10 Genius Comic Book Ideas That Should've Been Terrible

Speaking of the Web-Slinger, imagine turning up to a pitch meeting and your biggest idea is a teenager who was bitten by a spider, giving him superhuman powers. It sounds absolutely ridiculous, right? Well, that's exactly what Stan Lee's boss thought when the idea was first pitched. Yet here we are, almost sixty years later and Peter Parker is one of the most recognisable names in the world.

Now, Spidey's origin story isn't quite as unbelievable as, say, Bruce Banner being doused in radioactive material and not immediately dying, but it's still pretty odd when you really think about it. Here's a kid going through puberty, who is now responsible for maintaining peace in one of the biggest cities on Earth and for some reason, being bitten by a spider is the thing that can help him do that.

Even stranger is the choice of animal, considering spiders are one of the most common phobias across the globe.

Incredibly, fans managed to look past all the strange issues with a man who gained the “powers” of a spider and today, Spider-Man is one of Marvel's biggest pulls and for some, the greatest superhero ever created.