I only list a character if there is a chronological clue attached and the first time he appears.
Links are provided to the characters lists.
Symbiote Spider-Man v1 #1
Quentin Beck's friend Johnny, is Johnny Ohnn, the future Spot.
A footnote mentions that Power Pack #55 is in the future.
JJJ states "The Avengers remain silent about [Spider-Man's] involvement in their Secret War."
Felicia reminds Peter being "so angry because I don't care about your whole Peter Parker thing."
A note refers to Peter Parker #91.
"Today's the anniversary of the day my uncle Ben died at the hands of a burglar."
May is not speaking with Peter & wants Peter to go back to college.
Symbiote Spider-Man v1 #2
Johnny Ohnn's last name given here.
Symbiote Spider-Man v1 #3
Fisk mentions he hired Ohnn to research Cloak's powers. A footnote also identifies Ohnn with the scientist in Peter Parker #97. The footnote does not mean PPSSM 97 is in the past but in the future (like the Power Pack #55 note in #1).
In the second story we see a tourist arriving in NYC under the Four Freedoms Plaza building (first in Fantastic Four #289, April 1986) and a symbiote Spider-Man. This is the character freom PPSSM 98 as revealed in Absolute Carnage: Symbiote Spider-Man.
Symbiote Spider-Man v1 #4
Symbiote Spider-Man v1 #5
Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality v1 #1
Dr. Strange, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Kraven appear in the beginning. Ned Leeds & Wong appear in flashback before the reality alteration. Spidey and Strange remember their previous state. Since Hobgoblin, Mordo, Daydream & Nightmare also know about the previous reality, they are probably the authentic versions.
From the reality alteration until the last pages of #5, we have "alternate" versions.
alternate Kraven
alternate Black Widow ("Red Cat")
alternate Wong
alternate? Hobgoblin [Ned Leeds]
Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality v1 #2
alternate May Parker
alternate Ben Parker
Parker mentions he has not seen May since Symbiote Spider-Man #5.
Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality v1 #3
alternate Morbius (vampiric & thinks Spidey had four arms the last time they met)
alternate Dr. Octopus
alternate? Baron Mordo
Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality v1 #4
alternate Jonah Jameson (as Deathlok)
alternate? Daydream
alternate? Nightmare
Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality v1 #5
Dr Strange (undoes the reality alteration)
Mordo
Hobgblin (disappears when the spell is undone)
Wong
Black Cat
King in Black: Symbiote Spider-Man v1 #1
Alistair Smythe (described as the Spider-Slayer guy and a super-villain, so after ASM Annual 19? or confused with his father?)
Mister E (from Marvel Spotlight 9)
Black Knight (coming from Avengers mansion per next issue)
Jameson
Kang
Rocket Raccoon
Ned Leeds
King in Black: Symbiote Spider-Man v1 #2
Robertson
Betty Brant
King in Black: Symbiote Spider-Man v1 #3
The Wayfarer spacecraft was unveiled last month by Tony Stark
Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) is a teammate of Black Knight (so this cannot be before ASM 258)
Merlin (flashback)
King in Black: Symbiote Spider-Man v1 #4
Ulik
Ulica
Cosmo
Collector
King in Black: Symbiote Spider-Man v1 #5
Using the Black Knight's sword, Monica Rambeau kills Mister E and then dispels the black shape eclipsing the sun. The Watcher erases the memory of the participants.
Here are thoughts on Symbiote Spider-Man King In Black 1-5. Editorial provided placements for Wolverine: Black, White & Blood #4 and X-Men Legends #2 but none for this. The problem was acknowledged. The King in Black Handbook confirms, "The events of Symbiote Spider-Man: King in Black #1 (2020) depict Spider-Man wearing his symbiote costume at a time afer he had rejected it; how this came about remains unrevealed."
Here is my analysis:
Alistair Smythe is crippled and known as a super-villain (so presumably after his debut and crash in ASM Annual 19 and before ASM 291).
There is an unforeseen eclipse going on (same as during the Wraith War). It is stated that this is a godly influence from the future, which would make Knull bts in the Wraith War eclipse issues (Rom 61-65, Dec 84-Apr 85) if this is the same event.
Peter wears his familiar symbiote (or something similar related to the shadow-beings of that event or from Marvel Spotlight 9).
The Watcher, Kang and Rocket Raccoon appear. These do not influence the placement. With its handful of guest stars the story reads to me like a continuation of Marvel Team-Up if the title had continued after issue 150 rather than be replaced by Web of Spider-Man.
The presence of the Black Knight as a current Avenger would indicate we are after A 252-254, Feb-Apr 85 (so later than ASM 258, Nov 84 unless all Spider-Man or Avengers issues are scrambled around). Monica Rambeau recognizes Dane and addresses him by his first name, another hint that we're after he joins in A 252-254. Dane still has no idea who she is on page 7 of A 255. They only actually meet in A 259 where Dane says, "Pleased to meet you Captain." (And that issue takes place after the fight with Firelord in ASM 269-270.) Maybe Dane & Monica are both affected by the Watcher erasing their memory in Symbiote: KIB 5 if they had fought together in Rom 65-66. As for the Wasp saying, "I don't think you've formally met Dane Whitman", let's say she made a mistake since she was not yet an Avenger in Rom 65-66. The chronology requires that Monica went back to Earth after A 254 or 255 (15:3), fought in the Wraith War, did not find out that Vision has just tried to take over the world, was involved in Symbiote: KIB and went back to fulfil the fake mission. Dane is missing from Symbiote:KIB 4-5, so the Watcher might have returned him to the Avengers to appear in the Wraith War finale in Rom 65. Monica is also in Rom 65-66. With her speed of light powers she can easily cross vast distances but this is rather strained. The Avengers index, which placed Rom 65-66, during A 255 did not mention a spot during the issue since it would contradict Captain Marvel's continuity.
(Note: When rereading Rom 65-66, I have a doubt that Black Knight is there as an Avenger, there are many international heroes present and he could be there in that capacity, which explains why Monica and he don't known each other in A 255 & 259. In that case Rom 65-66 take place before A 252-254. In favor of that interpretation: American teams are present in Rom 65 & 66 while international heroes are missing in issue 66. And indeed Black Knight appears during the Wraith War in Rom 65 but not in its aftermath in Rom 66--supposedly between 15:3 & 15:4 of A 255, May 85, but might be better before 252.)
The contradiction is Symbiote: KIB is apparently taking place while Peter is wearing the symbiote and still dating Felicia but also after ASM Annual 19 (which is after WOSM 2 and thus after the destruction of the symbiote in WOSM 1) and also after Dane met Monica in A 259 (which is after ASM 269).
Annual 19 picks up a plot from WOSM 2, so the annual might need to take place right after WOSM 2-3 so that SSMKIB can take place during the Wraith War. (Note: Louise Simonson was replaced after WOSM 3 and so had to complete the dangling hat plot in the annual.)
The symbiote is supposed to be destroyed in WOSM 1 and only reappears as a subplot in WOSM 18 & 24.
The Wraith War issues themselves (Rom 61-66, Thing 22, FF 276-277, Dr Strange 75) could take place earlier or later than currently placed on the timeline since Spidey does not appear in them. (This might be Peter David's intention, show what Spidey was involved in during that event.) Maybe the Wraith War could take place during a break in WOSM 1 (Apr 85) so that Spidey's appearance in SSMKIB occurs while he's possessed by the symbiote. But that does not solve Alistair Smythe unless... Smythe was already crippled before his crash in Annual 19 and appears in SSMKIB possessed by a symbiote (it seems to be the case). (Symbiotes allowed crippled Flash Thompson and Cletus Kasady to walk.)
Other possibility: Spidey is possessed not by the symbiote but by a shadow being from Marvel Spotlight 9 or a shadow-wraith being such as those seen in Rom (deathwings) and these are what we see possessing people in SSMKIB. (The Wraith War looks like an obvious influence on King in Black.)
Possible breaks in WOSM 1:
After page 4
After page 10
After page 22 (hypothesis: the symbiote gave Peter partial amnesia and it's Rom's weapon in Rom 66 which destroys the symbiote rather than the bells)
Possible timeline:
WOSM 1 (1-?) Spidey gets possessed by symbiote
Wraith War begins
SSMKIB Smythe (possessed by symbiote), Spidey (possessed by symbiote)
Wraith War ends
WOSM 1 (?-23) Peter's symbiote destroyed
WOSM 2 Vulturion Kingpin Aunt May's hat plot
WOSM 3 conclusion of Vulturion plot
ASM Annual 19 conclusion of Aunt May's hat plot. Alistair Smythe still possessed by his symbiote. The symbiote is destroyed by the volts when Smythe's flying saucer crashes into electric lines and Smythe is crippled again in his next appearance in ASM 291.
I don't know if it's possible to place A 254 before the second part of ASM 258 but I doubt that very much as the King in Black Handbook stated the series took place after Peter had rejected the symbiote costume.
Spoiler:
1. It takes place around PPSSM 98, the symbiote has escaped and people possessed by it have no memory of what happened to them. There is a blackout and this is the Spot's origin. This is a serendipitous spot to place the events of Wraith War and Symbiote King in Black. Pros: The symbiote is free, Peter and the Black Cat are still a couple. Cons: [It requires a memory loss that the costume is a live symbiote,] this is before Alistair Smythe is a super-villain.
2. There is a long break in the middle of WOSM 1. Pros: Peter is wearing the symbiote. Cons: [It requires a memory loss that the costume is a live symbiote,] it's after Peter broke up with Felicia, this is before Alistair Smythe is a super-villain.
3. It takes place after Annual 19 (because of Alistair Smythe) and Peter's mysteriously possessed by his resurrected symbiote or another simili-symbiote without remembering it's a live being. In WOSM 1 the symbiote can imitate the blue and red costume. Hypothesis: Right after WOSM 1 the symbiote is resurrected by the Intelligencia, imitates the blue and red costume in WOSM 2 & 3, Annual 19 and after it has learned to selectively alter Peter's memory, shifts its color to black. Pros: It's after Alistair Smythe has become a super-villain and got crippled. Cons: [It requires a memory loss that the costume is a live symbiote, it's after the symbiote is destroyed in WOSM 1,] it's after Peter broke up with Felicia.
Note: Venom (Vol. 4) #7 and #11 establish that the symbiote erased memories and gave false memories to Brock so it is able to similarly influence Peter. (It also states the symbiote altered his body chemistry so it would read as cancerous, so the chronologies need to be cleaned up. The symbiote was already inhabiting Brock when his doctor told him he had cancer in SSM2 5-FB.)
By combining the Wraith War and Symbiote: KIB, we have the Watcher erasing all concerned's memories of this time period, which explains Black Knight and Monica forgetting about each other between A 255 & 259. The reference to Alistair Smythe as a super-villain needs to be a case of mistaken identity with his father and we also figure he was crippled from the start and was seen walking in ASM Annual 19 thanks to a symbiote if we choose solution 1 or 2.
Addendum: If we move forward after A 261 when Captain Marvel finally returns to Earth, we find Peter again involved with the Black Cat in PPSSM 115-116, that's shortly before WOSM 18 when he starts getting stalked by the symbiote. Maybe the symbiote tried to merge with Peter suppressing his memories of rejecting it before it chose Brock. The next Symbiote Spider-Man mini-series occurs during the Crossroads saga (Hulk 300-312, Oct 84 to Oct 85), whose time frame is coherent with any of the four hypotheses.
The listings below work for solutions 1-3.
ARAGORN
NDEF 137
*SYMSM:KIB 1
*SYMSM:KIB 2
XFOR&C '97
BARON MORDO
DS2 51
*SYMSM:AR 1-BTS
*SYMSM:AR 2-BTS
*SYMSM:AR 3
*SYMSM:AR 4
*SYMSM:AR 5
SECWARSII 7
BLACK CAT/FELICIA HARDY
SMF2 1-FB
*SYMSM 1-FB
*SYMSM 3
*SYMSM 4
*SYMSM 5
PPSSM 93
BLACK KNIGHT/DANE WHITMAN
?
*SYMSM:KIB 1
*SYMSM:KIB 2
*SYMSM:KIB 3
?
BLACK WIDOW/NATASHA ROMANOFF
DD 208
*SYMSM:AR 1
*SYMSM:AR 5
DD 217
BRANT LEEDS, BETTY
?
*SYMSM:KIB 2
?
CAPTAIN MARVEL II/MONICA RAMBEAU
?
*SYMSM:KIB 3
*SYMSM:KIB 4
*SYMSM:KIB 5
?
COLLECTOR
M/TU@ 7
*SYMSM:KIB 4
*SYMSM:KIB 5
A@ 16-FB
COSMO
NO4 9-FB
*SYMSM:KIB 4
*SYMSM:KIB 5
{NO4 8}
DAYDREAM
IH3 81
*SYMSM:AR 4
DOCTOR STRANGE
IH2 300
*SYMSM:AR 1
*SYMSM:AR 2
*SYMSM:AR 3
*SYMSM:AR 4
*SYMSM:AR 5
IM:LEG 6
...
DS2 68
ABSCRNG:SYMSM-FB
UX 190
ELECTRO/MAX DILLON
1985 6
*SYMSM 3
PM&IF 113
HOBGOBLIN IV/NED LEEDS
From Ned Leeds
WOSM 30 (9 - 13:4)-FB
*SYMSM:AR 1-FB
*SYMSM:AR 1-FB
*SYMSM:AR 2
*SYMSM:AR 3
*SYMSM:AR 4
*SYMSM:AR 5
ASM 257
ASM 258
ASM@ 18
*SYMSM:KIB 1
*SYMSM:KIB 2
PPSSM 103
HUMAN FLY II/RICK DEACON
PPSSM 86
*SYMSM 1-FB
ASM 276
JAMESON, JONAH
*SYMSM 1-FB
...
?
*SYMSM:KIB 1
*SYMSM:KIB 2
?
KANG
M/S-HSECWARS 11
*SYMSM:KIB 1
*SYMSM:KIB 2
*SYMSM:KIB 3
*SYMSM:KIB 4
*SYMSM:KIB 5
SECWARSII 7
KINGPIN/WILSON FISK
PPSSM 92
*SYMSM 2
*SYMSM 3
*SYMSM 4
PPSSM 93
KNULL
T:GOT 6-FB
*SYMSM:KIB 5
V4 3
KRAVEN
KZSAV 21
*SYMSM:AR 1
SMF2 5/2
MISTER E
M/SPOT 9
SYMSM:KIB 1
SYMSM:KIB 2
SYMSM:KIB 3
SYMSM:KIB 4
SYMSM:KIB 5
MYSTERIO/QUENTIN BECK
PPSSM 51
*SYMSM 1-FB
*SYMSM 1
*SYMSM 2
*SYMSM 3
*SYMSM 4
*SYMSM 5
QP 2
NIGHTMARE
IH2 299
*SYMSM:AR 1-BTS
*SYMSM:AR 2-BTS
*SYMSM:AR 3-BTS
*SYMSM:AR 4
*SYMSM:AR 5
WOSM 7
PARKER, MAY
ASM 255
*SYMSM 1
*SYMSM 4
*SYMSM 5
PPSSM 95
ROBERTSON, JOE
?
*SYMSM:KIB 2
?
ROCKET RACCOON
IH2 271
SYMSM:KIB 1
SYMSM:KIB 2
SYMSM:KIB 3
SYMSM:KIB 4
SYMSM:KIB 5
RR 1
SMYTHE, ALISTAIR ALPHONSO
SYMSM:KIB 1
SYMSM:KIB 2
SYMSM:KIB 3
SYMSM:KIB 4
SYMSM:KIB 5
SPIDER-MAN/PETER PARKER
SMF2 1
SYMSM 1-FB
SYMSM 1
SYMSM 2
SYMSM 3
SYMSM 4
SYMSM 5
SYMSM:AR 1
SYMSM:AR 2
SYMSM:AR 3
SYMSM:AR 4
SYMSM:AR 5
ASM@ 43
...
?
SYMSM:KIB 1
SYMSM:KIB 2
SYMSM:KIB 3
SYMSM:KIB 4
SYMSM:KIB 5
?
SPOT/JONATHAN OHN
*SYMSM 1-FB
*SYMSM 2
*SYMSM 3
*SYMSM 4
{PPSSM 97}
UATU THE WATCHER
WI? 47
*SYMSM:KIB 1
*SYMSM:KIB 4
*SYMSM:KIB 5
SECWARSII 6
ULICA
*SYMSM:KIB 3
*SYMSM:KIB 4
ULIK
T@ 13
*SYMSM:KIB 3
*SYMSM:KIB 4
T@ 17/3
VENOM/EDDIE BROCK
*SSM2 5-FB move from here
V:DO 2 (1 - 18)
ASM 300 (22:2)-FB
V:DO 2 (19 - 22)
ASM 375 (6:4 - 6:5)-FB
V:LP 3 (14:3 - 14:4)-FB
ASM 375 (6:6 - 6:7)-FB
*ASM 300 (23:3 - 23:4)-FB-BTS (remove BTS)
ASM 300 (24:2)-FB
ASM 300 (24:4)-FB
ASM 300 (24:6)-FB
*SSM2 5-FB (learns he's got cancer - move to here)
V:DO 3 (1:1 - 1:4)
VENOM SYMBIOTE
SMF2 1
*SYMSM 1-FB
*SYMSM 1
*SYMSM 2
*SYMSM 3
*SYMSM 4
*SYMSM 5
*SYMSM:AR 1
*SYMSM:AR 2
*SYMSM:AR 3
*SYMSM:AR 4
*SYMSM:AR 5
ASM@43
...
PPSSM 98
SYMSM 3/2
PPSSM 99
...
?
SYMSM:KIB 1
SYMSM:KIB 2
SYMSM:KIB 3
SYMSM:KIB 4
SYMSM:KIB 5
?
WONG
IH2 299
*SYMSM:AR 1-FB
*SYMSM:AR 5
IM:LEG 6
Revised April 25, 2021 to correct the analysis of SYMSM 3/2. Cf. below.
