From the Mouths of the Marvels:

"Sorry, pal! That's your job! I'm thru being pushed around - by anyone! From now on I just look out for number one. That means - me!"

- - Spider-Man, to a policeman seeking his aid, page 8

The seminal moment that will define Spider-Man for the ages.

Spider-Man from Amazing Fantasy #15
August 1962 • 11 pages

Publication Date: June 5, 1962

Letters Page: Page One

Ranked #1 in 100 Greatest Marvel Comics of All Time list

I: Feature Story: "Spider-Man!"

Pages: 11

Script: Stan Lee
Pencils: Steve Ditko
Inks: Steve Ditko
Letters: Artie Simek

First Appearance: Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Aunt May Parker, Uncle Ben Parker, Flash Thompson, Liz Allan (unnamed), Sally, Crusher Hogan, Mr. Warren (unnamed), The Burglar

Origin: Peter Parker/Spider-Man

Villain: The Burglar

Death: Uncle Ben Parker

Marvel Milestones: First appearance of Midtown High School

Gadgets & Technology: web-shooters, web-fluid

Synopsis: Peter Parker is rousted out of bed by his Uncle Ben, and he joins his Aunt May and uncle for a breakfast before heading off to school. At school, it's obvious that he achieves high marks in academics, but when he tries to ask classmate Sally out for a date, she rebuffs him in favor of Big-Man-On-Campus Flash Thompson. The "cool kids" at school ridicule Peter's bookworm qualities, and he goes off on his lonesome to an exhibit showcasing new experiments in radioactivity. While Peter gazes at the display of radioactive ray beams, a spider winds down its strand between opposing bands of radioactive fire before landing on Peter's wrist and biting him.

Peter is unnerved by the spider bite, and on the way home wanders in front of a car that nearly hits him, but he manages to leap out of the way and cling to the side of a sheer wall! It dawns on Peter that he suddenly has incredible powers. He continues to climb up the wall to the roof, accidentally crushes a steel pipe in his bare hand, and shimmies down a narrow cable "as effortlessly as a spider". Peter is convinced that it's the bite of the radioactive spider that has given him the speed, strength and agility of a giant spider. To test his strength further, he takes part in a wrestling match where participants can win $100 for staying in the ring for three minutes against Crusher Hogan, a giant wrestler. Peter disguises himself with a mask so he won't be the object of ridicule should he fail, and once he enters the ring, he tosses Crusher Hogan around as if he was a doll. He easily wins the cash prize and gains the attention of a TV producer.

Peter takes charge of his newfound powers, and in order to develop a cool persona to go with them he knits a spider-flavored costume and develops a set of web-shooters which discharge a "spider-web" solution. During his first show on television, the newly anointed "Spider-Man" is a showman, performing many amazing tricks, all leaving the crowd breathless. He takes all the attention and adulation with a bit of an arrogant streak; in fact, when a burglar races down the hallway, pursued by a policeman, Spider-Man cannot be bothered to do anything about it. The burglar makes a clean getaway, and Spider-Man tells the pursuing cop that he's not interested in doing anything other than looking out for number one!

Back at the Parker home, Peter is given a brand new microscope by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben to help him with his scientific studies. As time goes on, Spider-Man's popularity grows due to his TV appearances. As he returns home one night from a public appearance, Peter sees police cars around his home. He's informed that his Uncle Ben has been shot dead by a burglar. Peter races to put on his Spider-Man costume to exact revenge, and heads out to the old ACME warehouse where the police have the bad guy cornered. He locates the burglar in the dim recesses of the huge warehouse and chases him into a corner. He shoots his webs at the burglar's gun, gumming it up so it cannot fire. Then he punches his lights out with his spider-powered strength, and when he gets a close look, he realizes the identity of this anonymous burglar: it's the man he could have stopped, the burglar the policeman was chasing at the TV studio!

Spider-Man does his job and hands the burglar over to the custody of the police, but as Peter Parker, he can only rue the day he didn't make the decision to do good instead of doing nothing....."And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last in this world, with great power there must also come great responsibility."

--synopsis by Gormuu

Issues Reprinted
Spider-Man from Amazing Fantasy #15 and
Amazing Spider-Man #1-10

Click on cover image to learn more about each issue.

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