Spider-Man: A tale of rejection

The world is full of great people, literary works and one-of-a-kind products that were once met with derision.

Abraham Lincoln lost eight elections before he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States of America; animator and entrepreneur Walt Disney was dismissed from a renowned Kansas newspaper because his editor claimed he “lacked imagination”; Elvis Presley was told by a concert hall manager that he would be better off returning to Memphis and driving trucks; E.T. The Extra Terrestrial was rejected by Columbia Pictures before becoming the highest grossing movie ever at the time of its release, and JK Rowling was turned down by 12 publishers before finding success with her Harry Potter books.

And then there’s Stan Lee’s Spider-Man, which had been rejected by comic book publisher Martin Goodman before swinging onto newsstands and into public consciousness in the early 1960s. Goodman viewed the iconic superhero as an unrelatable and whimsical idea that would never be embraced by pop culture fans.

Nevertheless, Spider-Man has become Marvel’s most recognisable and relatable superhero, as well as a significant box office asset.

Following the popularity of their Fantastic Four comic book series, writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko were asked by Martin Goodman, head of Timely Comics, to develop more superheroes.

Despite their superhero team’s flaws and foibles, the Fantastic Four series established Lee and Timely Comics – now known as Marvel – as important players in the comics industry.

Lee conceived Spider-Man after observing a fly crawling on the wall and thinking that the idea of a person having the ability to attach to a wall like an insect would be warmly welcomed by comic book fans. After considering other insect names, Lee settled on Spider-Man because it seemed “mysterious and dramatic”.

As a result, a legend was born. Spider-Man would be a typical teenager from Queens, New York who gains superpowers after being bitten by a radioactive spider. Lee also wanted his new superhero to be young and relatable, not overly popular with females, not particularly attractive or powerful, but merely a common high school student.

Naturally, Goodman disliked the pitch, claiming that Lee had not understood what a hero symbolises and had rejected the entire concept of Spider-Man. Lee, however, refused to give up on his new hero and, without permission to publish a full stand-alone comic, sneaked the character into one of Timely Comics’ monthly anthologies, Amazing Fantasy, which was set to end after one final issue.

The iconic cover, now a collector’s item, depicted Spider-Man swinging over a street in New York with someone he had just rescued under one arm, along with the now-famous adage, ‘With great power comes great responsibility’.

The comic was an instant success, rocketing Amazing Fantasy #15 to the top of the best-seller list, and is now worth three million dollars to anyone who owns a copy in near-mint condition.

Readers connected with Lee’s superhero. Spider-Man and his alter-ego Peter Parker, unlike other superheroes and caped crusaders of the day, were not billionaires, astronauts or aliens. He was a regular guy, just like the readers of the comics.

Spider-Man dealt with ordinary issues such as teenage challenges, school bullying, relationships, being a member of a working-class family and everyone’s desire to escape normalcy into an adventurous and action-packed superhero world.

Spider-Man combined our world with a fantasy universe and made it accessible to all. For these reasons, Spider-Man was Lee’s favourite character. “Nothing ever goes perfectly. He has a lot of problems and makes mistakes, and I can relate to that,” he said in an interview.

The greatest success tales throughout history are also tales of courage, resilience and persistence. In the case of Spider-Man, it also involved risk: taking a chance and trying something new. Taking risks is one of the most crucial ways to enhance skills and gain experience.

More importantly, it is refusing to allow the perceptions and evaluations of others to negatively impact your value, your product, or your idea, which could easily be an instant and enduring hit like Spider-Man.