5 Times Spider-Man Overcame Great Odds (And 5 Times He Quit)

It's not all about the games, y'know.

Spider-Man 33
Marvel Comics/Steve Ditko

One of the defining characteristics of the Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker, is his never-say-die spirit, which allows him to frequently overcome nearly insurmountable odds to save the day. Because Peter is motivated by the great lesson he learned after the death of his Uncle Ben in Amazing Fantasy #15, "With great power, must also come great responsibility" - Peter's persistence is unwavering. As long as he has his Spider-powers, he is obligated to be a hero, no matter the odds or the costs.

Except there have been numerous times in the history of Spider-Man comics where Peter has quit being a hero - albeit temporarily. These moments are born from another defining characteristic of Spider-Man/Peter- his relate-ability as an everyman. Peter has real problems just like the people who read his comics. As a result, he sometimes gets fed up with the whole power and responsibility thing and chooses to be a regular guy for a few minutes.

The 10 following moments from comics history prove that when it comes to Spider-Man, it could go either way.

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Contributor

Mark is a professional writer living in Brooklyn and is the founder of the Chasing Amazing Blog, which documents his quest to collect every issue of Amazing Spider-Man, and the Superior Spider-Talk podcast. He also pens the "Gimmick or Good?" column at Comics Should Be Good blog.