One of the things that puts Spider-Man among comic books' greatest heroes is his ability to try and do it all. You’ll see him fight Morlun, while saving a kid from being hit by a car, and still manage to walk an elderly person across the street. Sure, Morlun will pound on him while he does, but that’s part of the charm. Peter Parker’s motto that with great power must also come great responsibility puts him among the elites. Sadly, it comes with a cost.
Peter has lost more than loved ones, like Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn. Throughout his life, his Aunt May has been frustrated and nearly given up on him. During Marvel Comics’ Civil War (and before One More Day), Parker was sued by J. Jonah Jameson and hated by almost all of New York. That’s on top of the many friendships and romantic relationships he’s ruined along the way.
People on the outside may think things are easy for Spidey. He has a genius-level intellect, and he's superhumanly strong, agile, and fast. And then there's the Spider-sense that allows him to avoid danger he can't see. Nevertheless, Peter knows things are complicated. Now that Norman Osborn has taken his place as your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, he’s learning what Peter’s understood for years: Being Spider-Man is brutal.
The Amazing Spider-Man No. 12 creative team
- Writer: Joe Kelly
- Artist: Ed McGuinness
- Colors: Marte Gracia
- Letters: Vc Joe Caramagna
In The Amazing Spider-Man No. 10, Norman Osborn took over as Spider-Man in Peter’s absence. To many, it was obvious that something was up. This Spidey was more aggressive. He broke Shocker’s arms and kicked people when they were down. He also lacks the quips and pizzazz that the original has. It wasn’t until issue No. 11 that the mask came off and readers saw that Norman took over the mantle of his former enemy.
After being Spider-Man and Norman Osborn, Ozzie has a new appreciation for what Peter does. He thought it would be simple to balance a double life since he did it as the Green Goblin. That wasn’t the case. Among the things he noticed were the disrespect he got for doing the right thing and how his loved ones mistook Peter’s responsibility for neglect.
Norman is figuring out that all the times he’s fought Spider-Man that there was more going on than he knew. He may have known who was behind the mask and the people Peter cared about, but those were the things on the surface. It went much deeper than that. Otto Octavius got a crash course in this lesson, too, when he was the "Superior" Spider-Man.
It goes to show that no one ever truly understands a person until they’ve walked a mile in their shoes. Or, in this case, their skin-tight, brightly colored spandex.
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