Why didn't Spidey give tracers to his friends and family for safety?

[Spidercide]

I was thinking about this today. In older comics we see Peter give a Spider Tracer with a special boosted signal to Mary Jane for emergencies. He gave similar devices to Betty Brant and Flash Thompson in Hobgoblin Lives.

But as far as we know he never gave anyone else this sort of security measure? Okay, maybe we could presume he gave one to Aunt May when she used to know his identity.

This raises the question of why did he never as Spider-Man or as Peter Parker (whom people know knows Spider-Man somehow) try to give Betty, Flash or any of his friends Spider Tracers for safety earlier or afterwards?

The real reason is the writers didn't think of doing that but I am looking for an in-universe/No. Prize attempt here.

All I got at the moment is that they were too difficult to make in large numbers/he didn't want to raise suspicions too much.

[Vixx]

I was thinking about this today. In older comics we see Peter give a Spider Tracer with a special boosted signal to Mary Jane for emergencies. He gave similar devices to Betty Brant and Flash Thompson in Hobgoblin Lives.

But as far as we know he never gave anyone else this sort of security measure? Okay, maybe we could presume he gave one to Aunt May when she used to know his identity.

This raises the question of why did he never as Spider-Man or as Peter Parker (whom people know knows Spider-Man somehow) try to give Betty, Flash or any of his friends Spider Tracers for safety earlier or afterwards?

The real reason is the writers didn't think of doing that but I am looking for an in-universe/No. Prize attempt here.

All I got at the moment is that they were too difficult to make in large numbers/he didn't want to raise suspicions too much.

Think it probably comes down to the same reason he doesn't just kill repeat villains - if they do it, they just have to adjust the story to compensate.

In universe; guessing he'd have trouble locking onto more than one or two at once - so he gave them too the folks that were either likely targets or unable to handle things themselves. Plus - you got the spidey moral code... Tracking folks like an iPhone would be rude

[Spiderfang]

I think the simplest explanation is that Peter/Spiderman assumes that since his loved ones are average people and generally stay out of trouble that there isn't really a grave necessity to use a tracer on any of them less the need arises. I imagine that if Mary Jane or lord-forbid Aunt May had more of a wild mindset that Peter would have to come up with something more permanent in order to track them down when they inevitably find trouble.

[Spidercide]

Think it probably comes down to the same reason he doesn't just kill repeat villains - if they do it, they just have to adjust the story to compensate.

In universe; guessing he'd have trouble locking onto more than one or two at once - so he gave them too the folks that were either likely targets or unable to handle things themselves. Plus - you got the spidey moral code... Tracking folks like an iPhone would be rude

I think the simplest explanation is that Peter/Spiderman assumes that since his loved ones are average people and generally stay out of trouble that there isn't really a grave necessity to use a tracer on any of them less the need arises. I imagine that if Mary Jane or lord-forbid Aunt May had more of a wild mindset that Peter would have to come up with something more permanent in order to track them down when they inevitably find trouble.

Maybe I wasn't clear in what I was asking.

Peter gave MJ a tracer so she could call for him when she was in trouble because as his wife she was a potential target to his enemies.


Why not go up to his friends and give them tracers as Peter or as Spiderman and explain that if they are ever in trouble they can call him using them. In this way if like Norman Osborn decided to make Flash drunk and crash him into a school to **** with Peter. he has a way of alerting Spidey that he needs help.

[Mister Mets]

It might not have occurred to him.

He might also be worried that it'll backfire by making his friends and family bigger targets. His tech has been hacked before.

[Spidercide]

It might not have occurred to him.

He might also be worried that it'll backfire by making his friends and family bigger targets. His tech has been hacked before.

Yeah but...doesn't that make him an idiot if it hasn't occurred to him? He knew to do it for MJ and for everyone else in Hobgoblin Lives

[Hypestyle]

I was thinking about this today. In older comics we see Peter give a Spider Tracer with a special boosted signal to Mary Jane for emergencies. He gave similar devices to Betty Brant and Flash Thompson in Hobgoblin Lives.

But as far as we know he never gave anyone else this sort of security measure? Okay, maybe we could presume he gave one to Aunt May when she used to know his identity.

This raises the question of why did he never as Spider-Man or as Peter Parker (whom people know knows Spider-Man somehow) try to give Betty, Flash or any of his friends Spider Tracers for safety earlier or afterwards?

The real reason is the writers didn't think of doing that but I am looking for an in-universe/No. Prize attempt here.

All I got at the moment is that they were too difficult to make in large numbers/he didn't want to raise suspicions too much.

which issues did you see this? Just curious.

[WebLurker]

Would't giving the tracers to everyone tip them off that he was Spider-Man? People like his aunt and MJ, it would make sense (his own mother, in effect, and wife knew about his side job), but what about friends that he doesn't want to let in on it?

[DieHard200904]

It would only be practical to give tracers to so many people. As we all know, the best protection to people close to Spider-Man is simply that the bad guys don't know that Peter Parker = Spider-Man.

[Spidercide]

which issues did you see this? Just curious.

In the Mark of Kaine storyline MJ has a tracer like that and in Hobgoblin Lives peter gives Flash and Betty specially encoded tracers. Mj's tracer appears again in Sensational annual 2007. Curiously in Maximum Clonage she uses multiple tracers at once to get his attention rather than her own special tracer, which possibly implies they are indeed expensive and easy to break.

[Spidercide]

It would only be practical to give tracers to so many people. As we all know, the best protection to people close to Spider-Man is simply that the bad guys don't know that Peter Parker = Spider-Man.

But he could double up the protection. He could maintain his secret whilst also as Peter or as Spider-Man telling his friends to take a tracer and use it when they need it, like Superman giving Jimmy the signal watch.

His friends know he's got a connection to Spidey so it wouldn't be that weird (esp now he's Spidey's tech guy allegedly).

I mean...is Flash Thompson really going to figure out Peter's identity?

i guess giving Liz a tracer is dangerous because of her beef with Spider-Man, but Flash, Robbie and Betty are people who trust Spider-Man

[WebLurker]

I also recall in the "To Have and to Hold" story (one of the last pre-OMD stories), MJ uses a spider tracer when she's cornered by a hostile.

[Alan2099]

I'm just picturing them setting off a metal detector somewhere and all of a sudden, Spidey's secret identity is blown.

[WebLurker]

I'm just picturing them setting off a metal detector somewhere and all of a sudden, Spidey's secret identity is blown.

Maybe he could claim that Spidey gave him one so that Peter could be notified when Spidey was superheroing and be photographed (the glory hound).