As Spider-Man turns 60, fans reflect on diverse appeal
Spider-Man fandom is in Tyler Scott Hoover’s blood — but not because he was bitten by an irradiated arachnid. His father had collected Marvel comic books featuring the character since the 1970s.
“The older I got, slowly but surely, I saw how relatable the character was,” Hoover says. “He had to work through his struggles while still maintaining a secret identity and doing good for the people. That kind of moral compass is powerful, especially for an impressionable mind.” But on his journey to becoming a superhero, Parker fails to stop a burglar who kills his Uncle Ben, leaving his adoptive aunt widowed. The character then strives to honor the words etched at the end of that debut issue, later attributed to his uncle: “With great power, there must also come great responsibility.”
“Sometimes when we think of superheroes, we think of billionaires in suits, brilliant scientists or Norse gods,” says Angélique Roché, host of the podcast “Marvel’s Voices” and co-author of the upcoming bookSpider-Man turned the idea of mostly privileged humans using their wealth and power to become heroes on its head, she says. Spider-Man iterations, in the comics and in film, have appeared across multiple universes, or the so-called “spiderverse.
Because of the mask, Spider-Man has been a safer choice for cosplayers hoping to avoid the staunch purists, or those who criticize others for deviating from canonized representations of superheroes. But cosplay doesn’t have to be canon, says Andrew Liptak, a historian and author of the book“Ultimately, it’s about your relationship to the character,” he says. “You’re literally wearing your fandom on your sleeves.
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As Spider-Man turns 60, fans reflect on diverse appealSpider-Man fandom is in Tyler Scott Hoover's blood - but not because he was bitten by an irradiated arachnid. His father had collected Marvel comic books featuring the character since the 1970s.
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