Marvel Compass #9

Amazing Fantasy #15

 “That's your job!" -Spider-Man

Spider-Man 

by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko, Letters by Artie Simek
                         
An average day in the life of bespectacled teenager Peter Parker, is being woken up for school by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May, who he lives with. He goes to school where he is mocked and made fun of by his fellow students, for being a science geek. His most vocal proponent being high school jock Flash Thompson.

All of that is interrupted when Peter goes to a science exhibit on radioactivity. Unseen by everyone, a small spider descends through one of the experiments and bite Peter on the hand before falling to the floor. Peter suddenly feels very weak and dizzy, a trait he might have developed from his Aunt May, and rushes outside to get some air.

Oblivious to everything else from the odd sensations he is feeling, Peter narrowly avoids getting hit by a car, by leaping up onto the side of a building. Astonished, Peter climbs up to the roof where he manages to crush a steel pipe sticking out of it. Peter realizes that the spider must have given him these powers.

On his way home, Peter sees an ad for whoever can last 3 minutes in the wrestling ring with Crusher Hogan, will be rewarded $100 dollars. At home he discards his glasses and makes a makeshift mask for himself, before rushing back over to the gym. He calls out the challenge to Crusher Hogan who accepts. As Peter outmaneuvers Hogan in the ring, a tv producer looks on extremely impressed. Having beaten Hogan, Peter is offered a spot on Ed Sullivan by the producer. Back at home, Peter works on a better, more flashy costume. He also creates webshooters that come out of his wrists in preparation.

Dressed now in his proper costume, Peter appears on TV as Spider-Man. He wows the audience with his tricks and acrobatics. On his way out of the studio, a man runs past him with an officer chasing him. Spider-Man does nothing to help him, letting the criminal get away. At home, Ben and May give Peter a new microscope.

Spider-Man has many more appearances in the day ahead. On one particular night, Peter is returning home, when he sees a police car outside his home. The officer informs him that his uncle has been shot by a burglar. Running on instinct, Peter goes to his room and dawns the Spider-Man costume.

Spider-Man swings off to the warehouse that the burglar is hiding out in. He surprises the criminal and gets the drop on him, knocking him out. Spider-Man suddenly recognizes the man as the crook he decided not to stop back at the TV studio. He lowers the man down for the police and sneak away. Peter leaves the scene with tears of guilt in his eyes, as he makes his way back through the dark city.

Bearings

• Spider-Man will appear again in Amazing Spider-Man #1 as will the rest of his supporting cast.

Notes/Observations/Thoughts

• So here is Spider-Man! Everybody knows Spider-Man. Spider-Man is good.The origin story isn’t very long, but I don’t think it needs to be. And I think most people already know it. I don’t have a lot to say about the origin story itself, it’s very good and memorable. I do have some thoughts about Spider-Man the character however which I’ll get into next.

• Spider-Man is such a popular, iconic character, and I think one of the reasons this is, is because he sits at the center of the Marvel Universe. While nearly every other hero is fighting some cosmic, mystical, or any other kind of foreign threat, Spider-Man mainly battles criminals just trying to steal money. There is some argument that Daredevil is like this too, but he also has a professional career of being a lawyer, where Peter is just an average teen who is into his science. All of the other heroes do what they do, in order for somebody like Peter to remain in his (mostly) average life. This is why Spider-Man is so popular outside of the Marvel Universe, somebody that readers can relate to. However, inside the Marvel Universe, people usually see him as a menace, or reviled, or at the very least a nuisance. Even Peter Parker himself can’t stand that somebody as annoying as Spider-Man is the most central figure, that he tries to quit so often. This is also why Jonah (a facsimile of Stan Lee) has such a hate-on for him. It’s not him, not his paper, not his astronaut son, but it is this annoying Spider-Man who is the most central character in their reality.

Quotes

“He’s midtown high’s only professional wallflower!” -Liz Allen

“Surprised to see me?” -Spider-Man

The images, story, and all character names on this page are trademarked Marvel Characters, and used without permission. No infringement is intended.