13 Freaky Facts You May Not Know About Comics And Their Creators

6. Spider-Man Was A Throw-Away Property

Marvel publisher Martin Goodman hated the idea of a hero with the powers of a bug. When Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko came up with the character concept for Spider-man, Goodman didn't think it would work - and he didn't want his company wasting time with it. But Goodman had a comic book called Amazing Adult Fantasy, which wasn't selling well and was about to be cancelled. Goodman gave Lee the go ahead to use the Spider-man idea for the magazine's final issue, simply because he needed material to fill the pages. And if readers didn't like the new character, it wouldn't matter, because once the comic was cancelled, Spider-Man would never be seen again. Or so Goodman imagined. For the comic's farewell issue, the publisher dropped the word "adult" from the title; Amazing Fantasy #15, boasting a cover featuring the now iconic web-slinger, hit the newsstands in August 1962, with absolutely no expectations of it performing well. The comic then ceased publication as planned, and no one at Marvel gave Spidey a second thought. Three months later, once the sales figures were reported, Goodman realized Marvel had a potential hit in the kooky kid with bug abilities. So, in March 1963, the Amazing Spider-man got his own magazine! The rest is comic book history.