What does Spider-Man mean to you? Everyone has a different answer to that question, and this recent post on our message board really make me think about the question. In that post Chi-Town Spidey talked about how the character helped him battle lukemia. Chi-Town is from Chicago and the motto of “With great power, must also come great responsibility,” helped him put the disease into remission.
I’m going to get a bit personal. In 2004 this Spider-Fan went through his own big fight. My genes mutated inside my body and developed leukemia. It’s a blood cancer. I was fighting for my life, my chance to live. I was fighting my Venom. Laying in the hospital, besides the doctors, nurses, support from family and little friends, it was Spider-Man that pulled me through. He has been in so many life threatening situations, battered, broken, bruised, emotional worn down, too tired, yet he remembered that lesson, that one thing that kept him going..so he gave it all his best and more, he didn’t give up, his powers helped him but it was that mindset that got him through. That’s Spider-Man to me. So if he could do it, SO COULD I. I fought! I had to! No choice, people were counting on me! My fiancee’ was counting on me. I needed to do it for them, I needed to do if for me. The pain was too much, I was tired, sick, sore, alone at times, frustrated, but it didn’t stop me. I HAD to go on. It’s something Spider-Man would do, my first name is Peter, good enough for me, so I kept on fighting.
He’s a cosplayer and does Spidey justice. So feel free to reply here in the comments or reply on the message board thread about what Spidey means to you. Thanks to George for finding this post.
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Amazing Story. God Bless you sir.
Brad.
Hopefully that’ll never be the case. I’m there though.
HA! Either we’ll win as a team or get our ass kicked together.
Chi-Town,
It’s my pleasure. Thank you for sharing such a person story with all of us. If i’m ever in a fight I want you on my team up.
BD
This is truly an honor! Wow…from the #1 Spidey Fan website.
I really don’t know what to say, I did not expect this… Thank you Brad. Thank you George.
Most of all, thank you Spidey.
Peter Parker’s motto “with great power, there must also come great responsibility” is actually highly profound and serves as a great lesson and standard for both children and adults.
What also makes the character appealing to me is his development. He starts off as an angry, selfish kid who decides to use his newfound abilities and ends up paying a severe price for it. For me, the essence of Spider-Man has always been about a boy becoming a man. He decides to use his abilities responsibly, graduates high school, attends college, gets a job, moves out of his aunt’s house, falls in love, loses said love, gets his own apartment, falls in love again, gets married, tries to have kids, etc. The character is constantly growing, evolving and maturing; which makes the last ten years all the more frustrating as a long-time fan.
Also, I’ve always loved the fact that he’ll casually crack wise and insult his enemies while in the midst of a fight. Someone who can do that so nonchalantly is a winner in my book.
I could go on and on about why I love the character so much, but that mostly covers it for me.