"In the earliest material, Peter Parker was a dick, and that went on long after the mugger got turned in. His immediate response after Ben was killed? Keep on going with the show business until Jameson starts going after him. His first couple saves are at least in part about His Good Name, whether saving Jamesons son with the idea that it would get him on the old mans good side, or going after the Chameleon for impersonating him, and even once he starts going after criminals on a consistent basis its initially only for photography money. He takes stupid chances. Hes desperate for cash. He insults and attacks undeserving people. He fakes pictures of Sandman and Electro with the flimsiest of moral justifications. Hes got a chip on his shoulder the size of Queens and can barely begin to control his temper. Hell lash out at people on suspicion or anger alone, and in some early stories he just plain gave up or ran away until he learned his lesson or circumstances changed. Hes a bitter, arrogant know-it-all who looks down on virtually everyone around him, and even if we cant blame him with all he goes through, hes often far afield of anything resembling ''likeable''...But he changes, so completely many seem to forget he was ever anything other than the official co-saint of the Marvel Universe alongside Steve Rogers...He grows, he shifts, he learns lessons and forgets them and falls and picks himself back up, and he never stops pushing forward. He takes on the responsibility of becoming the Man he claims to be, that others need him to be, even if he doesnt consciously realize it at first. Thats how he was built, and how he was visibly meant to keep going at first. Thats the "in", thats what makes him an everyman we can all relate to, because no one ever stops growing up. Its what differentiates him, makes him real, compared to Superman or Batman or the FF or Captain America."
— David Mann, Spider-Man Was Never Just the Loveable Loser Fri, 2 May 2014, Sequart Organization
