10 Terrible Mistakes That Almost Ruined Spider-Man For Everyone‏

6. The Time Peter Parker Was Molested

In his role as the Average Joe, Spider-Man has frequently gotten the call to star in PSA comics. You know the sort: funded by companies, charities, or regulatory councils, they're public service pamphlets designed to get important messages to kids through the medium of superheroes they already know, love and trust implicitly. Usually these comics are next-level bonkers, but every so often there's one that treats its subject with the right amount of seriousness. And they also totally ruin a child-favourite superhero. That's what happened with the one-shot Spider-Man and Power Pack issue, produced in cooperation with the National Committee For Prevention Of Child Abuse. A worthy cause, without argument, but that should be a red flag right there. A crossover between Spidey and a team of kid superheroes, centered around child abuse? This isn't going to end well for anyone. It's arguable whether the events of the comic are canon, but the story was read so widely upon its publication in 1986 - it was distributed for free to comic shops and newsstands, and was reprinted in the comics section of major newspapers - that you can't help but think many people's conception of Spider-Man were coloured by the story where it was revealed that Peter Parker was molested as a child. The majority of the Spider-Man/Power Pack comic is about the heroes rescuing children from and then comforting them about abuse. It's really an important, smart and sensitive comic book that covers some serious issues. It also has Spider-Man relating to a kid because, when he was younger, he was molested by an old dude named Skip. As if Peter Parker hasn't gone through enough in his life, between being orphaned and having all his later loved ones killed by supervillains, he also suffered through child abuse. Which can't help but colour every single over Spider-Man comic you read after learning that fact.