Everyone keeps going on about Peter Parker being some sort of loser in the Lee/Ditko comics. I just don't see it. Dating an older woman - in Betty Brant; Liz Allen obviously fancying him even though she was dating his best enemy, Flash; he had a job as a photographer for a New York City Newspaper; he got into College on a scholarship and to top it all he got to put on a costume to fight crime and have a whale of a time. What 13 year old boy wouldn't want to be Peter Parker? I know I did.

What made it great was that his life was exciting, difficult, romantic, challenging, interesting, changing, growing. For me Lee & Ditko's Spider-man is the perfect superhero comic. (Ulitmate Spider-man is fantastic, too.)

"Everyone keeps going on about Peter Parker being some sort of loser in the Lee/Ditko comics. I just don't see it."

Ah, but that's the genius of Lee/Ditko.  Though Peter Parker was supposedly seen as a loser by the rest of the world and even sometimes thought of himself like that, he really wasn't a loser.  He was a smart, decent, capable guy who managed to get the girl quite a few times...the rest of the world just never seemed to notice.  How many people haven't felt or imagined themselves like that, especially when you're a kid?

Mike

Thing is, as I read those issues now for the first time, I've noticed that every attractive woman who meets Peter falls for him almost instantly.  Betty Brant, Liz, Gwen Stacy, etc.

Talk about your wish fulfillment! 

Part of what was lost -- a very important part -- as Parker aged and ended up married to a supermodel, was that for him Spider-Man used to be an escape. When things went bad for Peter, he could toss on the suit and go a few rounds with Doc Ock or the Sandman, and feel a whole lot better about himself. For the past couple of decades (perhaps more) Spider-Man has been a burden, something Peter longs to give up, That's not the core of the character.

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I've always argued that Spider-Man is the perfect allegory for adolesence. Peter Parker is the "good kid" parents love before puberty hits. Spider-Man is the teenager, who thrills to his new freedoms. (This is why I thought it was perfect that Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson loved/liked Peter but detested Spider-Man!)

Peter's life as Spider-Man is the comic book version of when a teen starts playing guitar, joins a band, and so on -- any sort of outlet in which he can escape the "dreariness" of his life.

What Peter (and any other teen) wants to escape is responsibility. Part of becoming an adult is realizing when you have to temper your escapist outlets with the realities and responsibilities of life. When Peter becomes a man, when he grows up, he stops being Spider-Man. It's like Christopher Robin no longer needing Winnie the Pooh.

That was my problem with Spider-Man 2. A Peter Parker whose life would be appreciably better without his powers is *not* the Peter Parker I know. What relates more to kids anyway? "Gee, I'm a dork and my life is in the toilet. Things certainly would be cooler if I had neat powers." or "If I didn't have neat powers, I could spend more time with my hot girlfriend and enjoy life!"

Even earlier, Spider-man drove a wedge between Pete and Gwen.

I think his Spider powers will always be connected to tragedy-going back to the beginning with Uncle Ben.

Spider-man enabled him to loosen up and be confident, but it hasn't always been fun.

"Gee, I'm a dork and my life is in the toilet. Things certainly would be cooler if I had neat powers."

That has never been any Spider-man I know. Maybe the first half of Amazing Fantasy Fifteen.

The whole Gwen Stacy romance, even pre-death, woudl've been noticacably improved by not being Spider-man-and he knew it.

Being Spider-man always caused him to run out on his friends and make poor excuses.  It caused Gwen to call him a coward for running away.

He's never been about "Wahoo, I have powers great."

The powers have always allowed him to escape his personal troubles, but caused their own as well.  They've given him a greater responsibility, a greater burden, than he'd otherwise have.  Caused him to fail tests, to get bad grades, etc.  They've been a blessing and curse from the beginning.