Salutations, friends. There’s been quite a lot of important comic book news making the rounds lately, and chief among them in my mind is the revelation that my favorite character, Peter Parker, is set to make a return. Naturally, this news has me pretty happy, and I thought I’d share this happiness with all of you by counting down the 3 moments in Parker’s history that I think best illustrate who he is and what makes him one of the most endearing heroes of the comic book industry.

To be clear, this isn’t a list of Spider-Man’s most iconic moments, greatest battles, or most harrowing adventures. Rather, I’m trying to highlight the moments that reveal the core of Peter’s character, that show us who he is, what he’s about, and why I’m glad to be having him back in the pages of comic books.

3) Spider-Man Can Stop the Juggernaut

Up first, we have the fan favorite battle between Spider-Man and prominent X-villain Cain Marko from Amazing Spider-Man #229-230 by Roger Stern and John Romita, Jr. Our story begins when Juggy and his criminal cohort Black Tom Cassidy travel to New York to abduct Madame Web, a powerful precognitive psychic. Things don’t go quite according to plan, however, when Spider-Man steps in to do whatever he can to stop the unstoppable Juggernaut.

Now, those of you who are versed in your nerd-fu will know that in terms of sheer power, Spider-Man would not stand a chance against someone like the Juggernaut; indeed, Juggernaut would make a far more suitable foe for someone like Thor, Superman, or the Hulk. Peter is no slouch, certainly, but against Marko, he is completely and utterly outclassed.

Which becomes pretty apparent in the early stages of their bout.



As it becomes obvious that conventional means are completely useless, Spider-Man has to resort to more desperate means, trying whatever he can to slow down his implacable foe.

So he hits him with a truck.



Even this, however, has no effect.





With all other options exhausted, and with an innocent life on the line, Spider-Man is reduced to blinding the Juggernaut and holding on for dear life.

But as luck would have it, Spider-Man manages to keep the Juggernaut blinded until he wanders into a foundation of wet cement, turning his own irresistible momentum against him as he sinks into the earth.





All in all, a great fight beautifully drawn by JRJR. But I didn’t put it on my list for the fisticuffs. Rather, I did so because I believe that this fight exemplifies some core aspects of Peter’s character: his drive to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves, and his tenacity when doing so. As I said before, any logical person could see that Spidey didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of actually defeating the Juggernaut: his opponent had strength that vastly overwhelmed his own, and was completely impervious to the type of damage the Web Head could dish out. Hell, Juggernaut wasn’t even there to fight Spider-Man; if Peter had just stayed down after any of the first few exchanges, Marko probably would have been content to just leave him behind. But to Spider-Man, none of that mattered. Someone’s life was hanging in the balance, and he wouldn’t give up for anything. He would fight tooth and nail, using all of the power, wits, and sheer dumb luck he could muster to battle against his opponent. And I think that this refusal to waver in the face of insurmountable odds is one of the things that makes Peter one of the most endearing heroes in modern culture. He may not be strongest, or the most powerful, but he will never quit fighting for what’s right.

2) Power and Responsibility

Okay, we all knew that this was going to be on this list somewhere. After all, this is THE seminal moment of Peter’s life, the event that made him who he is and taught him the most valuable lesson he ever learned: that with great power, there must also come great responsibility. Not only is this one of the most well-known moments in Spider-Man’s history, it’s one of the most iconic moments in all comics, period.

I’m talking of course about Amazing Fantasy #15, Peter’s first appearance where he made a fateful decision that would define the character for all time. You probably already know the story, but let’s just break it down real quick. After acquiring amazing powers through a freak accident, Peter reacted differently than most characters: he set out to make money for himself and his aunt and uncle. Having grown up as a victim of bullying and scorn, Peter was in no hurry to stick his neck out for anyone. As such, when he witnesses a robbery, he feels no compulsion whatsoever to stop a criminal that he easily could have stopped. As fate would have it, though, the very same criminal he let escape would go on to murder Peter’s own beloved Uncle Ben.



It is in this way that Peter would learn a painful and tragic lesson that would define his actions forevermore.



Though this is one of the low points of Peter’s life, it also undeniably lays the foundation for the person he would be for the rest of his life. This origin issue centers around a shortcoming, a mistake that Peter made with disastrous consequences. But while this moment itself is a tragedy, what comes after defines Spider-Man as a super hero: he learns. He doesn’t let the tragedy crush him, but rather lets it transform him into a better person as he vows to never let it happen again.

And this concept holds a valuable lesson for us all. We all fail sometimes, but its how we respond to this failure that defines us. In Peter’s case, it defined him by making him become a better person. In my opinion, watching this process of growth as he becomes a good person has a much greater impact than if he just started that way to begin with. Watching that growth, after all, is one of the things that makes Peter so very relatable.

1) The Weight of the World (Master Planner Arc Finale)

We conclude our list today with another iconic scene from the Silver Age, the climax of the Master Planner Arc from Amazing Spider-Man #33 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. The scene in question takes place after Spidey had spent the last few issues dealing with a number crisis, including the criminal activities of the enigmatic Master Planner (secretly Spider-Man’s old foe Doctor Octopus) and Aunt May dying from complication from a blood transfusion she got from Peter. Ultimately, these plots would converge as Ock and the Wall-Crawler both set their sights on a miraculous serum that could potentially save Aunt May, among other things. After a inevitable skirmish between the two in Doc Ock’s underwater lair, Spider-Man manages to send Otto packing, but not without causing the building to collapse around him, trapping him under a colossal pile of rubble, with the precious serum agonizingly out of reach. Altogether, things seem pretty bleak. But if there’s one thing we’ve all learned about Spider-Man, it’s that he does his best work when things are the most hopeless. Let’s let the sequence speak for itself for a bit.









If there was ever a moment that perfectly encapsulated everything Peter Parker is and what he stands for, this is it. Here we have Peter, worn down after being run through the gauntlet, with an impossible weight on his shoulders, a burden greater than any person could be expected to bear. And the solution he was fighting for was just out of reach. It’s a situation where no one could really blame him if he failed; after all, the situation seems pretty bleak, spider powers and all. But just when everything seems hopeless, Spider-Man digs deep. He remembers the people who are counting on him, the times he’s failed in the past, and his resolve to never let it happen again. He pushes himself past his limits to find a strength he didn’t know he had. He takes his burden, the weight of the world, and pushes back against it, until he does the impossible and prevails.

And that’s really what Spider-Man is all about. Peter, like the rest of us, is often forced to take on more than he could ever be expected to handle alone. But the thing that makes him special, that makes him a hero, is that he finds it within himself to push back. And if he can, hey, maybe the rest of us can to.

That’s my list! What did you think? Please leave a comment below!