Foreword

"Though the world may mock Peter Parker, the timid teenager…It will soon marvel at the awesome might of Spider-Man"

With that one of the media's beloved icons was born. 60 years ago, on the cover of Amazing Fantasy #15. The wall crawling Web head was introduced by the legends, Lee and Ditko. And since then, the character has gone through one of the richest fictional character histories, evolving past the 1000s of pages of the comics. We have dozens of movies, games, tv shows and fan works of people's adoration of this masked hero.

Whether you are a fan of the early days, or Romita Sr/Jr, McFarlane, Bendis, Bagley, Slott, Spencer, Kirby, the 90s show, the 2000 game, Web of Shadows, Sam Raimi, Marc Web, Jon Watts, Ultimate comics, Insomniac, Into the Spider-Verse, Spectacular or the 60s show, we all simply love Spidey.

Sometimes we simply wish to give more, add to the legend and contribute to the media, to show the world our own stories that we can tell about the character and share with other fans.

I grew up with Spider-Man. I followed him through his various incarnations and always wished to produce my own version. For me he is more than just the incredible superhero or the underdog, or even a glorified symbol.

He is just a guy trying to do his best in a world that is anything but the best. He is just a guy that does the right thing in the only way he can.

To me, relatability is more than just him facing everyday problems like money or relationships. The relatability was always in the choices that he makes that we face in our day to day lives.

It's not the eviction from his home that is relatable but how he chooses to react and face that problem. Even if he does wrong and makes mistakes, he learns from it and is not broken into freakazoid insanity or dispassionate shrugging.

I do not want to punish him repeatedly and give him problem after problem and cause the dumpster load of condemnation on him constantly for breathing. In fact, suffering constantly every second for life is not relatable.

Most people aren't punished for every little thing they do. Yes, we suffer but we also build up good things and do receive breaks and second chances. People are selfish and still make right decisions.

It's like this, most stories these days are about people succumbing to their desires. But if we are being honest, it is more interesting of a story to want something, yet choose not to take. Peter is in that respect relatable, because no matter how much he wants something, no matter how selfish it is, he chooses not to and instead pursues a difficult yet morally righteous path. No one has to be perfect and it's ok to not be and especially for Peter.

In my vision Peter is allowed to be happy, but it shouldn't be easy to be happy much like it is for us. Peter in my mind has to fight to be happy and try to make the most out of everything.

He should be allowed to be rewarded; he should be allowed to love.

The relatability is in people being inspired to work to be happy in spite of the terrible situation around while still making the right choices. It's the worth of life that nothing is easy to get and people learn and make mistakes, but still have another chance to make things right.

So that's what this is, A Passion Story written by a fan for fans, celebrating the long run of Spider-Man. This is a reimagining of the 616 continuity, to give an idea of what a more streamlined and coherent story might have looked like.

I will be trying to produce a more consistent feel and arc for each character that readers will enjoy especially. Dan Slott's entire run will be rewritten, not because I dislike it, but because I believed it was ill-suited to Spider-Man. Mary Jane and One More Day will be tackled in a way that Fans will find rewarding and satisfactory. Writing that will essentially give fans what was denied. I will not remove the story but instead augment it to what it should have been.

Spider-verse will happen only once to increase the impact. Many of the stories relying upon the mysticism and destiny calling for Spider-Man will be a little different as to provide clarity and not subtract from the main idea of Spider-Man. Back then Stan Lee and Ditko did not intend for it to be Peter bitten by the spider by some cosmic force.

It was more of an random twist event that fell upon young Peter, proving that it could have been anyone who would have dawned the mask. Although the idea of fate playing a role led to many interesting stories being told. Hence why I would be combining the two. Randomness and Predetermination whenever suitable.

It is for these reasons as to why I am divided on stories revolving around Peter's Parents and sister. I disliked the idea of them being spies or scientists who played such a big role. Although RebukeX7 in the story Marvel Trinity proved the possibility of interesting stories being told when played from that angle. So, I may keep the story ideas with my own twist.

I want to stress this is not a critique of anyone's work. I loved all versions and feel each one is valid in the mythos. I will not be blatantly copying someone's idea nor will I provide a one-to-one recreation of the comics.

At that point it would be pointless to write this story.

I will be adding changes to better suit my vision of the character and provide my own elaborations or spins and additions to the original comics to make them fresh and unique.

Keeping what makes the hero loved, I strive to produce a satisfactory story, one that hopes to connect to the wonder that readers felt reading the original stories.

Not the modern criticism or obsession we fans have today. There was a reason why Spider-Man was introduced in the Amazing Fantasy series.

Sometimes we just better admire and love the fantasy behind the characters, like when we admired the Star Wars Films and Harry Potter Books. We don't have to delve deep into judgement. We can turn our brains off and just go along for the ride.

So, Face front true believers. Onwards and outwards!