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.

An awesome Spider-Man tattoo based on the original comic book art. The tattoo artist has used the same shading techniques as that used in the comic books, giving this superhero tattoo an authentic comic book feel. [source]

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.

This tattoo shows the spider symbol used for Spider-Man. All of the Marvel Comics characters have their own symbol that is used not only on the character’s costume, but in merchandise for the comic books, cartoons and films. Although not as popular in tattoo art as the symbols for Batman or Superman, Spider-Man devotees can sometimes be seen wearing tattoos of Spidey’s symbol. [source]

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.

A beautifully realistic tattoo of the Marvel Comics superhero, Spider-Man. Note how the tattoo artist, Mike Devries, has lit the Spider-Man tattoo with yellow and blue light – this adds to the sense of realism within the tattoo, as do the convincing textures, shading, shadows and highlights. This type of lighting is also often used in 3D animation and film. [source]

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.

This Spider-Man tattoo shows the city he protects reflected in his eyes. Even though the story changes with each telling, Spider-Man’s duty as a protector of the public remains the same. In all of the films, cartoons and TV series, Spider-Man captures bad guys and rescues citizens. [source]

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.

A tattoo of Venom, the alien symbiote that briefly controlled Spider-Man. The tattoo shows the green goo that gave Venom his name. Some parts of the venom character reveal the alien’s link to Spider-Man, such as the shape of the eyes and the webbing pattern etched into his skin. With his enormous jaw, Venom appears almost snake-like, making his already venomous appareance even more fearful. [source]

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.

An artistic, painted-style tattoo of Spider-Man from the Marvel Zombies comic book series. In the comic books, the Marvel superheroes sported typical Zombie characteristics; a hunger for flesh, rotting corpses as bodies and an animalistic fervor that has long been attributed to the insane undead. The bright colors used in this Spider-Man zombie tattoo belie the disgusting physical attributes of zombies. [source]

Want to see more Marvel Comics tattoos? Take a look at Iron Man Tattoos are Skin Deep Superheroes