My name is Joe McGrory, and I am a Spiderman fan. I’ve loved everything from the 90’s Spiderman animated series, where first met the character, all the way through Ultimate Spiderman and beyond.





When I was a kid, there was nothing I wanted more than to be Spiderman. Even though I didn’t live near any radioactive plants, and I’ve rarely been bitten by spiders, I checked every day to see if I had Spider powers yet. It was so cool! Climbing on walls, swinging between buildings, and fighting off bad-guys… Spiderman was everything I wanted to be. I was afraid of heights, I always took caution in doing something I might not be able to, but I was stuck as Peter Parker. Geeky, pushed around, forgotten by people… that’s all I was. But if Peter could be Spiderman, then maybe I could be too!



I followed Spiderman through every-thing I could. TV shows, toys, movies… and through some friends, even into the comic shops. It took me a while to start reading Ultimate Spiderman, but it quickly became my favorite iteration of the character. Finally, here was a Peter Parker exactly like me. He was slim and geeky, made fun of, alone, he had a hard time dealing with anger, he had a sense of humor but no one else thought it was funny… This was me in a comic book! Hell, I even had my hair about the same! Ultimate Spiderman was my chance to see what things would be like if I were a hero… because I was Peter Parker.



It wasn’t until high school that I started seeing the comics in a different way though. I was still Peter, and I still wanted nothing more than to be him, but I had my first chance to really try to be him. I was walking home with my friends late one night, when a van pulled up to a corner behind us and tried to mug us. They weren’t very good at it, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t frightening. My friend and I took charge of the situation and got them to leave, keeping the girls we were with close and safe the whole time. It was the first time I really felt like a hero in my own life, and I think that’s what pushed me to a different place. I may not have had powers, but I was still able to be a hero. I couldn’t keep living life just wishing I was Spiderman… there was someone better to be. Some one who I don’t need super powers to be: Peter Parker.



As years passed, I tried harder and harder to get myself out of the selfish, lonely high school state I was in, and really push myself to be a better person. I wanted to help people, I wanted to to my best, do everything I could to make things better. However, life-time of self-doubt and wishing you could be someone else didn’t make it the easiest of things to do. I was used to people putting me down… and putting myself down! Trying to believe I could be a good person who could help… it was working completely against my nature. Still, I made it my life’s goal be real-life Peter Parker. I wouldn’t settle for less.



For years I read as Peter fought against all odds for the things he believed in and the people he loved. I watched him restrain his anger in favor of what was right and used this as my model. This was what I needed to be. And even with the Peter Parker that really inspired me to be a hero gone, the lessons don’t change. I’m sure some people would be scared away, thinking the hero’s path would only lead to death and bad-times… I don’t care. Peter Parker didn’t care up till the very end. He fought to help and protect everyone and everything he loved and believed in. That’s all I care about.





There may be a new Spiderman in the comics, and that’s just fine, he can claim it. I don’t want to be Spiderman anymore.



I want to be Peter Parker.