Hensley 1 Tessa Hensley English IV Ms.

Bell 3 September 2013 The Amazing Spider-Man Very few things originated in America because we are a country based on immigrants and various cultures. We are a country that has come a long way from the original thirteen colonies and civil war. Every obstacle that we have faced has only made our country stronger and given us inspiration to create one of the few things that originated on this land: the comic book. A History of Comic Books Spider-Man is a very well-known superhero today but he was not created until many years after super hero comics became popular. Comic books have been around since the 1800s and the industry was dominated by superheroes in the 1960s. The two major publishers since that time are Marvel and Detective Comics (DC). Originating in the United Statesthe comic book contains everyday language, slang, and idiom, as well as color and a sophisticated interplay between text and image(History of the Comic Book). The first comic strip was called The Yellow Kid by Richard Outcault and appeared in newspapers. Outcault was the first to use the speech balloons that are used in comics. This inspired more comic strips and because of their humor they became known as the Funnies (History of the Comic Book). It has been said that comic books are based on the heroes in Greek stories, such as Hermes, Thor, Jason and the

Hensley 2 Argonauts, Zeus, Gilgamesh, and Beowulf. Comics are still very popular today, however, their most popular time began in the late thirties. The Golden Age is the term used to describe the years 1938-1956 which was when comic books were just becoming popular. During this time WWII, or the Great War, was at its most unnerving time as well as the New Deal. These times in history inspired some super heroes and story lines giving comics a purpose (History of the Comic Book). After WWII the Golden Age came to an end and so began the silver age. This age, 1956-1971, included horror filled comic books and were not popular with the public. Later on in the 60s, comic books resulted back to superheroes and Spider-Man was created. His purpose was to show weakness; a superhero that was still very much human. The History of Spiderman Since his 1962 debut, Spider-Man has been a notable and beloved character but it is not because of his wall climbing powers or dazzling super suit; it is his simple humanity, rather than his exotic talent, that has won him millions of enthusiastic fans(Super Hero Stuff). Underneath the mask is science lover Peter Parker, who was orphaned at a young age and sent to live with his Aunt and Uncle in Queens. His love for science was the reason behind him getting his super powers. He was a high school student who was bitten by a radioactive spider at a science exhibit, as stated in the original comics. Along with this bite came super-strength, wall crawling abilities, spidey senses, improved vision, and an idea to create web shooters which Parker attaches to his wrists after creating webs in the science lab. The storyline for this particular hero is very sad because his motivation to stop crime comes from the guilt of not being there to stop his Uncle from getting murdered. Before the

Hensley 3 death of his Uncle Ben, Parker got some life-changing advice from the man who raised him. We all know now, that with great power there must also come-great responsibility (Lee). Surprisingly, Spider-Man was almost never revealed to the public. The first Spider-Man story was originally intended as no more than a one-shot experiment, and almost didnt get into print at all(Super Hero Stuff). Publishers found spiders to be unappealing, but due to a comic that was supposed to be canceled, Spider-Man got his shot at fame and came out successful. His internal struggles capture the attention of readers and create a feel for Spidey. He was scared and lonely, because of this he has delivered more soliloquies than Hamlet (Super Hero Stuff). He was unique in that he really only had himself to talk to. Information on Creator Stan Lee Stan Lee created many super heroes through Marvel Comics, but Spider-Man is one of his greatest because he himself inspired the character. An article about an interview with Stan Lee was written in 1977 and published in Quest magazine. The interview was about Lees thoughts and actions when creating Spider-Man and how he got the idea. For two unsatisfying decades Id been selling myself short, sublimating any literary ability I might have in a painful effort to write down to the level of drooling juveniles and semi cretins (Steibel). He then set out to write about a teenage super hero; a super hero who was clumsy and insecure. Lee described him as my kind of teenagerA loser. A schlepp. Just like when I was youngId simply have become a super-powered schlepp (Steibel). Spider-Man made Lee begin to enjoy writing about freaky costumed heroes. He could put more everyday life occurrences in his stories. The age range of readers also changed from just pre-teens to older crowds as well. For the newly proselytized older reader, we offered unexpectedly sophisticated plots and subplotsand as many philosophical and sociological concepts as we could devise (Steibel). The older crowd

Hensley 4 could relate to Spideys problems and the younger crowed enjoyed the super hero action and suspense. The college level reading in the comics also helped improve the reading skills of the younger readers. The new reading crowd increased Spider-Mans popularity even more. Throughout the world, Spidey outsells evens Superman by about 800,000 copies per year (Steibel). Lee told Quest that while writing about Spider-Man he realized that there should be more to heroes and villains than just the good and evil. He felt readers should know what motivated the characters. Spider-Man was very human, so why cant the villains have some humanity? In the words of Stan Lee, even Attila the Hun was good to his mother (Steibel.) Lee put a lot of himself into Spider-Man throughout the entire comic series. He created quotes based off of what he would actually say in a situation that Spider-Man was experiencing in order to keep him in the right character. Lee expects Spider-Man to be entertaining readers for a long time because he really is just a person and they cannot expect the impossible from him. If his powers are greater than ours, so are his problems (Steibel). Spider-Man is just a Stan Lee in costume fighting crime while dealing with allergies and struggling to pay rent. Summary of Spider-Man Died In Your Arms Tonight The Amazing Spider-Man Died in Your Arms Tonight has a lot of back story in it. Not only is Peter Parker/Spider-Man dealing with new problems, but many past complications are affecting him in this issue. Almost every previous complication with powers that Spider-Man has ever had comes out in the very beginning as Spidey sees a therapist for identity problems. A section is dedicated to his Uncle Ben, who reminisces about Peters childhood years and his struggle to make Peter realize how proud his father would have been of everything Peter has

Hensley 5 accomplished. The rest of the comic is about Aunt Mays engagement to the father of one of Spider-Mans enemies and her wedding. She tells Peter the story of how she met his Uncle Ben and describes how he saved her once from marrying a criminal. She then goes into the story of how she could not have children and then Peters parents died and she became a parent after all. Of course Aunt May is torn between her new love and the one she tragically lost, but she feels approval to move on and does so confidently. After some intense battle scenes with the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Daredevil and a few humorous moments in Peters college life involving a Spider-Man museum, the wedding occurs. Peter takes his roommate as his date to the ceremony but the reception is where the action happens as Peters ex-girlfriend Mary Jane shows up. The next morning Peter cant remember the night before but he does remember making plans to meet up with Mary Jane at a certain time and place but is not sure about when or where. He has a falling out with his roommate that morning but then spends the rest of the day fighting crime and saving the day. Personal Review Issue #600-601 of The Amazing Spider-Man comic series was an interesting read, however some parts were a bit slow or the humor was forced. Since I have not read any other comics about Spider-Man I was confused at some parts but that was not the fault of the comic. Some humor was effortless and made the comic enjoyable and the emotion was genuine when it came to the parts involving Aunt Mays feelings about moving on from her deceased husband. Learning about how they met was definitely touching and got me hooked for a couple sections of the comic, however the parts where I was unfamiliar with what was happening I lost interest. I felt that the involvement of other heroes was pointless because it just takes away from who the comic is really about. I would have preferred the comic just have Spider-Man and no other

Hensley 6 Marvel characters. Some parts seemed to jump around a bit as well. I would be reading about Aunt Mays struggle when all of a sudden I would find myself reading about an old arch nemesis keeping Peter from attending a rehearsal dinner. The transitions could have definitely been smoother. A major sub plot in the story was how Spider-Mans new cousin was an old villain whom I was not familiar with which ruined a bit of the comedy for me. However, I am very familiar with Mary Jane and her being in the comic was exciting. I dont know why they broke up or why she apparently hasnt been a part of the story for a while, but her coming back seemed to be surprising and unnerving for Spider-Man and Aunt May. Overall the comic was entertaining and included a lot of what readers look for in a story, which is adventure, suspense, action, and romance. The beginning section about the therapist and Spider-Mans identity crisis definitely could have been cut out. A lot of the forced comedy was in this section and it really had nothing else to do with the story. It is like Journalism class; if the opening has nothing to do with the main topic of the article, it needs to be cut out or the audience or reader will only be confused and stop reading. The opening is supposed to hook the reader, not push them away because of its irrelevance. Spider-Man is a character worth learning about because there is so much of his creator put into him. He is an inspiration to readers because his human traits make him easier to relate to and look up to.

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Works Cited
"Random History and Word Origins for the Curious Mind."A History of the Comic Book. Random History. Web. 2 Sep 2013. <http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/033comic.html>. "Super Hero Stuff." Spider Man Biography. N.p.. Web. 2 Sep 2013. <http://www.superherostuff.com/biographies/spideybio.html>. Steibel, Rob. "Jack Kirby Museum." Stan's "How I Invented Spiderman" Article (1977). Kirby Dynamics, 27 Aug 2011. Web. 2 Sep 2013. <http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/dynamics/2011/08/27/howstan-lee-invented-spider-man/>.

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