Spider-Man is a fictional comic book superhero who appears in comic books publis hed by Marvel Comics.

Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962). Lee and Ditko con ceived the character as an orphan being raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, an d as a teenager, having to deal with the normal struggles of adolescence in addi tion to those of a costumed crimefighter. Spider-Man's creators gave him super s trength and agility, the ability to cling to most surfaces, shoot spider-webs us ing devices of his own invention which he called "web-shooters", and react to da nger 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 Spi der-Man series broke ground by featuring Peter Parker, a teenage high school stu dent and person behind Spider-Man's secret identity to whose "self-obsessions wi th rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness" young readers could relate.[1] Unlike previous teen heroes such as Bucky and Robin, Spider-Man did not benefit from be ing the protg of any adult superhero mentors like Captain America and Batman, and th us had to learn for himself that "with great power there must also come great re sponsibility" a line included in a text box in the final panel of the first Spider-M an story, but later retroactively attributed to his guardian, the late Uncle Ben . Marvel has featured Spider-Man in several comic book series, the first and longe st-lasting of which is titled The Amazing Spider-Man. Over the years, the Peter Parker character has developed from shy, nerdy high school student to troubled b ut outgoing college student, to married high school teacher to, in the late 2000 s, a single freelance photographer, his most typical adult role. As of 2011, he is additionally a member of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, Marvel's flagsh ip superhero teams. 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.[2 ] As Marvel's flagship character and company mascot, he has appeared in many for ms of media, including several animated and live-action television shows, syndic ated newspaper comic strips, and a series of films starring Tobey Maguire as the "friendly neighborhood" hero in the first three movies. Andrew Garfield has tak en over the role of Spider-Man in a reboot of the films.[3] Reeve Carney stars a s Spider-Man in the 2010 Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.[4] Spid er-Man placed 3rd on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time in 2011.