10 Things Marvel Wants You To Forget About Spider-Man
6. Spider-Man The Objectivist
In addition to being a brilliant artist, Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko was also a known follower of philosopher/author Ayn Rand. Rand's philosophy of objectivism, which maintained that the individuals right of self-happiness trumped everything else, is one of the core tenets of modern day libertarianism.
Towards the end of Ditko's run on Amazing Spider-Man, little bits and pieces of objectivism found their way into the series. And because Stan Lee and Ditko rarely spoke or communicated towards the end of the artists time on Amazing Spider-Man, no one ever challenged Ditko and his viewpoints. The most blatant instance of objectivism in a Spider-Man comic came in Ditko's very last issue of Amazing Spider-Man #38. In it, Peter is walking by a group of student protesters and says to himself, what are they after this time? The implication being that student protestors in the 1960s didn't actually contribute anything to society but they were more than happy to take.
Any references to Rand or objectivism were wiped clean once John Romita Sr. took over on pencils in Amazing Spider-Man #39.