Originally Posted by
Comic-Reader Lad
Marvel was pretty tiny back then, so I don't know how many people were in the room when Stan and Steve discussed Spider-Man, but I'd venture to guess that there really are very few eyewitnesses. There is no doubt in my mind that Stan was the creative force behind Peter Parker's backstory because it's all Stan's style. I've read Steve Ditko's solo work, and it reads nothing like Peter Parker. Steve's characters that he really writes himself are pretty devoid of personality and are just mouthpieces for his objectivist worldview.
So you "touched upon" something I said, and then didn't dignify it with a response. OK.
Anyway, I do think Spider-Man's origin is unique, and, again, it's in Stan's style complete with an O. Henry twist ending where Spider-Man is indirectly responsible for his uncle's death. I do think that's unheard of. I don't think Ditko had ANYTHING to do with it, or the "With great power..." tagline. These are MAJOR elements in Spider-Man's DNA that have made him so popular and memorable.
Peter Parker's backstory, voice, and personality were pretty much set with Amazing Fantasy 15, and nothing I've ever read about comics history -- and I've also read a lot -- has ever contradicted that Stan came up with all of it.
Nope. For Marvel characters the powers/costume is A selling point, but not THE selling point. It's the attitude/personality that keeps readers coming back to the Marvel characters from everyone from Spider-Man to Wolverine. They've had different costumes and have remained just as popular. Yes, people like the webshooters and the claws, but it's the human element and the "feet of clay" aspect to the heroes that Stan established, and later writers followed, that primarily makes the Marvel heroes meaningful to people. Also, the fact that the heroes aren't all good, and the villains can sometimes behave with a sense of honor is what people love about Marvel, and that definitely comes from Stan because Ditko hated that aspect of Stan's writing because of Ditko's politics and was pretty vocal about it. Again, more proof of just how Marvel's ethos was so reflective of Stan's worldview rather than his collaborators'.
We're not going to agree, and that's fine, but if you have actual links containing quotes from direct eyewitnesses that Stan Lee didn't create Peter Parker's personality, origin, and backstory, I would love to read them to judge for myself if they have any merit.