There’s been a fair amount of confusion over the now infamous John Romita Jr. “shrug” cover for Amazing Spider-Man #1000, featuring pencils by Romita Jr. that were painted over by Paolo Rivera. It seemed to have been pulled as a main cover after controversy, then brought back as a variant cover. But nope, it’s a main cover, and Marvel is sticking to that harder than Spider-Man sticking to a wall.
“Our announcement of the added Pepe Larraz cover seems to have been misunderstood. In addition to John Romita Jr. and Paolo Rivera’s jam cover, we also wanted to highlight the ‘#1000’ more concretely, hence Pepe’s cover with color artist Marte Gracia,” Editor Nick Lowe said via press release. “Our goal is to bring as many legendary Spider-Man artists together for this monumental celebration.”
Got that? The two main covers for the anniversary issue are the “shrug” one which is meant to be a grounds-eye view of Spidey swinging, from Romita Jr. and Rivera, as well as one by Pepe Larraz which was added later. But also, as Marvel further clarifies, John Romita Jr. will be doing a different variant cover, Paolo Rivera will also be doing a variant cover, and Larraz is doing a variant cover. Which are different from those main covers. And also, there are more covers being announced at the same time.
“What a pleasure it’s been to see readers celebrate my work on Amazing Spider-Man over the years and show support for the cover I did with Paolo Rivera for the upcoming issue #1000!” Romita Jr. said. “I’m honored to work on yet another milestone issue for Spidey, and this one is especially big—so big that it has not one but two primary covers, one by me and one by my fellow Amazing Spider-Man artist, Pepe Larraz! I hope everyone enjoys the issue, it’s going to be unforgettable!”
Added Larraz, “If a time traveler suddenly showed up, back when I was a kid reading Spider-Man in my room, and told me that I was going to be drawing the 1000th issue of the comic book I had in my hands, and that I was going to be doing so alongside a living legend like John Romita Jr., the easiest to believe would be the time traveling part! Thank you, Marvel, for the honor and privilege of making me a part of Peter Parker’s history with this milestone issue. “
Nothing to see here, folks! Anyway, you can check out several new covers below including an Ed McGuinness cover inspired by John Romita Sr.’s Amazing Spider-Man #100 cover, as well as covers by Skottie Young, J. Scott Campbell, Ryan Stegman, and Lee Bermejo, as well as a MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls Variant Cover featuring Peni Parker and a Marvel Animation Variant Cover showcasing a scene from the 1967 Spider-Man animated series. You know the one.
Not only that, but Marvel has revealed that Larry Lieber wrote a story for the issue titled “Of Webs and Six-Guns, with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli.
Amazing Spider-Man #1000 hits stores on September 16, 2026.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1000
Written by JOE KELLY, NOAH HAWLEY, FRANK MILLER, DAN SLOTT, J.M. DEMATTEIS, BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, LARRY LIEBER & MORE!
Art by PEPE LARRAZ, JOHN ROMITA JR. PATRICK GLEASON, PEACH MOMOKO, MARCOS MARTIN, HUMBERTO RAMOS, STUART IMMONEN, GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI & MORE!
Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR. & PAOLO RIVERA – 75960621001503656
Cover by PEPE LARRAZ – 75960621001503611
Variant Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR. – 75960621001503662
Variant Cover by PEPE LARRAZ – 75960621001503622
Variant Cover by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI – 75960621001503649
Foil Variant Cover by ED MCGUINNESS – 75960621001503631
Variant Cover by SKOTTIE YOUNG – 75960621001503651
Variant Cover by J. SCOTT CAMPBELL – 75960621001503641
Ravage Variant Cover by RYAN STEGMAN – 75960621001503661
Amazing Visions Variant Cover by LEE BERMEJO – 75960621001503621
Marvel Animation Spider-Man 1967 Wraparound Variant Cover – 75960621001503625
MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls Variant Cover – 75960621001503661
On Sale 9/16
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