<P> Simon concurred that Kirby had shown the original Spider - Man version to Lee, who liked the idea and assigned Kirby to draw sample pages of the new character but disliked the results--in Simon's description, "Captain America with cobwebs". Writer Mark Evanier notes that Lee's reasoning that Kirby's character was too heroic seems unlikely--Kirby still drew the covers for Amazing Fantasy #15 and the first issue of The Amazing Spider - Man . Evanier also disputes Kirby's given reason that he was "too busy" to draw Spider - Man in addition to his other duties since Kirby was, said Evanier, "always busy". Neither Lee's nor Kirby's explanation explains why key story elements like the magic ring were dropped; Evanier states that the most plausible explanation for the sudden change was that Goodman, or one of his assistants, decided that Spider - Man, as drawn and envisioned by Kirby, was too similar to the Fly . </P> <P> Author and Ditko scholar Blake Bell writes that it was Ditko who noted the similarities to the Fly . Ditko recalled that "Stan called Jack about the Fly", adding that "(d) ays later, Stan told me I would be penciling the story panel breakdowns from Stan's synopsis". It was at this point that the nature of the strip changed . "Out went the magic ring, adult Spider - Man and whatever legend ideas that Spider - Man story would have contained". Lee gave Ditko the premise of a teenager bitten by a spider and developing powers, a premise Ditko would expand upon to the point he became what Bell describes as "the first work for hire artist of his generation to create and control the narrative arc of his series". On the issue of the initial creation, Ditko states, "I still don't know whose idea was Spider - Man". Kirby noted in a 1971 interview that it was Ditko who "got Spider - Man to roll, and the thing caught on because of what he did". Lee, while claiming credit for the initial idea, has acknowledged Ditko's role, stating, "If Steve wants to be called co-creator, I think he deserves (it)". He has further commented that Ditko's costume design was key to the character's success; since the costume completely covers Spider - Man's body, people of all races could visualize themselves inside the costume and thus more easily identify with the character . </P> <P> A few months after Spider - Man's introduction, publisher Goodman reviewed the sales figures for that issue and was shocked to find it was one of the nascent Marvel's highest - selling comics . A solo ongoing series followed, beginning with The Amazing Spider - Man #1 (cover - dated March 1963). The title eventually became Marvel's top - selling series with the character swiftly becoming a cultural icon; a 1965 Esquire poll of college campuses found that college students ranked Spider - Man and fellow Marvel hero the Hulk alongside Bob Dylan and Che Guevara as their favorite revolutionary icons . One interviewee selected Spider - Man because he was "beset by woes, money problems, and the question of existence . In short, he is one of us ." Following Ditko's departure after issue #38 (July 1966), John Romita, Sr. replaced him as penciler and would draw the series for the next several years . In 1968, Romita would also draw the character's extra-length stories in the comics magazine The Spectacular Spider - Man, a proto - graphic novel designed to appeal to older readers . It only lasted for two issues, but it represented the first Spider - Man spin - off publication, aside from the original series' summer annuals that began in 1964 . </P> <P> An early 1970s Spider - Man story led to the revision of the Comics Code . Previously, the Code forbade the depiction of the use of illegal drugs, even negatively . However, in 1970, the Nixon administration's Department of Health, Education, and Welfare asked Stan Lee to publish an anti-drug message in one of Marvel's top - selling titles . Lee chose the top - selling The Amazing Spider - Man; issues #96--98 (May--July 1971) feature a story arc depicting the negative effects of drug use . In the story, Peter Parker's friend Harry Osborn becomes addicted to pills . When Spider - Man fights the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn, Harry's father), Spider - Man defeats the Green Goblin, by revealing Harry's drug addiction . While the story had a clear anti-drug message, the Comics Code Authority refused to issue its seal of approval . Marvel nevertheless published the three issues without the Comics Code Authority's approval or seal . The issues sold so well that the industry's self - censorship was undercut and the Code was subsequently revised . </P>

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