This is the decade where things start to get really messy.
Top Ten 90s Spider-Man Issues
Nathan Lubensky Dies: The Amazing Spider-Man 336, 1990
Carnage: TASM 361-363, 1992
Pete’s Parents Return: TASM 366, 1992
Spider-Man + Venom Team-Up: TASM 375, 1993
Pete’s Parents Are Robots: TASM 388, 1994
Web of Death, 1994 (TASM 397, Spectacular Spider-Man 220, TASM 398, SSM 221)
The Exile Returns, 1994 (Web of Spider-Man 118, Spider-Man Unlimited 7, Spider-Man 1990 52, WOS 119, Spider-Man 1990 53)
Absolute Clone Insanity: Spider-Man 1990 56, 1995
Aunt May Dies (Again): TASM 400, 1995
MJ’s Baby Dies: TASM 418, 1996
Now that I’ve read as many of these as I have, there’s one unfortunate overarching theme that keeps rearing its ugly head across the decades of Spider-Man comics. Stories can’t help but move forward. Every issue of Spider-Man across the past thirty years has tried to move the character from one place to another. It’s natural for the characters to change – they have to. That’s what stories are for.
And yet, there are these people who step into the writing process and resist that change with everything in them. Think back to Gwen Stacy dying in the 60s, and them bringing her back almost immediately because they couldn’t bear to let her stay dead. Aunt May died back in the 80s, and now here she is in the 90s dying again – only to come back a few issues later. Peter Parker’s parents turn out to have been alive after all this time…actually, no, they’re robots.
The 90s got a lot of flack in particular for their obsession with clones in the Spider-Man comics. “The Exile Returns” arc introduced us to Ben Reilly, a really interesting character born from a stray forgotten issue back in the 60s. But then like a million other clones showed up – including Gwen Stacy…again. The lack of permanence was really starting to mess with my enjoyment by this point.
Perhaps the greatest crime of the 90s, though, was not any of the clone business but Mary Jane’s pregnancy. Back when Pete and MJ tied the knot back in 87, it felt like we were getting one of the first big permanent changes to his character since Gwen Stacy’s death. The character was growing, and that came with new challenges to face. It was new and exciting, even though it wasn’t the Spider-Man we started off with. So when MJ reveals that she’s pregnant in the “Web of Death” issues, it felt like we were about to reach another major moment in Spidey’s life. Seeing Peter Parker have to juggle being a superhero and a father was a really exciting idea.
But just as this story was about to take off, someone stepped in and undid it. MJ loses the baby. And to be honest with you, I’m still not entirely sure how it happened. I read the issue where it happened, and then I scoured the web (no pun intended) for an explanation. I read other issues that referenced the moment. Did the baby die? Was the baby kidnapped? Was it an accident, or was it part of a nefarious plan involving the return of the Green Goblin?
Oh yeah – he came back too. Another moment of someone stepping in to rewrite history.
Anyway, it still isn’t clear to me exactly how or why the baby got out of the picture. But the strangest thing of all is that even a loss like this could have been such a major moment in Spidey’s life, but only a few issues later MJ is back to her modelling career and Spidey is beating up bad guys like nothing ever happened. Spidey being a dad could’ve been amazing, but Pete and MJ learning to come to terms with the loss of their child could’ve been amazing too – and we didn’t get either of them. Something happened to keep the character from growing, and it’s this aspect of the genre that’s really starting to get to me.
Which isn’t a good sign considering I know what’s coming next.