Who turned Spider-Man into the pop culture icon he is today?

[MR.COMICBOOK]

I always thought it was this theme from 1967

 

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Does whatever a spider can, Spins a web any size, Catches thieves just like flies, Look out! Here comes the Spider-Man!

 

Is he strong? Listen bud, He's got radioactive blood. Can he swing from a thread? Take a look overhead, Hey there! There goes the Spider-Man!

 

In the chill of night, At the scene of the crime, Like a streak of light, He arrives just in time!

 

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Wealth and fame, he's ignored, Action is his reward!

 

To him, life is a great big bang-up, Wherever there's a hang-up, You'll find the Spider-Man!!!

 

 

[PovertyRow]

Who turned Spidey into a cultural icon? I must confess it was ME. I still remembr the day when I first saw Amazing Fantasy 15 back in '62.I was three and I had never seen anything so cool in all my life.I toddled away from home on a cross country mission buying up ALL the copies of AF 15,thereby assuring a sell out .That gave Stan the justification for publishing ASM #1.I STILL HAVE most of those copies,only selling one when I need the money.Well,there you have it,the REST of the story...GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

I was 12 then and remember grabbing the hand of this toddler and together buying out all the AF 15s. Unfortuanately I traded mine for a short box of Spectacular Spiderman 64, a short box of Secret Wars 8 and a short box of ASM 252 with a side dish of 5 X-Men 130 and 5 Dazzler 1. ::sigh::

[That Ron Dude]

I think it is compicated. Ditko and Lee made it Marvel's most popular character. Romita turned Peter Parker from being a kid with Asperger's Syndrome into a hip kid on a motorcycle who dated Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy. The cartoon show, as cheesy as it was, beat the pants off the other Marvel cartoon shows. Eventually Spider-man became the domain of hottest of hot artists, Todd McFarlane. The movies work, they have a big star in them and unlike the X-men movies they are about a singular character.

 

It is an evolutionary thing, with each part building upon other parts.