History Deconstruction / SpiderMan

** ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse'': The plot heavily deconstructs the concept of being obliged to be TruerToTheText. [[spoiler: The Spider-Society's strict enforcement of "Canon Events"--repetitive narratives from past works--such as losing a Uncle Ben, and Captain Stacy figure, and deliberately confining someone to these story beats in the belief that suffering a tragedy is a [[MiseryBuildsCharacter necessary prerequisite]] to being Spider-Man and even the stability of the universe, can rob them of their agency in developing their own unique stories and the possibility of them being happier and healthier than they were originally portrayed. Miles flat out points out that when it's being done InUniverse, it's incredibly screwed up and understandably horrified.]]

* Before ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' bulldozed the entire genre, ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' picked apart multiple aspects of being a superhero. As it turns out, carrying the kind of responsibility of protecting New York City and balancing a normal life ends up causing Peter Parker more problems than it's worth. In the earlier issues, Peter's seen as aloof and unwilling to commit to anyone in his personal life, while Spider-Man is feared by the public at large by the nature of being a masked vigilante.

!!''Franchise/SpiderMan''
{{Deconstruction}} in this series.

!![[ComicBook/SpiderMan Comic Books]]

** ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse'': The plot heavily deconstructs the concept of being obliged to be TruerToTheText. [[spoiler: The Spider-Society's strict enforcement of "Canon Events"--repetitive narratives from past works--such as losing a Uncle Ben, and Captain Stacy figure, and deliberately confining someone to these story beats in the belief that suffering a tragedy is a [[MiseryBuildsCharacter necessary prerequisite]] to being Spider-Man and even the stability of the universe, can rob them of their agency in developing their own unique stories and the possibility of them being happier and healthier than they were originally portrayed. Miles flat out points out that when it's being done inuniverse, it's incredibly screwed up and understandably horrified.]]

[[AC:Comic Books]]

[[AC:Films]]

[[AC: Western Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse''
** We're told that one of the fundamental tenets of being a Spider-Person is they embody the HeroicSpirit in that no matter how many times they are hit, they always find a way to get back up. Peter B. Parker's back-story shows that he has had a long and world-weary life being Spider-Man. After two major emotional hits of his Aunt May dying and his divorce from MJ, we see the deconstruction of a Spider-Man stuck in the rut of "not getting back up". This turns him into a depressed and jaded slob that has stopped taking care of himself, lives in a crappy apartment, and on some level, is tired of being Spider-Man.
** Kingpin's backstory deconstructs EvenEvilHasLovedOnes by showing the effects of having a super-villain secret identity. As Fisk, he had an apparently loving relationship with his wife and son who were unaware of his identity as the Kingpin. [[spoiler:When they accidentally discover this other side of him, they were naturally horrified and ran away, resulting in the car crash that killed them.]] Kingpin's attempt to get them back at any cost is what sets the story in motion and, ironically, [[spoiler:results in alternate versions of his wife and son running away from him again as they watch him beating up Miles.]] The story reflects that sometimes even when evil has loved ones they, like most normal people, are going to be repulsed by that evil.
** While partially played for laughs, Miles's ordeals after first gaining his spider powers does a good job with HowDoIShotWeb by showing Miles having extreme difficulty consciously controlling sticking to things or becoming overwhelmed by his Spider-Sense. As part of the story, ultimately the Spider-Gang decides he's not ready for the mission to destroy the Super-Collider because, no matter how much he wants to help, his inability to control his powers makes him a liability in the field.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheNewAnimatedSeries'' deconstructs superhero cartoons, thanks to being aimed at a more mature audience. Unlike most of its ilk, which make it clear nobody is killed, use BloodlessCarnage, or adhere to NeverSayDie, the show makes it brutally clear that the villains leave a lot of dead or injured people in their wake, and Spider-Man's main goal most of the time is to limit the collateral damage from his fights, his main strategy usually being to lure supervillains as far away from civilians as he can. The supervillains also have a more realistic approach; they're either criminals trying to make a buck or just very mentally unstable people that pose a threat to everyone around them, and most of them don't have any real long-term goals. Spider-Man's YouFightLikeACow schtick is much more subdued than usual, and he will, albeit reluctantly, kill his enemies if there's no other way.

** Spider Man in the ''[[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManLeeAndDitko Lee-Ditko Spider-Man]]'' run was seen as a very interesting and original take on the superhero stories in that it featured a working class teenager as a superhero whose powers he initially tried to exploit for monetary gain [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism by using his new found power to get rich, albeit on a small scale and use his power to strike back at his tormentors.]] The result? His empowerment fantasy goes to his head and he learns a famous lesson in responsibility. He struggles to pay rent and pay his way to college, take care of his ailing Aunt May and, in the Steve Ditko stories, the tensions between his personal life and superhero-work meant that people saw him as cold, aloof and snobbish which also upsets his early dates with his crushes. In his opening caption introducing ''[[ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumberFifteen Amazing Fantasy #15]]'', Lee admits that his new hero is someone a little different from the usual run of superhero comics, or as he and his friends call them at work, "long-underwear stories" (with little doubt as to which [[Franchise/{{Superman}} other]] [[Franchise/{{Batman}} characters]] he was talking about). This aspect was toned down greatly when Steve Ditko left and Peter Parker attracted a circle of friends and incredibly attractive girlfriends.

*** Superman working as Clark Kent more or less wrote his own PR. Batman has Commissioner Gordon and his wealth to protect him from the fallout of his vigilante actions, but Spider-Man has nothing of that. Superman and Batman have sidekicks, confidants, top-of-the-line fancy headquarters (Batcave, Fortress of Solitude), Peter has none of that. His costume, when it gets weathered he buys a replacement from a novelty store. When his Aunt is sick and he needs a cure, he has to call in favors from people he knows and nearly gets killed fighting Octopus to fix it. Bailing on a supervillain battle to go save his Aunt, people call him a coward. Unlike Batman and Superman who are both hyper-competent overly advantaged types fighting a bunch of VillainousUnderdog, Peter is ''the'' underdog hero who punches up and fights characters stronger, more powerful, wealthier, and more resourceful than he is, and faces all the consequences, difficulties and setbacks doing so.

*** Superman working as Clark Kent more or less wrote his own PR. Batman has Commissioner Gordon and his wealth to protect him from the fallout of his vigilante actions, but Spider-Man has nothing of that. Superman and Batman have sidekicks, confidants, top-of-the-line fancy headquarters (Batcave, Fortress of Solitude), Peter has none of that. His costume, when it gets weathered he buys a replacement from a novelty store. When his Aunt is sick and he needs a cure, he has to call in favors from people he knows and nearly get killed fighting Octopus to fix it. Bailing on a supervillain battle to go save his Aunt, people call him a coward. Unlike Batman and Superman who are both hyper-competent overly advantaged types fighting a bunch of VillainousUnderdog, Peter is ''the'' underdog hero who punches up and fights characters stronger, more powerful, wealthier, and more resourceful than he is, and faces all the consequences, difficulties and setbacks doing so.

* Before ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' bulldozed the entire genre, ''Spider-Man'' picked apart multiple aspects of being a superhero. As it turns out, carrying the kind of responsibility of protecting New York City and balancing a normal life ends up causing Peter Parker more problems than it's worth. In the earlier issues, Peter's seen as aloof and unwilling to commit to anyone in his personal life, while Spider-Man is feared by the public at large by the nature of being a masked vigilante.
* Spider Man in the ''[[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManLeeAndDitko Lee-Ditko Spider-Man]]'' run was seen as a very interesting and original take on the superhero stories in that it featured a working class teenager as a superhero whose powers he initially tried to exploit for monetary gain [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism by using his new found power to get rich, albeit on a small scale and use his power to strike back at his tormentors.]] The result? His empowerment fantasy goes to his head and he learns a famous lesson in responsibility. He struggles to pay rent and pay his way to college, take care of his ailing Aunt May and, in the Steve Ditko stories, the tensions between his personal life and superhero-work meant that people saw him as cold, aloof and snobbish which also upsets his early dates with his crushes. In his opening caption introducing ''[[ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumberFifteen Amazing Fantasy #15]]'', Lee admits that his new hero is someone a little different from the usual run of superhero comics, or as he and his friends call them at work, "long-underwear stories" (with little doubt as to which [[Franchise/{{Superman}} other]] [[Franchise/{{Batman}} characters]] he was talking about). This aspect was toned down greatly when Steve Ditko left and Peter Parker attracted a circle of friends and incredibly attractive girlfriends.
** The original run of Spider-Man more or less deconstructs the common tropes in Superman and Batman stories. Spider-Man's relationship with the press is entirely the opposite of Superman's. Instead of being adulated by the public for everything he does, he is distrusted by them. Wearing a costume with a somewhat creepy mask and having an animal theme of a creepy creature provokes the exact sense of fear and mistrust as you would expect unlike Batman who is trusted and regarded as an authority figure (in the Golden and Silver Age) despite his nocturnal get-up.
** Superman working as Clark Kent more or less wrote his own PR. Batman has Commissioner Gordon and his wealth to protect him from the fallout of his vigilante actions, but Spider-Man has nothing of that. Superman and Batman have sidekicks, confidants, top-of-the-line fancy headquarters (Batcave, Fortress of Solitude), Peter has none of that. His costume, when it gets weathered he buys a replacement from a novelty store. When his Aunt is sick and he needs a cure, he has to call in favors from people he knows and nearly get killed fighting Octopus to fix it. Bailing on a supervillain battle to go save his Aunt, people call him a coward. Unlike Batman and Superman who are both hyper-competent overly advantaged types fighting a bunch of VillainousUnderdog, Peter is ''the'' underdog hero who punches up and fights characters stronger, more powerful, wealthier, and more resourceful than he is, and faces all the consequences, difficulties and setbacks doing so.
** A proto-Watchmen example where Spider-Man and Human Torch team up and chase the Sandman but their mutual bickering, TestosteronePoisoning, competitiveness prevents them from doing much while Sandman gets distracted enough that regular cops with discipline take him down. Ditko later admitted that he did this to correct and sabotage Lee's constant attempts at getting Spider-Man to team up feeling it would undermine Peter's own capabilities and also to show that just because two heroes are cool and popular doesn't mean their team up would be effective.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheNewAnimatedSeries'' deconstructs superhero cartoons, thanks to being aimed at a more mature audience. Unlike most of its ilk, which make it clear nobody is killed, use BloodlessCarnage, or adhere to NeverSayDie, the show makes it brutally clear that the villains leave a lot of dead or injured people in their wake, and Spider-Man's main goal most of the time is to limit the collateral damage from his fights, his main strategy usually being to lure supervillains as far away from civilians as he can. The supervillains also have a more realistic approach; they're either criminals trying to make a buck or just very mentally unstable people that pose a threat to everyone around them, and most of them don't have any real long-term goals. Spider-Man's YouFightLikeACow schtick is much more subdued than usual, and he will, albeit reluctantly, kill his enemies if there's no other way.

* Spider Man in the ''[[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManLeeDitko Lee-Ditko Spider-Man]]'' run was seen as a very interesting and original take on the superhero stories in that it featured a working class teenager as a superhero whose powers he initially tried to exploit for monetary gain [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism by using his new found power to get rich, albeit on a small scale and use his power to strike back at his tormentors.]] The result? His empowerment fantasy goes to his head and he learns a famous lesson in responsibility. He struggles to pay rent and pay his way to college, take care of his ailing Aunt May and, in the Steve Ditko stories, the tensions between his personal life and superhero-work meant that people saw him as cold, aloof and snobbish which also upsets his early dates with his crushes. In his opening caption introducing ''[[ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumberFifteen Amazing Fantasy #15]]'', Lee admits that his new hero is someone a little different from the usual run of superhero comics, or as he and his friends call them at work, "long-underwear stories" (with little doubt as to which [[Franchise/{{Superman}} other]] [[Franchise/{{Batman}} characters]] he was talking about). This aspect was toned down greatly when Steve Ditko left and Peter Parker attracted a circle of friends and incredibly attractive girlfriends.

* Spider Man in the ''ComicBook/LeeDitkoSpiderMan'' was seen as a very interesting and original take on the superhero stories in that it featured a working class teenager as a superhero whose powers he initially tried to exploit for monetary gain [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism by using his new found power to get rich, albeit on a small scale and use his power to strike back at his tormentors.]] The result? His empowerment fantasy goes to his head and he learns a famous lesson in responsibility. He struggles to pay rent and pay his way to college, take care of his ailing Aunt May and, in the Steve Ditko stories, the tensions between his personal life and superhero-work meant that people saw him as cold, aloof and snobbish which also upsets his early dates with his crushes. In his opening caption introducing ''[[ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumberFifteen Amazing Fantasy #15]]'', Lee admits that his new hero is someone a little different from the usual run of superhero comics, or as he and his friends call them at work, "long-underwear stories" (with little doubt as to which [[Franchise/{{Superman}} other]] [[Franchise/{{Batman}} characters]] he was talking about). This aspect was toned down greatly when Steve Ditko left and Peter Parker attracted a circle of friends and incredibly attractive girlfriends.

* Spider Man in the ''ComicBook/LeeDitkoSpiderMan'' was seen as a very interesting and original take on the superhero stories in that it featured a working class teenager as a superhero whose powers he initially tried to exploit for monetary gain [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism by using his new found power to get rich, albeit on a small scale and use his power to strike back at his tormentors.]] The result? His empowerment fantasy goes to his head and he learns a famous lesson in responsibility. He struggles to pay rent and pay his way to college, take care of his ailing Aunt May and, in the Steve Ditko stories, the tensions between his personal life and superhero-work meant that people saw him as cold, aloof and snobbish which also upsets his early dates with his crushes. In his opening caption introducing ''Amazing Fantasy #15'', Lee admits that his new hero is someone a little different from the usual run of superhero comics, or as he and his friends call them at work, "long-underwear stories" (with little doubt as to which [[Franchise/{{Superman}} other]] [[Franchise/{{Batman}} characters]] he was talking about). This aspect was toned down greatly when Steve Ditko left and Peter Parker attracted a circle of friends and incredibly attractive girlfriends.

*
Live Action:
* In the entire MCU, {{Clark Kenting}}. Yes, Spider Man wears a mask when he fight crime. However, in addition to speaking in his regular voice, he is also a blabbermouth who can’t shut up to save his life and has the worlds worst poker face. Therefore, it is hardly a surprise when numerous people EASILY realize he is Spider Man without having to do much work.

''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse''

* In the entire MCU, [[Clark Kenting]]. Yes, Spider Man wears a mask when he fight crime. However, in addition to speaking in his regular voice, he is also a blabbermouth who can’t shut up to save his life and has the worlds worst poker face. Therefore, it is hardly a surprise when numerous people EASILY realize he is Spider Man without having to do much work.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse''

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheNewAnimatedSeries'' deconstructs superhero cartoons, thanks to being aimed at a more mature audience. Unlike most of its ilk, which make it clear nobody is killed, use BloodlessCarnage, or adhere to NeverSayDie, the show makes it brutally clear that the villains leave a lot of dead or injured people in their wake, and Spider-Man's main goal most of the time is to limit the collateral damage from his fights, his main strategy usually being to lure supervillains as far away from civilians as he can. The supervillains also have a more realistic approach; they're either criminals trying to make a buck or just very mentally unstable people that pose a threat to everyone around them, and most of them don't have any real long-term goals. Spider-Man's YouFightLikeACow Schlick is much more subdued than usual, and he will, albeit reluctantly, kill his enemies if there's no other way.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheNewAnimatedSeries'': Of superhero cartoons. While most superhero cartoons use BloodlessCarnage and make it clear that nobody is killed, here it's shown clearly that the villains are violently murderous as most real life criminals are and not afraid to kill people to get what they want, and every supervillain attack leads to civilians being severely injured or even killed. The villains also have reasons for what they do, and most are either [[BadassNormal common thieves who just happen to have equipment that lets them keep up with Spider-Man]] or genuinely mentally unstable people with superpowers who cause a lot of harm in pursuit of their goals. Spider-Man’s YouFightLikeACow schtick is far more subdued, his methods to stop crime often leads to loads of collateral damage, and he is willing to break his code of ThouShaltNotKill if the situation demands it. And finally, him being a HeroWithBadPublicity pursued by the police is based more off [[ConvictedByPublicOpinion the general public's assumptions and prejudice]] than any real evidence, and some officers like Officer Barr are willing to flat out ignore evidence to support their views rather than admit they could be wrong about Spider-Man.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'': Of Kraven the Hunter usual portrayal. While most depictions of Kraven are able to take Spider-Man on in a fight, here Spider-Man effortlessly beats him, and Kraven has to mutate himself just to be able to be an even match with him.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheNewAnimatedSeries'': Of superhero cartoons. While most superhero cartoons use BloodlessCarnage and make it clear that nobody is killed, here it’s shown clearly that the villains are violently murderous as most real life criminals are and not afraid to kill people to get what they want, and all supervillain’s rampages can severely injure and even kill innocent bystanders. The villains also have reasons for what they do, and most are either common thieves who just happen to have equipment that lets them keep up with Spider-Man or genuinely mentally unstable people with superpowers who cause a lot of harm in pursuit of their goals. Spider-Man’s YouFightLikeACow schtick is far more subdued, his methods to stop crime often leads to loads of collateral damage, and he is willing to break his code of ThouShaltNotKill if the situation demands it. And finally, him being a HeroWithBadPublicity pursued by the police is based more off several police officer’s prejudice than any real evidence, and some officers like Officer Barr are willing to flat out ignore evidence to support their views rather than admit they could be wrong about Spider-Man.

* ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan '': Shares this aspect with the original's early days. Ultimate Peter Parker learns a lot about the realities of being a teen hero, especially when Government-sponsored heroes are nearby and could easily track him down.
** Peter's ended up in the hospital twice as a result of being Spider-Man. Half the time, injuries go untreated since he can't risk medics finding out his identity.
** Some supporting characters and antagonists put two and two together to figure out his secret identity. This includes Kingpin, who effortlessly uses his information network to find out where he goes to school. He even finds out the names and identities of Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Shang Chi. And {{ComicBook/SHIELD}} was already onto him way before then.
** The fact that Spider-Man is a student at Peter's high school eventually brings a small media circus down on it, with newscrews camped outside almost all the time. Several principals even quit because of the stress involved. By the end of the first volume, the school board is seriously considering shutting the school down entirely, as multiple supervillain attacks have led to it being deemed unsafe.
** Mary Jane breaks up with Peter for a while because his dangerous lifestyle as a crime-fighter becomes too overwhelming for her; She's had a firsthand look at some of the injuries he's sustained in battle, and she's constantly worried sick that he'll wind up dead someday because of it. Her first personal encounter with a super-villain leaves her with post-traumatic stress which she's not able to get help owing to Peter's double life and Peter's own superhero career not allowing him time to actually listen and counsel her. Peter and MJ actually spend a ''lot''' of the comic breaking up and getting back together, usually because one is afraid for the safety of the other (Peter's always facing danger head-on, and there are plenty of times when MJ is put in danger by proxy). The overall effect is that Peter's life as Spider-Man puts a ton of stress on their relationship, and as two teenagers who haven't been in a serious relationship before, they don't have any reference for how to deal with it, and Peter's secret identity means they can't even really talk to anyone about it, much less a qualified therapist.
** Kingpin pulls a KarmaHoudini multiple times just by pulling a few strings. As it turns out, bringing down a mob requires a little more than just punching bad guys in the face. And just to top it off, he promptly copyrights Spider-Man's image and makes him into a merchandising tool. After all, [[CutLexLuthorACheck that guy who keeps a secret identity isn't willing or able to expose his identity by laying down a patent on his costume, let alone raising a lawsuit or complaint]].
*** Likewise, a major Hollywood film is made with Spider-Man as the focus, and to Peter's horror the fact that he has to keep his identity secret means he can't sue, complain, offer input, or even get a royalty check.
** Kingpin also winds up on the receiving end of this trope as well; if there are vigilantes operating outside the law in New York, eventually they'll get sick of a KarmaHoudini always getting off on technicalities. When Daredevil assembles various super-heroes to discuss how to handle the Kingpin, Peter actually has to talk the group out of outright ''murdering'' Fisk. Later in the same book Kingpin blows up Matt Murdock's law office, smug in the knowledge that there's no way to prove he did it... Only for Daredevil to break into his home and threaten to very nearly murder his wife. [[spoiler: Eventually, Fisk winds up casually and unceremoniously killed because he caught the attention of an ACTUAL super-villain who didn't give a toss about his KarmaHoudini status.]]
** Shocker is a deconstruction of the HarmlessVillain trope. [[spoiler: His ButtMonkey abuse ends up causing him to snap and horrifically torture Spider-Man. It's all but explicitly said that Spider-Man's constant fights with him have wrecked his mental state beyond repair.]]
** Punisher isn't portrayed as an AntiHero of any sort, he's shown to be exactly what you would expect a man who dresses in skull attire and shoots up criminals to be; a complete psychopath with little to no self-control who does more harm than good.
** Spider-Man ends up with severe emotional and mental scarring from all the traumatic stuff he experiences. Daredevil notes repeatedly that this '''really''' isn't the kind of job a down on his luck teen from the suburbs should be getting into.
** J Jonah Jameson is also arguably a deconstruction of the complete caricature his 616!counterpart is, and whilst utterly abrasive, has been shown to be an objective newsman with incredibly strong morals.
** Daredevil gets a much darker portrayal than his 616!counterpart, having no qualms about killing his enemies and even (in the case of [[spoiler: Wilson Fisk]]) holding their loved ones hostage to get to them. His relationship with Spider-Man is also drastically different; instead of being a close ally that respects and even relates to him, Daredevil treats him mostly with disdain and often chews him out for being, in his own opinion, a naive, inexperienced kid with no business fighting crime. While this could be explained as Daredevil wanting to keep a teenager from getting involved in a life he may not be ready for, it doesn't change the fact that he's very much a JerkAss to Peter (to the point of physically ''assaulting'' him on at least one occasion) and goes to extremes that 616 Daredevil would never go to. It goes to show that Daredevil's brand of vigilante justice wouldn't exactly make him the nicest, or ''sanest'' person.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'': Deconstruction Kraven the Hunter usual portrayal. While most depictions of Kraven are able o take Spider-Man on in a fight, here Spider-Man effortlessly beats him, and Kraven has to mutate himself just to be able to be an even match with him.

** A proto-Watchmen example where Spider-Man and Human Torch team up and chase the Sandman but their mutual bickering, TestosteronePoisoning, competitiveness prevents them from doing much while Sandman gets distracted enough that regular cops with discipline take him down. Ditko later admitted that he did this to correct and sabotage Lee's constant attempts at getting Spider-Man to team up feeling it would undermine Peter's own capabilities and also to show that just because two heroes are cool and popular doesn't mean their team up would be effective.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' in the ''ComicBook/LeeDitkoSpiderMan'' was seen as a very interesting and original take on the superhero stories in that it featured a working class teenager as a superhero whose powers he initially tried to exploit for monetary gain [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism by using his new found power to get rich, albeit on a small scale and use his power to strike back at his tormentors.]] The result? His empowerment fantasy goes to his head and he learns a famous lesson in responsibility. He struggles to pay rent and pay his way to college, take care of his ailing Aunt May and, in the Steve Ditko stories, the tensions between his personal life and superhero-work meant that people saw him as cold, aloof and snobbish which also upsets his early dates with his crushes. In his opening caption introducing ''Amazing Fantasy #15'', Lee admits that his new hero is someone a little different from the usual run of superhero comics, or as he and his friends call them at work, "long-underwear stories" (with little doubt as to which [[Franchise/{{Superman}} other]] [[Franchise/{{Batman}} characters]] he was talking about). This aspect was toned down greatly when Steve Ditko left and Peter Parker attracted a circle of friends and incredibly attractive girlfriends.