Spider-Man is mostly a street-level hero. Part of the reason for the character's initial popularity was that bullied teen Peter Parker, who mainly fights muggers and other weirdos in New York City, was a far cry from the colourful, science-fiction adventures of that era's time travelling Batman and Superman flying throughout the cosmos. There are some exceptions, however. He's been involved with most big crossovers, including the original and current Secret Wars, and there was even a brief period where he served as Captain Universe the wielder of the power cosmic who is tasked with protecting the world from intergalactic threats! And then there was The Infinity Gauntlet, where he didn't fare nearly as well. The classic saga of Thanos destroying reality with the Infinity Stones, Spidey appears in the fourth issue and doesn't even get done in by the mad tyrant himself. Instead his lackey Terraxia bashes his head in with space-rock. He's resurrected by the end of the series.
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/
