"Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man."

So after WWII and the extreme skepticism of how comic books were warping the minds of our youth, Marvel decided that it was time to introduce comic book characters who showed weakness and a common life of some kind; demonstrating that not all people are perfect and that "the superhero could be you." With this concept was the creation of Spider-Man.  Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Steve Ditko, a small backstory for people who have no idea what I am talking about (which would be surprising considering the mass amount of number one films and video games) is as follows: Peter Parker was sort of a wimp before he actually became Spider-Man and what keeps him going is not revenge, but the guilt of knowing that he could have saved his Uncle Ben, who was the only father figure that he had, when he was killed. He was attending a science exhibit when he was bitten by a spider and given a bit of radioactivity - meaning he was actually given spider abilities. Unlike all of the other superheros who were around during this time, Spider-Man had no one else to talk to except himself - so none the less, he had to struggle with himself as well throughout each comic.

The original comic debuted in 1962, and it was almost not even published, but it was decided that it would be a one-time type of thing because the editor thought that readers would find the concept of spiders "distasteful." Spider-Man was threw in last minute because of the cancellation of another comic that was being published previously and eventually her helped characterize The Marvel Age. I bet that editor is happy he decided to throw him in now, huh. Later when the sales for that certain comic book came in, the numbers were outstanding and better than any other book that was previously published.

Once Spider-Man was given his own comic, Stan Lee became the editor and Jack Kirby was added to the team in order to give Spider-Man a better chance of survival. As someone who is currently located in Indiana, PA, I am not too far away from Johnstown, PA where the original inker, Steve Ditko, lived!   Getting back on topic though, like Batman and many of the other superheros in comic books, Spider-Man ends up using his powers for the good - helping all types of civilians and saving them from arch enemies like Carnage and Venom, which he can detect almost to the exact spot due to his very useful spidey-sense.

Over the years, Spider-Man has been turned in to movies, video games, and even more comic books have been written. He is a world-wide hit, and you can bet your bottom dollar that he will continue to be. Sure, I thought Spider-Man movies would be over after Spider-Man 3, but of course they came out with The Amazing Spider-Man, which was just as big of a hit as the previous films. As the years continued with the comic, several villans and characters were added - who could forget Mary Jane (Peter Parker's extreme love intrest) and Green Goblin?  I love that Spider-Man has truly proved to be timeless over the years. Like Batman, my 11 year old nephew is more in love with Spider-Man and everything he is about than any other superhero; in fact, he will be walking around his neighborhood this year in the Amazing Spider-Man costume and be the most adorable kid ever. I think its great that kids in this age can enjoy superheros like they did back in the day - I really think my nephew could teach us all a few things about Spider-Man though because one time I made the mistake of mixing up Batman and Spider-Man's arch enemies, and my goodness was that an issue. Luckily he straightened them out for me and I promised to never mix them up again. Note to self: Don'y try to act like you know what you're talking about when it comes to comic books while talking to 11 year olds.

Below is a picture of the first copy from Marvel when Spider-Man was originally introduced to the world. August 15, 1962 Amazing Fantasy #15 (notice the CCA Stamp in the corner that we had a discussion about in my previous blog???)

"Spiderman Biography." History of Spiderman. Super Hero Stuff, 2012. Web. 3 Oct. 2012. <http://www.superherostuff.com/biographies/spideybio.html>.