Spider-Man is a Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. He first appeared in comic books in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962. Spider-Man became such a popular character that animated cartoons, TV series and several movies have been created to tell his tale. This crime fighting costumed hero has become a popular media favorite that is often sported on skin in Spider-Man tattoos.
Spider-Man Climbs from Comic Books into Body Art
Comic book masters Lee and Ditko created a character that readers could identify with. Up until the creation of Spider-Man, teenage characters had always been sidekicks in comic books. Peter Parker, Spider-Man’s alter-ego, is just an ordinary teenager who struggles with the day-to-day ordeals of being a high school student. Spider-Man’s character was fleshed out with a tragic past; the orphaned Peter Parker lives with his aunt and uncle. His uncle is killed as part of the Spider-Man story, adding to Parker’s tragic history.
Peter Parker was endowed with superpowers after being bitten by a spider in a science laboratory. The enhanced spider passed on its special powers to Parker, allowing him to shoot webs, grip surfaces with just his fingertips and enjoy heightened senses. Many poses of Spider-Man show the hero in contorted poses, perched on top of a pole or swinging through the air with his knees around his ears. All of these poses required a certain dexterity and agility that was given to him through the spider bite. Before Spider-Man, superheroes had generally been very poised, powerful characters. Spider-Man introduced a sense of geeky awakwardness to comic books that was popular with his teenage audience.
Spider-Man Movies and Media Inspire Spidey Tattoos
Spider-Man has become Marvel Comics mascot and is one of the most popular and successful comic book characters of all time. He has appeared not only in his own comic book series, but alongside other Marvel Comics characters in superhero groups such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. He has appeared in several animated and live-action TV shows, newspaper comic strips and in several feature-length action films.
Although the rights to create a Spider-Man film were bought in 1985, it was only in 2002 that the first film in the popular Spider-Man trilogy was released. Toby Maguire played the parts of Spider-Man and Peter Parker while Kirsten Dunst played his high school sweetheart, Mary Jane Watson. The first film was an instant success, and was followed by Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). In 2012 The Amazing Spider-Man was released as a way of rebooting the film franchise. In The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker is played by Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone plays Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker’s high school crush in the film.
Venom and Zombies in Spider-Man Tattoos
From 1984 to 1988 Spider-Man was depicted as wearing a black and white costume. Devoted Spidey fans complained that Spider-Man’s original blue and red costume was as iconic as those worn by Superman and Batman and so they wanted it back. To appease the public, the creators of Spider-Man then revealed that the black and white costume was actually an alien parasite that covered Spider-Man’s body. Spider-Man was able to reject Venom, though the character returned on several occasions seeking revenge.
In a humorous twist, Marvel Comics turned all of their superheroes into zombies in a series of comic books called Marvel Zombies. The series was short-lived, with only five issues released between December 2005 and April 2006. The comic books followed a fairly typical Zombie plot; a zombie Sentry crash lands on Earth, infecting the Avengers who then pass the virus on to the other superheroes by biting them. The story ends with a time loop that throws the original infective Sentry back in time, preventing the entire scenario from occurring. Though the series was not particularly popular, the idea of the superheroes as Zombies has been used in various types of fan art, including tattoos.
Want to see more Marvel Comics tattoos? Take a look at Iron Man Tattoos are Skin Deep Superheroes