The Spectacular Spider-Man #262
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThe Spectacular Spider-Man #262 marks the cameo debut of Martha 'Mattie' Franklin, the third character to bear the Spider-Woman name and the only one to literally impersonate Peter Parker's Spider-Man while he was absent. Her introduction—hidden in shadow as a teenager audaciously taking her father's place in Norman Osborn's arcane Gathering of Five ritual—seeded a successor hero whose powers came not from a radioactive bite but from a mystical ceremony, a deliberate creative departure from the Spider-Man origin formula. The issue also advances Mary Jane Watson-Parker's independent storyline, showing her signing a modeling contract that pulled her life in a new direction just as Peter Parker's world was about to be upended. As the penultimate chapter of the Gathering of Five crossover and one of the last two issues ever published in the long-running Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 1 series, the issue sits at a genuine turning point in late-1990s Spider-Man publishing history.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Writer John Byrne came aboard the flagging Spectacular Spider-Man title during its final stretch, alongside penciler Luke Ross, who had already been the book's artist through its closing months. The issue—scripted by Byrne, penciled by Ross, inked by Al Milgrom, colored by John Kalisz, lettered by Liz Agraphiotis of Comicraft, and edited by Ralph Macchio and Matt Hicks under editor-in-chief Bob Harras—was part of an editorially coordinated five-part crossover running simultaneously through Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Sensational Spider-Man, and Spectacular Spider-Man. The gatefold cover was illustrated by Norman Felchle, a distinctive production choice for the arc. With the title concluding just one issue later at #263, this issue represents Byrne's penultimate contribution to the series he briefly helmed during its swan song.
Trivia · 9 facts
- First appearance (cameo, in shadow) of Martha 'Mattie' Franklin, who would go on to become the third Spider-Woman, created by writer John Byrne.
- Full creative credits: script by John Byrne, pencils by Luke Ross, inks by Al Milgrom, colors by John Kalisz, letters by Comicraft's Liz Agraphiotis, cover by Norman Felchle, edited by Ralph Macchio and Matt Hicks.
- Story title: 'A Day in the Life'; serves as Part 4 of 5 of the multi-title Gathering of Five crossover arc (October 1998).
- The issue features a gatefold cover, a production flourish used across the Gathering of Five arc.
- Mary Jane Watson-Parker signs a modeling contract with agent Veronica Stahl (also her first appearance), advancing her independent career subplot.
- Norman Osborn appears as he orchestrates the Gathering of Five ritual, waiting at LaGuardia Airport for Jerry Franklin—only for teenage Mattie to show up in her father's place instead.
- Mattie's first full appearance and identification by name followed in Amazing Spider-Man #441 (November 1998); she first appeared as Spider-Woman in Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #5 (1999).
- The entire Gathering of Five storyline, including this issue, was collected in the trade paperback Spider-Man: The Gathering of Five (Marvel, 2013).
- This is the second-to-last issue of the original Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 1 run, which concluded with #263 (November 1998).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Spider-Man: The Gathering of Five #[nn] (2013)
Key issues in The Spectacular Spider-Man
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