Spider-Man | |
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Cover of Web of Spider-Man #129.1 (Oct. 2012).
Art by Mike McKone and Morry Hollowell. |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance |
Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) |
Created by |
Stan Lee Steve Ditko |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Peter Benjamin Parker |
Species | Human mutate |
Team affiliations |
Avengers Daily Bugle Future Foundation New Avengers Jean Grey School for Higher Learning Parker Industries Counter-Earth Rebellion |
Notable aliases | Ricochet,Dusk,Prodigy,Hornet,Ben Reilly,Scarlet Spider,Iron Spider |
Abilities |
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Spider-Man is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in the anthology comic book Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) in the Silver Age of Comic Books. Lee and Ditko conceived the character as an orphan being raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in New York City after his parents Richard and Mary Parker were killed in a plane crash, and as a teenager, having to deal with the normal struggles of adolescence in addition to those of a costumed crime-fighter. Spider-Man's creators gave him super strength and agility, the ability to cling to most surfaces, shoot spider-webs using wrist-mounted devices of his own invention, which he calls "web-shooters", and react to danger quickly with his "spider-sense", enabling him to combat his foes.
When Spider-Man first appeared in the early 1960s, teenagers in superhero comic books were usually relegated to the role of sidekick to the protagonist. The Spider-Man series broke ground by featuring Peter Parker, the high school student from Queens behind Spider-Man's secret identity and with whose "self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness" young readers could relate. While Spider-Man had all the makings of a sidekick, unlike previous teen heroes such as Bucky and Robin, Spider-Man had no superhero mentor like Captain America and Batman; he thus had to learn for himself that "with great power there must also come great responsibility"—a line included in a text box in the final panel of the first Spider-Man story but later retroactively attributed to his guardian, the late Uncle Ben.