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And I thought I had a hard time for being too short.
In Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 10, we see Spidey shrunken to microscopic levels. It apparently is a parody of the movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids which was released just one year before this story was published (what a coincidence!) and has similar gags. It is so silly that it is hard to believe that one-time power house Marvel had been reduced to such gimmicks during the 90s.
The story is that Spider-Man accidentally inhaled Ant-Man’s shrinking gas, and was continuing to shrink. Ant-Man tried to use his antidote, but was no help (as usual) so it was up to Harry Osborn to try and find a solution. He tries to apply a positron energy beam on Spider-Man while under an electronic microscope. Unfortunately, it just made the problem worse, Spider-man shrinking smaller than the smallest molecules. The comic ends with him encountering Psycho-Man, and concludes in Web of Spider-Man Annual 6. Yes, that’s right, they wanted you to buy another annual to follow up on the annual you just read. Good grief.
Silly story aside, Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 10 has some very redeeming qualities. For starters, “Into The Micro Universe” was scripted by Stan Lee himself and drawn by industry legend Rich Buckler. For those who do not know, Rich Buckler has authored many books explaining how to draw dynamically. In addition, Todd McFarlane, also a comic legend, has his work appear in this issue as well.
Is it appropriate that Spider-Man shrinks to the size of a bug? Perhaps. These annual issues are like having four issues for the price of one (Affiliate Link). Combined with the awesome creative team, this is an issue worth checking out and adding to your comic collection. The second story is illustrated by Todd McFarlane, someone with a style that’s easy to spot.
Why Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 10 and Other Spider-Man Microverse Comics Are Secretly Sci-Fi Gold
While Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 10 is often remembered for its shrinking gag and Stan Lee’s script, it also taps into a surprisingly rich Marvel tradition: the Spider-Man Microverse comic. That’s right, this isn’t just a one-off Honey, I Shrunk the Wall-Crawler moment. It’s part of a larger, weirder corner of Marvel’s sci-fi multiverse.
The Microverse, originally introduced in Fantastic Four and later explored in Micronauts, is Marvel’s subatomic playground. It’s a place where physics gets weird, scale becomes meaningless, and characters like Psycho-Man rule with emotion-based tech. When Spider-Man ends up there, it’s not just a size joke: it’s a full-on genre shift. Suddenly, your friendly neighborhood hero is navigating alien societies and existential threats smaller than atoms.
This issue also marks one of the rare times Spider-Man crosses into hardcore cosmic territory without a team-up. Usually, he’s grounded in street-level crime and awkward banter. But here, he’s floating through molecular voids and battling villains who manipulate fear and doubt like weapons. That tonal whiplash is part of what makes the Microverse stories so fascinating. They yank Spidey out of his comfort zone and drop him into a psychedelic sci-fi fever dream.
And let’s not forget the legacy. The Microverse would later inspire the Quantum Realm in the MCU, and Psycho-Man remains one of Marvel’s most underused villains. So while this comic might seem like a 90s gimmick on the surface, it’s actually a strange little bridge between superhero antics and speculative science fiction.
If you’re into Spider-Man stories that break the mold, this one’s a microscopic gem.