Spiderman

Welcome to our final project “Spider-Man: An Age of Superheroes!” We hope you enjoy our analysis of Spider-Man over the decades and find it entertaining as well as thought-provoking.

Adaptations are a great way for us to pass stories down through generations, and Spider-Man is a prime example of this. Peter Parker made his first appearance in 1962, in Marvel Comics’ Amazing Fantasy, No. 15 written by the iconic Stan Lee and illustrated by the influential Steve Ditko. The creators had no idea how popular this character was going to become. They originally created Spider-Man as a filler character, but his age connected comics to a younger audience. Teenagers were able to resonate with the character and Spider-man’s popularity quickly skyrocketed.

Peter Parker is a teenager who experienced loss at a very young age, first losing his parents, and then losing his Uncle Ben. He was a normal teenager struggling with adapting to high school and life when he was bit by a radioactive spider. He soon began to develop extraordinary abilities similar to that of a spider, and as such Spider-Man was born. What makes Spider-Man such a relatable character is his constant struggle between being a regular kid and the neighborhood Spider-Man. Our culture and society continue to change, but the one thing that never changes is growing up. All teenagers struggle with balancing their social life as well as their responsibilities, even when they haven’t been bitten by a radioactive spider. Peter Parker was a slightly awkward and intelligent kid with an infectiously positive attitude. That is what makes him such a great superhero, he shows his audience that he is still learning how to be a hero and it's okay to be scared and doubt yourself. Being Spider-Man isn't what makes the character so popular, it's the person behind the mask that makes Spider-Man special.

By examining numerous variations of Spiderman over the decades, we can see that his fame has never died down because his appeal is rooted in his personality and personal dilemma, which remains relevant and relatable regardless of how our opinions of superheroes have changed.