Spider-man

Spider-Man, comic-book character who was the original everyman superhero. In Spider-Man’s first story, in
Marvel Comics’ Amazing Fantasy, no. 15 (1962), American teenager Peter Parker, a poor sickly orphan, is bitten
by a radioactive spider. As a result of the bite, he gains superhuman strength, speed, and agility along with the
ability to cling to walls. Writer Stan Lee and illustrator Steve Ditko created Spider-Man as a filler story for a
canceled anthology series. At the time, a teenage lead hero was unheard of in comic books. However, young
readers responded powerfully to Peter Parker, prompting an ongoing title and, ultimately, a media empire,
including video games, several animated and one live-action television series, a live-action film franchise, and a
Broadway musical.

3.

Spider-Man was a radical departure from the established conventions of the comic-book superhero: he was a teenage
character who was not relegated to sidekick status beside an older, more-experienced hero. In addition to enhanced speed and
strength, Parker also possessed a precognitive “spider sense” that alerted him to approaching dangers. Using his inborn
scientific talents, Parker synthesized a unique adhesive “web fluid” and built a pair of wrist-mounted web-shooters that enabled
him to shape the webbing into various useful forms. He also designed and sewed the web-festooned red-and-blue costume
that quickly became Spider-Man’s most visible trademark.
However, Marvel publisher Martin Goodman was not initially receptive to the idea of a teen hero taking centre stage, nor did
he want to accept Spider-Man’s neuroses, romantic deficiencies, and chronic concerns about money. Goodman also thought
that the audience would be repelled by the character’s spider motif. Fortunately, Lee’s instincts prevailed. Spider-Man’s debut
in Amazing Fantasy was an immediate and resounding success.

4.

From the beginning, Spider-Man’s behaviour deviated significantly from the prevailing superheroic norms. Instead
of selflessly dedicating his superhuman gifts to crime fighting or the general betterment of humankind, the newly
empowered Spider-Man cashes in on his talents by becoming a television celebrity. After his first performance
before the cameras, he refuses to stop a robber from stealing the television station’s studio box-office receipts.
Spider-Man’s world abruptly collapses a few days later when a burglar murders his uncle, Ben Parker, leaving
Peter’s Aunt May—now his only surviving guardian—a widow. The grief-stricken Spider-Man tracks down Uncle
Ben’s killer, only to make the horrible discovery that the murderer is the very same robber he had allowed to
escape from the television studio. Spider-Man’s origin story closes with a sombre narration that permanently sets
the series’ moral tone:
And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into
the gathering darkness, aware at last that
in this world, with great power there must
also come—great responsibility!

5.

Spider-Man’s debut soon led to an ongoing comic series that began with The Amazing Spider-Man (abbreviated
ASM), vol. 1, no. 1, in March 1963. The eponymous character immediately became integral to the everburgeoning “Marvel universe” as well, interacting with such mainstays as the Fantastic Four, that group’s Human
Torch (another teen hero), Daredevil, and the Incredible Hulk. “Spidey” also quickly developed a colourful, soapopera-worthy supporting cast, including the rabidly anti-vigilante Daily Bugle newspaper publisher J. Jonah
Jameson, girlfriend Gwen Stacy (to be replaced later by Mary Jane Watson, following Stacy’s untimely death),
and a roster of costumed adversaries such as Doctor Octopus, the Sandman, the Green Goblin, and Kraven the
Hunter.

6.

Parker is beset by chronic personal and financial difficulties from the outset, such as having to earn enough money
to pay the medical bills of his ailing Aunt May; she had been poised at death’s door virtually from the beginning of
ASM and even experienced “fake deaths” on two notable occasions. For many years, Peter Parker earned the
money he needed to keep his aunt alive by selling photos of himself in action as Spider-Man (taken surreptitiously
with an automatic camera, usually webbed to a wall) to his unsuspecting newsprint nemesis, Jameson. Although
Parker’s earnings are barely sufficient to make ends meet, he generally approaches life—and crime fighting—with
an upbeat attitude and a sly sense of humour that often manifests as wisecracks delivered in the midst of battle.

7.

Spider-Man became a fast-expanding franchise, unable to be contained between the covers of a single monthly
publication. Spidey’s frequent crossovers with other Marvel characters led to a bimonthly title dedicated to this
idea, Marvel Team-Up, which began in March 1972 and ran for 150 issues. The debut issue teamed Spider-Man
with the Human Torch, and the series eventually paired him with nearly every high-profile character in the Marvel
universe (the series was replaced by the Web of Spider-Man monthly series, which started in April 1985).

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