Amazing Spider-Man by Joe Kelly and Pepe Larraz: Reading Order up to #1000

Number 1000 brought many readers into shops who had not opened Amazing Spider-Man in years. They discover a main story that assumes knowing a character who appeared in the spring, an Aunt May at the center of a family revelation, and allusions to Peter's stay in space. Nothing insurmountable, provided you know where each thread begins.

This guide covers only one run, the one running since April 2025. For all of Spider-Man's eras since 1962, our Spider-Man reading guide remains the right entry point. Here, the goal is narrower and more practical: to say in what order to read the thirty-five issues of the volume, which are essential, which can wait, and where to find them in collected form.

Reference points before starting

The current volume follows Zeb Wells's run, which ended at #70 of the previous volume. Marvel relaunched the series with a #1 cover-dated June 2025, on sale April 9, 2025, and kept the historic numbering in parallel: #1 is also #965, #35 is #999, and the anniversary issue directly takes up the number 1000. There is therefore no "#36": the series jumps from #35 to #1000.

The cadence is twice monthly, two issues a month as a rule, which explains why a year and a half of publication is enough to reach thirty-five issues. The writer is Joe Kelly on almost the entire volume. Kelly is no newcomer to the character: he was part of the writing team of the so-called Brand New Day period, between 2008 and 2010. On the art side, the series works by rotation, with Pepe Larraz and John Romita Jr. as pillars, and Ed McGuinness increasingly present from fall 2025.

Block 1: #1 to #5, "Get Back Up" (April to June 2025)

Peter Parker is unemployed and looking for a job. The Rhino suddenly becomes an uncontrollable monster of destruction, and Spider-Man himself begins to lose control of his senses. The only ally still available is Norman Osborn, rid of the Green Goblin, which makes the situation as funny as it is worrying. A childhood friend of Peter's reappears, and an old enemy strikes Peter and his companion of the moment, Shay Marken.

The mastermind of the affair is revealed in #4, and #5 ends on the Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley, who goes after Peter's loved ones. Larraz draws all five issues; #1, at 40 pages, includes as a supplement a short story drawn by Romita Jr.

Block 2: #6 to #10, "Through the Gates of Hell" (June to August 2025)

Peter's life is going better: a steady job, and Black Cat agreeing to speak to him again. That is the moment Hellgate, a new adversary, chooses to attack him in the middle of Manhattan. Issues #6 to #8, drawn by Romita Jr., show the worst beating of Spider-Man's career, in front of the whole city.

Issues #9 and #10, drawn by Michael Dowling, show a Peter determined to get stronger by any means, which pushes him to hit harder than usual. The Shocker and his new allies, the Aftershocks, serve as a first test. Mary Jane, for her part, announces a revelation that will only make full sense in Death Spiral.

Block 3: #11 to #22, two Spider-Men and two threads (September 2025 to February 2026)

This is the passage that most disorients new readers, because it reads on two parallel tracks. Issue #11, a 64-page double issue released on September 3, 2025 and numbered 975 in historic continuity, opens both threads at once: a Spider-Man in New York who dispenses justice without mercy, and another Spider-Man in a distant solar system, in the company of strange companions. It is also the first appearance of Symbie.

The space thread: #11, #13, #15, #17, #19, #22

After his defeat against Hellgate, Peter finds himself lost in space with a motley crew that includes Rocket Raccoon and Symbie. He gains a new costume, faces a giant creature in single combat, and wonders whether he really wants to go home. Issue #19 brings him back face to face with Hellgate for a second round, and #22 sends him back to Earth with Raelith, Glitch and Symbie.

The Earth thread: #12, #14, #16, #18, #20, #21

Meanwhile, New York is not without a Spider-Man. Norman Osborn, who is not the real Spider-Man but the one the city has at hand, tries to do good, and everyone is trying to stop him, including Peter's allies. A mysterious Goblin Slayer has been hunting the former Goblins since the start of the volume, a new Spider-Slayer threatens the young heroine Kintsugi, and the Hobgoblin returns with an army of Goblin hunters to finish off Norman. Issue #21 concludes with the sacrifice of one of the Spiders. On Peter's return, #22 reveals that another has taken his place in his civilian life.

Two ways of reading this block exist. The first follows release order, alternating the two threads as readers did at the time. The second, more comfortable, reads each thread in one go, which the two collected editions make possible. Both are defensible; the second is clearer for a first read.

Block 4: Death Spiral (February to April 2026)

Death Spiral is a nine-part event, split between Amazing Spider-Man and Venom, followed by an epilogue. The villain is Torment, a serial killer who methodically eliminates the members of the Parker, Reilly and Brock families. Spider-Man must team up with Venom, under whose mask Mary Jane now hides, and with an Eddie Brock linked to Carnage. The Shocker is killed in it.

The event has a prologue in the free issue of the 2025 annual free-comic day devoted to the Ultimate universe and to Amazing Spider-Man. The reading order is then as follows:

1. Amazing Spider-Man / Venom: Death Spiral #1 (February 25, 2026), written by Joe Kelly, Al Ewing and Charles Soule, drawn by Jesús Saíz
2. Amazing Spider-Man #23 (March 4, 2026)
3. Venom #255
4. Amazing Spider-Man #24 (March 18, 2026)
5. Amazing Spider-Man #25 (March 25, 2026)
6. Venom #256
7. Amazing Spider-Man #26 (April 8, 2026)
8. Venom #257
9. Amazing Spider-Man #27 (April 22, 2026)
10. Amazing Spider-Man / Venom: Death Spiral Body Count #1, as an epilogue

For those who read only the main series, the Venom episodes are missing, and the reading suffers. For those who aim only at #1000, two issues of the event are enough: #26, where the man who will become Ravage appears for the first time, and #27, which concludes the arc and where he hears Torment call Spider-Man "cousin."

Block 5: #28 to #35, the road to #1000 (May to August 2026)

This is the essential block. Issue #28 serves as a transition: Peter has scores to settle after Death Spiral and after his long absence, and a magical threat from time does not help. Issues #29 and #30, drawn by Pete Woods, pit Spider-Man against Spore, after an accident for which Peter feels responsible, and see Mac Crane introduce himself to Aunt May as a volunteer.

Issue #31, released on June 17, 2026 and drawn by Patrick Gleason, is the pivot of the whole run: Mac is Ben and May's biological son. Issue #32 pits Spider-Man against the Vulture while the consequences of the revelation settle in. Issues #33 to #35 introduce a new Damage Control team, bring back Electro in #34 and put Spider-Man in conflict with Ghost-Spider in #35, the last issue before the anniversary. Issue #34 tells in parallel Mac's childhood with the Cranes.

Block 6: #1000 and what follows

Amazing Spider-Man #1000 came out on September 30, 2026, two weeks behind the planned September 16 date, because of a printing problem. Its 104 pages bring together the main story "Ravaged," by Joe Kelly and Pepe Larraz, and a series of anniversary tales signed by authors from every era of the character: Dan Slott and Marcos Martin, Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen, Frank Miller and Peach Momoko, Noah Hawley and Patrick Gleason, J.M. DeMatteis and Humberto Ramos, Larry Lieber and Giuseppe Camuncoli. An interview with Tom Holland completes the contents.

The anniversary tales read independently. Only the main story assumes block 5. For everything about the covers and choosing a copy, see our collecting guide to #1000.

What follows is scheduled in October 2026, with the same team:

• #1001, on October 14, 2026: the direct consequences of #1000, Spider-Man facing Ravage, and May caught between the two.
• #1002, on October 28, 2026: third round between Spider-Man and Ravage.

The same October 28 also sees the second printing of #1000, with penciled covers. It is not a new issue, and it contains nothing more.

Reading paths according to your time

A note on the order of issues in your collection: with two numberings, it is easy to record the same issue twice. Keep the simple rule: add 964 to the cover number to get the historic number. For the other spider-themed series of 2026, notably the horror line launched in October, see our article on the key issues of Midnight Spider-Man.

Frequently asked questions