By January 1984, Spider-Man had already faced every threat imaginable. Dr. Octopus, Lizard, Sandman, Green Goblin, Vulture and an extensive gallery of villains had passed through the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel Team-Up y The Spectacular Spider-ManThe wall-crawler knew everything and nothing could surprise him.
Having to stop Shocker once again? He can do it over breakfast. Getting into a fistfight with Scorpion? Another day at the office. Still, the arrival of the black suit from the Secret Wars was about to arrive, but before such a macro-event, Peter Parker had to face one of the most difficult situations of his life.
It all happened during the events of The Amazing Spider-Man #248an issue that tells the end of the fight between the web-head and Thunderball. A fight that came from the previous issue and that had been started by both Roger Stern with the script and John Romita with his spectacular illustrations. In reality, the comic has no major significance, since it becomes a classic battle of the hero that ends with his victory and a return home without any kind of gratitude from the authorities.
The bread and butter, except for the second part of the comic, which gives meaning to Romita’s cover. In it we can see a boy watching an image of the fight between Thunderball and Spider-Man, along with the announcement that we will meet “The boy who collected Spider-Man“, and from this point we are told who he is. Through various clippings from the Daily Bugle newspaper, journalist Jacob Conover recounts his encounter with Tim Harrison, the young man whom the web-slinger visits in his room.
Tim is only nine years old and in that time he has shown an enormous passion for his favorite superhero, so his unexpected encounter catches him off guard. Peter does not hesitate to demonstrate his superpowers by lifting the bed with him on top with just one hand, so the boy, once convinced, proceeds to show him all the newspaper clippings and memories he has accumulated about Spider-Man. In fact, He even has the first article dedicated to the masked manthanks to a lady his father knew who accumulated Daily Bugle publications for years.
Photos, reports and even videos of his television appearances; Tim shows that he is a die-hard fan with many questions, so he starts to ask how the wall-crawler got his powers. Peter, without any qualms, tells of the bite of the radioactive spideras well as how his web shooters work. He creates a swing for Tim as he continues to detail his abilities, but the kid wants to know why he has dedicated himself to fighting crime, instead of using his powers to amass a fortune.
Spider-Man continues his sincerity and tells him about the sad incident that ended Uncle Ben’s life, without mentioning him, and how that event changed his perspective on the sense of responsibility. After the emotional pause, the conversation returns to how the superhero is able to dodge bullet shots, since Tim pulled them out of a wall after Spider-Man managed to stop some robbers in a bank. JJ Jameson is also part of the conversationas they both laugh as they remember when the editor of the Daily Bugle believed that Electro was the head of the network.
Tim, in one of Conover’s clippings, admits that he would like to read more favorable headlines about Spider-Man, but at the same time he is glad that the paper covers so much information about him; this way, he gets all the material he wants. A lot of laughter and fun is what both characters experience, although Spider-Man decides to leave, but not before covering Tim up and leaving through the window he came in through. However, the young man has one last question to ask him.
“Spider-Man, will you tell me who you really are?” asks Tim, to which Spider-Man replies that he can’t tell him the truth, as he would know his biggest secret and would be taking too many risks with that knowledge in his possession. Nevertheless, at the last moment, he removes his mask and reveals that he is actually Peter Parker, the photographer in charge of selling countless images of Spider-Man to Jameson for years. Tim freaks out and He promises that he will never reveal his secret identity to anyone.so the two embrace each other as a tear runs down Peter’s cheek.
“Take care, Tim,” Spider-Man says as he launches himself back into the night, but stops at the outer wall of the house Tim is in and brings his hand to his face in sorrow. A sign on it reveals that In reality the hero is in Slocum-Brewer, a cancer clinicand Conover’s latest clipping reveals the key detail that Stern had not revealed until then.
“When I asked him what he wanted above all else, he looked me in the eye and said, ‘Mr. Conover, I’d like to meet Spider-Man and talk to him… even if it was just for a few minutes. ‘ Well, I hope Tim’s wish comes true. I hope that somewhere out there, Spider-Man is reading these words. I hope my editor is wrong about him, and that he takes the time to visit a very brave young man named Tim Harrison. And I hope he does soon. Tim Harrison has leukemia, and the doctors only give him a few weeks to live.”
“The boy who collected Spider-Man“It’s one of the most moving and applauded stories the Marvel superhero has ever had. The wall-crawler has been around for over 60 years and Roger Stern set the bar very high for a scene in which there is no villain, Peter never fights and simply has a warm chat with his biggest fan. And it is by these details that the value of a true hero is measured.
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