Thread Drift: Was Spider-Man (kind of) Marvel's answer to Superman?
[QUOTE=SpiderClops;4297022]Uh, no he wasn't. I have never seen anybody say this.[/QUOTE]
Uh, yes, Spider-Man is very consciously Marvel's answer to Superman... read The Untold Story of Marvel or any of the in-depth looks at the early Marvel creative whirlwind. It didn't happen in a vacuum. They were very consciously looking to enter the superhero market based on DC success -- and saw their role as taking superhero archetypes and putting a modernist spin on them. The Avengers is a rewrite of Justice League, Spider-Man is a rewrite of Superman... obviously it's not all 1:1 but there are some clear parallels.
"B-but... Superman is from another planet but Spider-Man is a spider bite! And Superman lives in Metropolis but Spider-Man is in New York!"