"Spider-Man, Spider-Man," the saying goes. "Does whatever a spider can". Which isn't strictly true, because spiders don't make a habit of catching thieves just like flies. They just catch flies. We thank our lucky stars that the webhead wasn't designed to be closer to his namesake, mind, because instead of being one of the best superheroes in history he would have been a gross monstrosity with eight legs, six eyes and hairy legs. He wouldn't be a masked vigilante soaring through the New York cityscape, a hero to kids young and old across the world. He'd be a nuisance we'd try to flush down the drain. Seriously, though, can you imagine how much closely hemming to the radioactive creepy crawly that gave Peter Parker his powers would have ruined the character? Thankfully that was never really considered, since the spider was just a gimmick to give the character a cool, creepy costume. Still, there's been plenty of other times where Marvel came perilously close to totally screwing up their golden goose, and nearly as many when they actually did screw him up, necessitating slate-cleaning retcons and the like. During his fifty or so years on Earth-616, Spider-Man has fallen victim to poor editorial decisions, forgotten subplots and lapses in translation. He has fought against insurmountable odds and come out swinging, even when he got replaced in his own book for what felt like a decade. Peter Parker is the endlessly put-upon superhero, and there are times when the pressure seemed like it just got too much. Here are 10 terrible mistakes in Marvel history that almost ruined Spider-Man for everyone. If there's any we missed, tell us in the comments, and you could bag yourself a No-Prize, true believers!
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/
