Spider-Man made his first appearance in 1962, and by the time the 1970s began, he was one of Marvel's most popular heroes. The decade saw Spider-Man appear in his long-running Amazing Spider-Man series, a comic called Marvel Team-Up where Spidey teamed with different heroes in each issue, and another solo title titled Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man.

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This allowed Marvel to tell many Spider-Man stories in the decade, and some of the most iconic moments in Spider-Man's history took place in those issues. These issues included the death of two of Spider-Man's biggest supporting characters and the rise of one of his most dangerous enemies.

Amazing Spider-Man #82 (March 1970)

Spider-Man battles Electro in Spider-Man 82.

At the beginning of the decade, Spider-Man dealt a lot with his struggles as Peter Parker, which were just as dramatic and important as his battles as a web-slinging superhero. In Amazing Spider-Man #82 by Stan Lee and John Romita Jr., the story focused on Peter trying to make ends meet only to find Spider-Man's villains getting in the way.

Needing to make rent, Spider-Man offered to appear on a late-night talk show for money. What he didn't know was that Electro was out of prison and working as an electrician there. Electro attacked Spider-Man during the episode, and Peter failed to earn any money. It was a one-shot, but a perfect capsule of what Marvel did with Spider-Man in this decade: mix Peter's real-life problems with Spider-Man's fantastical challenges.

Amazing Spider-Man #90 (November 1970)

Spider-Man holding a dead George Stacy in Spider-Man 90.

In the 1970s and in the best 1980s Spider-Man comics, Peter Parker suffered through a lot of deaths in his life. The first major death Spider-Man experienced in the 1970s was Captain George Stacy's. This tragic event happened in Amazing Spider-Man #90 by Stan Lee and Gil Kane.

Spider-Man was fighting Doctor Octopus and Stacy died because of falling debris from a building. It was a huge loss, as this was Peter's girlfriend Gwen Stacy's dad. Spider-Man learned here that George knew his secret identity and asked him to protect his daughter. Sadly, this caused Gwen to blame Spider-Man for her dad's death. In addition, this death served as a prelude to the other eventful death Peter would experience in this decade.

Amazing Spider-Man #101 (October 1971)

Morbius fighting Spider-Man in issue 101.

In Amazing Spider-Man #101 by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, Marvel Comics introduced Morbius, the Living Vampire. This story was set up to perfectly show what kind of character Morbius was because it had him teaming with the Lizard, who fans already saw as a tragic villain.

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Just like Curt Connors, who didn't want to be a villain, Morbius only wanted to survive. This issue paired two tragic villains who couldn't easily be defeated with physical violence. Spider-Man had to find a way to deal with them knowing the humans behind the villains were mostly innocent, and he proved his status as a hero by realizing this moral quandary.

Amazing Spider-Man #122 (July 1973)

Spider-Man holds a dead Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 122.

Amazing Spider-Man #122 was one of the most important comic books in Spider-Man's history because this was the issue where Peter experienced the death of Gwen Stacy, a comic event that still holds up. Gwen's demise affected Spider-Man even worse than Uncle Ben's death years earlier and only added to the guilt the wallcrawler already experienced.

This issue also saw the apparent death of Norman Osborn as the Green Golbin seemed to die while fighting Spider-Man. This issue had dramatic ramifications in Peter's life. Gwen would continue to haunt him (through memories and various clones) while Norman's son Harry would eventually take up his father's villainous role and become the next Green Goblin.

Amazing Spider-Man #129 (February 1974)

Punisher shooting at Spider-Man in Spider-Man 129.

Amazing Spider-Man #129 stands out in comic book history for one main reason: it was the very first appearance of the Punisher. While he is an antihero in Marvel Comics, his first appearance here was as a Spider-Man antagonist, albeit one who another villain was using to try to kill the web-slinger for good.

Jackal convinced Frank Castle that Spider-Man was evil due mostly to J. Jonah Jameson's newspaper stories, which had always portrayed Spider-Man as a villain posing as a hero to gain innocent people's trust. Frank Castle eventually realized the error of his ways and refrained from assassinating Spidey. The Punisher would later appear in a variety of notable films & television shows and become one of Marvel's most popular characters in the 1980s and 1990s.

Amazing Spider-Man #131 (April 1974)

Doctor Octopus marrying Aunt May in Spider-Man 131.

The cover to Amazing Spider-Man #131 by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru was shocking. It showed Doctor Octopus marrying Aunt May with Spider-Man trying to stop it. Aunt May had been living with Doc Ock for a while and this issue had that iconic wedding scene, which of course failed.

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This book remains an iconic one, both for the eye-popping cover and for the book itself. It showed how Doctor Octopus could make Spider-Man's life a living hell, even when he didn't know he was doing it, and cemented him as one of Spidey's most persistent and dangerous villains.

Amazing Spider-Man #136 (September 1974)

Harry Osborn becomes Green Goblin in Spider-Man 136.

Amazing Spider-Man #136 had a major moment in Peter Parker's life that changed everything when Harry Osborn became the new Green Goblin. Harry and Peter had been friends for years, but Osborn had been starting to fall apart since his dad's death. Harry blamed Spider-Man and took on the role of the Goblin.

This specific issue played out with Harry's downward spiral as he saw hallucinations of his dad, who tormented him until he turned into his former friend's deadliest enemy. Harry's change from Peter's ally to villain was important in Spider-Man's lifelong guilt at losing people he loved, which is a recurring theme in the character's history.

Amazing Spider-Man #149 (October 1975)

Spider-Man in the clone saga issue 149.

In Amazing Spider-Man #149, the villainous Jackal created clones of Spider-Man and one of Peter Parker's main love interests, Gwen Stacy, and this sent Peter Parker's life into a tailspin. The end of this issue saw one Spider-Man seemingly die, ending the issue with a heroic sacrifice.

Amazing Spider-Man #149 remains a misunderstood issue, but that was because of what happened in the 1990s with the second Clone Saga. Issue #149 was the original Clone Saga, and while the bad reputation came because of Marvel prolonging the mystery surrounding Ben Reilly and Norman Osborn, this iteration was groundbreaking for its introduction of a possible substitute Spider-Man. This questioning of identity, both from the character and by the audience, would lend a degree of uncertainty to the wallcrawler's life, one that never really went away.

Amazing Spider-Man #153 (February 1976)

Spider-Man protecting a little girl in issue 153.

Spider-Man has plenty of solo one-shot issues that don't feature any colorful villains and just want to tell a personal and often touching story. In the 1970s, the perfect example of one of these comic issues was Amazing Spider-Man #153 by Len Wein and Ross Andru.

In this issue, a former Empire State football star returns to campus and finds some bad guys targeting him. The Kingpin has his men kidnap the former star's daughter because this man built a computer that tracks villains. The man ends up saving his daughter's life, but at the cost of his own, and Spider-Man was too late to save him. It was a heart-wrenching end that emphasized the famed "Parker luck." Just when Peter thinks he's successful, he encounters an unexpected setback that humbles him.

Amazing Spider-Man #194 (July 1979)

Black Cat attacks in first Spider-Man appearance in issue 194.

Toward the end of the 1970s, Spider-Man met one of his most iconic supporting characters for the first time. Amazing Spider-Man #194 by Marv Wolfman and Keith Pollard was Black Cat's first appearance in Spider-Man comics.

The two heroes eventually became lovers, mirroring the relationship between Batman and Catwoman. This was an important issue because Black Cat became one of Marvel's best female villains with her own solo series in 2020. What made it a great issue though was that this specific story set up her flirtatious relationship with Spider-Man from the start, one that remains a close friendship to this day.

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