Legacy numbering started out as a fun gift to fans, sort of a way to apologize for relaunching so many series. When it comes to Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man is the only series that has been continuously published through multiple relaunches. However, there are some quirks to remember as it has been retitled (Superior Spider-Man) or temporarily replaced by a mini-series. Many of the other Spider-Man series with legacy numbering were determined after the fact, and would combine numbering from volumes that were years apart. Also, gimmick or decimal numbers are not included in the count as they wouldn’t be counted as whole numbers for a series that had never been relaunched.
The “Quick Math” section under each series is what number to add to an issue from a particular volume to get its legacy number.
Amazing Spider-Man
#1-441
Amazing Spider-Man volume 1 #1-441
(series began in 1963)
#442-499
Amazing Spider-Man volume 2 #1-58
(series began in 1999)
Key issue: #30 (471) – beginning of JMS run, also legacy numbering printed on covers until #500
Quick math: 441
#500-700
Amazing Spider-Man volume 1 #500-700
(series reverted to original numbering in 2004)
#701-731
Superior Spider-Man #1-31
(series ran in 2013-2014)
Quick math: 700
#732-737
Amazing Spider-Man volume 3 #1-6
(series began in 2014)
Quick math: 731
#738-739
Superior Spider-Man #32-33
(series was revived for two issues as a Spider-Verse tie-in)
#740-751
Amazing Spider-Man volume 3 #7-18
Key issues: #9-15 (742-748) – Spider-Verse event
Quick math: 739
There is possibly some debate on where to include Superior Spider-Man #32-33 in sequence, but ASM v.3 #18 will still become #751.
#752-756
Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1-5
(2015 mini-series tie-in to Secret Wars)
Quick math: 751
#757-788
Amazing Spider-Man volume 4 #1-32
(series began in 2015)
Key issues: #20-24 (776-780) – Clone Conspiracy tie-ins
Quick math: 756
#789-801
Amazing Spider-Man volume 1 #789-801
(series reverted to original numbering as part of Marvel Legacy initiative in 2017)
Dan Slott’s run began in #648 and ended with #801. He had 4 #1s in his run.
#802-894
Amazing Spider-Man volume 5 #1-93
(series began in 2018 – all issues include legacy numbering)
Key issue: #75 (876) – beginning of “Beyond” run
Quick math: 801
#895-current
Amazing Spider-Man volume 6 #1-current
(series began in 2022)
Key issues: #6 (900) – 60th anniversary special
#9 (903) – Hellfire Gala tie-in
#10 (904) – Judgment Day tie-in
Quick math: 894
*As of the November 2024 solicitations, the most recent issue is #52 (956).
Spectacular Spider-Man
#1-263
Spectacular Spider-Man volume 1 #1-263
(series ran 1976-1998)
#264-290
Spectacular Spider-Man volume 2 #1-27
(series ran 2003-2005)
#291-296
Spectacular Spider-Man volume 3 #1-6
(series began in 2017)
#297-313
Spectacular Spider-Man volume 1 #297-313
(series reverted to original numbering as part of Marvel Legacy initiative in 2017)
Spider-Man (1990)
#1-74
Spider-Man #1-74
(series began in 1990 by Todd McFarlane)
#75-98
Peter Parker, Spider-Man #75-98
(series was retitled to add “Peter Parker” upon conclusion of the Clone Saga in 1996)
#99-155
Peter Parker, Spider-Man volume 2 #1-57
(series began in 1999)
Annuals
Annuals have created their own kind of problems with legacy numbering. From the 1960s through the mid-1990s, Marvel numbered annuals sequentially, although they referred to some as “King Size” and/or “Specials”. Starting in 1995, the X-Men titles got annuals labelled by year (ex. ’95) with the practice expanding to the rest of the Marvel line in 1996. The Spider-Man titles released Super Specials in 1995 (all part of the “Planet of the Symbiotes” storyline), but those have not been counted in legacy numbering. In 1998, all of the Marvel annuals were team-ups, and some characters or groups were represented in multiple annuals. In most cases, whichever series was referred to first in the title claims that annual. From 1999-2001, Marvel continued to number by year (using all four digits), and then discontinued annuals in favor of extra regular issues during the year. Sometime in the late 2000s, annuals returned, but there has been no consistency among numbering practices. Some series got legacy numbers, some get a new Annual #1 to go with each relaunch, and some Annuals get renumbered even if the parent series had not been relaunched. And naturally, over the years, there have been misnumbered and forgotten annuals.
Amazing Spider-Man
#1-28 - numbered sequentially
Marvel does not count the Super Special in 1995.
#29-30 – identified by the years – ’96 and ’97
#31 - Amazing Spider-Man/Devil Dinosaur Annual 1998 (team-up annual)
#32-34 – identified by full years 1999-2001
#35 – Labeled as Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, but with #35 as the legacy number. Came out during the “Brand New Day” era, so was still technically part of ASM volume 1.
#36-39 – Numbered sequentially in order #36-39
The two Superior Spider-Man annuals would go here.
#40 – Amazing Spider-Man volume 3 Annual #1
#41 – another Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 – I presume it goes with ASM volume 4?
#42 – because it came out in the era of Marvel Legacy (circa ASM #789), it got the actual number of #42.
#43 – Yet another Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (corresponds with ASM volume 5), but at least this as the legacy number of #43 printed on the cover as well.
Aloha, thank you for your hard work and effort in developing this list.