Spider - Man is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer -editor Stan Lee and writer - artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in the anthology comic bookAmazing Fantasy #15 ( August 1962) in the Silver Age of Comic Books. The character is conceived as an orphan within the Marvel Universe named Peter Parker being raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in New York City after his parents Richard and Mary Parker were killed in a plane crash. Lee and Ditko depicted the character as having to deal with the normal struggles of adolescence and financial issues with a large array of supporting characters such as J. Jonah Jameson, Daily Bugle editor and smear campaigner of Spider - Man and classmates such as Flash Thompson, Harry Osborn and romantic interests, Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson. His origin story depicts him as being bitten by a radioactive spider and thus acquiring spider -related power and abilities, such as the ability to cling to most surfaces, shoot spider -webs using wrist -mounted devices of his own invention, which he calls "web-shooters", and react to danger quickly with his " spider -sense", enabling him to combat his many superpowered foes, such as Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin and Venom. Also within the origin story, Spider - Man originally uses this power for stardom, but after letting a burglar escape who is responsible for shooting his uncle, he learns to use his power responsibly.
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 high school student from Queens behind Spider - Man 's secret identity and with whose " self -obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness " young readers could relate. While Spider - Man had all the makings of a sidekick, unlike previous teen heroes such as Bucky and Robin, Spider - Man had no superhero mentor like Captain America and Batman ; he thus had to learn for himself that "with great power there must also come 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, the late Uncle Ben.
Marvel has featured Spider - Man in several comic book series, the first and longest-lasting of which is titled The Amazing Spider - Man.
