In this feature I spotlight changes made to comic book characters that are based on outside media. I'm sure you can think of other examples, so feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you want to suggest some other examples for future installments.

Today we look at Spider-Man's web shooters and the transition from mechanical web shooters to organic ones...

Spider-Man's web shooters debuted before he even first became a superhero! In Amazing Fantasy #15 (by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee), Peter Parker decides to become a costumed TV personality and to go along with his spider powers, he decides to invent webbing and a device that allows him to shoot the webbing...

The very first Amazing Spider-Man Annual in 1964 went into a bit more depth regarding the web shooters...

Anyhow, that was the status quo for Spider-Man for decades, he had mechanical web shooters that would have to be replaced, which would often lead to interesting situations where he would run out of web fluid mid-air, like this bit from Power Pack #21...

Just as an aside, but for a while there, Spider-Man had an alien costume, and the costume produced its own webbing, as shown here in Amazing Spider-Man #253...

But other than that point in time, Spider-Man had mechanical web shooters.

Things began to change, however, after the first Spider-Man film in 2002. The director of the film, Sam Raimi, decided that he didn't like the idea of high school student Peter Parker coming up with such a complicated invention, so instead he had Spider-Man's webs just be an organic part of his spider powers...

Go to the next page to see how the comics adopted the organic webbing, as well!

Interestingly enough, the changeover wasn't a particularly quick one.

It wasn't until the SECOND Spider-Man film was released that Marvel decided to alter Spider-Man's webbing to match the film. It all began in Spectacular Spider-Man #15-16 by Paul Jenkins and Michael Ryan. In the first issue, a mysterious woman calling herself the Queen shows up in New York City and soon she has a whole pile of subjects. At the end of the issue, she captures Spider-Man and guest-star Captain America. She then kisses Spider-Man on national television.

The next issue, he is still her captive...

Later, after they break free, Captain America seemingly deals with the Queen permanently...

I heard Cap cried for days after throwing her off of the building.

Luckily for Cap's tear ducts, she shows up alive the next issue (the regular art team on the book, Humberto Ramos and Wayne Faucher, take over on art duties)...

Unluckily for Spider-Man, that kiss of hers had some nasty side effects...

The following issue, the mutation continues...

Until finally, in the next issue (with art now by Paco Medina and Juan Vlasco), the transformation is complete...

In the conclusion to the story, though, it turns out that the transformation was NOT complete, as Peter was sort of using that giant spider body as a cocoon, of sorts. He emerges...

And after defeating the Queen, he now has organic web shooters...

That was the status quo for only a short period of time. In Brand New Day, the storyline where Amazing Spider-Man sort of "went back to basics," Spider-Man is once again using mechanical web shooters, as seen here in Amazing Spider-Man #547 (by Dan Slott, Steve McNiven and Dexter Vines - in the previous issue, Peter is mugged and the mugger got away with one of his web shooters)...

It has never been explained why Peter's organic webbing went away.

In the most recent Spider-Man film series, the web shooters were mechanical again (courtesy of Brian Michael Bendis, as I explained in this recent Comic Book Legends Revealed).

And I suspect that they will be mechanical in the upcoming Spider-Man film series, as well.

Everything old is new again!

That's it for this installment! If you have an idea for a future installment, drop me a line at bcronin@comicbookresources.com. Let me know by e-mail and not in the comments below.