AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #5 (1963)

flash Thompson Spider-Man

A true timeless classic, and one that’s been adapted and retold multiple times in future Amazing Spider-Mans, other comics, and cartoons.  It’s the one where Flash dresses as Spidey and gets nabbed by the bad guys.

It’s also the first crossover between two different Marvel comics that clearly fits in continuity.  It picks up where Fantastic Four #17 left off, with Doom jumping out of a plane to escape the FF…

Doom then has a run-in with Spidey.  Interestingly, he contacts Spider-Man via his spider-sense, indicating that at least one other person knows he has it.

Great battle scenes.

And of course Spider-Man can’t take down the guy who takes down the entire Fantastic Four…

And the FF rescue him in the end.

This is a huge step forward for the “shared universe” concept.  The only thing missing is the editor’s box telling the reader that this happened in FF#17.

This is one of the 100 best single-issue stories of all time, according to this objectively accurate list.

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