-Man battles the Tarantula, who kidnaps Empire State University's vice-chancellor and attempts to assassinate real-life NYC mayor Abe Beame.
Contains the first appearance of Edward Lansky, the ESU vice-chancellor who will become the light-powered villain Lightmaster (his costumed identity fully revealed in issue #3).
The letters page is a prose essay by Conway outlining editorial plans for the new series — a notable document of Bronze Age Marvel editorial thinking, corroborated by multiple fan and reference databases.
The issue debuted the same month as Amazing Spider-Man #163 and Marvel Team-Up #52, illustrating the density of concurrent Spider-Man publishing in late 1976.
Has been reprinted multiple times: in Essential Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 1 (2005), Marvel Firsts: The 1970s Vol. 3 (2012), a True Believers edition (2017), The Spectacular Spider-Man Omnibus Vol. 1 (2022), a Facsimile Edition (2022), and a second Facsimile Edition (2026) timed to the character's 50th anniversary and the Tarantula's appearance in the MCU film Spider-Man: Brand New Day.