Page 44 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #3

By

Patrick Wong

T with the idea of making a teenager the and like anyone else given a once in a
hroughout history, various
mysteries have remained
star of his own comic. It was a different
lifetime opportunity, Peter Parker took
unsolved: The Riddle of The
advantage of his new-found super pow-
time in the comic book days of the 60’s,
Sphinx, The Bermuda Trian-
tume with intricate web lines of a spider
gle, The Missing Link, and even Big- when kids & teenagers were mostly ers by designing a red and blue cos-
seen as sidekicks (probably due in part
foot. But perhaps one of the most puz- to a certain Dynamic Duo who shall and tried to cash in on it with a stage
zling of all is the lack of a great Spider- remain nameless). The Spider-Man show.
Man video game. approach was revolutionary because We all know that Lady Luck never
Not since Mickey Mouse and Bugs unlike comic book heroes at the time, stays long with someone like Peter,
Bunny this hero would deal though. One night after another daz-
have we with everyday prob- zling performance by Spider-Man, a
seen a lems of life. Heroes burglar who had just robbed the show's
character weren't supposed to box office ran past him. When the
as popular have everyday prob- guard asked for assistance, Spider-
as Spider- lems, so Marvel Com- Man didn't want to be bothered. Why
Man. As ics axed the idea of should he? He was just your larger
one of the giving this "Super-Hero than life celebrity, too caught up in his
most en- with everyday prob- own buzz to care about something as
during lems" his own series. meager as a petty robbery.
characters Lee then "sneaked" On his way home a few nights later,
to span all Spider-Man into the after another business-as-usual night in
media, final issue of "Amazing show business, Peter caught sight of
Spider-Man has Spider-Man (Atari 2600) Fantasy" during the summer of police cars outside his home and knew
been entertaining ‘62. something was wrong. When he inves-
children and adults of all ages for over What made Spider-Man so popular tigated, an officer told him that a bur-
37 years. for over 37 years instead of burning out glar had broken into his home and, in
From his humble beginnings as a like almost every rising star? What the process, killed his Uncle Ben. An
feature character in the last issue of made millions of readers feel as if they outraged Peter Parker donned his ce-
"Amazing Fantasy" to his new multi- could relate to or share a kindred spirit lebrity costume in pursuit of the killer.
movie deal with Sony, Spider-Man with Spider-Man? Per- The murderer fled into
seems to have it all: comic books, toys, haps it's his story of a an abandoned ware-
TV shows, video games, movie deals, hard luck kid who never house. The place was
his own Macy's Thanksgiving Day bal- got to know his parents dark and the burglar
loon, legions of fans, and a beautiful and was raised by his thought he could hold off
red headed wife named Mary Jane loving Uncle Ben and police for the night and
Parker. He's not a fad like Pokémon or Aunt May. then make his escape (all
a character past its prime like Betty While growing up, villains believe an aban-
Boop. With millions reading his comic Peter Parker was a nerd, doned warehouse can
books and millions more watching his bullied by a jock who hold anybody off for the
FoxKids television shows, it's unclear treated him as if he was night). Soon, a red light
why Spidey has yet to extend his web- the lowest worm on hit him. Maybe, he
bings to the digital gaming world. Earth. He had bad hair, thought, it was the police
Spider-Man has certainly left his incredible bad luck with lights. When he looked
webbings everywhere else. With thou- girls, and was cursed up, however, he saw an
sands of Marvel licensed products, with bad eyesight, which enormous Spider crawl
Spider-Man has proven himself to be a was accented by thick down towards him. The
valuable commodity; anything featuring glasses. Hey, that could Wall Crawler took him out
his mask could potentially mean mil- have been any one of Amazing Fantasy #15 with a punch.
lions of dollars in revenue. So, why not us. When Spidey un-
a hit videogame? Perhaps we should While attending a science exhibit, masked his foe, he was shocked to
start at the beginning. good fortune (if you could call it that) bit discover that the murderer was the
him in the form of a radioactive spider. same thief he saw robbing the box of-
WEB LINES A startled Peter Parker was blessed fice a few nights earlier. Guiltily, he
Like a spider dangling helplessly on (again, if you could call it that) with the realized he could've prevented his Un-
his lone web line whenever the wind super powers of a radioactive spider cle's death! It was then he understood
blows, so too was Spider-Man when and for the first time in his life, he felt that "With Great Power comes Great
Spidey's creator, Stan Lee, ap- confident that he could succeed in any- Responsibility." All this because Peter
proached his Marvel Comics publisher thing. He felt he could be someone, had tried to take advantage of some-
Classic Gamer Magazine Spring 2000 44