By [ad_1]
Today, we try to pinpoint the exact first time that Spider-Man met an alternate reality version of Spider-Man from another part of the Multiverse.
In “When We First Met”, we spotlight the various characters, phrases, objects or events that eventually became notable parts of comic lore, like the first time someone said, “Avengers Assemble!” or the first appearance of Batman’s giant penny or the first appearance of Alfred Pennyworth or the first time Spider-Man’s face was shown half-Spidey/half-Peter. Stuff like that.
Last week, in response to a number of readers’ request for me to note the first time that Spider-Man visited an alternate reality in the Multiverse, I gave that answer. However, it appears that the people who were asking it really weren’t looking for the first time that Spider-Man went into the Multiverse, but rather more specifically, when did Spider-Man go into the Multiverse and meet an alternate reality version of Spider-Man. Well, let’s take a look!
THE EVER-AMORPHOUS DEFINTIION OF WHAT A WORLD IN THE MULTIVERSE IS, EXACTLY
One of the weirdest things to me in comic book fandom…or at least the section of comic book fandom that defines the worlds in the Multiverse, has been the expansion of the concept of Multiverse worlds to go well beyond the idea of the Multiverse being filled with alternate realities or possible futures, but expanding the definition of “possible futures” to now include visions and dreams. There’s an issue of Amazing Spider-Man that was part of a novel idea at the time called “Marvel Flashback Month” where each comic book had a “minus #1” which was set in the past of that character/team BEFORE the character became a superhero/group was formed (this occurred during the period where the Avengers and Fantastic Four were in the middle of Heroes Reborn, so they weren’t involved). In Amazing Spider-Man #-1 (by Tom DeFalco, Joe Bennett and Bud LaRosa), we saw young Peter Parker reading through his Uncle Ben’s comic book collection and then imagining himself as the superheroes he was reading about…
Under one understanding of the Multiverse (an understanding that has become more popular in recent years), each one of those Peter-superhero hybrids would exist in their own Multiverse world, the world where said Peter-superhero lives. That seems to be a bridge too far for me, but at the same time, I think we have to accept that specifically delineated alternate futures DO count as different worlds in the Multiverse. So Rachel Summers coming to “our” Marvel Earth from the Days of Future Past reality means that she is coming from another world in the Multiverse. That’s fair enough to me, even though it is way too difficult to avoid talking about the “future” as if it was something that actually exists and can be changed/altered in “our” timeline. But whatever, let’s still take that into account for the sake of this discussion.
THE FIRST SPIDER-VERSE?
The final episodes of the 1990s Spider-Man series were a two-part episode written by the show’s producer, John Semper Jr., called “Spider-Wars,” where Spider-Man travels to an alternate reality where that dimension’s Spider-Man had merged with the Carnage symbiote to become Spider-Carnage. That universe’s Spider-Man teamed up with Kingpin, Alistair Smythe, the Hobgoblin and the Green Goblin to raze that dimension’s New York City. Spider-Man teams up with a group of Spider-Men from other dimensions to defeat Spider-Carnage.
Now, obviously, superheroes had been teaming up with alternate reality versions of themselves for decades…
but that does not take away from the fact that this cartoon was the first time it had happened with SPIDER-MAN.
It still doesn’t answer when it first happened in the comics, though. So now that we’ve established when it first happened OUTside of comics, let’s concentrate on INside of comics from hereon out (so no Shattered Dimensions, for instance).
THE FIRST SPIDER-MEN MEETING IN THE COMICS??
With all of these definitions of the Multiverse in mind, then it seems like the correct answer is Spider-Man 2099 Meets Spider-Man, a one-shot comic released in 1995 by Peter David, Rick Leonardi and Al Williamson (the original creative team on Spider-Man 2099) that saw Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Spider-Man 2099 (Miguel O’Hara) suddenly switch places in their respective realities and hilarity, as they say, ensued. That is, until both heroes are drawn together into a brand-new conflict, allowing them to share the story together for a brief period…
However, once in ANOTHER possible future, they discover that their adventure earlier in the issue were all a result of the actions of Spider-Man 2211!!
So this issue was not just Spider-Man’s first meeting with an alternate reality Spider-Man, but it was also the first meeting of MORE than two Spider-Men at once!
But here’s the slight catch to me, there’s always going to be that hesitation over saying that a future is SPECIFICALLY an alternate reality or not, and in this comic, we see it when we discover that Miguel going back in time and teaming up with Spidey has someone resulted in the specific date of the “Great Cataclysm” has changed. Could just be a coincidence, but it sure seems like we’re tying to get in a little bit of “Maybe the past CAN alter the future” stuff in here, right? Which is always going to be the trouble with these future stories, which is why I think the “real” answer is probably a later comic book.
PERHAPS THE REAL FIRST SPIDER-MEN MEETING?
The comic book that just outright, 100% screams “THIS IS A CROSSOVER BETWEEN SPIDER-MAN AND AN ALERNATE REALITY VERSION OF SPIDER-MAN” would be 2012’s Spider-Men #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Sara Pichelli and Justin Ponsor where Peter Parker is transported to the Ultimate Universe where he comes face to face with Miles Morales, also known as Spider-Man…
So that, I think, is really the true answer for when Spider-Men met an alternate reality Spider-Man in the comics.
Thanks to everyone who suggested this one. If anyone else has a suggestion for a notable comic book first, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!
About The Author
[ad_2]
