The Amazing Spider-Man daily syndicated newspaper comic strip is coming to an end in its current form.

Artist Alex Saviuk confirmed that his and Roy Thomas' run on the strip was ending, explaining that “March 23 will be the last Daily and March 17 will be the last Sunday as we close out the current storyline.” Notably, the March 17 Sunday edition does certainly read like an ending.

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Amazing Spider-Man Comic Strip

After the daily strip, which still bears Stan Lee's name. wraps up in a few weeks, Amazing Spider-Man distributor King Features Syndicate will be putting out reruns of some of Spider-Man's previous newspaper-based adventures beginning March 25.

King Features released an official statement that suggests that the strip could continue in some format, possibly with a focus on the wider Marvel Universe.

As the official statement from King Features Syndicate says,  (via Reed Brennan),

You'll be seeing some changes in your friendly neighborhood Amazing Spider-Man comic strip over the coming months. Starting on March 25, King Features and Marvel will be re-running some of Spider-Man's greatest hits. We'll be back soon with great new stories and art to explore even more corners of the Marvel Universe for you and your readers to enjoy. We'll be announcing more about these new adventures in the very near future, so keep your Spidey senses tuned in!

Following Stan Lee's passing this past November, a major change for Spidey's daily comic strip was to be expected, with D.D. Degg of The Daily Cartoonist speculating that Thomas, Lee's longtime ghost writer, may start receiving public credit going forward. However, it now appears that the strip will go through a more complete overhaul that would probably feature a new creative team.

“I know nothing of any Spidey strip to come, only that the one Alex Saviuk and I (and until recently Larry Lieber) had been doing is kaput," Thomas admitted.

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In a his own statement, Saviuk added, "Now that KFS has posted their statement, yes, the Spider-Man strip as we know it has come to an end. As much as Roy Thomas and I were hoping that the strip would go on to continue Stan Lee's legacy just as King Features did with The Phantom after Lee Falk died 20 years ago, that's not the case here."

"It's news to me that in the statement it mentioned a new strip starting up possibly months down the road after they reprint some classic Lee-Romita stories from 40 years age, or 30 years ago, whichever they choose," Saviuk continued. "A strip further exploring the Marvel Universe as they say, which doesn't mean it would or wouldn't be Spider-Man, and if they were going to feature new creators or if they would call on Roy and me again to create stories in any universe they desire us to go."

"Time will tell, but in the meantime, it was glorious fun while it lasted, and I learned a huge lesson about not counting any chickens before they hatch," Saviuk added. "It was difficult inking and sending in my last week of Dailies a few weekends ago... It was like saying goodbye to my old friend all over again."

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While The Amazing Spider-Man comic strip has an uncertain future, it already has a rich history. In teh 42 years since it first launched in 1977, iconic industry veterans Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Alex Saviuk, John Romita Sr., Fred Kida and Larry Lieber have all lent their talents to Peter Parker's adventures on the funny pages.

(via The Daily Cartoonist)