Amazing Spider-Man Books in Order

Gerard Way’s corner of the Amazing Spider-Man world isn’t about Peter Parker swinging through Manhattan in the usual way. Instead, his contribution comes through the Spider-Verse event, which pulls together alternate-universe Spider‑heroes from across Marvel’s multiverse. In that context, Way was invited to imagine his own version of Spider-Man—and he responded with something that feels part mecha anime, part superhero comic, and very much his.

His story appears in Edge of Spider-Verse #5, a tie‑in to the larger Amazing Spider-Man–led crossover. Here, Spider-Man is SP//dr, a three‑part government project: a pilot, a biomechanical suit, and a sentient radioactive spider that literally shares the pilot’s brain. The pilot is Peni Parker, a young girl adopted by her universe’s Aunt May and Uncle Ben after her father dies in the armor. To inherit the role, she has to let the spider bite and bond with her, knowing that if it rejects her, she dies instead.

Way’s version of New York is more of a dense, neon futurist city than the familiar skyline readers know from the main Amazing Spider-Man series. Villains like Mysterio arrive reimagined through that lens, and Peni’s life feels closer to a mecha pilot in a coming‑of‑age anime than a street‑level superhero. The emotional core of the story revolves around expectation and legacy—Peni trying to live up to a father she barely remembers, and to the adults who see her as the only viable match for SP//dr.

Within the Spider-Verse framework, the issue also serves as Peni’s introduction to the wider “Spider‑Army.” By the end of the story, other Spider‑heroes arrive to warn her about a multiversal predator targeting every spider‑totem, setting her up to appear in later crossovers and adaptations. That single issue eventually inspired further SP//dr appearances in events like Spider-Geddon and helped pave the way for Peni’s role in animated projects that explored the Spider‑multiverse.

For readers coming from Way’s creator‑owned work, this slice of Amazing Spider-Man offers something familiar: a young protagonist carrying impossible expectations, a dense and stylish setting, and a tone that balances oddball humor with melancholy. You don’t need to read decades of Peter Parker stories to appreciate it; the SP//dr tale stands alone, while the collected Amazing Spider-Man: Edge of Spider-Verse trade lets you see how it sits alongside other alternate Spider‑worlds.