Spiderman History

SPIDERMAN HISTORY
Spider-Man was created for Marvel Comics by comic book writer, Stan Lee, and first appeared in a comic book series, “Amazing Fantasy #15”, in 1962. It was such a hit that Amazing Fantasy was renamed Amazing Spider-Man and Stan Lee was promoted. Lee, who had joined Marvel Comics at the age of 16, became the youngest editor in the industry one year later. By the early 1970s, Marvel Comics was the dominant comic-book publisher, largely due to the overwhelming popularity of Spider-Man.

In 1977 Spider-Man began starring in his own newspaper strip and quickly became one of the most successful newspaper comics. Spider-Man has appeared in more than 500 newspapers worldwide, making it the longest running of all Super Hero strips. Stan Lee personally wrote and edited the seven-days-a-week Spider-Man newspaper strip from its inception until he left Marvel Comics in the late 1990s. Stan Lee’s younger brother, Larry Lieber, drew the daily newspaper comics for Marvel since the late 1980’s, when Larry Lieber replaced Fred Kids as “The Amazing Spider-Man” artist.

The first Spider-Man animated television series premiered on ABC in 1967 and ran for two seasons (1967 -1969). A third unaired season was later released in syndication. From 1977 to 1979, CBS aired a live action Spider-Man TV series. Several of the shows were also edited to make three Spider-Man movies.

The animated Spider-Man returned to television in 1981. A syndicated Spider-Man solo series aired from 1981-1982, and was followed by “Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends” (Iceman, Firestar and the Incredible Hulk) on NBC from 1982-1985. The highly successful 1990’s “Spider-Man” consisted of 65 episodes and aired from 1994-1998. The follow-up series, Spider-Man Unlimited, was short-lived and pulled off the air to make room for Digimon.

For those unfamiliar with the Spider-Man story, Spider-Man is an atomic hero, inspired by the creation of the atomic bomb. A radioactive spider bit a high school student by the name of Peter Parker while he was attending a scientific demonstration of a new radiation technology. The spider crept into the beam of radiation generated by the experiment and then dropped onto and bit Peter’s hand. As a result, Peter gained the powers of a spider magnified by the radiation. Peter’s new found superhuman abilities included incredible superhuman strength, superhuman reflexes and equilibrium, the ability to stick to most surfaces and an intuitive sense for danger. He was also able to spin and shoot webs.

Other interesting trivia about Spider-Man:
  • According to the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe, Spider-Man’s official height is 5/10”, weight is 165 pounds, eye color is hazel and hair color is brown.
  • Stan Lee, the mastermind behind Spider-Man, also created the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, and the Hulk. At the age of 77, Stan Lee left Spider-Man and Marvel Comics to start his own company, Stan Lee Media, an internet portal company.
  • In 1978, Toei Animation in Japan produced a Japanese version of the live action Spider-Man TV series. Although the Spider-Man costume was similar, the story-line was quite different from the U.S. version.
  • Spider-Man made his debut onto Nintendo 64’s video game in November 2000. Gamers utilize Spider-Man’s super strength and superior wit to protect the innocent as they solve a variety of puzzles and defeat old and new super villains.
  • There is now a Spider-Man ride in the “Marvel Super Hero Island” of Universal Studios theme park in Orlando, Florida.
  • A live action Spider-Man feature film is scheduled to be released by Columbia Pictures in the summer of 2002. Spider-Man will be starred by Tobey Maquire and directed by Sam Raimi.

In summary, Spider-Man was one of the first and most popular comic strip/comic book crossover stories. Not only has Spider-Man gained worldwide fame, but he is still one of the most popular superheroes of all times.

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