Don't start by reading the entire history of Spider-Man

I was 17 when I set out to read every single Spider-Man comic. Well, at least the amount I thought was “all” of them back then. To my surprise, there were many more (I don’t remember my original plan very well; I probably just wanted to read 800 comics, but as I went along, I kept including more stories so I wouldn’t “miss out” on anything during the experience). However, I had to partially stop after starting my first year of university, where my reading collided fiercely with my classes. Eventually, I left to study on my own, but since I wanted to finish the goals I had set for myself before starting college, I decided it was time to pick up and finish Spider-Man. So, I started from scratch (oof) and this time I made sure to have a guide to… cover everything (or almost everything).

Did I make it? Not quite. I stopped when the Spider-Man line reached the year 2018 (the comics were being published shortly after the release of Infinity War). I stopped for two reasons. First, exhaustion: I wasn’t in school, I wasn’t socializing, and I wasn’t taking breaks… so practically all I did was read comics, unless I was eating, exercising (which I hated due to the stress), or reading a book, as I used to read for two hours every day.

Second, the realization that… I had made a bad decision. The turning point came mainly because my guide ended in 2018, and I realized I had to create a second guide just to keep reading up to the current issues, lol.

I’m sharing my experience because I don’t want anyone else to repeat my decision of trying to read every Marvel or Spider-Man comic. Instead, I recommend starting with the best runs or the best stories, or better yet, if you’re excited for Spider-Man: Brand New Day (or if you’re reading this after the movie came out and want to enjoy it even more—since I doubt you’ll want to watch it only once!), I have a comic guide prepared for exactly that right here.

It’s true that my site also allows you to start reading through the complete Spider-Man continuity, but I recommend reading other stories and familiarizing yourself with the universe first. Heck, you could perhaps start with what I consider the most important era (the High School and College saga) and leave it at that if you wish. But I know eventually you’ll be interested in more (who wouldn’t?) and you’ll find your way back to Spider-Hub, because in my case, I plan to read Spider-Man until the day I die (though from now on, I only plan to focus on the best stories—for example, I recently read Ultimate Spider-Man by Jonathan Hickman).