Spiderman Origin Story

50 years ago, Peter Parker AKA
Spider-Man was
introduced in an 11-page story by Stan
Lee and Steve Ditko. The tale was featured in the
final issue of Marvel Comics' "Amazing Fantasy,"
a cancelled anthology comic book series, and it
took readers by storm. In 1962, the new age of a
cohesive Marvel Universe was still in its infancy,
with characters such as the Fantastic Four, the
Hulk, and Ant-Man running around.
Spider-Man was a new type of hero, a teenager
who was not a sidekick nor did he belong to a
team of similar heroes who supported him. His
personality and backstory won over many fans,
prompting Marvel to give him his own series,
"The Amazing Spider-Man," in 1963.
Today, the web-slinging wonder is an iconic hero
recognized around the world, featured in his own
comics and as a member of the famous Avengers
team. But over the past five decades, there have
been many adaptations and reinterpretations of
just how he got his powers and what motivated
him to become a hero.
"Amazing Fantasy" #15 -- 1962
The story that started it all. Peter Parker is a
teenager living in Forest Hills, Queens with his
Uncle Ben and Aunt May Parker. He attends a
local high school inexplicably called Midtown
High, where he's a gifted science student on the
fast track to a full college scholarship. Though
confident enough around his friends, he faces
constant rejection since he's seen as a nerd.
Attending a demonstration on radiation, Peter is
bitten by a glowing, radioactive spider that
promptly dies.
Feeling ill, Peter wanders out onto the street and
narrowly avoids an oncoming car by making a
superhuman leap into the air. On instinct, he
lands on the side of a building and clings to it.
Peter discovers he has gained the "proportionate
speed, strength and agility of a spider." He can
also will any part of his body to cling to surfaces,
thanks to what Mr. Fantastic later calls "bio-
magnetism" (an enhanced version of spiders
clinging to surfaces by tiny claws and electro-
static force).
Peter decides to test out his newfound powers by
taking part in an amateur wrestling competition,
donning a mask just in case he loses. Peter
quickly beats pro wrestler Crusher Hogan and
wins the competition prize money. A TV
producer (later said to be a TV agent named Max
Schiffman) witnesses the event and convinces
Peter to perform on late night TV. He suggests
Peter keep the "mask angle" since a secret
identity is "great showmanship."
To enhance his act, Peter designs a flashy
costume and builds wrist-worn "web-shooters"
that fire a special "liquid cement" of his own
design. Later stories name the liquid cement
"web-fluid" and reveal that it dissolves after
about an hour. Initially, Spidey's costume is red
and black with blue highlights to give it depth.
After just a few issues, the costume's coloring
uses such strong highlights that it becomes a red
and blue suit.
Minutes after his television debut as the
"Amazing" Spider-Man, the web-spinner sees
and ignores a thief that runs past him and
escapes the building. When a security guard asks
why Spidey didn't trip or grab the guy, the
teenager displays newfound arrogance by
proclaiming that he is no longer concerned with
anyone but himself. Catching criminals isn't
what he's paid to do.
For days (or weeks), Spider-Man continues to
impress studio audiences and play to packed
rooms. But one night, Peter finds police at the
Parker home. They explain his Uncle Ben
surprised a burglar. The burglar got away but
police have cornered him at the old Acme
warehouse at the waterfront. Enraged, Peter
dons his Spider-Man outfit and confronts the
burglar directly. After knocking the killer out,
Peter sees his face and realizes in horror that it's
the same thief from the studio. Guilt-ridden that
he could have saved his uncle if he hadn't been
selfish, Peter realizes that "with great power
there must also come -- great responsibility."
Peter leaves his TV career behind and becomes a
hero. His guilt evolves into a sense of true
altruism and responsibility, and he becomes the
wisecracking "friendly neighborhood Spider-
Man" rather than a cynical vigilante. In his next
comic book appearance, "Amazing Spider-Man"
#1, he displays a "spider-sense" that detects
certain transmissions and warns him of
incoming danger and nearby enemies. Along
with his agility and reflexes, it makes him
incredibly tough to hit in battle. He later even
creates special "spider-tracer" homing devices
that his spider-sense can detect and lock onto,
helping him track down enemies.
Suspicious of Spider-Man, publisher J. Jonah
Jameson begins a smear campaign. Knowing
Jameson is willing to pay for photos of the web-
slinger, Peter begins a second career taking
photos of himself and then collecting paychecks
from the same man who thinks he's a menace.
Initially, he sells photos to Jameson's NOW
Magazine, and then to his newspaper the Daily
Bugle.
A few issues later, Peter loses his glasses and
never replaces them. Decades later, it is said that
Peter never truly needed his glasses, which were
a very weak prescription, and only wore them
because Aunt May feared his constant studying
would strain his eyes.
The years go on. Peter is friends with Jameson's
secretary Betty Brant and then attends Empire
State University where he meets his two major
friends, Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson. As
time passes, more facts are revealed about
Spidey's backstory and origin. In 1968, "Amazing
Spider-Man Annual" #5 reveals his parents
Richard Laurence Parker and Mary Teresa
Parker (nee Fitzpatrick) were agents for the CIA
who were then killed by enemies of the U.S. A
later story adds that Richard and Mary worked
under Nick Fury and even encountered the
mutant called Wolverine on one mission.
"Spider-Man" Animated Series (1967-70)
The first animated adaptation of Spider-Man
starred Paul Soles as Peter and introduced the
now-famous theme song by Bob Harris and
Academy Award winner Paul Francis Webster.
Although this song revealed that Spidey had
"radioactive blood," the hero's backstory was not
revealed until the second season. The episode
"The Origin of Spiderman" (they forgot the
hyphen) revealed a story very similar to the
classic tale by Lee and Ditko, with minor
differences. Peter is already in college before he
gets his powers. He owns a motorcycle and
doesn't wear glasses, though otherwise he's still
the science enthusiast and mocked as a nerd.
The radiation demonstration is now actually part
of a class. Peter's own professor is conducting the
demonstration and the lab is in the school. After
being bitten -- but before he avoids the oncoming
car that prompts a superhuman leap -- Peter
runs into a couple of thugs and displays his new
powers. A similar version of this scene is later
incorporated into some comic book retellings of
Peter's origin.
In this cartoon, Peter doesn't attend a wrestling
contest and immediately decides to be a TV
performer. The next few days are spent creating
web-shooters and a flashy costume. Moments
after he arrives at a TV studio to audition, he sees
and ignores a thief being pursued. That very
night, he returns home and finds police outside
his home where a burglar struck with deadly
results.
Another difference is that Peter does not first
meet J. Jonah Jameson as an amateur
photographer. Instead, he originally takes a job
as a copyboy at the Daily Bugle in order to make
ends meet, musing that he might become a star
reporter. For reasons never explained, he
switches to being a photographer. During this
cartoon, Peter's main love interest is Betty Brant,
who is depicted as a redhead.

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50 years ago, Peter Parker AKA

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