story identification - Why is Spider-Man's web different between the original and Amazing Spider-Man movies?

Why is it that the two Spider-Man film series (the original one and The Amazing Spider-Man) have different sources for Spider-Man's web?

In the original, the web comes directly from Peter, while in the remake, there is some kind of device he puts on his wrist.

Is this really in the comics?

Answer

In comics Spider-Man does not have organic web shooters but his web shooters are fairly ingenious devices of his own invention

Typically hidden under the sleeves of his costume, they encircle Spider-Man’s wrists with slots for cartridges that contain the “web fluid” which solidifies into sticky webbing on contact with air (spare cartridges are kept on his belt). Protruding from these bracelets are the nozzle which the webbing is fired from, and trigger mechanisms which rest in the palms of his hands; manipulating the triggers with his middle and ring fingers allows him to control the size and shape of the resulting webs.

The web-shooters endured for many years, often providing fodder for dramatic situations when Spider-Man would run out of web fluid during a fight, or further experimented with his webbing formula to try to improve on it. Sometimes these improvements worked, and sometimes they didn’t; after developing a stronger web formula, Spider-Man discovered to his chagrin that the new webbing was nearly useless in practice, as the web-shooters themselves were not strong enough to cut through the webbing, leaving him tethered to whatever he attached his webs to.

He did eventually discover a use for the stronger web formula however, at one point creating a “web-armor” to protect himself in battle against some particularly tough foes.

Perhaps in response to the move towards organic webbing in the Raimi films, Spider-Man eventually acquired the ability to generate webs naturally in the comics, after recovering from his mutation into a giant spider at the hands of the villainous Queen, during 2004’s “Avengers Disassembled” crossover. But things came full circle in the wake of 2007’s “One More Day” storyline, which saw several aspects of the Spider-Man mythos rebooted, including the restoration of his artificial web-shooters and the disappearance of the organic webbing.