Nick Peron

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Amazing Fantasy #15

Nick Peron

Spider-Man

Credits

A shy, unassuming high-school student, Peter Parker prefers the company of his teachers to that of his classmates, who call him "Midtown High's only professional wallflower." His only living relatives, Uncle Ben and Aunt May, think the world of

him.

One evening, while attending a demonstration of radioactivity at General Techtronics Laboratories East, Parker fails to notice a spider drop through a "radioactive ray" and receive a massive dose of radiation. It bites him and dies. Light-headed, Parker leaves the demonstration, only to be nearly run over by a car. He leaps to safety but is surprised to find he has jumped much further than intended—he lands on the side of a building and clings to the bricks by his fingertips. He quickly climbs to the roof and, once there, accidentally crumples a steel pipe in his hand. He believes that he has inherited the spider's speed, strength, and climbing ability. He begins to ponder the possibilities.

Shortly thereafter, Parker sees a wrestling ring and a sign: "$100 to the man who can stay in the ring three minutes with Crusher Hogan." He goes home, changes, puts on a hood, and returns to the ring. Hogan laughingly calls Parker the "Masked Marvel," but Parker lifts Hogan over his head and carries him up a post. Afterward, a man in the crowd introduces himself to Parker as a television producer, encourages him to go into show business, and gives him his card.

At home, Parker makes himself a spider-themed costume, a supply of sticky web fluid, and two jets for his wrists that can shoot the fluid. "Here comes the Spider-Man!" he says.

The Spider-Man appears on television and becomes a celebrity. One evening, he goes backstage and finds a guard chasing a thief. Spider-Man lets the thief escape and, when the guard complains, tells him, "That's your job! I'm thru being pushed around ... by anyone!"

Spider-Man learns his first important lesson

Some days later, Parker returns home and learns from a policeman that a burglar has killed his Uncle Ben. The police have cornered the man in the deserted Acme warehouse. Parker dons his costume and swings to the scene.

Once inside, he frightens the man by crawling down the wall toward him. Parker then covers his gun hand with web fluid and knocks him unconscious. When he sees the man's face, he recognizes the thief who got away at the studio. He wraps the burglar in webbing and leaves him for the police to find. Shocked, Peter realizes that, if he had caught the burglar, his Uncle Ben would still be alive. He eventually learns that with great power comes great responsibility.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Aunt May, Uncle Ben, Flash Thompson, Liz Allan, The Burglar, Raymond Warren, Seymour O’Reilly, Sally Avril, Dr. Eric Schwinner, Maxie Shiffman

Continuity Notes

  • Amazing Spider-Man #240 clarifies that Peter is in his sophomore year in this story. Civil War #2 states that Peter was fifteen years old at the time.

  • A number of characters are unnamed in this story, they are:

    • Sally's, the girl who Peter asked out, last name is revealed to be Avril in Amazing Fantasy #16.

    • The blonde girl is Liz Allan, she is named in Amazing Spider-Man #1.

    • Peter's other classmates include Seymour O'Reilly, his first name was identified in Amazing Spider-Man #17 and his last name was revealed in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #7.

    • Peter's science teacher is Raymond Warren, his last named was revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #8. His first name was identified in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #11.

    • The scientist who ran the experiment is identified as Dr. Eric Schwinner in Spider-Man: Final Adventure #1.

    • Crusher Hogan's real name was revealed in Spider-Man's Tangled Web #14.

    • The science demonstration is revealed to have taken place at General Tetronics Laboratories in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #60.

    • Peter's agent is Maxie Shiffman. His first name is revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #1, his last name was first identified in Web of Spider-Man #90.

    • The officer who tries to arrest the Burglar is identified as Bernard O'Brien in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #11 as well.

    • The identity of the Burglar who shoots Uncle Ben has not been verified. He has a daughter that was identified as Jessica Carradine, first seen in Sensational Spider-Man #0. Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook #1 suggests that his first name could be Dennis.

  • A number of details about this story should be considered topical references per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 as follows: All slang, technology, the amount of money that is being offered to beat Hogan in the ring, Spider-Man appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show, and Chet Huntley being the newscaster.

  • Peter Parker isn't the only one affected by the radioactive spider. Jessica Jones was present and flubbed her chance at asking him out, as seen in Alias #22. The spider also bit Cindy Moon, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man (vol 3) #1. The spider was later eaten by Carl King, a kid who used to bully Peter in school, as seen in Spider-Man’s Tangled Web #1-3.

  • This story suggests that Peter created his webshooters after he got his powers. However, Amazing Spider-Man #-1 reveals that Peter came up with the design much earlier.

  • Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #60 clarifies that Peter didn't design his costume from scratch, instead he modified a pair of dance skins to make his costume.

  • Peter Parker's identity was compromised when he left his home as Spider-Man to capture the Burglar, following the death of Uncle Ben. Amazing Spider-Man #258 reveled that Mary Jane Watson observed Spider-Man and deduced his identity.