Superman vs The Amazing Spider-Man: The Battle of the Century is a comic book jointly published by Marvel Comics and DC Comics in March 1976. It was the second co-publishing effort between DC Comics and Marvel Comics following their collaboration on MGM's Marvelous Wizard of Oz, and the first modern superhero intercompany crossover. It is the first crossover between Superman and Spider-Man. In the story, Superman and Spider-Man must stop a world domination/destruction plot hatched in tandem by their respective arch-nemeses, Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus. The issue is non-canonical, as it assumes that the heroes exist in the same universe with no explanation given as to why they had never before met or been mentioned in each other's individual stories. Superman and Spider-Man, a sequel to this story, was published in July 1981. A third and fourth crossover were announced in 2025. The third, Superman/Spider-Man was published by DC on March 26, 2026. The fourth, Spider-Man/Superman, was published by Marvel in April 2026.
Publication history In the early 1970s, author and literary agent David Obst suggested to Marvel Comics publisher Stan Lee and DC Comics editorial director Carmine Infantino that there should be a feature film crossover featuring Marvel's Spider-Man and DC's Superman characters. However, there was already a Superman movie planned by Warner Bros., and a series of Spider-Man TV movies. Instead, the two companies settled for an oversize comic book entitled Superman vs the Amazing Spider-Man: The Battle of the Century. The comic was published in 1976 and featured the two title characters, as well as their girlfriends (Mary Jane Watson and Lois Lane), their bosses (J. Jonah Jameson and Morgan Edge) and their primary adversaries (Doctor Octopus and Lex Luthor). It was the second time the two U.S. comic book giants published a joint venture, the first being 1975's MGM's Marvelous Wizard of Oz. The writing was done by Gerry Conway and the penciling by Ross Andru. Both of these creators had worked on Superman and Spider-Man before in their own titles. In a 2006 interview, Conway laughed: "For my money, there was no rational way we were going to justify this team-up. I mean, in what universe, on what world [did it take place]?... I looked at it as a chance to do a story for the fans, a fun story. It was a chance to do the scenes I [as a fan] would like to see in this fantasy". The interviewer quips that "some fans have said it took place on "Earth-$"". The original edition lists no editor, with the splash reading: "Presented by: Carmine Infantino and Stan Lee"; this was changed to "Edited by" in a 1991 reprint. Conway in 2009 said he "did the actual editorial work" (meaning "proofing, supervision of production, supervision of art and lettering and coloring"). Neal Adams redrew the major Superman figures. Inker Dick Giordano recalled: "[T]he pages were sent to [Giordano and Adams' studio] Continuity and were mostly left on my desk... and Neal took it upon himself to redraw the Superman figures without telling me that he was going to do it. I didn't complain, but I also never mentioned it to anyone at the time and I never spoke of it until now... mostly out of respect for Ross and his work". John Romita Sr. drew some Marvel character faces and did some Spider-Man alterations in chapter two. Giordano's assistant, Terry Austin, inked backgrounds, except for three pages of the five-page "Prologue 3", on which Bob Wiacek inked backgrounds.
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