Spider-Man March 2021 Solicitations

[Huntsman Spider]

No disrespect towards diversity and the idea that Peter can be anyone, but this is a myth. There is no evidence Stan intended for Peter to be Jewish the way Ben Grimm was always intended to be.



This.

Plus, a lot of Jewish stereotypes are also traditional Irish stereotypes (hardworking, taking care of elders, guilt, etc.). Stereotypes shouldn't pinpoint a person's identity but even if they did, it wouldn't be immediately clear that Peter was Jewish.

If there is any part of Stan and Steve's identities that made it into Peter, I'm guessing it would be having unconventional parental figures. I sometimes wonder if Uncle Ben and Aunt May were a pseudo-metaphor for immigrant parents. They're older and usually more out-of-touch than your average parents, which is how many first-gen Americans feel about their parents growing up. Maybe they were part of the reason why Peter was such an easy target to Flash, like how having 'different' parents can often make someone a target in real life. And maybe Peter reminiscing of whatever little knowledge he has of his birth parents was inspired by Stan and Steve reminiscing of whatever little knowledge first-gens have of their roots growing up.

Then again, I have immigrant parents myself, so this could all just be me projecting.

As a son of immigrant parents as well, welcome to the club. And considering that Peter's (likely) Irish on his mother's side, given her maiden name was Fitzpatrick . . .

[Revolutionary_Jack]

As a son of immigrant parents as well, welcome to the club. And considering that Peter's (likely) Irish on his mother's side, given her maiden name was Fitzpatrick . . .

Fundamentally, Peter's biological parents don't matter, and his mother's family not at all. He was raised by Ben Parker and his wife May, Ben is brother to Richard, Peter's dad.

For the story to work, Ben and May, have to count and matter more for Peter than anything else.

So it's moot.

No disrespect towards diversity and the idea that Peter can be anyone, but this is a myth. There is no evidence Stan intended for Peter to be Jewish the way Ben Grimm was always intended to be.

The Onion AV Club back in 2002 asked celebrities "If there's a God" and here's how Stan Lee saw it:

https://www.avclub.com/is-there-a-god-1798208251

Marvel Comics godfather Stan Lee has been a comics-industry icon since the 1960s.
The Onion: Is there a God?

Stan Lee: Well, let me put it this way… [Pauses].No, I'm not going to try to be clever. I really don't know. I just don't know.

That's an agnostic response if you want to put a label to it. Lee was someone who never gave a great deal of thought to religion, it seems to me. It's not there in any of his work. I think he was just secular.

If there is any part of Stan and Steve's identities that made it into Peter, I'm guessing it would be having unconventional parental figures. I sometimes wonder if Uncle Ben and Aunt May were a pseudo-metaphor for immigrant parents. They're older and usually more out-of-touch than your average parents, which is how many first-gen Americans feel about their parents growing up. Maybe they were part of the reason why Peter was such an easy target to Flash, like how having 'different' parents can often make someone a target in real life. And maybe Peter reminiscing of whatever little knowledge he has of his birth parents was inspired by Stan and Steve reminiscing of whatever little knowledge first-gens have of their roots growing up.

Then again, I have immigrant parents myself, so this could all just be me projecting.

Steve Ditko's family were Slovakian immigrants from the (former) Austro-Hungarian Empire and he was fully assimilated as a kid, but his parents might be first generation. So he might have grown up hearing and knowing a bit of the language of the old country. Ditko and Lee were kids who grew up in the Depression, and had a strong sense of family, i.e. uncles and so on. So I guess that's what gets reflected in Ben and May.

They modeled Peter's background and his circumstances on their teenage years before the war which explains why May and Ben are a bit like Depression-era characters. Like Aunt May probably looks like a struggling soul from the Depression years. (One of my disappointments with Spider-Man Noir is that the people behind the scenes don't tap into the fact that Peter's co-creators came from the era, and grew up in the period the character is set in).

[Huntsman Spider]

Fundamentally, Peter's biological parents don't matter, and his mother's family not at all. He was raised by Ben Parker and his wife May, Ben is brother to Richard, Peter's dad.

For the story to work, Ben and May, have to count and matter more for Peter than anything else.

So it's moot.



The Onion AV Club back in 2002 asked celebrities "If there's a God" and here's how Stan Lee saw it:

https://www.avclub.com/is-there-a-god-1798208251



That's an agnostic response if you want to put a label to it. Lee was someone who never gave a great deal of thought to religion, it seems to me. It's not there in any of his work. I think he was just secular.



Steve Ditko's family were Slovakian immigrants from the (former) Austro-Hungarian Empire and he was fully assimilated as a kid, but his parents might be first generation. So he might have grown up hearing and knowing a bit of the language of the old country. Ditko and Lee were kids who grew up in the Depression, and had a strong sense of family, i.e. uncles and so on. So I guess that's what gets reflected in Ben and May.

They modeled Peter's background and his circumstances on their teenage years before the war which explains why May and Ben are a bit like Depression-era characters. Like Aunt May probably looks like a struggling soul from the Depression years. (One of my disappointments with Spider-Man Noir is that the people behind the scenes don't tap into the fact that Peter's co-creators came from the era, and grew up in the period the character is set in).

As someone who liked Spider-Man Noir, or at least the concept behind that version of the web-slinger . . . that's an interesting point you raise.

[PCN24454]

Fundamentally, Peter's biological parents don't matter, and his mother's family not at all. He was raised by Ben Parker and his wife May, Ben is brother to Richard, Peter's dad.

For the story to work, Ben and May, have to count and matter more for Peter than anything else.

Just because you don't care about something doesn't mean it's not important.