It ticks me off when people say the Spider-man and Peter Parker are never supposed to win. They say things like:
“Peter Parker is supposed to be a pathetic no good broke guy, while Spider-man is supposed to be an amazing hero who always knows what to do and saves the day. They’re opposites”
That pisses me off.
So. Much.
No, “Peter Parker” is not supposed to be a no name penniless loser.
He’s supposed to be a normal guy.
That’s what new writers don’t understand anymore. Peter Parker was created, not to be a hopeless man who everyone takes pity on at one point, then turns around and becomes amazing at another; he was created to be the everyday person. A person who had money troubles. A random guy who just happened to get powers. Someone who could be any one of us.
Stan Lee wanted Peter Parker to be relatable; at least, as relatable as a super hero could be. He was no Superman or Batman. He was supposed to be, in some form, the reader.
So when these new comics are coming out where Peter Parker is constantly the victim, where the writers continuously say he’s a “bad person” and that his life has to suck for the sake of the story, it understandably makes the reader frustrated. Reading these comics, so many of us put ourselves into these characters shoes; but we aren’t them. We’re not content with their lives being shitty as long as people are safe. We’re not as holy as Spider-Man. Sometimes, we want him to be treated fairly. We want him to have a family. We want him to go a day without worrying about his relationships or jobs. Sometimes we just want everything to be alright in the end. Why? Because we want this for ourselves.
Reading comics that take this route; it makes a lot of the readers annoyed, and many just flat out realize:
“This is making me sad and frustrated, I’m gonna stop reading” because at that point it’s the healthy thing to do.
It’s not a sin for Peter Parker to have a good life every once in a while. Spider-Man and Peter Parker’s lives do not have to be inversely proportional at every moment.
But here’s the thing:
Peter Parker and Spider-man are supposed to be opposites. But they aren’t supposed to be “no good broke randy who can’t hold a job” vs “holier than thou hero who only wants to save people”
It’s supposed to be:
Peter Parker is ordinary
Spider-man is extraordinary
That’s it. It doesn’t have to be that deep. It never was.
Sorry y’all but it’s 2 am and I’ve been ranting in my head while trying to go to sleep and now I have to post it somewhere