With the movie “The Amazing Spider-Man” coming out tomorrow (a.k.a. tonight at midnight!), this is the perfect time to discuss what makes Spidey so Spectacular!
Can you guess which bug inspired Stan Lee to create Spider-Man?
(The answer appears below.) *
Stan Lee made a teenager the superhero, in essence, making the sidekick the superhero! As if Robin got super powers and no longer had to endure Batman's condescension. Spider-Man doesn't need a wisecracking sidekick, because he's the hero and the comic relief all in one!
Although a re-boot of the movie franchise seems somewhat silly after only a few years running, I don't mind, because his sense of humor was sorely missing from the first three Spider-Man movies. (About one joke or two per movie is not enough!)
Although everyone hails Superman; and he makes heroic headlines, people fear Spider-Man; and The Daily Bugle posts headlines accusing Spidey of at best being a glory-hound; and at worst, being a criminal. Such bad publicity and several police warrants for his arrest cause most people not to cheer him, but to fear him.
Using the symbol of a spider didn't ingratiate Spidey with the public either. Thus, he's a hero whose efforts are rarely applauded. Which in effect proves he's no glory-hound as J. Jonah Jameson the editor of The Daily Bugle so adamantly asserts. If you've ever felt unappreciated, you can relate.
He didn't want to become a superhero. Often he tries to quit. Heroism isn't as fun for him as the other superheroes make it look. But he can't quit. Not for long anyway. Because the guilt and horror of his letting a crook get away still haunts him. Because that crook later killed his beloved Uncle Ben. This guilt drives him.
Although he never wanted to become a superhero, he still needs to protect his secret identity. His widowed Aunt May who dotes on Peter Parker so much takes The Daily Bugle editorials as Gospel and thus fears Spider-Man with a passion. With her weak heart, the shock of finding out her fragile nephew is Spider-Man would kill her.
Stan Lee's brilliant at creating such amazing character dynamics:
~ Aunt May loves Peter Parker, but dreads Spider-Man, even going so far as smacking him with her purse when he tries to save her!
~ Flash Thompson, who bullies Peter Parker, founded the Spider-Man Fan Club!
~ The new movie changed things, but in the comic books, Gwen Stacy loved Peter, but hated Spider-Man, because she, the police, and the media blamed him for the death of her father.
~ Parker works for Jameson who would fire him if he knew he was Spider-Man.
So you see, besides the normal reasons other heroes have, Spidey needs to keep his identity a secret. Yet, in all the movies, he always seems to remove his mask on a whim. Even riding through the heart of New York City unmasked on a subway train in Spider-Man 2. How does anyone not know who he is?
From Amazing Spider-Man # 10.
Those fantastic character dynamics carry over to his villains too:
~ Spider-Man wants to defeat the Green Goblin, but he doesn't want to harm his best friend's dad.
~ Or later, his best friend, when he takes over the family business.
~ Spider-Man wants to stop the Lizard, but he doesn't want to hurt his friend and mentor Doctor Curt Connors.
~ At one point, Doctor Octopus dated Aunt May, so that put Pete in a pickle too.
Spider-Man's best efforts aren't always enough. He means well, but he sometimes causes more harm than good. There's never been an easy road for Spider-Man or Peter Parker. Often he bemoans "The old Parker luck" when things go awry. Sometimes he runs out of webbing. He doesn't always save the day either. If you've tried to help someone, only to be rebuffed, only to make things worse, you can relate too.
But it's not all bad. Usually one area of his life suffers while another thrives. He might catch a major villain as Spider-Man, only to have his girlfriend think Peter Parker's a coward for fleeing from danger, when actually he hurried away to change into his costume. Or Spider-Man might have to stop chasing a bad guy, so he can fulfill a prescription for Aunt May's heart medicine. Sometimes everything works out. Which sounds great, but sadly, that only means that, come next issue, he's going to face his biggest challenge yet! Stan Lee's a master showman at marketing and generating excitement for the next issue.
When needing a break from his studies, he enjoys web-slinging to clear his head. Lo and behold, that just so happens to be when so many crimes take place. What a coinky-dinky, huh?
Of course, his powers are amazing too! Enhanced strength, speed, and agility. Wall-climbing. Spider Sense! (A.k.a. Spidey-Sense.) The power that alerts Spider-Man of danger. When bullets get fired at him, his Spidey Sense helps him dodge out of the way. (When you feel doubts about a new venture, you can always say, "Sounds like a great deal, but my Spidey-Sense is tingling, so no thanks!")
Another brilliant idea was having Peter Parker (Spider-Man) invent his web-shooters! (Not what happened in the first three movies.) Encouraging young readers to stay in school and study. "So, they laughed at me for being a bookworm, eh? Well, only a science major could have created a device like this." Plus, he often saves the day using his scientific know-how in addition to his amazing spider powers.
Another lesson to learn from Stan Lee, is that his career isn't work, because he enjoys what he does so much! That's a key principle for achieving success.
That's the genius of Stan Lee! Easily one of the most prolific and most influential writers of the 20th century.
The genius of Steve Ditko, the artist who created Spider-Man's original costume, is that the costume covers all of him. Thus, anybody could be in that costume. This helped generate reader/viewer identification as each person can imagine him/herself being Spider-Man/Spider-Woman.
With knowledge, determination/faith, courage, a sense of humor, and the other skills God blesses you with, you can overcome anything.
The 24-Hour Flu robs him of his spider powers. Many of Spidey's super villains like Doctor Octopus, The Green Goblin, Mysterio, and even J. Jonah Jameson go to so much trouble, time, and expense to try to trap him, when all they have to do is cough in his face!
Blessings & Joy,
Dean Burkey
* Stan Lee saw a fly climbing the wall in his office and thought that climbing walls would make a cool super power that hadn’t been done before.
** The story was put in the last issue of a comic book being ended. A throwaway! Why? Because the publisher didn't think Spider-Man would actually connect with audiences. Stan Lee, not wanting his efforts to go to waste, put the story into the last issue of Amazing Fantasy. Fan letters came in; and soon Spider-Man had his own comic book: The Amazing Spider-Man!
Photo of and by: Gen Con Indy 2008 - costumes 171
