Wall Crawling
Nothing seems to unnerve a bad guy more than being approached by a certain webbed crime-fighter who is crawling up the side of a nearby wall. Though Spider-Man possesses many amazing powers, his ability to cling to any surface is certainly the most unsettling. No matter how friendly our neighborhood web-slinger claims to be, the sight of him scurrying across the ceiling can be very distracting. The fact that he looks like a monstrous insect whenever he scampers up a building helped Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson convince the public that Spider-Man is a menace. Many people hate spiders, and are easily frightened by someone who can hang from their ceilings and cling to their walls.

No one knows exactly how Spider-Man’s wall clinging ability works. Peter Parker has often theorized that he has a form of bio-magnetic power that allows him to increase the attraction between the molecules in his body with those of the surface he climbs. All that is known for certain is that he can stick to anything. No matter how smooth or slippery a surface may be, Spidey can attach himself. He just has to keep concentrating until he can bond with it. Unlike his spider-sense, the web head’s clinging power is strictly a conscious act. He can never stick to something by accident. He must deliberately press his hand to an object and chose to adhere to it. Of course, Spidey likes to show off as much as the next fellow. He occasionally likes to run upside down along a ceiling or strides up a wall.

Once Spider-Man has latched on to an object, only he can decide when to release it. No outside force has managed to pry him from a surface if he consciously wants to stick to it. Foes with superhuman strength have been known to rip Spidey from walls and ceilings, but that’s only because these surfaces have shattered under the strain. Chunks of drywall or pieces of ceiling tile can usually be spotted clinging to Spidey whenever this situation occurs. If someone as strong as the Incredible Hulk were to try to pull Spider-Man off a slab of granite, he might accidentally rip off the web-spinner’s arms before the rock would splinter. Of course, there is an easy way to separate Spider-Man from an object. All a villain has to do is find a way to knock him out. Once Spidey has lost consciousness, his body will automatically go limp and detach itself from anything it is holding.

Though Spider-Man tends to focus on his hands and his feet whenever he is climbing up a wall, every part of his body has the same clinging ability. His back and head can stick to surfaces as easily as his fingers and toes. All he has to do is lean against something and he will stick to it until he decides to free himself.

Strength and Agility
Shortly after he was bitten by the radioactive spider that gave him his amazing powers, Peter Parker accidentally crushed a steel pipe as if it were made of paper. He was astonished to discover that he now possessed superhuman strength. Since then, Spider-Man has often told people that he has the proportional strength of a spider; but he’s actually a lot more powerful. While not as strong as the Incredible Hulk, The Mighty Thor, or The Thing, our friendly neighborhood web-slinger is able to lift almost 10 tons. He can bend a solid iron bar with his bare hands and shatter a concrete wall with a single punch. And in one, spider-powered spring, he has leapt the height of three stories, or the width of a highway.

Even more impressive than his spiderlike strength is Spider-Man’s amazing speed and agility. When it comes to quick thinking, death-defying, lightning swift, acrobatic stunts, the wall crawling wonder is truly without equal. Spider-Man moves with a fluid and casual grace that can’t even be equaled by trained superathletes such as Captain America or Daredevil. He leaps from rooftops, summersaults over flagpoles, tumbles off water towers, and balances on top of light poles as he routinely travels across the city in his own unique manner.

Average people have been known to lift cars in times of stress. Spider-Man can raise a couple of Cadillacs on a normal day. Add in the excitement of one of his typical battles, and his power level can shoot into uncharted territory. Over the years the web-slinger has been seen holding up multistory buildings, freeing himself from beneath tons of debris, and flattening cosmically powered aliens.

Spider-Man's reflexes operate up to forty times faster than those of a normal person, and he uses them to dazzle much stronger foes. Faced by the Rhino or even the Hulk, Spider-Man kicks into high gear ricocheting off the walls, ceiling, and ground to barrage his opponent with blow after blow. THe victim, dazed by the wall-crawler's speed, is left punching thin air.

Web-Slinging
Every Spider needs a web, and Spider-Man is no exception. Shortley after he gained his amazing powers, Peter Parker set out to create a web of his own. Peter used his high school's science laboritory after hours and, having studied multipolimer compounds for a few years, he produced an adhesive fluid capable of imitating a spider's silk webbing. TO complete the mechanism, Peter then designed and built a pair of web-shooters that snapped on his wrists.

Peter has improved upon his initial design. He now switches between different forms of webbing by the way he taps his trigger. With a short second tap he releases a thin cable like strand that is perfect for web-swinging. A longer second tap increases the strand's thickness for additional support. If Spiey prolongs the pressure on the fluid, web fluid squirts out in the form of an adhesive liquid which can paste a foe against a wall. A series of brisk taps discharges many thin strands that form a fine spray of webbing, perfect for blinding an opponent.

Peter designed his web-shooters so that he wouldn't accidentally fire them every time he made a fist. Resting in the palm of his hand, the trigger works just like a computer's mouse. He must tap twice in rapid succession to release his webbing. The web fluid is almost solid in its natural state. The spinneret {mechanism in the web shooters} cuts the solid fluid into thin strands. Each web shooter has one web-fluid cartridge locked in, plus nine spares.

Though Peter Parker built the original pair of web-shooters, he now splits up the designs for the various parts and sends them to a number of different machine shops in the New York area. To maintain a degree of secrecy, Peter later assembles all of the pieces himself. Peter has also designed a special utility belt to carry his spare cartridges of web fluid. {The belt can carry 30 cartridges of web-fluid.} The buckle of the belt contains a spider signal which can be projected onto his opponents. Sometimes Peter equips te buckle with a miniature camera.

The pressure in Spider-Man's web-cartridges is enough to propel a single strand of webbing up to 50 yards, but thicker strands and more complex web patterns can't reach nearly as far. Each of his web-shooters has ten cartridges, and each cartridge contains approximately 1,000 yards of single-strand webbing. [The] web begins to harden the instant it is exposed to air. Given enough time and sufficient thickness, one strand could even bind the incredible Hulk and hold him prisoner - although it's hard to imagine the Hulk standing still while Spidey applies the necessary webbing!

Spidey's normal webbing can easily withstand temperaturs of 1,000 degrees Farenheit. It melts, but it has never caught on fire. If the wall-crawler is preparing to fight someone like the Human TOrch, he can pack a webbing which resists temperatures of up to 10,000 degrees Farenheit. This type can only be released in strands that are as thick as a clothesline. Its special cartridge can only hold 10 yards of the webbing at a time.

Costumes
If clothes make the man, a distinctive costume is a definite must for a budding young super-hero. Of course, Peter Parker didn't intend to be a crime fighter when he first gained his amazing powers - he wanted to go into show business, and he needed an exciting look to match his stage act. Peter learned thatMidtown High's dance class was throwing out some old bodysuits. Slipping into the school after dark, he found one that fit him, took it to the art room, and spent a few hours silkscreening a web pattern on the shirts. He also made a skin tight pair of gloves and boots, and with some one way mirrors he found in the drama class's old prop box, he now had a mask. His first spider-costume was finally ready.

Having the perfect costume is one thing, keeping it is another matter. Peter Parker and his trusty sewing needle have spent many hours repairing the numerous rips and tears his costume has received in battle. Aunt May also contributed to Pete's costume woes. She once found his costume behind the bookcase where he had hidden it. Though Peter claimed it was for a practical joke on his friends, she refused to return it. He was forced to buy a Spider-Man suit from a local costume shop. The imitation was so cheap that it began to shrink and come apart during one of his many conflicts.

Spider-Man's boots and gloves consist of a thin layer of material so that they do not inhibit his ability to stick to walls. Spidey can [also] see out through his white eyepieces, but no one can see in. Running from his elbows to his waist, Spidey's underarm webbing is made of a flexible nylon netting. Beneath his costume's shirt, Spider-Man wears a belt that contains his spider-signal, a miniature camera, and spare web artridges. He keeps meaning to add a change purse, but has never gotten around to it. The major disadvantage of a skintight costume is that there's no room for Peter's street clothes. He either webs them into a ball attached to his back or he leaves them behind.