Spider-Man #73

Name: Spider-Man #73
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Oct 1996 · Marvel · 1.95 USD; 2.75 CAD

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“Legacy”

About this Issue

Spider-Man Vol. 1 #73 (titled 'Legacy,' October 1996) is a meaningful chapter in the final stretch of the Clone Saga — one of the most discussed and debated Spider-Man storylines in the character's history — arriving just two issues before the climactic Spider-Man #75, where Ben Reilly's fate as a clone is confirmed. The issue captures the Ben Reilly era at full tilt, with the Scarlet Spider-turned-Spider-Man navigating a New York underworld scrambling to fill the power vacuum left by the Kingpin's absence, a street-level thriller that contrasts sharply with the cosmic bombast of the just-concluded Onslaught crossover. It is also a notable showcase of the ongoing Jimmy-6 / Ben Reilly alliance — an unusual morally grey friendship between Spider-Man and a mobster's son — that gave the Clone Saga's endgame a grounded crime-fiction texture distinct from the rest of the era's output.

writer Howard Mackie · artist John Romita Jr. · inker Al Williamson · colorist Kevin Tinsley · letterer Richard Starkings · letterer Comicraft · cover John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $5

CGC 9.8 · 12 in census $52*

CGC 9.6 · 3 in census $30*

CGC 9.4 · 3 in census $30*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

This exact issue on ebay

CGC 9.8 $56 1 listing CGC $235 1 listing Raw — NM+ $45 1 listing

Raw — NM ▾ $3.99–$54.99 2 listings

NM $3.99 NM · Signed · Variant $54.99

Raw — FN/VF $3 1 listing

Raw — FN ▾ $120–$125 2 listings

FN $119.99 FN $125

Raw / ungraded ▾ $6–$9 2 listings

Raw / ungraded $6 Virgin $9

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History

The issue was written by Howard Mackie, penciled by John Romita Jr., and inked by Al Williamson, with a cover by Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna — the core creative team that helmed the title through the Clone Saga's final act. Mackie had been embedded in the Spider-Man line since Web of Spider-Man #84 in 1992 and was one of the saga's primary architects alongside Terry Kavanagh, working under editor-in-chief Bob Harras. The 'Legacy' two-parter (issues #73–74) was produced in the immediate wake of the Onslaught crossover event, which had temporarily removed the Avengers and Fantastic Four from the Marvel Universe, and Mackie used that editorial moment to pivot the Spider-books toward organized-crime storytelling as the Clone Saga wound toward its conclusion.

Trivia · 8 facts

Title: 'Legacy' Part 1 of 2. Released August 21, 1996; cover-dated October 1996. Published by Marvel Comics as part of Spider-Man Vol. 1 (the original 1990 McFarlane-launched series).
Written by Howard Mackie; penciled by John Romita Jr.; inked by Al Williamson; cover by John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna. Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras.
The story features Ben Reilly (operating as Spider-Man) and Peter Parker working alongside Jimmy-6 (Giacomo Fortunato) to prevent an assassination attempt on crime lord Don Fortunato by a coalition of rival mobsters including Hammerhead, Silvermane, Tombstone, the Rose, and the Slug.
Jimmy-6 (Giacomo 'Jimmy-6' Fortunato) — the estranged son of Don Fortunato who rejected his family's criminal methods — had first appeared in Spider-Man #70 (July 1996), also created by Mackie and Romita Jr.; this issue deepens his alliance with Ben Reilly.
The issue is set directly in the aftermath of the Onslaught crossover, with the story's premise explicitly hinging on the Avengers and Fantastic Four being absent from the Marvel Universe, leaving Spider-Man as one of the few major heroes defending New York.
Hydra makes a cameo appearance, tying the street-level crime plot into the broader Marvel underworld.
The issue includes a 6-page promotional preview of three upcoming Star Trek comics: Star Trek Voyager (1996), Star Trek Starfleet Academy (1996), and Star Trek Early Voyages (1997) — a common Marvel bonus feature of the mid-1990s.
Reprinted in 2012 in the trade paperback Amazing Spider-Man: The Complete Ben Reilly Epic Vol. 6, which also collects Amazing Spider-Man #417–418, Sensational Spider-Man #11, Spectacular Spider-Man #240–241, Spider-Man #73–75, Spider-Man Team-Up #5, Spider-Man Unlimited #14, and related one-shots.