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Topic: Q for All: What is Your Preferred Strength Level for Spider-man? Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Mark Haslett
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Posted: 02 July 2025 at 1:49pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply
This discussion has kept this childhood-favorite image front and center in my head for days now. I think this shows Romita's Spider-Man strength as pretty much the same level as Ditko's:
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Craig Earl
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Posted: 02 July 2025 at 2:33pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply
Ah, the common error.

Spiders are not insects!
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Richard Stevens
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Posted: 02 July 2025 at 2:58pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply
What a great image. Spidey tipping that bus is like me tipping a couch. I can't chuck the couch at Doc Ock, but I can tip it up to get something underneath. Relatable!
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Brian Rhodes
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Posted: 02 July 2025 at 3:10pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply
There was a Silver Age Pinup of Spider-Man holding a platform over his head, and standing on it were the “only heroes possibly stronger than Spidey”.  As I recall, those characters were The Thing, Hulk, Thor, Hercules, and Namor.  So I have always viewed Spider-Man’s strength as slightly less than the Marvel heavy weights.

But I think since the Silver Age, all of the above have been depicted with greater strength levels than then. So, do you want him to be slightly less powerful than them then, or slight less than they are now?
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 02 July 2025 at 3:17pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply
Being strong doesn't mean you can't be knocked out. Spider-Man has amazing agility and avoids getting hit... But if he is hit, it still hurts. I don't think that particularly changed in the 80s (e.g. I remember Daredevil punching him out in the Death of Jean Dewolff storyline).

As for what the strength level is... I think he can lift a small car over his head. Tilting a bus seems in that range.
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ron bailey
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Posted: 04 July 2025 at 6:15pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply
His strength was always the least interesting thing about him to me.
And can someone mandate that the side webs under his arms are not optional?
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Bob Harvey
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Posted: 04 July 2025 at 9:38pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply
Contrary to the assertion earlier in this thread, spiders are not generally "weak," at least when  compared to humans. Some of the larger, heavier spiders do have a pretty bad weight to carry ratio, but it's not the norm. 

Spider-Man's abilities seem closest to the "powers" of a jumping spider to me, though that obviously isn't what Ditko drew. Some species of such can lift as much as 100x their body weight. 


Edited by Bob Harvey on 04 July 2025 at 9:39pm
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