Editing Spider-Man (section)

==Personality and themes==
{{quote box
| quote = "People often say glibly that Marvel succeeded by blending super hero adventure stories with soap opera. What Lee and Ditko actually did in ''[[The Amazing Spider-Man]]'' was to make the series an ongoing novelistic chronicle of the lead character's life. Most super heroes had problems no more complex or relevant to their readers' lives than thwarting this month's bad guys... Parker had far more serious concern in his life: coming to terms with the death of a loved one, falling in love for the first time, struggling to make a living, and undergoing crises of conscience."
| source = Comics historian [[Peter Sanderson]]<ref>[[Peter Sanderson|Sanderson, Peter]]. ''Marvel Universe: The Complete Encyclopedia of Marvel's Greatest Characters'' (Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1998) {{ISBN|0-8109-8171-8}}, p. 75</ref>
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Sally Kempton for the ''[[Village Voice]]'' opined in 1965 that "Spider-Man has a terrible identity problem, a marked [[inferiority complex]], and a fear of women. He is [[Antisocial personality disorder|antisocial]], [[Castration anxiety|castration-ridden]], racked with [[Oedipus complex|Oedipal guilt]], and accident-prone ... [a] functioning [[neurosis|neurotic]]".<ref name="kempton">Kempton, Sally, "Spider-Man's Dilemma: Super-Anti-Hero in Forest Hills", ''[[The Village Voice]]'', April 1, 1965</ref> Agonizing over his choices, always attempting to do right, he is nonetheless viewed with suspicion by the authorities, who seem unsure as to whether he is a helpful vigilante or a clever criminal.<ref name="daniels96">Daniels, p. 96</ref>

Cultural historian Bradford W. Wright notes:

{{blockquote|Spider-Man's plight was to be misunderstood and persecuted by the very public that he swore to protect. In the first issue of ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the ''[[Daily Bugle]]'', launches an editorial campaign against the "Spider-Man menace". The resulting negative publicity exacerbates popular suspicions about the mysterious Spider-Man and makes it impossible for him to earn any more money by performing. Eventually, the bad press leads the authorities to brand him an outlaw. Ironically, Peter finally lands a job as a photographer for Jameson's ''Daily Bugle''.<ref name="Wright" />{{rp|212}}}}

The mid-1960s stories reflect the political tensions of the time; early 1960s Marvel stories often deal with the [[Cold War]] and [[communism]].<ref name="Wright" />{{rp|220–223}} Wright writes:

{{blockquote|From his high-school beginnings to his entry into college life, Spider-Man remained the superhero most relevant to the world of young people. Fittingly, then, his comic book also contained some of the earliest references to the politics of young people. In 1968, in the wake of actual militant [[student demonstration]]s at Columbia University, Peter Parker finds himself in the midst of similar unrest at his Empire State University.... Peter has to reconcile his natural sympathy for the students with his assumed obligation to combat lawlessness as Spider-Man. As a law-upholding liberal, he finds himself caught between militant leftism and angry conservatives.<ref name="Wright" />{{rp|234–235}}}}