 McFarlane wrote and illustrated 15 of the series' first 16 issues, many issues of which featured other popular Marvel characters such as Wolverine and Ghost Rider in guest roles.Despite his acclaim as an artist, fans found McFarlane's writing to be clumsy, unsophisticated and pretentious, and questioned the wisdom of allowing him to write a new "Spider-Man" title in the first place.At the same time, editorial had problems with the dark tone of the stories McFarlane was telling, beginning with the inaugural "Torment" storyline, which depicted a more vicious version of the reptilian villain Lizard under the control of the voodoo priestess Calypso.