A Spider-Man comic strip was first proposed in 1970. Two weeks' worth of strips were written by Spider-Man co-creator
Stan Lee and illustrated by
John Romita Sr., but the series was never picked up. These strips later saw publication of a sort in the program for the 1975
Mighty Marvel Comic Convention. Years later Spider-Man publisher
Marvel Comics tried again, and the daily newspaper comic strip
The Amazing Spider-Man debuted on January 3, 1977. Produced by Marvel and syndicated by the
Register and Tribune Syndicate through 1985,
Cowles Media Company in 1986, and
King Features Syndicate after 1987, the comic strip was successful in an era with few serialized adventure strips. The strip slowly grew in circulation. Initially the creative team was again Lee and Romita. After four years Romita left the strip, but Stan Lee remained the credited writer of the strip's entire run of original material. Though renowned for his use of the
Marvel method, Lee wrote full scripts for the comic strip. Many characters of the strip have never appeared in other media, including the Rattler, the Protector, and Carole Jennings. In March 2019 it was announced the strip would be undergoing creative changes; ostensibly, new content was "temporarily" being put on hold, to be replaced with reprints of previous adventures. Saviuk and Thomas both announced their departures from the strip, and no announcement was made about any new writer or artist taking over the production of new material. On March 23, 2019, the final original newspaper
Amazing Spider-Man strip was published. All subsequently published strips have been reprints. Distribution of the reprints ended on October 21, 2023, replaced by a revival of
Flash Gordon. ==Reprints==