Spider-Man's Tangled Web

From Spider-Man Wiki

Spider-Man's Tangled Web is 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 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).

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.

Interestingly, Tangled Web #1 (see picture to the right) was the subject of a recall due to the incorrect paper stock being used for the cover. A second print run was ordered with the correct paper stock thus making a collectors item of the rarer first print.