MRL - Amazing Fantasy (1961) #15

Amazing Fantasy #15 (1961) - Stan Lee/Steve Ditko

Spider-Man!

So, in case you don’t know, Stan Lee wanted to write about a teenage superhero, but his editor, Marvin Goodman, hasn’t keen on the idea. Still, since Amazing Fantasy has getting cancelled, Lee got the opportunity to introduce Spider-Man in the last issue.

Exact details of the creation are in dispute, but Lee started working with Jack Kirby. Unsatisfied with the direction he was taking, Lee handed the story to Steve Ditko, although he still had Kirby drawing the very iconic cover.

This issue proved so successful that Goodman went on to publish a solo series. And the rest is History!

Anyway, this issue hits all the major points of Spider-Man’s origin. Peter Parker is a good student, but not very popular with his peers. At a science fair, he gets bitten by a spider who was just infused with radiation. He feels a bit dizzy, but immediately realizes he gained some weird powers when he clings to a wall. He decides to test his powers in an exhibition fight and does so well that an agent immediately books him a TV gig.

He creates the Spider-Man costume, the web-shooters and the web fluid, and becomes a success.

The thing is, Peter can be petty and selfish. Since Uncle Ben and Aunt May are the only people who seem to care about him, he decides they’re the only people Peter’s going to care about. So, when he sees a thief running past him, he decides not to care.

I think we all know what happens next - Peter finds out his uncle was murdered and chases the murderer, only to find out it was the same man he didn’t stop earlier. The issue ends with Peter despondent, with the narration declaring the moral of the story: "With great power there must also come—great responsibility!"