Despite his superpowers, Parker struggles to help his widowed aunt pay the rent, is taunted by his peers—particularly football star Flash Thompson—and, as Spider-Man, engenders the editorial wrath of newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson. As he battles his enemies for the first time, Parker finds juggling his personal life and costumed adventures difficult. In time, Peter graduates from high school, and enrolls at Empire State University (a fictional institution evoking the real-life Columbia University and New York University), where he meets roommate and best friend Harry Osborn, and girlfriend Gwen Stacy, and Aunt May introduces him to Mary Jane Watson. As Peter deals with Harry's drug problems, and Harry's father is revealed to be Spider-Man's nemesis the Green Goblin, Peter even attempts to give up his costumed identity for a while. Gwen Stacy's father, New York City Police detective captain George Stacy is accidentally killed during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus (issue #90, November 1970).

1970s

In issue #121 (June 1973), the Green Goblin throws Gwen Stacy from a tower of either the Brooklyn Bridge (as depicted in the art) or the George Washington Bridge (as given in the text). She dies during Spider-Man's rescue attempt; a note on the letters page of issue #125 states: "It saddens us to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her." The following issue, the Goblin appears to kill himself accidentally in the ensuing battle with Spider-Man.

Working through his grief, Parker eventually develops tentative feelings toward Watson, and the two "become confidants rather than lovers". A romantic relationship eventually develops, with Parker proposing to her in issue #182 (July 1978), and being turned down an issue later. Parker went on to graduate from college in issue #185, and becomes involved with the shy Debra Whitman and the extroverted, flirtatious costumed thief Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. the Black Cat, whom he meets in issue #194 (July 1979).

The Amazing Spider-Man #252 (May 1984): The black costume debut that brought controversy to many fans. The suit was later revealed as an alien symbiote and was used in the creation of the villain Venom, cover art by Ron Frenz and Klaus Janson

1990s

In issue #97 (Nov. 1998) of the second series titled Peter Parker: Spider-Man, Parker learns his Aunt May was kidnapped by Norman Osborn and her apparent death in The Amazing Spider-Man #400 (April 1995) had been a hoax. Shortly afterward, in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #13 (#454, Jan. 2000), Watson is apparently killed in an airplane explosion. She turns up alive and well in (vol. 2) #28 (#469, April 2001), but she and Peter become separated in the following issue.

2000s

He joins the superhero team the New Avengers in New Avengers #1–2. After their respective homes are destroyed by a deranged, superpowered former high-school classmate, Parker, Watson, and May move into Stark Tower, and Parker begins working as Tony Stark's assistant while again freelancing for The Daily Bugle and continuing his teaching. In the 12-part 2005 story arc "The Other", Parker undergoes a transformation that evolves his powers. In the comic Civil War #2 (June 2006), part of the company-wide crossover arc of that title, the U.S. government's Superhuman Registration Act leads Spider-Man to reveal his true identity publicly. A growing unease about the Registration Act prompts him to escape with May and Watson and join the anti-registration underground.

In issue #537 (Dec. 2006), May is critically wounded by a sniper hired by Wilson Fisk and enters into a coma. Parker, desperate to save her, exhausts all possibilities and makes a pact with the demon-lord Mephisto, who saves May's life in exchange for Parker and Watson agreeing to have their marriage and all memory of it disappear. In this changed reality, Spider-Man's identity is secret once again, and in #545 (Jan. 2008), Watson returns and is cold toward him.

That controversial storyline, "One More Day", rolled back much of the fictional continuity at the behest of editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, who said, "Peter being single is an intrinsic part of the very foundation of the world of Spider-Man". It caused unusual public friction between Quesada and writer Straczynski, who "told Joe that I was going to take my name off the last two issues of the story arc", but was talked out of doing so. At issue with Straczynski's climax to the arc, Quesada said, was

...that we didn't receive the story and methodology to the resolution that we were all expecting. What made that very problematic is that we had four writers and artists well underway on the sequel arc "Brand New Day" that were expecting and needed "One More Day" to end in the way that we had all agreed it would. The fact that we had to ask for the story to move back to its original intent understandably made Joe upset and caused some major delays and page increases in the series. Also, the science that Joe was going to apply to the retcon of the marriage would have made over 30 years of Spider-Man books worthless, because they never would have had happened. It would have reset way too many things outside of the Spider-Man titles. We just couldn't go there....

In this new continuity, designed to have very limited repercussions throughout the remainder of the Marvel Universe, Parker returns to work at the Daily Bugle, which has been renamed The DB under a new publisher. He soon switches to the alternative press paper The Front Line. J. Jonah Jameson becomes the Mayor of New York City in issue #591 (June 2008). Jameson's estranged father, J. Jonah Jameson, Sr., marries May in issue #600 (Sept. 2009).

During the "Secret Invasion" by shape-shifting extra-terrestrials, the Skrulls, Norman Osborn shoots and kills the Skrull queen Veranke. He leverages this widely publicized success, positioning himself as the new director of the S.H.I.E.L.D.-like paramilitary force H.A.M.M.E.R. to advance his agenda, while using his public image to start his own Dark Avengers. Norman himself leads the Dark Avengers as the Iron Patriot, a suit of armor fashioned by himself after Iron Man's armor with Captain America's colors.

Harry is approached by Norman with the offer of a job within the Dark Avengers. It is later revealed that it is a ruse to coerce Harry into taking the American Son armor, whom Norman had planned to kill, in order to increase public sympathy. When Harry has the option of killing Norman, Spider-Man says to decapitate him, since Norman's healing factor may repair a blow to the head. Spider-Man also cautions Harry that killing Norman will cause Harry to "become the son Norman always wanted". Harry instead backs down, and turns away from his father forever.

2010s

Siege

At Loki's suggestion, Norman Osborn creates a rationale to invade Asgard, claiming the world (which was, at the time, positioned at the outskirts of Broxton, Oklahoma) poses a national security threat. During a pitched battle with several superheroes, Norman Osborn fights with the recently-resurrected Steve Rogers, however, Iron Man removes Osborn's Iron Patriot armor remotely, revealing Osborn used green face paint to create a goblin-like look. Osborn screams that the Avengers do not know what they have done, only for Spider-Man to knock him down. He ends up incarcerated in the Raft penitentiary, blaming his Goblin alter-ego for ruining his chance to protect the world.

"Big Time"

After Osborn's fall and the Registration Act's abolition following the Siege of Asgard, MJ invited Peter over so the two of them could gain closure over the marriage that did not happen and the breakup. Later, a massive war ensued between Doctor Octopus and Spider-Man to get Lily Hollister's and Norman Osborn's son, in which Spider-Man found that the child was actually Harry's, who later leaves town to raise him. Peter then finally starts a relationship with police officer Carlie Cooper. Spider-Man's heroic career rose up again, he joined the reassembled Avengers and also stayed with the New Avengers, who were outlaws no more. He learned that Michele was moving and he could not maintain his apartment anymore. However, Peter found a dream job, thanks to Jameson's wife Marla Madison, as a compensation for Jameson firing him, as a scientist at Horizon Labs where he had access to much more technology and resources while also giving him freedom to come and go as he liked so long as he delivered good results. Spider-Man assisted the Avengers in defeating Doctor Octopus' army of Macro-Octobots. He then faced a new Hobgoblin and the Kingpin, but days later, he lamentably lost Marla in a fight between Alistair Alphonso Smythe's Spider-Slayers.

"Spider-Island"

After helping Anti-Venom (Eddie Brock) to reveal Mr. Negative's identity (as well as learning that Aunt May was moving to Boston with Jay) Spider-Man found himself with a new problem: the Jackal returned and gave the majority of New Yorkers spider-powers. The Queen was revealed as the true mastermind: she wanted to turn the whole human race into spiders. Mr. Fantastic created a cure using the Anti-Venom Symbiote, and after battling Peter (under the Jackal's influence), Peter's clone Kaine was accidentally cured from his mutations, turning him into a perfect clone. While he and the Avengers battled the Spider-Queen in Central Park, Kaine killed her and Peter managed to get the cure to every citizen via Doctor Octopus's (mentally controlled) Octobots. He met with Jay and May while they were leaving for Boston. Peter then ran into Kaine, who told Peter that he was leaving New York and with Peter's stealth suit, since Madame Web had told Kaine he may need it. Also, because of revealing he had spider-powers during the Spider-Island event, Peter's psychic blind spot was weakened, letting Carlie know he was Spider-Man, which caused her to break up with him. Before giving a last cure sample to MJ, who briefly attempted to keep some spider-powers, Spider-Man met with Madame Web on the roof of Horizon Labs. She told him that he could de-power himself with the cure sample and someone else will step in to take his place. Peter refuses, saying that throwing his gift away would be the most irresponsible thing he has ever done. Madame Web warns that he is to suffer a loss. He then cures MJ and they look at the Empire State Building, lit in red and blue in his honor.

The Superior Spider-Man

In the middle of a fight against the Hobgoblin, while his spider-sense was overloaded, Spider-Man was unsuspectedly pinched by one of Doctor Octopus' Octobots programmed to swap consciousness between the two, causing Peter to become trapped in the dying body of his foe while Doctor Octopus claimed Peter's life for himself. In an attempt to take back his life with the little time he had left, Peter broke out of Octopus's cell in the Raft leading to a final confrontation between the two in the Avengers Tower. Though Peter failed to reverse the change, he managed to establish a weak link with Otto's mind using an Octobot. In his final moments, Peter forced Otto Octavius to relive all of his memories. Having experienced in a flash all of Peter's trials and tribulations, Otto learned his lesson of power and responsibility and swore to carry on with Peter's life with dignity as a superior Spider-Man.

Since Peter was mentally connected to Otto when his body perished, a portion of himself survived in his original body, but in the form of a subconsciousness, thus not able to control the actions of his body entirely. Even though Otto attempted to rid of this remnant of Peter, he decided to seek its help sometime later after being overwhelmed by the returned Green Goblin and his Goblin Nation. Realizing that he failed in his role as the "superior" Spider-Man, having pushed his allies aside and lost his resources in the process, Otto willingly allowed Peter to reclaim his body in order to defeat Osborn once and for all and save Anna Maria Marconi, Otto's love. In the aftermath of Otto's possession of his body, Peter began to amend the relationships damaged by Otto's arrogance and negligence, both as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. He additionally took up the reins of Parker Industries, a small company founded by Otto after leaving Horizon Labs.

"All-New Marvel NOW"

"All-New, All-Different Marvel"

One of Peter's biggest challenges during his tenure as a billionaire C.E.O was the emergence of a mysterious biotech company, operating out of the Transamerica Pyramid, called New U. Peter discovered it was a front for the operations of the Jackal, who claimed to have found a way to bring people back from the dead using cloning technology. In an attempt to persuade Peter to put Parker Industries' resources to help his plan, the Jackal created numerous clones of his late friends and foes, including Gwen Stacy. In a turn of events, the Jackal was revealed to be Ben Reilly, who had been brought to life by the original Jackal before taking his place. The Jackal's plan eventually fell apart following the triggering of cellular decay in the clones created by New U, which led to the release of the Carrion Virus worldwide. The crisis was adverted when Spider-Man had his Web-wares transmit an audio frequency in a global scale which halted the cellular degeneration, but not before most of the clones died. The Jackal, being a clone himself, was left for dead, though he secretly escaped and returned to the mantle of the Scarlet Spider.

"Fresh Start"

More recently, Spider-Man has been plagued by visions of a mysterious villain named Kindred who has seemingly been working with Mysterio.113 As this happened, villains the Black Ant and the Taskmaster captured animal-themed supervillains for Kraven the Hunter as part of a plan to destroy unworthy hunters. In the process, Dr. Connors' child Billy was kidnapped alongside the Black Cat and were forced to fight for their survival in New York's Central Park which was, at that time, surrounded by an energy field. Meanwhile, the Vulture brainwashed a group of fellow supervillains and led an attack against the unworthy hunters. Spider-Man was tasked with finding Kraven the Hunter, whose ultimate goal through the hunt was to anger Spider-Man and lead him to kill him, ending his curse. After Spider-Man refused and Dr. Connors saved his child, Kraven lifted the force field from Central Park, allowing Spider-Man, Connors and Billy, and the Black Cat to escape while the Avengers rounded up all the loose criminals. The "Hunted" story arc ended with Kraven donning a Spider-Man disguise, effectively becoming the Spider, and allowing his cloned son to kill him.

2020s

Kindred uses the resurrected Sin-Eater's sins to create constructs that attack the ship Spider-Man is on underwater with Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Woman, Anya Corazon, and Julia Carpenter. The sins possess the other spider-heroes, and they attack Spider-Man.

Spider-Man and Doctor Strange manage to hold down a demon-possessed Silk. Spider-Man admits that Sin-Eater is not the one controlling his friends, but another villain named "Kindred." Kindred uses Cindy to escape, and Spider-Man tells Doctor Strange that he didn't tell him the truth because he felt Kindred is his responsibility and admitted that he felt relieved that he threw Norman Osborn the ship and left him to die. Spider-Man tells Doctor Strange that he will take on Kindred, but he needs Doctor Strange's help since demon possession is not what Spider-Man is used to fighting. Doctor Strange agrees to Spider-Man's offer, and gives him the Hand of Vashanti (a magic weapon that Spider-Man used to fight off a mystical villain name Shade in the past) to allow him to go to the astral plane.

Finally encountering Kindred, Peter identifies the loved ones who died in his life morbidly arranged in attendance, provoking him to attack Kindred for his desecration of their remains. Peter is easily overwhelmed and thrashed about, asking who Kindred is; the demon merely answering all that matters is who he is now, not who he was. Peter frantically cries that Kindred stop what he's doing to them and kill him in place of their suffering. When Kindred accepts, he frees the Order clean of the sins he coerced into them. Owing to his end of the deal, Kindred then snaps Peter's neck, stating they will go and face the truth together.

During the time Peter was dead, Peter's consciousness remembers the fateful day of the start of One More Day and Kindred accepts to resurrect Peter.

Personality and themes

Sally Kempton for the Village Voice opined in 1965 that "Spider-Man has a terrible identity problem, a marked inferiority complex, and a fear of women. He is anti-social, castration-ridden, racked with Oedipal guilt, and accident-prone  functioning neurotic". Agonizing over his choices, always attempting to do right, he is nonetheless viewed with suspicion by the authorities, who seem unsure as to whether he is a helpful vigilante or a clever criminal.

Notes cultural historian Bradford W. Wright,

Spider-Man's plight was to be misunderstood and persecuted by the very public that he swore to protect. In the first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the Daily Bugle, launches an editorial campaign against the "Spider-Man menace." The resulting negative publicity exacerbates popular suspicions about the mysterious Spider-Man and makes it impossible for him to earn any more money by performing. Eventually, the bad press leads the authorities to brand him an outlaw. Ironically, Peter finally lands a job as a photographer for Jameson's Daily Bugle.

The mid-1960s stories reflected the political tensions of the time, as early 1960s Marvel stories had often dealt with the Cold War and Communism. As Wright observes,

From his high-school beginnings to his entry into college life, Spider-Man remained the superhero most relevant to the world of young people. Fittingly, then, his comic book also contained some of the earliest references to the politics of young people. In 1968, in the wake of actual militant student demonstrations at Columbia University, Peter Parker finds himself in the midst of similar unrest at his Empire State University.... Peter has to reconcile his natural sympathy for the students with his assumed obligation to combat lawlessness as Spider-Man. As a law-upholding liberal, he finds himself caught between militant leftism and angry conservatives.

Powers, skills, and equipment

With his talents, he sews his own costume to conceal his identity, and he constructs many devices that complement his powers, most notably mechanical web-shooters, to help navigate and trap his enemies along with a spider-signal as a flashlight and a warning beacon to criminals.