# Spider-Ham

Spider-Ham (Peter Porker) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is an anthropomorphic pig and is a cartoon animal parody version of Spider-Man. He was created by Larry Hama, Tom DeFalco, and Mark Armstrong.
He first appeared in the one-shot humor comic book Marvel 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's Star 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. Spider-Ham made his feature film debut in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), voiced by John Mulaney.

## Publication history

Spider-Ham was first featured as star of the 1983 humorous one-shot Marvel Tails, with a backup cast of other anthropomorphic talking-animal parody versions of popular Marvel superheroes, such as Captain Americat (a cat version of Captain America), Hulk-Bunny (a rabbit version of Hulk) and Goose Rider (a goose version of Ghost Rider).
Two years later, a solo series, titled Peter 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 of Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, the character became a backup feature in Marvel 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 of What The--?! (cover dated October 1988), Porker meets with Raven the Hunter (a parody of Spider-Man's nemesis Kraven 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 of What The--?! The 26th issue of What 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 of Wha...Huh? #1, and was referred to as a fictional character in the Earth-616 Marvel Universe, in Generation X #52.
Spider-Man Family #1 (2005 one-shot) features a sixteen-page Spider-Girl story, in which May Parker (Peter Parker's daughter) watches a DVD 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 of Batman. Also in the issue, there is a partial reprint of Marvel Tails #1.
Spider-Ham was selected by fans and retailers to be the focus of the final variant cover by Mike Wieringo to the Spider-Man: The Other crossover, Amazing Spider-Man #528.
In January 2007, J. Michael Straczynski authored the Ultimate Civil War Spider-Ham one-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 of Amazing Spider-Man Family #4–5. He introduces Swiney-Girl, the daughter of Spider-Ham and counterpart of Defalco's other creation Spider-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-born pig bitten by a radioactive spider (directly mirroring Spider-Man's origin) and altering his love interest (a counterpart of Mary Jane Watson) from a water buffalo to a crane.
He fights alongside the X-Babies in issue #4 (March 2010) of their four-issue miniseries from 2009 to 2010.
To mark the anniversary of Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham #1, Marvel released the Spider-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 from Amazing Spider-Man Family rather than her original counterpart.
In 2022, a graphic novel was published called Spider-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 of Alfred Hitchcock). After noticing mysterious happenings on set, he realizes Peacock is actually Mysteriape and attempts to defeat him and the Swinester Six.

## Fictional character biography

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. 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 a Spider-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.

### Misadventures

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 villain Man-Bull), the Buzzard (an opossum take on the Spider-Man adversary the Vulture), Hogzilla (a swine counterpart to the more popular Godzilla), and the King-Pig (seemingly the swine equivalent of Marvel's mob-boss the Kingpin).
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 in Marvel Tales.
The series also included back-up stories featuring such characters as Deerdevil (Daredevil), Goose Rider (Ghost Rider) and the Fantastic Fur (the Fantastic Four).

### Marvel Zombies

When Spider-Ham accidentally travels to the Marvel Zombies universe, he is suddenly zombified by a group of zombies, namely Captain America, Hulk, and Wolverine. It appears that he is directly shot in the head by an energy bullet by Ultron, effectively killing him but, in a zombie state, Spider-Ham turned into Ham-ibal Lecter (Hannibal Lecter).

### Spider-Verse

During the Spider-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 of Spider-Girl of Earth-982) – one of the three sacrifices needed for the Inheritors to destroy the Spider-Totems – allowing Ben Parker to get Benjy to safety.

### Secret Wars

During the Secret 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 the Battleworld called Arachnia and ended up as the captive of its Mayor, Norman Osborn. He was rescued by Spider-Gwen, and the two eventually discovered and teamed up with other spider-powered people (Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Man India, Spider-UK and Anya Corazon), neither of whom remembered their previous encounter during the original Spider-Verse.

### Web Warriors

Following the conclusion of Secret Wars, the team of six Spiders that formed during the event feature in a new ongoing series called Web Warriors, a name that was coined by the Peter Parker of the Ultimate Spider-Man TV series during the original Spider-Verse.

## In other media
### Television

* Spider-Ham appears in Ultimate Spider-Man in two different forms.
** In the first season episode "Run Pig Run", Loki, as payback for foiling a previous scheme of his, transforms Spider-Man into an anthropomorphic pig resembling Spider-Ham on the day of Asgardsreia, a holiday where Asgardians go on a day-long hunt. With the help of Thor, Phil Coulson, Nick Fury, and his fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. trainees, "Spider-Ham" evades the Executioner and his Asgardian hunters until he turns back to normal.
** Spider-Ham proper appears in the third and fourth seasons, voiced by Benjamin Diskin. This version is a pig who got his powers from a spider that fell into his Aunt May's vitamin pancake batter, which transferred said vitamins and powers to him. After becoming a superhero and joining his universe's Avengers however, J. Jonah Jackal turned the public against him and forced him to quit. In the episode "The Spider-Verse" Pt. 2, Porker encounters the "prime" Spider-Man, who encourages him to become Spider-Ham once again and help him fight the Green Goblin. Following the battle, Iron Mouse offers Spider-Ham a spot on the Avengers again, which he accepts. In "The Spider-Verse" Pt. 4, Spider-Ham joins forces with a group of alternate reality Spider-Men to help the "prime" Spider-Man defeat the Spider-Goblin and Electro. In "Return to the Spider-Verse" Pt. 1, Spider-Ham is transported to the "prime" universe by the shattered Siege Perilous. In "Return to the Spider-Verse" Pt. 4, he is captured by Wolf Spider, who seeks to drain all of his multiversal counterparts' life forces, before the "prime" Spider-Man defeats Wolf Spider.

### Film

* Spider-Ham appears in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, voiced by John Mulaney. This version follows similar cartoon animal behavior as seen in cartoons from the golden age of American animation and bears a resemblance to Porky Pig from the Looney Tunes franchise. He arrives in Miles Morales' universe along with Spider-Man Noir and Peni Parker due to the Kingpin's machinations before teaming up with them, Morales, Peter B. Parker, and Spider-Woman to get back to their respective home universes.
** Spider-Ham appears in the prequel short film Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham, voiced again by Mulaney. He battles and defeats Doctor Crawdaddy until an interdimensional portal appears and whisks him away, leading into his appearance in the film.
** Spider-Ham makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
** Spider-Ham is planned to appear in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, voiced again by Mulaney.
** Mulaney also expressed interest in a potential spin-off film starring Spider-Ham, describing its plot as a Watergate-like story along the lines of The Post or All the President's Men while focusing on the character's career as a reporter.
* Mulaney returned to voice Spider-Ham in the animated short film Back on the Air, which was created to promote the character's appearance in the video game Marvel Contest of Champions (see below).

### Video games

* Spider-Ham makes a cameo appearance in a mid-credits scene depicted in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, voiced by an uncredited, former Activision Associate Producer Kevin Umbricht. He answers Madame Web's call to save the multiverse, but arrives after the Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Man 2099, and the Ultimate Spider-Man already did so.
* Spider-Ham appears as a support card in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3's "Heroes vs. Heralds" mode.
* Spider-Ham appears as an unlockable character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online.
* Spider-Ham makes cameo appearances in Spider-Man: Edge of Time.
* Spider-Ham appears in Marvel Heroes.
* Spider-Ham appears as a playable character in Spider-Man Unlimited, voiced again by Benjamin Diskin.
* Spider-Ham appears in Marvel Avengers Academy, voiced by Christopher McCann.
* Spider-Ham appears as an unlockable playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2.
* Spider-Ham appears as a playable character in Marvel Puzzle Quest.
* Spider-Ham appears as a playable character in Marvel Contest of Champions, voiced again by John Mulaney.
* Spider-Ham, based on the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse incarnation, appears as an emote in Fortnite Battle Royale.
* Spider-Ham appears in Marvel Snap.

### Miscellaneous

* Spider-Ham appears in the Twisted ToyFare Theatre parody comic "Four Webbings and a Funeral" as part of The Wizard Spider-Man Special. In the comic, Spider-Ham appears as one of the entrees being served at Spider-Man's funeral.
* Spider-Ham appears in Marvel Battleworld: Mystery of the Thanostones and Treachery at Twilight, voiced by Jesse Inocalla.
* Spider-Ham appears in the web-series Marvel TL;DR.

## Reception

In August 2009, TIME listed Spider-Ham as one of the "Top 10 Oddest Marvel Characters".

## Collected editions

| 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 and Spider-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 from What 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 |