Spider-Man

Origin

Flash Thompson, Peter's biggest nemesis and Spidey's biggest fan.

Early Life

Peter Benjamin Parker, Peter Parker for short, is the son of Richard Parker and Mary Parker. His parents were SHIELD agents who were killed during a mission against the Red Skull. This left Peter parent less
and he ended up in the care of his aunt, May Reilly, and his uncle, Benjamin Parker. Peter Parker grew up living with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben after the death of his parents. His uncle Ben was too old to engage in physical activities with Peter, and his aunt was always over-protective of him. This led to him taking on activities that were non-physical such as photography and chemistry. Peter attended Midtown High School. Peter was also extremely gifted in science and academics, but lacked the social skills needed to interact with his peers. He was often ridiculed by class "bullies" such as Flash Thompson, the likes of whom called him "Puny Parker."

During a science experiment dealing with radioactive isotopes, Peter was bitten by a spider bathed in the radiation. The bite gave Peter the proportional strength and agility of the spider. Peter was also able to cling to any surface and even developed a "spider sense" which warned him of danger. Peter decided to use his newfound abilities to become rich and famous. He used his scientific knowledge to create wrist-mounted "Web Shooters." Peter then designed a costume for himself; it took him a long time to complete it because he was not very good. Needing a name, he decided that "Spider-Man" was as good as any.

Ouch!

Spider-Man decided to become a TV star and wrestler, as his powers would make him impossible to defeat, and was billed as "The Amazing Spider-Man." On the evening of one performance, a criminal robbed the venue, and Spider-Man could not be bothered to stop the criminal from escaping. This same criminal would later attempt to rob the Parker household. Uncle Ben surprised The Burglar but was shot and killed. Peter, as Spider-Man, tracked the killer to an abandoned warehouse. Upon apprehending the killer, Spider-Man discovered that it was the same man that he had allowed to escape. It was at this moment that Peter recalled the words of his Uncle Ben, "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility." Peter bore the burden of guilt with the death of his uncle and vowed to use his powers to fight the criminal world.

Peter later learned that his Aunt May blamed herself for Uncle Ben's death; they had had an argument the night he had died and she had taken a long walk to compose herself before the two could resolve it more calmly, but by the time she had returned to their house, he was already dead.

Spider-Man, owing to the irradiated spider venom which the spider's bite had injected into his bloodstream, possessed super-human strength, the ability to cling to almost any surface, a "spider-sense" that warned him of immediate danger, and extreme agility and speed. After his uncle’s death, Peter and his aunt become desperate for money. Peter eventually landed work at the Daily Bugle selling photos of Spider-Man to J. Jonah Jameson.

Spider-Man's early years in the 1960s were spent fighting colorful villains who were actually rather silly, like Vulture, Chameleon, Lizard,  Kraven The Hunter, Mysterio, Electro, Rhino, and Sandman. But when the Green Goblin was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #14, Spider-Man began facing more powerful villains, such as Doctor Octopus and the Green Goblin. The first main tragedy came in the late 1960s.

College Years

After Peter graduated from High School, he enrolled in Empire State University. This was where Peter met Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy for the first time. Also, his aunt introduced Mary Jane to Peter during his college years. A surprising twist to Parker's college years was that he had attended his four-year graduation ceremonies, only he was not called for his diploma. Afterwards he learned from the Dean that because of him constantly leaving to be Spider-Man he had one credit left untaken, and of all the classes it had to be gym. Peter began dating Mary Jane for awhile but eventually settled with Gwen Stacy because he felt Mary Jane was too much of a “party girl.” Harry and Peter become best friends and eventually roommates. However, Harry’s relationship with his friends and his girlfriend Mary Jane took a turn for the worse, and Harry resorted to taking drugs. When Gwen’s father, Captain George Stacy, died after being caught in the middle of a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus, (due to a pile of bricks falling after Doctor Octopus's flailing tentacles knocked a chimney over) it strained Peter's and Gwen’s relationship because Gwen blamed Spider-Man for her father’s death. Gwen then left the country to live with her uncle and aunt in London for awhile. It was later revealed in the story arc “Sins Past” that during her time in Europe, Gwen had had an affair with Norman Osborn. Eventually Gwen returned to America and shortly afterwards, Harry overdosed--but not fatally--on drugs.

Was it the "SNAP" or not?

Death of Gwen Stacy

In the story arc titled "The Death of Gwen Stacy" Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, still had amnesia that had happened prior

to this story arc. He remembered nothing of his insane secret life, but he suddenly remembered everything when he was about to be declared bankrupt and the problems that Harry was going through. This reawakened his hidden Green Goblin memories, and he vowed to kill Spider-Man. He kidnapped Gwen Stacy, by then Peter's girlfriend, and fought Spider-Man as she lay unconscious on a Brooklyn Bridge. Finally, the Green Goblin was seemingly defeated by Spider-Man. But as the Goblin stood there defeated, in a spiteful, evil move, he threw Gwen Stacy off the bridge anyway. Spider-Man caught her leg with web, but there was a “snap” sound effect next to Gwen’s neck. It is still unknown whether Gwen was killed beforehand by the Green Goblin or if Peter’s attempt to rescue Gwen was the result of her death. In anger, Peter tracked the Goblin to an abandoned warehouse where the two would engage in battle. They fought long and hard before the Green Goblin was impaled against a wall with his own glider.

Spider-Man grieving over Gwendolyn Stacy's death.

After Gwen’s death, Peter became anti-social again, only to find Mary Jane constantly supporting him through this traumatic

incident. At first, Peter would push Mary Jane away but she would constantly come back to support him. Eventually Peter fell in love with Mary Jane again and the two begin dating. Later Peter would encounter a clone of himself and a clone of Gwen Stacy. Miles Warren, a protégé of Herbert Edgar Wyndham (better known as the High Evolutionary) who called himself the Jackal, was the man who created the clones, because he blamed Spider-Man for killing Gwen. Eventually the clone Spider-Man was apparently killed. The real Spider-Man took his clone to a factory smokestack and threw the lifeless body into it. The Gwen Stacy clone vanished afterwards. Mary Jane and Peter broke up after Peter proposes to Mary Jane. In breaking up with him, she told him that she was not ready for a serious commitment. Mary Jane would leave New York for some time to pursue her acting career. Unknown to Spider-Man, Harry had secretly witnessed the battle and the death of his father. Harry swore vengeance against Spider-Man for "murdering" his father. Eventually Harry discovered a Spider-Man costume in Peter's room and knew the truth. He knew now that Peter was Spider-Man, and was convinced that Peter was to blame for his father's death. Harry became the new Green Goblin and quickly battled Spider-Man. Not wanting to hurt his best friend, Spider-Man was able to render Harry unconscious and turned him into the police, who refused to believe Harry's claims to be the Green Goblin. They sent Harry to a mental institution, where he was treated and in consequence of which his sanity seemed to return. Harry would remain amnesiac about the Green Goblin and Spider-Man. But he later regained his memory of Spider-Man's identity.

Spider-Man's Parents

While moving an old trunk into the basement, the teenager Peter Parker discovered some old newspaper clippings, which claimed that his parents were traitors who had been plotting against the government. The teenager was racked with confusion. He forced Aunt May to reveal that his parents had died in a plane crash in Algeria under mysterious circumstances. Desperate to learn the truth about his parents, Peter changed into Spider-Man and went to Algeria to find out what happened.

Arriving in Algeria, Spider-Man searched the Casbah, hunting for the contact his aunt had told him about. His search attracted the attention of the man he sought, who sent out a group of thugs to stop him. Beating them off, Spider-Man discovered the whereabouts of his enemy. Tracking down the hideout, the arachnoid was shocked to discover that his adversary was none other than Captain America's greatest enemy, the Nazi terrorist known as the Red Skull. The battle with the Red Skull resulted in the destruction of the fascist's headquarters. Spider-Man was able to save the files relating to his parents. As a result of this, he found the proof he needed to clear their names. He discovered that they had been working as double agents for the United States government and had not been traitors after all.

Many years later, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the release of political prisoners from behind the old Iron Curtain, a middle-aged couple arrived at JFK International Airport. They took a taxi to Forest Hills, Queens. May Parker almost fainted when she saw them.

Richard and Mary Parker had seemingly returned from the dead.

According to the Parkers, Russian agents had kidnapped them many years ago, taking them prisoner before they could board the plane. After spending weeks getting reacquainted with his parents, Peter Parker revealed his greatest secret to them.

Spider-Man was shocked when he found his parents with the Chameleon and the Vulture. But heartbreak loomed for Spider-Man. The "people" Peter thought were his parents were actually highly sophisticated robots. They had been programmed by the Chameleon to mimic Richard and Mary Parker. Though Richard was perfectly willing to betray Peter, Mary hesitated. She had been programmed to think of Peter as his own son and had grown to love him. When Spider-Man confronted them, Richard instantly began to metamorphose into a deadly engine of destruction. Torn between her conflicting programs, Mary stopped Richard from revealing Spider-Man's true identity and was forced to terminate her robot husband.

In return for destroying the Richard robot, the Vulture destroyed the robot that had been Mary Parker. As she lay dying, she told Peter that she loved him. Devastated and furious by the deception, Spider-Man pursued the Chameleon and eventually captured him. That was when the arachnoid learned that someone else had encouraged the Chameleon to create the Parker robots, supplying the criminal with all the necessary information. The Chameleon, the Vulture, and the robots had all been pawns of Harry Osborn, the Green Goblin.

The first encounter with the symbiote.

Secret Wars and the alien suit

When his spider-sense suddenly flared with the force of an exploding bomb, Peter Parker instantly realized that he was in intense danger. Almost blind with pain, he struggled to locate the source of this new threat. He switched to his costume and followed the tingles deep into New York's Central Park. Hidden from view by a forest of trees, Spider-Man was shocked to discover a strange-looking alien structure which rose from the ground. As he approached the unknown edifice, dazzling lights suddenly engulfed Spider-Man and he disappeared within the blinding blaze. Spider-Man found himself on a satellite in a galaxy far from Earth. Along with other super-heroes, such as Captain America, and super-villains, including Doctor Doom, Spider-Man was brought to the satellite by a near omnipotent being called the Beyonder. The Beyonder wanted heroes and villains to fight a war on a planet called Battleworld. Spider-Man fought many battles, and his costume was left in tatters. Then he found a machine that could replace ruined clothing.

Spider-Man triggered the clothing machine and a round black object sprang from it. It immediately started to spread up Spider-Man's arm and did not stop till it had covered his entire body. The alien costume seemed to know what Peter wanted, sometimes even before he did. At first Peter was surprised about his new look, but then he realized that he might have be subconsciously influenced by the design of the new Spider-Woman costume which Julia Carpenter, who later changed her alias to Arachne, was wearing. As the alien costume slithered over Spider-Man, it absorbed and dissolved away the tatters of his old costume. After defeating the villains and escaping the Beyonder, the heroes returned to Earth, and Spider-Man took his alien costume with him. He learned that his new super-costume was capable of generating a seemingly endless supply of webbing, and that it could also change its appearance at will. Peter and his alien costume were always in some kind of psychic contact, even when physically separated. If the costume was in a different room, it came at Peter's mental summons.

Each night while Peter slept, the alien costume secretly slipped over him and took the unconscious Spider-Man wall-crawling at night. Peter awoke each morning with no memory of his nocturnal adventures. All he knew was that he felt more exhausted than before he had gone to bed. As Peter's fatigue continued to grow, he slept through the entire day and began to have terrible nightmares. So Spider-Man went to Reed Richards, alias Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four, for help. After an exhausting series of tests, Mr. Fantastic made a startling pronouncement. Instead of an amazing suit composed of some unknown extra-terrestrial fabric, Spidey's new costume was actually a living creature. It was a sentient Symbiote who had formed a mental and physical bond with the arachnoid. As soon as the symbiote's secret was revealed, it attempted to permanently graft itself to Spider-Man's body. Spider-Man did all he could to escape from the costume, but the symbiote tightened its grip on him, almost crushing him in the process. Luckily, Reed Richards had discovered that the symbiote was vulnerable to certain sound frequencies. Using these sound waves, Richards managed to separate Spider-Man from the costume. At last he was free and the alien was imprisoned. Later, the symbiote escaped from Richards's laboratory and pounced on the unsuspecting Spider-Man. In desperation, Spider-Man lured the alien to the bell tower of Our Lady Of Saints Church. He knew that the sound of the bells could free him from the symbiote. The alien, knowing that only one of them should have survive the ordeal, sacrificed itself to save Peter. It later turned up alive living in the bell tower, and grafted itself onto Eddie Brock to become Venom.

I do...

The Marriage

Mary Jane Watson eventually returned to New York and also showed signs of maturity. She admitted to Peter that she had known he was Spider-Man for a long time. She had known on the night of his Uncle Ben’s death that he was Spider-Man because she had seen Peter sneak out of his room in his Spider-Man costume. The couple finally decided to tie the knot and get married in the Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. They had taken into consideration that they might be too young and Peter’s alter ego might cause strain on their marriage. However, in spite of all that, the two decided to marry anyway. One of the biggest reliefs for Peter was when he gained the blessings of marrying Mary Jane from Harry (who was MJ's ex-boyfriend). The marriage was later taken away after Peter made a deal with Mephisto, in order to save his Aunt May's life in One More Day.

Kraven's Last Hunt