In a completely selfish hope that Marvel Comics' new high end collectible Wolverine Adamantium Edition may be followed by a Spider-man Web Slinging Edition I’m taking the opportunity to highlight the stories that I think are representative of what makes Peter Parker “Amazing”. I’m sticking exclusively with the mainstream Spider-man most people know of and worked hard to keep the page count as close to 720 as possible. I’m also working in publication order so that we can see the character growth and development as it happened. Last week I presented “The Final Chapter” from Amazing Spider-man #33.
In July 1967 “Spider-man No More!” hit the stands in Amazing Spider-man #50. Peter Parker had come to the end of his rope. He had to refuse Gwen Stacy’s personal invitation to a get together, he was failing in his studies, he missed a call for help from his sick Aunt May while fighting crime as Spider-man and was feared by the very people he had helped. J. Jonah Jameson was on a mission to prove to the public at large that Spider-man was a menace, even offering a thousand dollar reward for proof of that fact. Peter was an emotional knot of stress and unhappiness and came to the conclusion that his only recourse was to give up being Spider-man.
And his life got much better. As did the life of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of crime, who was ready to make his move to unite all of the gangs under one leader and treat them all as a business to grow, now that Spider-man was out of the scene. Until Peter found he was the only person available to help a watchman being accosted by some gangsters.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, that watchman reminded Peter of his Uncle Ben and Peter knew that he could never give up being Spider-man. This burden is his, with his power, and he’ll never allow anyone to suffer while he has the ability to help. It’s a reaffirmation of what’s come before and a testament to the ordeals to come that he’ll struggle through, but as long as Peter Parker lives, Spider-man will too.
Michael R. Murray has been buying and collecting comics for over 35 years. At one point his collection included two copies of Amazing Spider-man #1, and one copy each of Amazing Fantasy #15, Fantastic Four #2, Avengers #4, Showcase #22, and dozens more high grade and key issues. The collection has grown to include original art pages, as well as statues and busts, with the current emphasis on collecting original drawings from appropriate artists on the inside of his hard covers. His personal collection of graphic novels consists of over 2,000 hard covers and trade paperbacks. He has attended all of the Boston and New York Comic Cons and experienced Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Diego. He has championed comic books in the local schools and was very proud that both of his children read at least three years above their grade levels, due nearly exclusively to comics. He’s quick to point out that none of this makes him an expert, but that his love of comics is most enjoyable when he can share it. Follow on Twitter at mycomicstore001 or like his Facebook page.