When Stan Lee created Spider-Man, he knew that he was writing a dynamic character. As much as he is a hero for the people, he also has many flaws. It wasn’t uncommon for Spidey to find himself needing the help of other heroes. It also happened that through cases of mistaken identity, wrongful accusations, or other misunderstandings that he would also find himself facing off against some of those same heroes.
As he is now, Spider-Man has been a featured character in many stories. He has also had a large number of characters crossover into his own storyline in the original Amazing Spider-Man comic. Some of those heroes have gone forward to see similar levels of popularity in the comics as well as in film and TV.
10 Trying To Work With The Fantastic Four (March 1963)
In the first issue of his solo run, Peter Parker seeks out the Fantastic Four hoping to find work with the family of science. He does this by showing off his skills as a hero, and engaging them in a fight. They realize his skill pretty quickly, but much to his dismay, Spiderman finds out that they are a non-profit organization and are not offering any money.
Needless to say, he impressed the group and they have helped each other in numerous issues since. Human Torch often makes appearances in Spider-Man comics and in other team-up series with Spidey throughout the early years of his run.
9 Teaming Up With Daredevil (September 1964)
Naivety strikes Spider-Man in his crossover with Daredevil. In Amazing Spider-Man #16 by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and Sam Rosen, he saves the seemingly defenseless Matt Murdock from his would-be captors. He is later tricked into attending a circus event and is hypnotized by the evil villain Ringmaster. Daredevil, being unphased by this trick due to being blind, ends up having to fight the entranced Spider-Man, freeing his mind from captivity.
Daredevil still manages to keep much about himself a mystery to Spider-Man. He almost immediately slips back into his civilian clothing once he’s done enough to help the web-slinger out of danger. He keeps a relatively low-profile throughout this crossover, only stepping out of the shadows when it's really necessary.
8 A Battle With The Avengers (Dec 1964)
Imitation is the highest form of flattery, as they often say. Spider-Man learns this lesson when Kang the Conqueror sends a robotic replica of him to infiltrate the Avengers in Avengers #11 by Stan Lee, Don Heck, Chic Stone, Stan Goldberg, and Sam Rosen. The fact that Spidey is a newcomer to the superhero scene makes it a relatively easy task since the other heroes have very little knowledge about the real version of the hero.
The real Spider-Man eventually comes in to save the day—however, he doesn’t get to meet the Avengers face-to-face to trade notes until his later adventures with the team.
7 Mistaken As A Foe Of The X-Men (August 1967)
The X-Men is a team that rarely needs to rely on outside forces for help. What starts as a search for their missing team members ends up being the discovery of a new hero to keep in their Rolodex. However, this crossover in X-Men #35 by Roy Thomas, Werner Roth, Dan Adkins, and Jerry Feldman, doesn’t exactly start out well for Spider-Man.
After being attacked by a robotic spider, Banshee sends out a cry for help that the rest of the X-Men arrive in response to. Seeing Spider-Man on-site, they immediately assume he’s the threat and begin to attack him. After a long fight, they realize their mistake and the two sides part ways. The group eventually crosses paths with him again a few years later with a reintroduction of Iceman.
6 Hunted By Ka-Zar (February 1968)
Ka-Zar is not a well-known character in the Marvel Universe, but he certainly gave Spider-Man a lot of trouble in his crossover with the web-slinger in Amazing Spider-Man #57-58 by Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., Don Heck, Mike Esposito, and Sam Rosen. The “jungle lord” finds himself hunting Spider-Man after being tricked into the task by J. Jonah Jameson.
This couldn’t come at a worse time since Spider-Man is suffering from amnesia following his previous battle with Doctor Octopus. It takes almost drowning for him to come to a realization of his identity. The two become firm allies from this incident.
5 Medusa Is Mistaken As The Enemy (July 1968)
Medusa was introduced to Marvel Comics several years prior to the introduction of the Inhumans. At the time she was part of the Frightful Four, who went on to (unsuccessfully) attack the Fantastic Four after Sue and Reed Richards celebrated their engagement.
Much later she ends up crossing paths with Spider-man in Amazing Spider-Man #62 by Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., Don Heck, Mike Esposito, and Sam Rosen, where it is seen that Medusa’s goals are actually centered on doing good. Spidey is tricked into fighting her, only to discover her plan of bringing the Inhumans to Earth with peace in mind. She ends up leaving disgruntled after learning she can’t trust humans for their word.
4 Quicksilver Uses Spider-Man To Show His Good Side (April 1969)
When the one of the fastest mutants of Marvel, Quicksilver, was first introduced, it was as a villain to the X-Men. He later had a change of heart and wanted to prove himself as a valuable member of the Avengers. So what was his plan to do this? By capturing Spider-Man himself.
In Amazing Spider-Man #71 by Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., Jim Mooney, and Sam Rosen, the characters comes across a “wanted” poster, Quicksilver thought that his best hopes of joining the team would come from capturing a high level criminal like Spidey. As fast as he is, he ends up being no match for the web-slinger.
3 Black Widow Shows Off Her New Costume (July 1970)
Black Widow had already made an appearance facing off against Iron Man, but it wasn’t until her run-in with Spider-Man that she was given a makeover. In Amazing Spider-Man #86 by Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., Jim Mooney, and Sam Rosen, Spider-Man happens to pass by her after his bout with the Kingpin in the previous issue. After spotting him, she returns home to change into her new costume—the trademarked black suit that she is now known for today.
Her goals seem simple enough to her; learn about how Spider-Man got his abilities and add it to her own repertoire. Thinking of this as a straightforward mission, she jumps into a battle with him. After exchanging attacks, Black Widow realizes that his skills didn’t come with training and that the secrets to his powers are his to keep.
2 Meeting The Mystical Doctor Strange (June 1972)
The Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange, makes an appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #109 by Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., and Artie Simek. After Flash Gordon is kidnapped in order to revive the High Priest, he reveals to Spider-Man his whereabouts and the motive for his capture. Spidey uses his webs and strength to delay what would be Flash’s likely death, while Doctor Strange uses his mystic powers to revive the High Priest without needless death.
There is a cool display of Strange’s abilities through the issue, and it's very obvious from the beginning that the two work well together as allies through the rescue.
1 Running Into The Raging Hulk (April, May 1973)
Given the Hulk’s history of rage, it’s almost a given that any encounter with him would begin as a face-off between him and the character of interest. Unfortunately, Spider-Man is not spared from his emerald fists.
In Amazing Spider-Man #119 and #120 by Gerry Conway, John Romita, Jim Mooney, Tony Mortellaro, Andrea Hunt, and John Costanza, Peter Parker travels up to Canada to take photos of the Hulk. After attacking the military, he realizes that he has no choice but to step in and drive the Hulk away from hurting them. This goes on for the span of the two issues. Of course, Spider-Man doesn’t do much except annoy the Hulk and it's only with military intervention that the Hulk finally flees from the fight.