World Spider-man is for Kids

[Morbius]

Hey guys, I'm fairly new here, but I thought i'd share with you something that happened recently in my very eventful life of online Superhero threads and Imgur cats...

I'm at a club with a large group of mostly male friends - we're hanging out at the bar instead of dancing, since most of us lack the skills necessary to make it look like anything other than being attacked by a giant nest of invisible bees that no-one else can see but you.

We're talking about whatever latest comicbook-related news is permeating the interwebz, when one of the girls nearby (who was rather cute I must say), overhears us and decides to join in. At this point, we're talking about The X-Men, and Preacher, and she exclaims how amazing Preacher is etc, and that The X-Men Days of Future Past sounds incredibly exciting, but that she wants to see more Shadowcat. So far so good.

It goes without saying that we're all thrilled that a pretty girl at a club is interested in talking with us about something that normally (at least where I come from) deters her fair kind from ours - so of course we talk at length with her about everything comicbook related, and she really knows her stuff - she shares her thoughts with the kind of informed discussion that you rarely get with strangers on this topic. And it's exciting.

And then I casually mention Spider-man (my no.1 hero always and forever ), asking her if she reads any Ultimate or 616 perhaps?

Cute Girl: (laughs and says nonchalantly) "Spider-man? No way, he's just for kids..."

I was stunned. Spider-man, just for kids? Sure, I had bigger problems to worry about, like if i'd left the oven on in my apartment, and if my cat knew how to delete my Mass Effect saves. But, but this actually got to me! I was literally thinking for even half a second...is she right?

What are your thoughts on this? Is he just for kids and are we kidding ourselves? I actually condemned a bunch of workmates recently (in jest but kinda with a serious undertone) for being 20/30something year old males who watch My Little Pony, but is this essentially the same thing?

 

[Spider-Ranger]

There is a lot of kids stuff with Spidey all over it, lilke shirts, shoes, caps etc. Maybe that's why some say Spidey is for kids. Plus, MARVEL isn't really trying to counteract that, by making the "Ultimate Spider-Man" show as cartoony as possible...

I'm 26 and I love Spider-Man! Mainly the film version though. There are some friends who tell me to already grow up. But I don't listen to them. I see it as my hobby. Other people have their model railroad or are collecting stamps.... I have my Spidey movies!

 

[zeptron]

There are a lot of ignorant people on this planet, but that's really never going to stop being the case. Kids can read the comics, but they aren't exclusively geared towards them. One of Spidey's villains is a mass murdering psychopath that brutally kills people and another ripped out Spidey's eye and ate it. Not really kid friendly there.

I really think people like the girl you described have some self-esteem issues. To paraphrase CS Lewis "People are worried about looking immature by enjoying things that kids enjoy."

 

[Lord]

He's universal, but also very easy to market to kids.

 

[UltimateWebhead]

It's odd that this 'girl' made that comment since she sounds like an informed comic reader. It makes me think that she's never read any of his comics otherwise I doubt she would have made that remark.

Spider-man, in comics anyway, appeal to people of all ages but it's when you start to look at his other media he may come off as kiddish. Especially when you watch the Ultimate Spider-man cartoon. Not to mention that most of his product line is marketed directly at kids. If that's your only exposure to Spidey, this may sway your thought process.

Spidey is universal. You can be 2 or 80 and everything in between and you'll find there's a Spider-man fan at any age. It's the core of his alter-ego that makes him so relatable--honest, responsible, good heart, etc., along with the down on his luck and facing life's many hardships. I think that's what draws people to him...but when you slap on the bright red and blue pajamas and he becomes Spider-man, it can look like he's just for kids. The cool thing is that he runs so much deeper than his flashy outfit. Kids love him cause they look up to him or want to emulate him but there's plenty for adults to enjoy and maybe we can look up to him too.

 

[Green Goblin]

She's right. A character that has stories about a love interest getting impregnated and killed by a villain is only for kids.

 

[Human Torch]

I think Spidey is one of the more accessible heroes for kids,but there's nothing that makes him strictly "for kids".

 

[Lord]

Though it's still weird how she thinks that way while still being a very informed comic book reader, i thought Sam Raimi's Spider-Man had made sure adults liked Spidey too, along with the film series it spawned that caught an entire generation and are still getting new fans through the new films.

 

[Morbius]

One of Spidey's villains is a mass murdering psychopath that brutally kills people and another ripped out Spidey's eye and ate it. Not really kid friendly there."

Okay, i've just dug out The Other series, thanks to your quote, and it's amazing! Very dark stuff

"People are worried about looking immature by enjoying things that kids enjoy."

Too true! Heck, i'm making my own Spidey Costume (with a lot of help from several professionals) to wear in the cinema release of TASM2. Take that, Cute Girl!

 

[Spider-Aziz]

You know, Disney animated movies are made child friendly, some of them are based on darker stories

Vermin ate rats, led them, some of them bit a cop and chewed on him
Kraven killed thugs by breaking their necks, shot his head off with a shotgun
Morbius used to bite necks and suck blood
Lance Bannon took nude images of his girlfriend
Mary Jane had nude shooting while her husband was helping an old friend of his, and a colleague
Spider-Man almost died to defeat an enemy that came to feed on him

Not always kid friendly, is he?

 

[Shikamaru]

Spider-Man can be for kids but he's not strictly only for kids. Same thing can be said about the Avengers.

 

[Lord]

For me perfect child entertainment is able to be enjoyed by everyone, Spectacular Spider-Man is a good example of that, and the Japanese don't stupidify they child stuff either.

You know, Disney animated movies are made child friendly, some of them are based on darker stories

Vermin ate rats, led them, some of them bit a cop and chewed on him
Kraven killed thugs by breaking their necks, shot his head off with a shotgun
Morbius used to bite necks and suck blood
Lance Bannon took nude images of his girlfriend
Mary Jane had nude shooting while her husband was helping an old friend of his, and a colleague
Spider-Man almost died to defeat an enemy that came to feed on him

Not always kid friendly, is he?

And even then some of them are quite complex and are able to be dark in their oun right

 

[Morbius]

Morbius used to bite necks and suck blood

In my defense, Vampires were all the rage at that time!

 

[Spider-Aziz]

In my defense, Vampires were all the rage at that time!

Now they sparkle

 

[Antihero]

I wouldn't say SpiderMan is just for kids.But kids love SpiderMan more than any other superhero.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

lol. read the title of this and exclaimed aloud "that son of a *****."

then i realized OP was a reasonable person and took a deep breath.

I'm pretty sure when Spider-Man ended the Silver Age of comics by killing his innocent girlfriend he wasn't considered "just for kids"

What happened next OP?

 

[SpiderDude2006]

- As soon as I read this post I had to give my opinion on this topic.

- Spider-Man according to me is the most underrated hero of Marvel Comics.

- I have loved Spider-Man for as long as I can remember.

- Unlike the Avengers, people think that Spider-Man is for children not only because of the adaptations of him made by children but because of how he is the character.

- The majority said that they think that spider-man is for children, they think that because of how Spider-Man is, he is a joker and makes jokes in his fights, something that the other heroes do not do, he is a hero who does not have to be taken seriously because it's for kids, right? he is only here to make jokes and defeat villains in the form of animals that are not at all powerful like the villains of the Avengers, right?

- Even some of the Avengers think the same of Spider-Man.

- Just because of how Peter Parker is, people think at first glance that Spider-Man is just for kids.

- So unfortunately Spider-Man is treated like this. But what everyone doesn't know is that Spider-Man is universal.

- He is a symbol that teaches us that no matter how hard life hits us, we always have to get up.

- Spider-Man is one of the few superheroes, if not the only one, in the Marvel universe that is for the general public and that you can identify with regardless of your age.

- You are a child and you want to read something about spider-man...

- Well, There You go...

- You are a teenager and you want to read something that is a fresh touch of the wall-crawler but a little more serious but funny.

- There you go

- You are an adult and want a dark, sad or thoughtful story about the character.

- There you go...

- And that is only half of all the products that are for each public.

- So in conclution people who think Spider-Man is for kids only see what they want to see but they don't see what Spider-Man is.

- He is someone who inspires us to never give up no matter how old you are.

- Instead of My Little Pony Spider-Man it is for everyone, it doesn't matter if you are 15 or 30 years old, it only matters to find the comic or the version that best meets your needs, in my case it is the Ultimate one.

- Thanks for reading

 

[Herofan]

Spider-Man generally is and should be appropriate for kids but the comics also can and should have occasional differences in styles, tones, not be afraid to occasionally be darker and older-focused.

 

[Spider-Fan83]

Spider-man is one of those characters that grew up with you... if you grew up on one of the cartoons as a kid, you can enjoy that kind of kid friendly content... but there are also many story lines of Peter/Spider-man at different stages of his life (as a teen/collage student/adult) that you can relate to as you also meet these mile-stones in your life too

so there are Spider-man story-lines/comics that are more graphic/of adult theme then others, there are some that would not be considered kid friendly at all

so to say he is only for kids is not accurate at all

however he is one of those characters who is marketed too kids(more then others), an offend being rewritten from his childhood (he was never really allowed to stay an adult long)

and shows like the new "Spidey and his Amazing Friends"...

... don't really help the case