Besides the costume, the spider bite and the frankly hard to believe scientific innovations, what really turned Peter Parker into Spider-Man was the lesson he learned on his very first appearance. You all know the story, right? The arrogant young wallcrawler lets a robber pass him by, refusing his opportunity to stop him. That self-same criminal then went on to shoot and kill his Uncle Ben, which is when he realised an important lesson: with great power, there must also come, great responsibility. Later iterations of the same story have Ben himself imparting this message to his nephew, but regardless of the version you're reading or watching, the whole modus operandi of Spider-Man is rooted in his guilt for getting his Uncle killed. It's what drives him to be a hero, to protect people, and to protect those around him especially. That's partly why he does the secret identity thing, to stop any more of his loved ones from getting hurt. Something which he has spectacularly failed at achieving, since on our last count there's been a good dozen deaths of Peter Parker's friends and family thanks to his double life as Spider-Man. If anything, taking up the superhero mantle on a full-time basis has caused more trouble than its worth, to the point that it seems he hasn't lived up to that credos at all. Being Spider-Man lets him save many lives, as well as protecting both his home city and planet on numerous occasions, but we can't help but feel the amount of people who have suffered as a result of his superhero career is kinda at odds with the great power, great responsibility thing. Best not to question it though. Next we'll be talking about how realistic it is for a guy to get metal bonded to his skeleton, and then the whole thing just falls apart.
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/
