Spider-Man: Chapter One

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This section does not cite any references or sources. (December 2007)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Creative team
Spider-Man: Chapter One
Cover to Spider-Man: Chapter One #1. Art by John Byrne. This image is a homage to Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko's August 1962 cover for Amazing Fantasy #15, which was the first appearance of Spider-Man. [1]
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	monthly
Format	limited series
Publication date	Dec 1998 - Oct 1999
Number of issues	13 (#0-12)
Main character(s)	Spider-Man
Writer(s)	John Byrne
Artist(s)	John Byrne
Colorist(s)	John Kalisz
Creator(s)	Stan Lee Steve Ditko

Spider-Man: Chapter One is the name of a comic book limited series starring Spider-Man published by Marvel Comics for 13 issues (#1-12, with a #0 added between #6 and #7) from December 1998 to October 1999.

The entire series was written and drawn by John Byrne. In some ways it can be seen as an attempt to repeat his previous success for DC Comics with Superman in the 1986 six-issue limited series The Man of Steel. In a fashion similar to that previous series Chapter One was an attempt to revive interest in the Spider-Man character by revamping aspects of his backstory.

An example of the changes introduced was the tying of the origin of Doctor Octopus to that of Spider-Man.

The comic was controversial. Some fans objected to Byrne's perceived tampering with the classic Spider-Man stories produced by his creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and complained that the original 1960s stories did not require any updating at all. For his part, Byrne has said that the series was intended to be more along the lines of the Heroes Reborn event, in that it was supposed to be a new interpretation of the character designed to draw in new readers. According to Byrne, when criticism of the series began, Marvel started insisting that it was, in fact, intended to replace the original Lee-Ditko stories, fueling the controversy.

The series disregarded the then recently finished Untold Tales of Spider-Man series, rendering its stories non-canonical. In some ways similar to Chapter One, Untold Tales also featured stories from Spider-Man's early career, but instead of replacing the original comics they added to them, telling stories which occurred at the same time. Untold Tales was popular with many of the same fans who criticised Byrne's limited series.

However Chapter One was a modest sales success (possibly because it was sold only through the direct market, which limited its exposure to potential new readers), and it finished out its run as planned, even adding a #0 in April 1999 between #6 and 7.

Since Byrne left the Spider-Man titles, his successors have shied away from making any references to the series, and it is now commonly assumed that the original stories have regained their canonical status.

A postscript of sorts to the series can be found in the success of the Ultimate Spider-Man series Marvel launched a year later in 2000. Yet another attempt to retell Spider-Man's origins, the newer series sidestepped the canon/non canon continuity question by setting its stories in an entirely new universe. Ultimate Spider-Man by Bill Jemas, Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley was a critical sales success which continues to be published today.

Yet another retelling of early Spider-Man stories came in 2004 with the launch of Marvel Age Spider-Man, (later retitled Marvel Adventures Spider-Man). This title, which is aimed at younger readers, also retells many of Lee and Ditko's stories (as Chapter One did), though the series is clearly meant to be set outside mainstream Marvel continuity.