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 Spider-Man (Peter Benjamin Parker) is a Marvel Comics superhero. He was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962). He has since become one of the world's most popular superheroes. Spider-Man is the quintessential Marvel character. Blessed with extraordinary, spider-like superpowers, Peter Parker is beset by the travails and problems of ordinary life. His powers give him the ability to do good, but seriously complicate his career and personal relationships. In spite of this, he feels a strong duty to continue his crusade against crime and corruption. The theme of the Spider-Man series is "With great power comes great responsibility." The character expanded the dramatic potential of the fantasy subgenre by proving that a series with a strong focus on a more human character and his personal struggles was a viable basis for a successful series. Spider-Man is tremendously popular and is perhaps the most recognizable superhero besides Superman and Batman. Throughout the years, he has appeared in a handful of animated series, a weekly comic strip and, recently, two very successful films. Meanwhile, Marvel has published several comic book series featuring the character (most notably The Amazing Spider-Man). The character has grown from shy high school kid to troubled college student to married man, but has always continued his mission as Spider-Man at all costs.
Creation of character Various accounts of the character's creation have been given. In the 1980s, Stan Lee said that the idea for the series sprang out of the apparent increased teenage interest in the new Marvel comics characters, so he decided to create a character that could cater to them specifically. One of the influences for the character came from the pulp magazine, The Spider, and perhaps from an earlier minor spider-themed character, the Tarantula from DC Comics. In the Spider-Man movie DVD extras, Lee said he was inspired by seeing a fly climb up a wall. Originally, Lee assigned Jack Kirby to illustrate the story, but after seeing his designs, decided that Jack's style was "too 'larger than life'" for what he wanted. Lee turned to artist Steve Ditko, who found the concept particularly appealing and developed a visual motif that Lee found satisfactory. Another version comes from Joe Simon and Steve Ditko, who say that the creation of Spider-Man was based on Simon's Silver Spider (http://www.simoncomics.com/jsmag.htm). They say (Comic Book Artist/Alter Ego, Winter, 1999) that Lee got the original Simon sketches from Kirby and presented them to Ditko, who recognized Simon's work and used it as the basis for Spider-Man. Kirby stated in an interview in Will Eisner's Spirit Magazine that Lee had minimal involvement in the creation of the character. When Martin Goodman was presented with the concept, he was resistant to the unorthodox ideas of a teenage hero with troubled personal life, but allowed the character to be used as a cover story for a dying anthology title, Amazing Fantasy, since content mattered little for a title slated to be cancelled. The story was released in issue #15, and months later, the sales figures indicated that the cover story was unexpectedly popular. Goodman called for a regular series for the character to capitalize on this success. Character historyPeter Benjamin Parker was born to Richard Parker and his wife Mary Fitzpatrick-Parker, both of whom were agents of the CIA and later of S.H.I.E.L.D. (a fictional secret agency). Their last assignment was the infiltration as double-agents of the organization of Albert Malik, who had taken on the name of Red Skull in the absence of the original. Albert found out about their plans and arranged a plane-crash that resulted in their deaths. After his parents' death the infant Peter Parker was left in the care of his Uncle Ben and Aunt May (Richard's older brother Benjamin Parker and his wife May Reilly-Parker), who were both in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York City. Ben immediately took to the role of the boy's father but May was at first reluctant. She still remembered her parents blaming her own birth for the destruction of their marriage, and she was afraid that Peter might signal the end of her own marriage. In time, however, she warmed up to Peter, who unexpectedly strengthened the couple's marriage. Though Peter was always loved by the aging couple he was unpopular among those of his own age. Over time he grew to be a rather lonely, timid teenager who showed more interest in his studies and science in general than in any kind of social life. He was often the target of jokes by more popular fellow students like Flash Thompson, the high-school's star athlete. When he was 16 years old, Parker attended a science exhibit where he was bitten by a spider which had been irradiated. The spider bite gave Parker an array of superhuman powers, including the proportional speed, strength and agility of a spider, a so-called "spider-sense" that would warn him of impending danger, a fast-healing ability that allows him to quickly recover from injuries and poisons, and the ability to stick to walls. A lesser effect was the improvement of his eyesight. Originally near-sighted and bespectacled, he now has perfect vision. In addition to his physical powers, Spider-Man used mechanical web shooters to spin webs in a variety of ways. Current Spider-Man continuity has given him organic web shooters like those seen in the Spider-Man movies. Though the death of a loved one is a commonplace motive for crime-fighting in comics, Spider-Man is driven by guilt rather than revenge. Initially, Parker designed a costume and adopted the identity of Spider-Man in order to win money as a wrestler. His ego grew with his fame, and when he had the chance to stop a thief, Parker chose to do nothing, feeling he no longer had to look after anyone but himself. Upon learning that his beloved Uncle Ben had been killed by a burglar, Parker charged into action as Spider-Man. To his horror, he learned that the burglar who had killed his Uncle Ben was the same thief he had earlier allowed to escape. He devoted himself to fighting injustice in memory of his uncle, driven by the sense of responsibility the older man instilled in him. Spider-Man eternally tries to do the right thing, but is viewed with suspicion by many authority figures. He is often considered little more than a lawbreaker himself, thanks largely to a smear campaign by J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the daily newspaper the Daily Bugle. Ironically, Parker works as a freelance photographer for Jameson, selling photographs of himself as Spider-Man. As originally conceived by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Peter Parker was something of an everyman character. However, as with many characters spanning a lengthy publishing history and handled by multiple creators, Spider-Man's history is somewhat convoluted. He continued working as a freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle and living with his elderly and somewhat fragile Aunt May until he graduated from high school. He enrolled in the fictional Empire State University where he befriended Harry Osborn, who was in fact the son of his arch-enemy the Green Goblin, and Gwen Stacy, with whom he would have a lengthy romance. Stacy was eventually killed by the Green Goblin, who himself seemingly died soon thereafter in battle with Spider-Man. Parker eventually wed long-time friend, Mary Jane Watson, an occasional fashion model and actress, though not before he engaged in lengthy on-again off-again relationship with semi-criminal Black Cat. This marriage did not overly affect his career as a crime-fighter, until it was discovered that she was pregnant. This caused him to retire for a time, turning the mantle of Spider-Man over to Ben Reilly. After Reilly was killed by the Green Goblin and his daughter apparently stillborn, he returned to the role (an alternate version of his daughter who survived later got her own title, set 15 years into the future, titled Spider-Girl). Later, the stresses of his dual identity coupled with Mary Jane's tempestuous career as a model/actress and capricious editorial mandates led to the two separating. However, the two later reconciled. Currently, Parker works as a science teacher at his old high school, lives in a Manhattan apartment, has reconciled with Mary Jane, and still receives the occasional visit from his Aunt May (who was at one point thought dead -- but the elderly woman who died was, in a widely-derided plot twist, revealed to be a "genetically-altered actress" who impersonated her while May was held captive by villains). She has since learned the truth about her nephew's secret identity. Superhuman powersThe irradiated spider's bite caused a variety of physiological mutations in Peter Parker's body that mirror the characteristics of a spider. His physical strength, agility, and reflexes were greatly improved. He gained a fast-healing ability that allows him to recover quickly from mild to moderate injuries (although nowhere near as quickly as X-man Wolverine). In addition, his vision also lost its myopia. Spider-Man also gained the ability to adhere to any smooth surface, allowing to him to support more than his own weight while on a vertical surface or upside down. He can also grip any solid object with any part of his body as long as it can accommodate the mass of the object. For instance, if he wanted to catch a ball, all he would really need is one fingertip to make contact. It has been theorized that his body can consciously attract the basic molecules of a solid object when pressed against it. Another idea is that this ability is similar to static electricity. However, the superhero has had trouble keeping his grip on heavily lubricated surfaces. Spider-Man's most subtle power is his spider-sense. A form of clairvoyance or sixth sense, it unconsciously activates and alerts him to any threat to himself, manifesting as a tingling at the back of his skull. While it cannot tell him of the exact nature of the threat, Spider-Man can judge the severity of it by the intensity of the tingling. For instance, if an enemy passes by Spider-Man with no intention of interacting with him, the spider-sense would give a low signal indicating that he should be alert for a possible danger. On the other hand, if there is an immediate lethal physical danger to Parker such as a sniper is taking aim and about to fire for a kill shot, the spider-sense's tingling would take on an almost painful intensity to indicate a need to take extreme evasive action without hesitation. The spider-sense not only alerts Spider-Man to threats to his physical safety, but it also warns him to threats to his privacy such as being observed while changing identities. Spider-Man also uses the spider-sense as a means to time his evasive maneuvers to the point where he can avoid multiple gunshots or machine gun fire. When combined with his superhuman reflexes and agility, this makes him an extremely difficult target who is almost impossible to shoot in combat. Extremely skilled martial artists taking Spider-Man on hand to hand often have better luck wounding him, although he is formidable in close quarters as well. Although his spider-sense has saved his life innumerable times, Spider-Man has learned the hard way that it can be beaten. For instance, the Green Goblin once secretly attacked him with a gas that temporarily suppressed this perceptive ability, allowing the supervillain to shadow him and learn his secret identity. Additionally, the alien symbiotes Venom and Carnage are not recognized by the spider-sense. This gives the supervillains an edge that Spider-Man often has trouble countering. The phrase "My spider-sense is tingling" has since become an ironic catch phrase in American pop culture. In addition to his amazing powers, the famous Wall Crawler (a nickname for Spider-man. Other known nicknames for him is Web Slinger, Webhead and Spidey) also has super strength. Spider-Man can lift 10 tons or more if he is under great stress or pressure. Because of his strength, he can leap to great heights. Spider-Man can jump the width of a city block, or almost five stories straight up. CostumesAlthough the details and proportions have changed somewhat over the years, with a few notable exceptions, Spider-Man's costume has remained fairly consistent. The standard costume is a form-fitting fabric covering his entire body. From the waist down it is dark blue, except for mid-calf boots with a black web pattern on a red background. From the waist up the fabric is the reb-and-black web pattern, except for his back, sides, and insides of his upper arms, which are dark blue. There is a large red spider outline on his back, and a smaller black spider emblem on his chest. The mask has large white eyes rimmed with black, that allow him to see but hide his eyes. He is sometimes depicted with webs connecting his arms to his torso. Several alterations occurred when Ben Reilly replaced Peter Parker in the role. He placed more emphasis on the spider on the chest, making it large enough to cover the entire torso. Instead of a large red spider on his back, the web pattern and spider emblem were repeated there. The gloves had web-shooters on the outside, and the web design on the boots and gloves was partially replaced with dark blue. The most significant alteration to Spider-Man's costume came about in the mid 1980s, after his returned from the Secret Wars. He appeared in an almost all-black costume, with a large white spider emblem on the chest and back, and with small white squares on the back of his hands. This costume is usually referred to as the "black Spider-Man". The costume turned out to be a living creature, capable of generating its own webbing, while heightening most of Spider-Man's abilities. He got rid of it eventually after finding out it was alive, but donned a non-living version of the costume for many years until his wife had a run-in with the new occupant of the costume, Eddie Brock, or Venom. EquipmentAlthough he is usually of limited financial means, Spider-Man has developed personal equipment that plays an important role in his superhero career. Web-shootersThe most important of Spidey's equipment are his web-shooters.They are wrist mounted devices that fire an adhesive very similar to spider's webbing. The trigger rests high in the palm and requires two taps to activate, so Peter can't accidently fire the shooter if he makes a fist or his hand hits the trigger. The default setting has the adhesive threaded through a special mesh to take on a spider web like design. The substance dries almost immediately into a strong material that can support very heavy loads: into the one-ton range. Typical uses of his webs include creating long swing lines which he uses to travel through the cavernous chasms between the Manhattan high-rises. He can change the setting to a wide spray to ensnare criminals, and to form protective shields or nets. He can also form crude objects with a heavy application. In addition, when Spider-Man desires it, he can fire the web fluid as a straight liquid when he needs to use the substance's maximum adhesive strength. However, the default meshed spray generally allows for sufficient strength while being more versatile in its use and easier to remove when desired. The substance is formulated to dissolve after one hour which is generally sufficient time for Spider-Man's needs while ensuring the webs he makes do not cause undue litter. In addition, Parker can modify the fluid formulation to suit particular specialized needs when called for. The web-shooters can also be used to expel other liquids, using interchangeable cartridges, but are only seldom used to do this. In some versions of the character, instead of mechanical web shooters, Spider-Man generates webs organically, from his own altered spider-like biology.This idea originally came from the popular Spider-Man movie of 2002. Spider tracersSpider-Man has also developed small electronic "spider-tracers" which allow him to track objects or individuals. The outer casing is shaped like a spider and is designed to cling to a target without attracting attention. While he originally threw his tracers at a target in the hopes that at least one hits, he later developed a wrist launcher which ejects tracers above the wrist while the web is fired from below to allow for more precise and reliable applications of the tracers. Spider-Man originally used a small receiver device to follow the tracers. However, he eventually learned that he could tune the tracer signal frequency to his own spider-sense for more convenient use, but the receiver is still used as a back-up and long-range measure. Other equipmentSpider-Man keeps his regular field equipment in a specially designed utility belt that contains his web fluid cartridges and his tracers. It also carries his camera, which has an extended rear metal plate that allows him to use his web to position it without interfering with its functions. The camera also has an automatic shutter mechanism linked to an internal motion detector so it will take a picture whenever Spider-Man moves in front of the camera lens. Finally, the belt contains a strong light called a Spider Signal that creates an image of his mask when activated. He typically uses it not only for a light source, but as a way of unnerving opponents and to call attention. In addition, the Human Torch once helped Spider-Man build a car called the Spidermobile which had a paint job and modifications that follow his spider motif. Unfortunately, Spider-Man had never learned to drive and he crashed the car soon after receiving it. Also, early on in his career, Peter bought a motorcycle. Spidey's comicsSpider-Man first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15. After that he was given his own series. Many followed, but currently these are his main titles:
He also has had a number of series that are since canceled or have been given new names:
AdaptationsTelevisionSpider-Man has been adapted to television numerous times, through a short-lived live-action television series and several animated cartoon series.
FilmOn May 3, 2002, the film Spider-Man was released. It was directed by Sam Raimi and starred actor Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. The film featured a number of impressive CGI effects to bring Spider-Man to life. Though the film adaptation took a number of liberties with the character's history and powers, most notably giving him organic web-shooters rather than mechanical, it was essentially true to the character and was widely embraced by the viewing public. Earning more than $403 million at U.S. box offices, it was the highest-grossing movie of the year, outperforming Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (the first Star Wars movie not to be the biggest box-office hit of the year). Spider-Man 2 was released on June 30, 2004; Spider-Man 3 will be released on May 4, 2007. Spider-Man went on to become the fifth highest-grossing film in North American history -- not adjusting for inflation -- with a total take of more than $800 million internationally. Spider-Man 2 was 2004's third-most financially successful movie and 15th-most financially successful movie of all time. It premiered in more North American movie theaters than any previous movie. Its first-day gross ($40.5 million) surpassed its predecessor's $39.4 million record. The only higher single-day movie gross was Shrek 2's $44.8 million in the first weekend of its May 2004 release. Spider-Man 2's opening-day gross was even more impressive for occurring on a Wednesday, usually a weak day of the week for movies. The first Spider-Man's opening-day record was set on Friday, a more traditional opening day; Shrek 2's record-breaking day was the Saturday after the Wednesday of its release. Spider-Man 2's three-day weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) total failed to beat its predecessor's $114.8 million record, but its six-day $180.1 million total outpaced The Matrix Reloaded's $146.9 million mark. Video gamesSpider-Man first appeared in video game form in 1982, in the Parker Brothers game Spider-Man for the Atari 2600. [5] (http://www.spiderfan.org/software/console/1983_parker_brothers/index.html) Subsequently, Spider-Man games were created by Acclaim, Sega, Paragon Software Corporation, LJN, and Activision for various video game consoles over the years. Spider-Man has also been featured as a character in several fighting games made by Capcom, beginning with Marvel Super-Heroes and continuing in the Marvel vs. Capcom series. Two three-dimensional Spider-Man games (Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro) were developed for the PlayStation by Neversoft, using a similar engine to their Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games. The first title also appeared on Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo N64 and PC. In tandem with the 2002 release of Spider-Man the movie, Activision released Spider-Man, the first Spider-Man game for all the major video game console systems, including GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2 and PC, as well as a portable version for the Game Boy Advance. Most recently, the 2004 video game Spider-Man 2 by Activision was released along with the Spider-Man 2 movie, also for GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2, PC, plus handheld versions for both Game Boy Advance and N-Gage. Like the movie, it opened to critical and commercial success. The fall of that same year also saw the release of another portable version of Spider-Man 2, this time for Nintendo's new handheld, the Nintendo DS. 2005 will see another version of Spider-Man 2, this time for Sony's new handheld, the PlayStation Portable; to debut in the first quarter of the year along with the system. EnemiesSpider-Man has one of the best-known rogues galleries (list of enemies) in comics. Among the most infamous supervillains he encounters regularly are:
Other Spider-MenComicsIn the comics, others have used the Spider-Man identity. These include:
Comic continuitiesSpider-Men in other comic continuities include:
Real lifeSpider-man imitators in real life include :
Spider-Man in musicThe theme song to the 1960s cartoon rendition of Spider-Man (called "Spider-Man") has been covered by:
Spider-Man in pop cultureOn Halloween 2004, an estimated 2.15 million U.S. children dressed up as Spider-Man, making it the year's most popular costume. External link
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