If there's any superhero who shouldn't be made into a brooding, angsty mard arse, it's Superman. And if there's one other that should never have the same treatment applied to him, it's Spider-Man. Despite coming out of almost equally tragic an origin as Batman in fact, Peter Parker was orphaned and lost his Uncle, and is poor, so it might be worse the web head has always been about goofing around, making jokes. Except for when various Goblins murder his ever-thinning herd of loved ones, he tends to shut his yap for those. That's when you know he means business. But for the most part, your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man stands out from the rest of the superhero rabble for never taking life too seriously, even though all signs suggest he should. Still, that lightness of touch isn't always deployed in the best possible ways. Sam Raimi's appropriation of old Three Stooges sketches for his films always fell flat, and there are some writers who are better a penning that witty repartee than others. It can be difficult to get the balance right between goofiness and pathos. A lot of the time, especially towards the beginning of the character's life, it tipped too far the other way. When writers were still experimenting with the character, when Marvel was still deciding what kind of character the wall crawler was, they made some mistakes. Like having him fight a Nazi made of bees. These are the ten goofiest moments from Spider-Man's early days.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
