| Peter Porker Spider-Ham | |
|---|---|
 Cover toPeter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham #12 Art by Joe Albelo | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Marvel Tails Starring Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham (November 1983) |
| Created by | Larry Hama (editor) Tom DeFalco (writer) Mark Armstrong (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Species | Pig mutate |
| Place of origin | Earth-8312 |
| Team affiliations | Web Warriors, The Scavengers |
| Abilities |
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Spider-Ham (Peter Porker) is asuperhero appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The character is ananthropomorphicpig and is acartoon animalparody version ofSpider-Man. He was created byLarry Hama,Tom DeFalco, and Mark Armstrong.[1][2]
He first appeared in the one-shot humorcomic bookMarvel Tails Starring Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham (November 1983), which was then followed by an ongoing bi-monthly series,Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, under Marvel'sStar Comics imprint, with both titles edited by Hama. The character existed on Earth-8311, which was a universe populated by anthropomorphic parody versions of the Marvel superheroes and supervillains.[3] Spider-Ham made his feature film debut inSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), voiced byJohn Mulaney.
| Marvel Tails Starring Peter Porker, the Spectactular Spider-Ham in “If He Should Punch Me” | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Publication date | November 1983 |
| No. of issues | 1 |
| Main character(s) | Spider-Ham Captain Americat Hulk-Bunny Goose Rider |
Spider-Ham was first featured as star of the 1983 humorous one-shotMarvel Tails, with a backup cast of other anthropomorphic talking-animal parody versions of popular Marvel superheroes, such as Captain Americat (a cat version ofCaptain America), Hulk-Bunny (a rabbit version ofHulk) and Goose Rider (a goose version ofGhost Rider).[4]
Two years later, a solo series, titledPeter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham debuted under Marvel's Star Comics imprint. The series, published bi-monthly, lasted seventeen issues before its cancellation in 1987. With the cancellation ofPeter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, the character became a backup feature inMarvel Tales, a monthly reprint series showcasing Spider-Man's past adventures. Beginning with issue #201 (cover dated July 1987), these new Spider-Ham stories appeared in issues #201–212, 214–219, 223–230, 233, 236, 237, 239, 240, and 247 before ceasing altogether.
In issue #3 ofWhat The--?! (cover dated October 1988), Porker meets with Raven the Hunter (a parody of Spider-Man's nemesisKraven the Hunter) in a story that satirized the popular "Kraven's Last Hunt" storyline which had been featured a year earlier in Marvel's Spider-Man titles. Spider-Ham also makes appearances in issues #18, 20, 22, and 24 ofWhat The--?! The 26th issue ofWhat The--?! (cover dated fall 1993) features "Spider-Ham 15.88", a humorous take-off on Peter Parker's future counterpart, Miguel O'Hara a.k.a.Spider-Man 2099. The "15.88" is not seen as a year, but rather a humorous take on the price of a ham (the cover states that it was marked down from the original price of $20.99).
Spider-Ham has also appeared on the cover ofWha...Huh? #1, and was referred to as a fictional character in theEarth-616 Marvel Universe, inGeneration X #52.
Spider-Man Family #1 (2005 one-shot) features a sixteen-pageSpider-Girl story, in which May Parker (Peter Parker's daughter) watches aDVD showing a small portion of a fictional Spider-Ham animated series, discovering that it was created by one of Spider-Man's enemies,Jack O'Lantern. Here, Spider-Ham appears to mostly be a parody ofBatman. Also in the issue, there is a partial reprint ofMarvel Tails #1.
Spider-Ham was selected by fans and retailers to be the focus of the final variant cover by Mike Wieringo to theSpider-Man: The Other crossover,Amazing Spider-Man #528.[5]
In January 2007,J. Michael Straczynski authored theUltimateCivil War Spider-Hamone-shot, featuring Spider-Ham's attempt to find his missing "thought balloons" against a Civil War parody. The story does not fit in with previously established Spider-Ham continuity.
Tom Defalco returned to Spider-Ham's world in 2009, in the pages ofAmazing Spider-Man Family #4–5. He introduces Swiney-Girl, the daughter of Spider-Ham and counterpart of Defalco's other creationSpider-Girl. Once again, the story strays away from the established, albeit loose, continuity of the original Spider-Ham stories by altering the character's origin and supporting characters, most notably in establishing Peter Porker as a natural-bornpig bitten by a radioactive spider (directly mirroring Spider-Man's origin) and altering his love interest (a counterpart ofMary Jane Watson) from awater buffalo to acrane.
He fights alongside theX-Babies in issue #4 (March 2010) of their four-issue miniseries from 2009 to 2010.
To mark the anniversary ofPeter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham #1, Marvel released theSpider-Ham 25th Anniversary Special in July 2010, with Tom Defalco writing both Spider-Ham and Swiney-Girl stories. These stories feature most of Spider-Ham's original cast and origin, but incorporates the Mary Crane Watsow character fromAmazing Spider-Man Family rather than her original counterpart.
In 2022, a graphic novel was published calledSpider-Ham: Hollywood May-Ham. The book features Spider-Ham and Mary Jane Waterbuffalo attempt to make a documentary about his status as a superhero with Alfred Peacock (a parody ofAlfred Hitchcock). After noticing mysterious happenings on set, he realizes Peacock is actually Mysteriape and attempts to defeat him and the Swinester Six.
Peter Parker was born a spider and resided in the basement lab of May Porker, a scientist who invented an atomic-powered hairdryer to revolutionize the hair care industry.[3] After dousing her head with water and activating the dryer, May accidentally irradiated herself and in a fit of delusion, bit Peter, transforming him into an anthropomorphic pig. Running from the Porker home, Peter soon came to realize that he still retained a spider's abilities:
"This is astounding! Am I a spider with the limitations of a pig? Or a pig with the proportionate strength and agility of a spider? I've become something greater than either spider or pig... I've become aSpider-Ham!" –Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #15 (May 1987)
After this startling series of events, Peter adopted the surname "Porker" dedicated himself and his new-found abilities to fighting injustice and the occasional animal parody of established Marvel Comics villains. May Porker's scientific genius was transferred to Peter, giving him the know-how to devise his webspinner gauntlets to replace his lost natural ability.
Porker, in his spider-themed alter-ego's first adventure, teamed up with Captain Americat, as they attempted to foil the nefarious plot of The Marauder, in a series of events that led to the creation of the Hulk-Bunny (Marvel Tails #1, "If He Should Punch Me").
Several months later, Spider-Ham encountered his main nemesis and one of his only recurring enemies in the form of Ducktor Doom, a duck parody of Doctor Doom (Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #1, "The Mysterious Island of Ducktor Doom"). Spider-Ham would meet again with Doom when Porker would foil the would-be world conqueror's plot to create an army of living super vegetables (Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #6, "Salad Daze").
Other notable menaces Porker would face along the way include the Bull-Frog (a parody of the Marvel villainMan-Bull), the Buzzard (an opossum take on the Spider-Man adversary theVulture), Hogzilla (a swine counterpart to the more popularGodzilla), and the King-Pig (seemingly the swine equivalent of Marvel's mob-boss theKingpin).
Three characters, not parallels to anybody in the Spider-Man series, also begin in #1: J. Jeremiah Jackal, Jr. (J. Jonah Jackal's nephew), Bunson Bunny and Upton Adam Stray (a cat with shades), all junior trainees at the Daily Beagle. They acquire super-powers in #15, encouraging Spider-Ham in his already made decision to abandon his super-hero career, but they fumble their first mission, forcing Peter Porker to resume his alter-ego as Spider-Ham. Further misadventures of the Beagle Brigadiers were presented within the back-up stories inMarvel Tales.
The series also included back-up stories featuring such characters as Deerdevil (Daredevil), Goose Rider (Ghost Rider) and the Fantastic Fur (theFantastic Four).
When Spider-Ham accidentally travels to theMarvel Zombies universe, he is suddenly zombified by a group of zombies, namelyCaptain America,Hulk, andWolverine. It appears that he is directly shot in the head by an energy bullet byUltron, effectively killing him but, in a zombie state, Spider-Ham turned into Ham-ibal Lecter (Hannibal Lecter).
During theSpider-Verse storyline which featured Spider-Men from various alternate realities, Spider-Ham became a member of the Spider-Army fighting against the Inheritors. He played a crucial role in the final confrontation when he switches places with Benjy Parker (the baby brother ofSpider-Girl ofEarth-982) – one of the three sacrifices needed for the Inheritors to destroy the Spider-Totems – allowingBen Parker to get Benjy to safety.[6]
During theSecret Wars event when all universes were destroyed and their remains formed a single planet called Battleworld, Spider-Ham found himself the only pig in the domain of theBattleworld called Arachnia and ended up as the captive of itsMayor,Norman Osborn. He was rescued bySpider-Gwen,[7] and the two eventually discovered and teamed up with other spider-powered people (Spider-Man Noir,Spider-Man India,Spider-UK andAnya Corazon), neither of whom remembered their previous encounter during the originalSpider-Verse.[8]
Following the conclusion ofSecret Wars, the team of six Spiders that formed during the event feature in a new ongoing series calledWeb Warriors, a name that was coined by the Peter Parker of theUltimate Spider-Man TV series during the originalSpider-Verse.[9]
In August 2009,TIME listed Spider-Ham as one of the "Top 10 Oddest Marvel Characters".[3]
| Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham Volume 1 | Marvel Tails #1,Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham #1-5 | June 2010 | 978-0785143529 |
| Spider-Man: Animal Magnetism | Spider-Ham 25th Anniversary Special,Ultimate Civil War Spider-Ham andSpider-Man: Back in Quack, Top Dog #10 | February 2011 | 978-0785151937 |
| Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 | Marvel Tails #1,Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham #1-17 | July 2019 | 978-1302918439 |
| Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham: The Complete Collection Vol. 2 | Marvel Tales #201-212, 214–219, 223–230, 233, 236–237, 239–240, 247,What The--?! #20,Ultimate Civil War: Spider-Ham #1,Spider-Ham 25th Anniversary Special #1,Spider-Man Annual (vol. 3) #1, material fromWhat The--?! #3, 18, 22, 24, 26,Spider-Verse #1 | February 2021 | 978-1302923662 |
| Spider-Ham: Aporkalypse Now | Spider-Ham #1-5 | August 2020 | 978-1302921620 |
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