Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), and was created by scripter-editor Stan Lee and artist-plotter Steve Ditko. Lee and Ditko conceived of the character as an orphan being raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben as an ordinary teenager, having to deal with the normal struggles of youth in addition to those of a costumed crime fighter. Spider-Man's creators gave him the ability to cling to walls, shoot spider-webs using an invention he had created, and react to danger quickly with his "spider-sense," enabling him to combat his many foes, including Doctor Octopus, the Sandman, the Lizard, the Green Goblin and the Venom.

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, a teenage high school student to whose "self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness" young readers could relate. Unlike previous teen heroes such as Bucky and Robin, Spider-Man did not benefit from adult mentors like Captain America and Batman and had to learn for himself that "with great power comes 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, Uncle Ben.

Marvel has featured Spider-Man in several comic book series, the first titled The Amazing Spider-Man. Over the years, the Peter Parker character has developed from shy high school student to troubled college student to a married teacher and a member of the superhero team the New Avengers. In the comics, Spider-Man is often referred to as "Spidey", "web-slinger", "wall-crawler", or "web-head".

Spider-Man is one of the most popular and commercially successful superheroes. As Marvel's flagship character and company mascot, he has appeared in many forms of media, including several animated and live-action television series, syndicated newspaper comic strips and a successful series of films starring actor Tobey Maguire as the friendly neighborhood hero. Spider-Man was named Empire magazines'' fifth greatest comic book character.