Amazing Fantasy

 Amazing Fantasy #1

For the first time this week, we are switching it up! Yes, that’s right, with the very last Amazing Fantasy Comic that introduced our favorite web-slinger Spiderman coming out on the 15th of August of 1962, it comes in just a couple months before the next issue of the Fantastic Four. I’m sure yall were excited to see what happens next with the F4, but that will have to wait awhile. Today, we are getting the origin story of Spiderman.

We are introduced to a young Peter Parker, the stereotypical nerd. He’s obsessed with science, loved by his uncle and aunt, and by teachers, but other kids make fun of him. Girls won’t even give him a chance, and he’s very resentful about it. When he goes to a science exhibit after school, he gets bitten by a radioactive spider that was experimented on.  He leaves the exhibit, citing that he feels very weird, just then a car almost hits him, but he jumps out of the way. Reflexes he didn’t have before. He figures out he can climb walls, and heads to a wrestling arena to figure out what to do with his abilities. There’s a 100 dollar prize for whoever can take down their champion, and he decides to take it, with a disguise in case he embarrases himself. After he wins the match, a tv producer offers him a chance to be a star, but to keep the mask. Peter designs himself his first spider costume, as well as web shooters. He tells himself that he only looks out for himself and his aunt and uncle, nobody else matters anymore.

Then, we get the iconic moment, Spidey is showing his new abilities off to reporters, who are all clamoring for his attention. Just as he gets away from them, he sees a thief running towards him, with an officer coming right after. Spidey elects to let the thief get away, telling the officer he’s through getting pushed around, he only looks out for himself. He ignores the officer's threats as he walks away. He comes home, only to find police cars in his driveway, officers tell him his uncle has been shot by a burglar. However, they also tell him they have him trapped in an old warehouse. Peter runs off to confront the shooter as Spiderman, he gets into the warehouse, and takes care of the shooter pretty easily. Then comes a surprise: the shooter is the same guy Peter let get away earlier! It’s his fault, and now Peter will live with that the rest of his life.

That’s a very short comic, given that it was one of several in that magazine. Overall, it’s a pretty standard origin story, I’m going to give it a good rating just because of how iconic it is.

9/10