Spiderman is a character that first appeared in an August 1962 issue of Amazing Fantasy #15, published by Marvel Comics.  Marvel was trying to compete with DC's success at producing a great superhero.  Spiderman, since his outstanding success, has since moved on to several animated television shows, newspaper comic strips and several major motion pictures.  Peter�s character began as that of a shy high school student who lived with his aunt and uncle and tried to adjust to his new powers.   He's very intelligent and shows a great interest in science.  He originally received his powers when he was 15.  A spider that had been experimented on with radiation bit him.  This bite gave Peter the ability to climb walls, greatly increased his strength, and imbued him with "spider sense," which is a kind of pre-cognition or premonition that some spiders are believed to have. 

In the original comic book, Peter constructed the web shooters and web solution that shot from his wrists, however, in both of the movie versions and the current comics, the webbing is a natural compound that comes from his wrists.  Spiderman's first animated television show appeared in 1967 and ran until 1970 on ABC.  It was titled, "Spider-Man."  A live action appeared in 1977 called, "The Amazing Spider-Man."  In 1980 yet another animated show that was based on the original 1960's cartoon.  "Spiderman and His Amazing Friends" also starred many other Marvel characters, including Iceman from the X-Men.  This show aired from 1981 until 1983.  Three other animated shows aired; one in 1994 called "Spiderman-The Animated Series," another in 1999 called "Spiderman-Unlimited," and another in 2003 which used computer animation and was called "Spiderman:  The New Animated Series."  The last show followed the 2002 Spiderman film in its continuity and characterization of Spiderman.  

 A Spiderman film was released in 2002 starring Tobey McGuire as Spiderman and Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin/Norman Osborn.  The sequel to this film was "Spiderman-2" and featured the original cast as well as Alfred Molina as Doc Ock/ Dr. Otto Octavius.  Around the time of the release of Spiderman, a new origin story for the character was created in "Ultimate Spiderman."  This comic sticks more closely to the movie origin story but also has Peter as a young high school student rather than a college student. 

Trivia :  As with many of the Marvel characters, the superheroes and villains are many times a result of environmental accidents or mutation, rather than innate abilities as is the case with DC comics.  Some of the most famous villains include; Doc Ock, The Green Goblin, Sandman, and Venom.

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