Yes, there are dated elements, and Lee loves his words, but the power remains, and much of this is contributed by Steve Ditko. The eleven page origin sequence is a compact gem, introducing Parker, his family, his school life, his transformation, his hubris and its tragic consequences. This was all very novel in 1963, and revolutionised superhero comics. Lee has related that the comic mimicked the structure of daily radio soap operas, with Parker’s home and school problems intended to be every bit as compelling as his superhero exploits. He’s a skinny, bespectacled high school kid raised by his Aunt and Uncle, tormented and ridiculed by the class jocks, and Spider-Man appears his way out. Peter Parker was intended to be ordinary. Stan Lee’s intent was to write about a hero who lived in the world as it was in the suburbs of New York in 1963. The astonishing success of the approach has rendered it commonplace ever since. These earliest issues may seem a little old-fashioned now, but in 1963 this was a quantum leap forward, and it remains the template for most solo superhero comics to this day. Spider-Man was the third of Marvel’s 1960s superhero creations, and while it’s arguable that the Fantastic Four and the Hulk, when introduced, had greater ties to Marvel’s monster material than what they’d develop into, Spider-Man sparkled from the off.
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