If you ever want to get a tiny taste of what "With great power comes great responsibility" really means in a really wholesome way, just be Spider-Man for a day. Just be the only Spider-Man at a sci-fi convention with a bunch of kids in attendance.
This past weekend, I was two different Spider-Men. At first I was my spidersona, Spider-Man Timepeace from Earth-109965, the time-traveling to the '60s webslinger obsessed with the free people movement, rock and rollers and absurd TV sitcoms (The Monkees, in other words). I was this Spider-Man because I wanted to be him, I had been planning my suit, all my accessories, and my backstory for nearly a year. This was what I wanted.
But around halfway through the day, I felt like I needed to change things up. Only one person really understood what I was trying to pull off, and most people didn't even realize I was Spider-Man, even with the mask. I felt this compulsion, and I went with my gut. I went back to the car and took off everything except the Spider-suit.
I went back to the event, and I was just... Spider-Man. And it felt good.
I posed with a Deadpool statue, and I came to with a witty remark about what a great photographer Peter Parker is when somebody tried to slip me up. I fanboyed over the twin Tony Starks, and apologized for being late like Peter when I was the last entry to the costume contest, which I ended up missing anyway (whoops!)
But the really cool part was giving fist bumps and high fives to so many different people, and squatted to take photos with so many kids. My left calf is still sore from doing "the pose" so much, and my feet hurt from basically wearing socks on asphalt, since my suit didn't have soles. But it was so so worth it, just to see these kids get excited to get a picture with me.
Because to those kids with Spider-Man t-shirts and hoodies or even their own costumes, I was Spider-Man. These kids weren't meeting a 20-something dude who bought a $50 bodysuit online, they were meeting their hero. And I know exactly how these kids feel, because I was that 6-year-old kid completely obsessed with the webslinger not that long ago.
I started the day doing something for myself, but when I realized the obligation I had as my universe's one and only Spider-Man, the responsibility to these kids who look up to him so much, the choice was so clear. And I got so much more out of the day, just being your friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man.
and I'm still getting something out of it, or I wouldn't be writing all of this at 1 am. I know this is probably too long for anyone to read so it probably won't get too far, but I needed to express this feeling, to share what it's like to feel like Spider-Man.
titsay
prguitarman
gracieabrams
baratheonpilled
turnnoffyourmind
theartofmadeline
