Mark Bagley gets his hands on Spidey & Green Goblin with Amazing Spider-Man #850 variant

(Image credit: Mark Bagley (Marvel Comics))

Mark Bagley, arguably the most popular Spider-Man artist of the past three decades, returns to Amazing Spider-Man for its upcoming #850 issue - not for an interior story however, but for a variant - where he gets his hands on both Peter Parker and the returning Green Goblin.

Bagley made his name when he took over for Erik Larsen on the Amazing Spider-Man title in 1991. The artist, who broke into comics by winning a Marvel talent contest, drew 56 issues over the course of five years and became arguably the definitive Spider-Man artist in the post-Image era. Over the years Bagley has returned to the title (as well as drawing notable spin-offs), including drawing July 29's Amazing Spider-Man #45.

Amazing Spider-Man #850 (#49 in the current numbering, but legacy renumbered to celebrate the title's 850th issue) is described as a "climactic chapter in the wall crawler's years-long conflict with the Goblin-masked madman. Spidey has faced his share of hardships, but even the worst things that have happened to him are just a prelude to what transpires here," the issue's solicitation reads.

Here's a collection of all the released covers for Amazing Spider-Man #850 so far, including Bagley's:

Image 1 of 9

"This is maybe the most action-packed and harrowing issue of Amazing Spider-Man ever!" Marvel's executive editor Nick Lowe said previously about the issue. "There are so many twists and turns and Spidey has never had his back up against a wall like this before."

Amazing Spider-Man #850 goes on sale on September 22.

Check out our rundown of the greatest comic book artists to ever draw Spider-Man.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)