Spider-Man

Spider-Man's History

Peter was raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, both of whom adored him and treated him as if he was their own son. Although happy at home, his school life did not always run as smoothly, and Peter, a hardworking and intelligent young man, was frequently bullied throughout high school, by the arrogant and self centered "Flash" Thompson.

During his mid-teens Peter attended the exhibition of a new particle accelerator where, unknown to any of the scientists, a common house spider crawled into the path of the beam. The arachnid became irradiated and happened to bite Peter's hand thus changing his body chemistry giving him his amazing abilities. Seeing his newly acquired skills as a wonderful opportunity to gain both money and recognition, Peter designed his infamous web-shooters, made a costume, and set out to become a show business superstar. "Spider-Man's" career did in fact begin to take off, but Peter all the while became more and more egotistical and self-centered. Then tragedy struck. On his way to a television appearance he didn't bother to stop a robber, who, during a subsequent burglary not long afterwards, shot dead his uncle Ben. Devastated and feeling extremely guilty, Peter gave up the limelight and devoted himself to fighting crime. In order to help pay his way and financially aid his aunt May, Peter works part time as a photographer for the Daily Bugle. Not surprisingly his specialty is taking shots of Spider-Man in action (a feat he accomplishes via the help of his trusty old automatic camera). He then sells the photos to his irascible boss J. Jonah Jameson (who incidentally detests Spidey). As is the case with most super heroes, only a chosen few know of his secret identity. Peter first met Angelica Jones at an inventors convention. Smitten by her good looks, he was both shocked and delighted to subsequently discover (albeit through a mere fluke of luck) that she was in fact Firestar. Deducing that her friend Bobby Drake must therefore be Iceman, he confronted the two heroes and revealed to them his own secret identity. Hence the Spider-Friends were born!