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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 9, 2024 20:23:40 GMT -5
I think Civil War really reinforced the idea that Peter had been Spider-man since he was 15 years old, but I definitely remember it being mentioned earlier. I think ASM Annual 23 was the first place I read it, IIRC. Ah, yes...in the flashback story. That annual was from 1989, so that might be what I'm thinking of. But yeah, I too felt it had been established earlier in the 80s. Depending what month his birthday was, he could have actually been 15 and a half, or even close to 16. All we know is he was 15 when he became Spider-man, but could have turned 16 at any point during or after he first put on the costume in Amazing Fantasy 15. I'm sure that's what any writer or reader who prefers a 16 year old Spidey to a 15 year old would come up with if they wanted to rationalize things to fit their personal preference. Yeah, all valid points. Peter is clearly a high school senior during the early issues of Amazing Spider-Man. Doesn't it say outright in issue #8 that he's in the senior class? I don't think it's all that clear, but yes, just checking the issue now...it does say that Peter was in Senior Science Class at the start of ASM #8. To be honest, not being American, I hadn't read that as it being a science class for high school seniors; I'd just read it as a general term for senior pupils, if you catch my drift. So, if Peter is a senior by ASM #8 at least, that would make him 17 at that point right? Like, he'd be in 12th Grade. If so, that moves Peter much closer in age to Betty Brant, or possibly they're both 17. A question I do have is whether the age of what constitutes a high school senior was different in the early 60s to what it is now? I’ll defer to those who were in school closer to Pete’s time period but even when I was in high school in the mid-80s it wasn’t unheard of for people from multiple grade levels in high school to be in the same classes. When I took Chemistry as a junior it was about an even mix of juniors and seniors. My wife took American history as a sophomore when the vast majority of the class were juniors. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 9, 2024 21:01:59 GMT -5
I think Civil War really reinforced the idea that Peter had been Spider-man since he was 15 years old, but I definitely remember it being mentioned earlier. I think ASM Annual 23 was the first place I read it, IIRC. Ah, yes...in the flashback story. That annual was from 1989, so that might be what I'm thinking of. But yeah, I too felt it had been established earlier in the 80s. Depending what month his birthday was, he could have actually been 15 and a half, or even close to 16. All we know is he was 15 when he became Spider-man, but could have turned 16 at any point during or after he first put on the costume in Amazing Fantasy 15. I'm sure that's what any writer or reader who prefers a 16 year old Spidey to a 15 year old would come up with if they wanted to rationalize things to fit their personal preference. Yeah, all valid points. Peter is clearly a high school senior during the early issues of Amazing Spider-Man. Doesn't it say outright in issue #8 that he's in the senior class? I don't think it's all that clear, but yes, just checking the issue now...it does say that Peter was in Senior Science Class at the start of ASM #8. To be honest, not being American, I hadn't read that as it being a science class for high school seniors; I'd just read it as a general term for senior pupils, if you catch my drift. So, if Peter is a senior by ASM #8 at least, that would make him 17 at that point right? Like, he'd be in 12th Grade. If so, that moves Peter much closer in age to Betty Brant, or possibly they're both 17. A question I do have is whether the age of what constitutes a high school senior was different in the early 60s to what it is now? The US public school system has had 12 grades (not counting kindergarten, which wasn't universal) and did through most of the 20Th Century, though attendance at the higher grades varied quite a bit. It was standard in the post-WW2 era, though. Ages, with minor variation on both sides, is from ages 6 to 18. One element that has changed is the structure of the school year, in more recent decades, in some school districts. Traditionally, the school year was structured around agrarian needs, with breaks for planting and harvesting. Harvesting often led to kids being pulled out of school for the harvest, while planting often occurred at the end of the school term or after the start of the summer break, depending on crops, conditions and locale. That remained, even with urban schools. However, in the past few decades, some school districts have elected to conduct school throughout the calendar year, with more, but shorter breaks, basically splitting it into thirds. In general, a senior class would range in age from 17 to 18, depending on month of birth. My birthday, in mid-November, fell about a week or so before the cutoff. The school actually recommended to my parents that they wait until the next year. They chose to go ahead and enroll me and I was fine. They were both teachers (my mom left the profession) and knew I could read and knew my numbers, thanks to Sesame Street and The Electric Company. It was never an issue until I was near driving age. I took my Driver's Education class with everyone else; but had to wait until later, to do my practical driving training (though my Dad would take me out to practice and have me drive as much as possible, while I had my learner's permit). I was 17 when I graduated high school and my parents had to sign a waiver for me to start NROTC, in the fall, until my 18th birthday. I was 3rd or 4th youngest in the class, with one classmate born December 4th, after the cutoff, but she got bumped from 1st to second grade (or was it 2nd to 3rd) because she knew her multiplication tables and a couple of other things. Peter could be a Senior, at 15, due to academic achievement and maturity, though it is rare. His science aptitude, though, would suggest it was highly possible. I looked at the issue and it says "senior science class," not senior class. It might just mean that he was taking the next higher class (or two), especially given his abilities. My school wasn't really structured that way, in high school, after taking the Freshman general science class. After that, we elected which science classes we wanted to take, though there were two levels to Biology. I took both Biology classes and Physics, but not Chemistry. We also only offered Trigonometry at certain times, so I had to take it in college, because I couldn't work it in, in high school (due to having one math teacher). We also had a vocational training program, so some of my classmates went of to the Decatur Area Vocational Training Center, for half the day, then came back in the afternoon for academic courses. Generally speaking, though, you tended to take the same level of math and sciences as the rest of your grade level. And English and History. We were a poor, rural school district, though, and lacked some classes that larger school districts had. We didn't have a computer lab until I was a senior, in 1983-84. My brother, though, had gone to a computer camp, at Western Illinois University, for a week or two (can't recall how long it was, but at least a week, as he stayed in a dorm). Most of the schools that were in our sports conference (similar smaller rural schools) have all since consolidated into larger districts, to combine resources. |
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Post by jtrw2024 on Aug 10, 2024 7:28:20 GMT -5
I think Fancy Dan is the first martial artist of the Marvel Age. The Mandarin was shown to have martial arts skills as well, but that wasn't his primary schtick. Don't forget Sue Storm! She knows Judo! And she learned it from "one of the world's greatest experts: Reed Richards"! This was revealed in Fantastic Four 17 which came out in 1963 and predates both those other characters. Sure, Reed and Sue do have some other special abilities too, but everyone knows that The Fantastic Four was really just a martial arts comic disguised as a monster-comic, disguised as a super-hero comic!  |
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 10, 2024 12:07:47 GMT -5
Ben Grimm fought a wrestler in Fantastic Four #15. So, are we not counting boxing and wrestling as "martial arts?"   I'm kidding, but, by definition, the martial arts would include anything related to combat, including grappling, striking, fencing, horsemanship, running and even swimming and weightlifting. All are skills practiced by warriors, throughout the ages, which was part of the reason for things like the Olympics. The Modern Pentathlon exemplifies this (though it's been altered several times and the horse portion is being removed, due to the recent scandal with a trainer punching a horse). It features a footrace, a swimming race, epee fencing, pistol shooting and equestrian skills, inspired by the training for Napoleon's couriers. All of those are martial skills. The thing is, we have been conditioned by Hollywood and marketing into seeing "martial arts" as Asian combat techniques, rather than the same set of skills, in a Western setting. The Greeks had pankration long before karate and most forms of kung fu existed. There are even theories that it was Alexander's conquest of India that brought pankration to the region, which then spread across Asia, with styles developing based on local terrain, physical size and other specifics to the region. Pankration was a mixture of boxing and Greco-Roman wrestling, with submission holds, as well. It was included in the ancient Olympics and there were several fatal bouts. One of the most notable featured a competitor who had a chokehold on his opponent and had his legs wrapped around the opponent's body, for leverage. The opponent placed his own leg over the ankle of the man applying the choke and forced him to submit to the ankle lock, which broke the leg. The opponent was declared the winner, but then died from the loss of oxygen to the brain. The loser lived, but was crippled. |
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Post by jtrw2024 on Aug 11, 2024 13:05:37 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 12 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 149 )  “Unmasked by Dr. Octopus!” Credits (as they appear in the comic): “Written in the white heat of inspiration by Stan Lee” “Drawn in a mild frenzy of enthusiasm by Steve Ditko” “Lettered in a confortable room by Art Simek” “Colored in downtown Brooklyn by Andy Yanchus” Plot Synopsis: Oh no! Spidey is unmasked by Dr.Octopus!!! How will our hero get out of this one?!  Comments: This issue wraps up the loose ends from last issue. Dr. Octopus is still at large, on a cross-country crime-spree making his way back to New York. Betty’s back working at the Bugle, with a new hairdo which will be more or less the one that she sticks with for her future appearances. Betty is the lead super-hero's girlfriend, but hasn't really fallen in to the trap of playing the stereotypical damsel-in-distress every single issue. She did play that roll last issue, but it made sense plot-wise as the story was as much hers as it was Spidey and Ock's. This issue uses the trope again, but it seems logical considering Ock knows Spidey was willing to fight to save Betty Brant once so figures he’ll try it again.  Of course, since this is a Spider-man comic, the plot can't always play out the way it would in any other typical comic. Spidey’s powers vanish just when he needs them the most. We’ll see his powers go away again in an upcoming issue, but for a different reason. This issue though the reason is because he has a virus which is “the one thing even [his] spider-strength can’t resist!” (Spider-man even comes to him in his fevered dreams and tells him so).  Being the hero he is, Peter decides to go up against Ock, even though he's not at his fighting best which leads to the shocking scene we see on the front cover. Fortunately Dr. Octopus has a good enough grasp of Spider-man's skills after their previous encounter and knows that the weakling he was fighting can't possibly be the real deal! Even better that everyone else who witnessed Spidey's unmasking accepts Ock's assessment of the situation. I mentioned in an earlier review that there wasn't any definite point in these early issues where it becomes commonly known that Peter is selling Spider-man and super-villain pics to the Bugle. I figure this issue is as good a place as any for that revelation. Jameson pretty much blurts it out in front of the police when Peter is unmasked. Also, the kids at school seem to have heard about the incident, so at the very least they're probably aware that Peter is working for the Bugle in some capacity. In addition, we'll see a bit more in coming months of the two different sets of characters from the Bugle and Midtown High interacting in the same scenes.  Speaking of our friends at Midtown High, Flash is still his usual self, but I think this is the first time Liz really takes notice of Peter. When Liz invites Peter to a party later in the issue, Pete turns it down in favour of seeing if a certain brunette is available. If Liz and the others didn't already know Pete had a girlfriend, they probably do now Back to the real story though. Luckily Spider-man recovers in time to stop Doc Ock and round up a bunch of escaped zoo animals. If one animal-themed adversary wasn't enough for this issue, we've also got lions, tigers and bears (oh my), not to mention a gorilla too. The final fight between Spider-man and Dr. Octopus covers a lot of ground, from the street to rooftops, with a big climax inside a burning building. Even with all this going on, somehow the story finds time to squeeze in yet another detailed explanation of how Spider-man's web-shooters work. There's also a bit of "name dropping" for our favourite Spider-man creators. Literally!    Notable differences in the reprint: The cover doesn’t get flipped this time, but Betty Brant is completely removed to make way for the UPC box. I think it would have probably made more sense to shift her position a bit. If anyone had to go, then surely one of the police officers would have been a better candidate. Seeing the hero on the cover unmasked in front of his girlfriend definitely heightens the drama!  I think this is the first time, a name gets changed to make the stories seem more current. A Billy Graham reference, has now been updated to Ann Landers. Not sure if this change was really worth the effort, since I think, even at the time the Marvel Tales issue came out, both of these people would have about the same level of name recognition. Anyone know of any other reason this change may have been made? Would Billy Graham have been involved in any sort of controversy at the time? Or was Ann Landers just that popular?!  A Marvel Mails letters page appears before the end. Tom DeFalco, Editor. Linda Grant, Assistant Editor The letters page announces that next issue Marvel Tales 150 will have extra pages and reprint the main story from Amazing Spider-man Annual 1. Of course it’s completely the wrong place to print the Annual since two of the main characters which feature in it haven’t yet been introduced. The letters page makes note of this and apologizes in advance. Not sure why they would have gone about doing it this way, but maybe the only way they could get approval to do an oversized issue was if it was a “milestone” number like 150. Not too much a big deal for me since I didn’t read all these issues as they were coming out, and didn’t even get them in order when I was trying to fill up the holes in my collection. If you were a Dr. Octopus fan, buying these issues off the rack as they came out, you'd get three of his best stories one after another for three months in a row! Regardless of the reason, it's nice of them to apologize in advance. Just in case you’re following along or reading ahead, for the sake of my review, I’ll stick to the actual proper order, skipping ahead to MT 151, then get back to MT 150 later. That’s the way I’ve got it filed in my collection. Easy enough to do with single issues, but it really bugged me when they screwed it up even worse in the first Essential Spider-man collection and put the Annual after issue 20. Personal anecdotes: This is another issue I hadn’t read until it was re-printed in Spider-man Classics 13, but it was one I always wanted since my early days of filling in my missing Marvel Tales back issues. The cover really intrigued me and I had no idea how Spidey could get out of that predicament. This comic was actually in my hand in August 1986, on the day I picked up Marvel Tales 138 reprinting ASM 1. I had picked out MT 138, 149 and a recent Transformers comic, but was short on pocket cash when the sales woman rang up the bill and had to leave one behind at the counter. I’m sure I did the math in my head beforehand, but probably messed up calculating the sales tax. The friend I was with offered to pay for it but I didn’t take him up on the offer. I’d like to think it was because I had too much pride to take a handout, but that doesn’t sound much like 10 year old me. More likely it was because we were already out of the store and I figured it would be too much trouble to go back in and line-up again and ask for the comic I had just left behind. The unmasking part of the story, and its resolution, was recapped in a later post-Ditko, Romita-era story which was reprinted in the final issue of the digest Spider-man Comics Magazine which I got new in 1988 or whenever it came out. Since I now knew how the dilemma of Spidey's identity resolved itself, it was probably the reason I didn't go out of my way to buy the actual Marvel Tales reprint, or read the story before Spider-man Classics got around to it. It took nearly 40 years, but I'm finally reading this issue in Marvel Tales! |
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 11, 2024 15:03:41 GMT -5
More than likely, the change was done to avoid criticism of mocking a religious figure, especially given the time of the reprint, in 1983. This was the era of Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority, with a staunch Conservative in the White House and a lot of evangelists involved in politics (including Pat Robertson). More than likely, Marvel wanted to avoid any heat and substituted Ann Landers, whose advice column suggested a certain stuffy, old fashioned tone; plus, the psychological aspect. Of course, Ann Landers and Dear Abby (her sister) would occasionally be duped by obvious phony letters, often with sexual topics. Sometimes she (or whoever was actually writing it) would point out they were phonies and still address the topic and there was a running comment about students at Harvard or Yale trying to plant fake letters.
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Post by jtrw2024 on Aug 11, 2024 17:03:16 GMT -5
More than likely, the change was done to avoid criticism of mocking a religious figure, especially given the time of the reprint, in 1983. This was the era of Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority, with a staunch Conservative in the White House and a lot of evangelists involved in politics (including Pat Robertson). More than likely, Marvel wanted to avoid any heat and substituted Ann Landers, whose advice column suggested a certain stuffy, old fashioned tone; plus, the psychological aspect. Of course, Ann Landers and Dear Abby (her sister) would occasionally be duped by obvious phony letters, often with sexual topics. Sometimes she (or whoever was actually writing it) would point out they were phonies and still address the topic and there was a running comment about students at Harvard or Yale trying to plant fake letters. Thanks codystarbuck. That definitely helps put things into context! |
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 11, 2024 22:34:50 GMT -5
Billy Graham had a regular column in the newspapers for a very long time. As a matter fact, it’s still exists, but I don’t think he has been writing it because he’s been dead for sometime.
I’m pretty sure it was still around in the 1980s when these re-prints were published, but I don’t think the column had a very high profile outside of religious circles.
When doing newspaper research when I was in college, I sometimes came across his column in newspapers from the 1960s. I think he had a pretty high profile in popular media back then. I remember seeing a column in, I think, the spring of 1968 where Billy Graham suggested George H.W. Bush as Richard Nixon’s running mate in that year’s presidential election. It wasn’t exactly an advice column per se, but it was more of a spiritual column with advice for the readers. Peter Parker mentioning Billy Graham in this context makes a lot more sense in an early 1960s story than it would in the 1980s, a time when Graham’s column wasn’t quite so widely distributed, as far as I know.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Aug 12, 2024 3:29:26 GMT -5
Billy Graham was a very famous Christian evangelist in the '60s, 70s and '80s. I can remember that when he would make rare appearances in the UK it always made the mainstream news. But as Hoosier says, in the context of that panel, Stan is almost certainly talking about his newspaper advice column.
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Post by Confessor on Aug 12, 2024 7:09:36 GMT -5
Playing catch up after a super-busy weekend with work... THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 11 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 148 )  And here's the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #11…  Although this is the second time Spidey fights a returning villain, it is the first time one actually gets released from prison after serving his sentence. The Vulture could have probably just waited another week instead of going to such elaborate lengths to escape a few issues back. Spider-man does try to warn the prison Warden that this is a bad idea, but the opinion of a spider-powered crime-fighter isn't as credible as you'd think. Even though the Warden had high hopes for Otto's rehabilitation, Ock's thoughts reveal that he had no interest in ever going back to a mundane normal life now that he's had a taste of super-villainy! I don't think there are any other instances of Doc Ock being released from prison like this anywhere else in his long history, so hopefully the Warden learned his lesson. This issue only has one fight between Spider-man and Doctor Octopus, but it's a good one! Ock’s tentacles were damaged during his last battle with Spidey, but he’s managed to repair them since then. They’re still attached to his body though. He actually makes a point to mention that he has been practicing, so as dangerous as he was before, now he's even worse. One of the things that strikes me about this issue is how menacing Dr. Octopus is. I'm not sure he ever felt as credible a threat to Spider-Man as he did during the Lee/Ditko era. Another major trademark gimmick gets introduced here. Spidey develops his spider-tracers and tracking device which he’ll use to keep tabs on Ock and other baddies in many future adventures. I love the spider-tracers; they're such a cool piece of Spidey's crime fighting arsenal. Of course, one big difference with how they work here, compared to later, is that Peter has to use a hand-held receiver to tune into their position. In the future he will modify them so that he can detect them with his spider-sense. I particularly love the panel in this issue where we can see all the intricate circuitry inside the tracer through a magnifying glass. Peter is really serious about Betty and it’s the first time he really considers sharing his secret, but ultimately things don’t work out. We’ll see similar types of stories over the years with other love interests. Later writers will try to downplay Peter’s relationship with Betty, trying to play it as a simple schoolboy crush, but stories like this one are as serious as it gets! I agree that Peter and Betty's relationship is pretty serious by this point. But I will say that when you're 16, any romantic relationship is pretty serious. This is definitely more than just a crush, but Peter is still a schoolboy, and I think his over-serious, slightly melodramatic angst about anything connected to Betty is really believable for a character of his age. I can remember my relationship with my first girlfriend at that age and that definitely seemed like life-or-death to me! As for the death of Bennett Brant, it's hard to feel much sympathy for him, especially as he's dragged poor Betty into his seedy world. I also don't feel as if we really get to know him very well before he died, which prevents the reader from caring too much. Then again, I suppose Bennett's death is mostly just a plot device to prevent Peter from revealing his identity as Spider-Man to Betty. Overall, I think this is a good issue. Plenty of soap opera angst, a bit of family tragedy, and another fabulously drawn battle between Spidey and a super-villain. |
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Post by kirby101 on Aug 12, 2024 8:10:40 GMT -5
By the 80s, Graham was known for his big rallies, his profile was Preacher to the Presidents. Dear Abby and Ann Landers were shorthand for advice columns. Calling himself Billy Graham makes him sound like a preacher, which isn't what he means. I don't think this had anything to do with evangelicals being angry.
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Post by Confessor on Aug 12, 2024 8:43:49 GMT -5
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 12 (reprinted in Marvel Tales 149 ) Cover for ASM #12…  Betty is the lead super-hero's girlfriend, but hasn't really fallen in to the trap of playing the stereotypical damsel-in-distress every single issue. She did play that roll last issue, but it made sense plot-wise as the story was as much hers as it was Spidey and Ock's. This issue uses the trope again, but it seems logical considering Ock knows Spidey was willing to fight to save Betty Brant once so figures he’ll try it again. I thibk it's pretty clever of Doctor Octopus to spot that there was some connection between Spider-Man and Betty Brant in their previous encounter and then exploit it here. But then, he is a genius, I guess. Of course, since this is a Spider-man comic, the plot can't always play out the way it would in any other typical comic. Spidey’s powers vanish just when he needs them the most. We’ll see his powers go away again in an upcoming issue, but for a different reason. This issue though the reason is because he has a virus which is “the one thing even [his] spider-strength can’t resist!” (Spider-man even comes to him in his fevered dreams and tells him so). The 24-hour virus is, I think, another example of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko trying to give Peter/Spidey relatable, everyday problems that the readership could empathise with. I couldn't imagine the Fantastic Four or Thor getting a virus like that and being so under powered, though it may've happened at some point, I suppose. But this episode reinforces the idea that Spider-Man isn't your common or garden superhero. The panel in which Spider-Man comes to Peter in a fever dream and the very next one, where Peter wakes feeling much better and summersaults out of bed, are both really well done by Ditko. Being the hero he is, Peter decides to go up against Ock, even though he's not at his fighting best which leads to the shocking scene we see on the front cover. Fortunately Dr. Octopus has a good enough grasp of Spider-man's skills after their previous encounter and knows that the weakling he was fighting can't possibly be the real deal! Even better that everyone else who witnessed Spidey's unmasking accepts Ock's assessment of the situation. Peter getting unmasked like this and none of the witnesses or supporting cast members putting two and two together always stretched credibility for me. But then again, I guess Peter is perhaps the least likely individual they know to be a secret superhero and besides, Ock has just announced that this weakling he's fighting isn't the real Spider-Man. I dunno though…that sequence has always just kind of made me roll my eyes. Speaking of our friends at Midtown High, Flash is still his usual self, but I think this is the first time Liz really takes notice of Peter. When Liz invites Peter to a party later in the issue, Pete turns it down in favour of seeing if a certain brunette is available. If Liz and the others didn't already know Pete had a girlfriend, they probably do now. The beginning of Peter Parker: ladies man!  I agree though that this is the point where Liz Allan beings to see Peter in a different light. We know that Peter's asked her out before and she even considered dating him, but that was mostly because she felt sorry for him. In this issue, for the first time, she's actually romantically drawn to him. Back to the real story though. Luckily Spider-man recovers in time to stop Doc Ock and round up a bunch of escaped zoo animals. If one animal-themed adversary wasn't enough for this issue, we've also got lions, tigers and bears (oh my), not to mention a gorilla too. The final fight between Spider-man and Dr. Octopus covers a lot of ground, from the street to rooftops, with a big climax inside a burning building. This is a fantastic issue overall. Yes, the unmasking always seemed a bit contrived to me, but the soap opera elements are great and Ditko does a really nice job of depicting Spidey and Ock's final battle on the rooftops and inside an artist's studio. I also love the menace of the escaped zoo animals, and its nice to see Peter taking pains to capture them humanely. |
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Post by kirby101 on Aug 12, 2024 9:03:15 GMT -5
I am not sure which issue Aunt May first meets Doc Ock (I know he kidnaps her in Annual #1, but she thinks he is just being a good host) but from the start, May sees Ock as a nice man and their eventual relationship is there from the start.
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Post by Confessor on Aug 12, 2024 11:30:19 GMT -5
I am not sure which issue Aunt May first meets Doc Ock (I know he kidnaps her in Annual #1, but she thinks he is just being a good host) but from the start, May sees Ock as a nice man and their eventual relationship is there from the start. Annual #1 is the first time they meet. And yes, May thinks Doc Ock is the perfect gentleman pretty much right off the bat -- even when Betty Brant tries to tell her that he's a dangerous villain. She just dismisses Betty and even says she feels sorry for him having a problem with his arms. Which is sort of ridiculous, of course, but then the whole Aunt May/Doc Ock relationship is ridiculous...but that doesn't stop me enjoying the hell out of it. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Aug 12, 2024 13:15:38 GMT -5
You can safely ignore the claim in Amazing #8 that Peter, Flash, and Liz are seniors. In the course of indexing and annotating the first few years of the Spider-Man series, using internal evidence from the stories themselves, I've managed to work out the following timeline for Pete's high school days.
Freshman Year (1961-62)
Near the end of the school year, 15-year-old Peter Parker gets bit by that pesky radioactive spider (Amazing Fantasy #15). Over the summer, he gains experience using his powers and intermittently pursues his show biz career even as Aunt May falls behind on their rent, as seen in the first few panels of Amazing Spider-Man #1.
Sophomore Year (1962-63)
Amazing Spider-Man #1 / Fantastic Four Annual #1
Amazing Spider-Man #2-4
Strange Tales Annual #2
Amazing Spider-Man #5
Summer Vacation '63
Amazing Spider-Man #6
Junior Year (1963-64)
Amazing Spider-Man #7
Strange Tales #115
Amazing Spider-Man #8
Avengers #3
Amazing Spider-Man #9-13 (12 set in "mid-winter")
Tales to Astonish #57
Amazing Spider-Man #14-15 (14 probably set during spring break)
Summer Vacation '64
Amazing Spider-Man #16
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
Senior Year (1964-65)
Amazing Spider-Man #17-20
Avengers #11
Amazing Spider-Man #21
Fantastic Four #35
Amazing Spider-Man #22
Fantastic Four #36
Amazing Spider-Man #23-28 (graduation in 28)
Over the summer, Spidey appears in Fantastic Four Annual #3 and Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2 before Peter begins his freshman year at Empire State University in the fall of '65.
Hope you find this helpful.
Cei-U! I summon Midtown High's only professional wallflower!
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