Spider-Man mash-up variant covers celebrate Spidey's 60th anniversary

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Another round of Marvel Comics mash-ups mark Spider-Man turning 60

art from Captain Marvel #39 cover by David Baldeon
art from Captain Marvel #39 cover by David Baldeon (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

2022 is the 60th anniversary of Spider-Man (and a lot of other iconic Marvel characters) and Marvel has revealed one of what's sure to be many marketing celebrations of the occasion - a series of variant covers featuring Marvel characters wearing versions of Spider-Man's costume (or as close as they can come).

Artists contributing to the variant cover theme that debuts with titles on sale in April include Dan Jurgens, Kaare Andrews, Rahzzah, Kyle Hotz, Declan Shalvey, Pete Woods, Rod Reis, David Baldeón, Bengal, Romina Jones, and more.

On sale April 6

  • Amazing Spider-Man #1 by Romina Jones
  • Carnage #2 Spider-Man by Kyle Hotz with colors by Alex Guimarães
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Spider-Man variant covers
(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

On sale April 13

  • Shang-Chi #11 by Rahzzah
  • Thor #24 by Declan Shalvey
  • Venom #7 by Pete Woods
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Spider-Man variant covers
(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

On sale April 20

  • Silk #4 by Bengal
  • Silver Surfer Rebirth #4 by Rod Reis
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Spider-Man variant covers
(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

On sale April 27

  • Iron Man #19 by Dan Jurgens with inks by Brett Breeding and colors by Edgar Delgado
  • Immortal X-Men #2 by Kaare Andrews
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Spider-Man variant covers
(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

On sale in June

  • Captain Marvel #39 by David Baldeon with colors by Israel Silva
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Spider-Man variant covers
(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

The publisher also promises more Spider-Man variant cover reveals in the coming weeks.

The mash-up of characters with Spider-Man is another example of what's become a very popular creative and marketing conceit for Marvel Comics. 

Mixing and matching heroes and villains with another has become a go-to practice, with the current Devil's Reign: Superior Four limited series featuring a mash-up of Doctor Octopus and three-quarters of Marvel's 'New Fantastic Four' line-up of Ghost Rider, Wolverine, the Hulk, and Punisher, and limited series starring Spider-Gwen and Miles Morales - Spider-Gwen: Gwen-Verse and What if...Miles Morales, respectively, that mash their characters up with other Marvel heroes. 

And then there is the new Avengers Forever ongoing series that includes Multiversal character mash-ups like Tony Stark the Invincible Ant-Man. 

Look for Marvel's full April 2022 solicitations later this week. 

Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man was of course the most popular new character Marvel Comics introduced in a storied 1962, with included the debuts of the Hulk, Doctor Doom, Thor, and Ant-Man-Henry Pym.

Wow. 

Check out the most popular new Marvel character introduced each year for the storied '60s.

Michael Doran

I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.