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In 2007, Mark Bagley walked away from Ultimate Spider-Man, believing he was done with the character. Bagley had helped writer Brian Michael Bendis launch the title in 2000, and it quickly became one of the most consequential Marvel titles of the decade. Not only was it a critical and commercial success, but Ultimate Spider-Man also helped launch Marvel’s Ultimate Universe imprint.

But Bagley was ready for new challenges, and one of those was a three-year stint at DC Comics. The penciler returned to Marvel in 2011, and he initially had his eyes on the X-Men, until Brian Michael Bendis gave him a call.

“When I left DC, I was going to do some [X-Men] project, and then they call like three weeks later,” Mark Bagley says during a spotlight panel at Toronto Comicon 2012. “These things always happen. Brian [Michael Bendis] calls, ‘We want to kill Peter.’ What do you mean you want to kill Peter? ‘We want to really kill Peter.’ And I’m like, 'Oh, really?' He says, ‘It would be great to have you come back and do the six-issue arc, and it’ll be this, and it’ll be just exactly what you do, because it’ll be very emotional and lots of tears.’ And I’m like, that sounds like a hell of a lot of fun. And he explained to me what he had planned for afterwards, Miles and all that stuff. And that just sounds perfect.”

Death of Spider-Man was published in Ultimate Spider-Man #156-160, reuniting the title’s original creative team of Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. Spider-Man dies saving Aunt May’s life, bringing things full circle as he was unable to save Uncle Ben when he first donned the webs. It was a full-circle moment for Bagley too, who enjoyed being able to put a bow on one of the most important titles of his career.

“I came on and it was one of the best storytelling experiences I’ve ever had. It was so much fun.”

Marvel's most reliable superhero has proven he can do a whole lot more than just 'whatever a spider can.' Swing into Spidey's history with Popverse's...

• Best Spider-Man comic books 
• The best Spider-Mans (or is it Spider-Men?)
• Spider-Man movie watch order
• Spider-Man's actors, ranked
• The best Spider-Man suits
• and the Spider-verse explained!

Just watch out for that radioactive blood.