Spider-Man's Tangled Web

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Cover to Spider-Man's Tangled Web #1 (June, 2001). Art by Glenn Fabry.

Spider-Man's Tangled Web is the name of a comic book series starring Spider-Man and his supporting cast published by Marvel Comics for 22 issues from June 2001 to March 2003.

The title was conceived as an anthology series, where various creative teams not usually associated with Spider-Man (usually creators who had previously worked for alternative or Vertigo comics) could display their take on the character.

Creators who contributed to the title included Peter Milligan, Duncan Fegredo, Kaare Andrews, Darwyn Cooke, Zeb Wells, Sean Phillips, Brian Azzarello, Paul Pope, Jim Mahfood, Ted McKeever and even professional wrestler Scott 'Raven' Levy. The series was edited by Axel Alonso for the first 17 issues and afterwards by John Miesegaes.

Despite having his name in the title, Spider-Man was often an ancillary character in these stories, appearing on only a few pages or just making a cameo appearance.

Issue #4's "Severance Package" by Greg Rucka and Eduardo Risso was nominated for an Eisner Award for "Best Single Issue of a Comic Book" in 2002.

The lengths of the storyline depended on each team. The shortest were just one issue ("Severance Package" etc.) and the longest ran for 3 issues (#1-3's "The Coming of the Thousand" by Garth Ennis and John McCrea and "Gentlemen's Agreement" by Bruce Jones and Lee Weeks in #7-9).

The first six issues were collected into a trade paperback titled "Spider-Man's Tangled Web, Vol. 1" (ISBN 0785108033) published in 2002.

Sales on the series lagged behind the other Spider-Man titles throughout its run and it was finally cancelled in 2003 to make way for the new The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 2 comic by Paul Jenkins and Humberto Ramos.

In order to give the creators more creative freedom on the book, much of what occurred in the series was considered out of regular Spider-Man continuity.

The Issues

1. "The Coming of the Thousand", Part 1 by Garth Ennis, John McCrea, and James Hodgkins
2. "The Coming of the Thousand", Part 2 by Ennis, McCrea, and Hodgkins
3. "The Coming of the Thousand", Part 3 by Ennis, McCrea, and Hodgkins
4. "Severance Package" by Greg Rucka and Eduardo Risso
5. *Featuring the Kingpin
6. "Flowers for Rhino", Part 1 by Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo
7. *Featuring the Rhino
8. "Flowers for Rhino", Part 2 by Milligan and Fegredo
9. *Featuring the Rhino
10. "Gentleman's Agreement", Part 1 by Bruce Jones, Lee Weeks, and Josef Rubinstein
11. "Gentleman's Agreement", Part 2 by Jones, Weeks, and Rubinstein
12. "Gentleman's Agreement", Part 3 by Jones, Weeks, Rubinstein, and Jimmy Palmiotti
13. "Ray of Light" by Kaare Andrews
14. *Featuring Electro
15. "Open All Night" by Darwyn Cooke and Jay Bone
16. *Featuring the Vulture
17. "I was a Teenage Frogman" by Zeb Wells and Duncan Fegredo
18. *Featuring Frogman
19. "Double Shots" by Ron Zimmerman and Sean Phillips
20. *Featuring Kraven the Hunter, the Vulture, Tombstone
21. "The Last Shoot" by Brian Azzarello, Scott Levy, and Giuseppe Camuncoli
22. *Featuring Crusher Hogan

Tangled Web #20. Art by Dean Haspiel.