In The Beginning
Spiderman was first published in the 1960s. It was then that he started to become one of Marvel’s most popular superheroes. The audience could relate to the character because of his natural wit and his underdog mentality. The 70s is when comics started to tackle real problems like racism and drug addiction. Spiderman as a character has always had to carry the burden of his actions and responsibility. One important example of this is in Spider-Man #121 “The Night When Gwen Stacy Died”. During the fight with Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) throws Gwen Stacy off the Washington Bridge but before she can fall to her doom Peter catches her with his webs. He then dodges Goblins glider which in turn hits the Green Goblin. It is not clear however if the Goblin killed Gwen before throwing her or if the impact and whiplash from Peter’s webs are what killed the girl. Thus having not only Gwen’s death but also the death of his uncle on his conscience is a lot for a teenage boy to handle.
The 80’s
It was at this time that Marvel started to push bolder content. The most memorable piece of work they did is the company-wide crossover known as Secret Wars. In this series superheroes and villains were taken from earth by the Beyonder and then forced to fight one another on the Battleworld. In Secret Wars 8 Spiderman finds the black Symbiote suit. He would then go on to wear this suit for four whole years. Only to have to give up the suit because it made the character to violent and vicious. Even though Spidey had to ditch the suit, it finds itself a new host named Eddie Brock. This started the beginning of the iconic villain Venom. With big sharp teeth and drooling jaws, Venom was able to take the dark turn Spidey couldn’t.
Comics in the Now Ft Miles Morales
Spiderman swung his way into the modern age of comics with his appearances in events like Civil War, Age of Ultron, and the Spider-Verse. Arguably the biggest moment in modern Spiderman comics was the passing of the torch to Miles Morales, an Afro-Latino teenager. This new Spiderman was brought on after Peter was killed by the Sinister Six in 2011. Miles Morales is an integral part of the modern Spiderman story by being a superhero that younger generations can look up to much like Kamal Khan.
Want to read more? Heres a brief overview of the evolution of Spiderman not only in the comics but also in the movies! Click the link below to read.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/film/a-look-at-the-evolution-of-spider-man-1.94790