Source: Huffington Post
I'm seriously jealous of George Toman. According to the Huffington Post, Toman was cleaning out his attic on a recent weekend at his home in Willow Springs when we rediscovered a box of old comic books one of which happened to be Amazing Fantasy #15 (originally published in August of 1962), which features the very first appearance of Spider-Man.
Some of you may remember that, another copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 was discovered last year and sold for $1.2 million dollars. Toman's comic isn't worth nearly that much. It's currently priced at $12,000 as it's nowhere near mint condition as it was stored in an attic for 40 years without plastic or cardboard backing.
"It was quite a surprise," Toman said. "I was in disbelief."
So what will Toman do with his share of the money once the comic has sold?
"I don't know, I'll probably just reinvest it or something," he laughed.
And of course, let's not forget that comic also features the famous line,""With great power comes great responsibility."
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962). Lee and Ditko conceived of the character as an orphan being raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and as a teenager, having to deal with the normal struggles of adolescence in addition to those of a costumed crime fighter. Spider-Man's creators gave him super strength and agility, the ability to cling to most surfaces, shoot spider-webs using devices of his own invention which he called "web-shooters", and react to danger quickly with his "spider-sense", enabling him to combat his foes.
When Spider-Man first appeared in the early 1960s, teenagers in superhero comic books were usually relegated to the role of sidekick to the protagonist. The Spider-Man series broke ground by featuring Peter Parker, a teenage high school student and person behind Spider-Man's secret identity to whose "self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness" young readers could relate. Unlike previous teen heroes such as Bucky and Robin, Spider-Man did not benefit from being the protégé of any adult mentors like Captain America and Batman, and thus had to learn for himself that "with great power there must also come great responsibility"—a line included in a text box in the final panel of the first Spider-Man story, but later retroactively attributed to his guardian, the late Uncle Ben.
Marvel has featured Spider-Man in several comic book series, the first and longest-lasting of which is titled The Amazing Spider-Man. Over the years, the Peter Parker character has developed from shy, high school student to troubled but outgoing college student, to married high school teacher to, in the late 2000s, a single freelance photographer, his most typical adult role. As of 2011, he is additionally a member of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, Marvel's flagship superhero teams. In the comics, Spider-Man is often referred to as "Spidey", "web-slinger", "wall-crawler", or "web-head".