document_title: Sun path

question_text: where does the sun rise south of the equator

text: Sun path

text: Effect of the Earth's axial tilt[edit]

text: This section is too long. Consider splitting it into new pages, adding subheadings, or condensing it. (June 2017)

text: Sun paths at any latitude and any time of the year can be determined from basic geometry.[4] The Earth's axis of rotation tilts about 23.5 degrees, relative to the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun. As the Earth orbits the Sun, this creates the 47° declination difference between the solstice sun paths, as well as the hemisphere-specific difference between summer and winter.

text: In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter sun (December, January, February) rises in the southeast, transits the celestial meridian at a low angle in the south (more than 43° above the southern horizon in the tropics), and then sets in the southwest. It is on the south (equator) side of the house all day long. A vertical window facing south (equator side) is effective for capturing solar thermal energy. For comparison, the winter sun in the Southern Hemisphere (June, July, August) rises in the northeast, peaks out at a low angle in the north (more than halfway up from the horizon in the tropics), and then sets in the northwest. There, the north-facing window would let in plenty of solar thermal energy to the house.

text: In the Northern Hemisphere in summer (June, July, August), the Sun rises in the northeast, peaks out slightly south of overhead point (lower in the south at higher latitude), and then sets in the northwest, whereas in the Southern Hemisphere in summer (December, January, February), the Sun rises in the southeast, peaks out slightly north of overhead point (lower in the north at higher latitude), and then sets in the southwest. A simple latitude-dependent equator-side overhang can easily be designed to block 100% of the direct solar gain from entering vertical equator-facing windows on the hottest days of the year. Roll-down exterior shade screens, interior translucent-or-opaque window quilts, drapes, shutters, movable trellises, etc. can be used for hourly, daily or seasonal sun and heat transfer control (without any active electrical air conditioning).

text: Everywhere around the world during the equinoxes (March 20/21 and September 22/23) except for the poles, the sun rises due east and sets due west. In the Northern Hemisphere, the equinox sun peaks in the southern half (about halfway up from the horizon at mid latitude) of the sky, while in the Southern Hemisphere, that sun peaks in the northern half of the sky. When facing the equator, the sun appears to move from left to right in the Northern Hemisphere and from right to left in the Southern Hemisphere.

text: The latitude (and hemisphere)-specific solar path differences are critical to effective passive solar building design. They are essential data for optimal window and overhang seasonal design. Solar designers must know the precise solar path angles for each location they design for, and how they compare to place-based seasonal heating and cooling requirements.

text: In the U.S., the precise location-specific altitude-and-azimuth seasonal solar path numbers are available from NOAA – the "equator side" of a building is south in the Northern Hemisphere, and north in the Southern Hemisphere, where the peak summer solstice solar altitude occurs on December 21.

text: Shadow of Vertical Stick at Solar Noon[edit]

text: On the equator, the sun will be straight overhead and a vertical stick will cast no shadow at solar noon on the equinoxes. On the vernal equinox, north of the subsolar point (on the equator) the vertical stick's shadow will point a little westwards of true north (NNW) reading 336.5° from true north and little eastwards of true south (SSE) reading 156.5° from true north. On the autumnal equinox, north of the subsolar point (on the equator), the shadow will point a little eastwards of true north (NNE) reading 23.5° from true north (and south of the subsolar, the shadow will point a little westward of true south (SSW) reading 203.5° from true north).

text: The same stick will cast no shadow on the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere when the subsolar point is on the Tropic of Cancer 23.44° north of equator. Although north of 23.44°N the shadow will point towards true north and south of 23.44°N the shadow will point towards true south. The reverse occurs on the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere when the subsolar point will be on the Tropic of Capricorn 23.44°S and a vertical stick will cast no shadow along that point. But north of the Tropic of Capricorn solar noon shadows will point towards true north and south of the Tropic of Capricorn shadows will point towards true south.

text: The solar noon shadows of objects on points beyond and below subsolar points will point towards true north and true south respectively only when the solar declination has its maximum positive (δ☉ = +23.44°) or maximum negative (δ☉ = −23.44°) value. On the other hand, on the equinoxes when the sun is neither declined north nor south (δ☉ = 0°) and solar time noon shadows point NNW north of the equator and SSE south of the equator on the vernal equinox (and point NNE north of the equator and SSW south of the equator on the autumnal equinox).

text: Duration of Daylight[edit]

text: North of the Arctic circle and south of the Antarctic circle, there will be at least one day a year when the sun is not above the horizon for 24 hours during the winter solstice, and at least one day when the sun is above the horizon for 24 hours during the summer solstice.

text: In the moderate latitudes (between the circles and tropics, where most humans live), the length of the day, solar altitude and azimuth vary from one day to the next, and from season to season. The difference between the length of a long summer day and a short winter day increases as one moves farther away from the equator.[2]

text: Building design simulation[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Before the days of modern, inexpensive, 3D computer graphics, a heliodon (precisely-movable light source) was used to show the angle of the sun on a physical model of a proposed building. Today, mathematical computer models calculate location-specific solar gain (shading) and seasonal thermal performance, with the ability to rotate and animate a 3D color graphic model of a proposed building design.

text: Heating and cooling issues in passive solar building design can be counterintuitive. Precise performance calculations and simulations are essential to avoid reinventing the wheel and duplicating expensive experimental design errors, such as skylights that turn a building into a solar furnace in summer (see Daylighting#Sawtooth roof).

text: Visualization[edit]

text: These pictures show such a perspective as follows. They show the day arcs of the Sun, the paths the Sun tracks along the celestial dome in its diurnal movement. The pictures show this for every hour on both solstice days. The longer arc is always the summer track and the shorter one the winter track. The two tracks are at a distance of 46.88° (2 × 23.44°) away from each other.

text: In addition, some "ghost" suns are indicated below the horizon, as much as 18° down. The Sun in this area causes twilight. The pictures can be used for both the northern and southern hemispheres. The observer is supposed to sit near the tree on the island in the middle of the ocean. The green arrows give the cardinal directions.

text:
On the northern hemisphere the north is to the left, the Sun rises in the east (far arrow), culminates in the south (to the right) while moving to the right and sets in the west (near arrow). Both rise and set positions are displaced towards the north in summer, and towards the south for the winter track.
On the southern hemisphere the south is to the left, the Sun rises in the east (near arrow), culminates in the north (to the right) while moving to the left and sets in the west (far arrow). Both rise and set positions are displaced towards the south in summer, and towards the north for the winter track.

text: The following special cases are depicted.

text:
On the imaginary line of the equator the Sun maximum elevation is great during all the year but it doesn't form every day a perfect right angle with the ground at noon. In fact it happens two days of the year, during the equinoxes. The solstices are the dates that the Sun stays farthest away from the zenith but anyway also in those cases it's high in the sky, reaching an altitude of 66.56° either to the north or the south. All days of the year, solstices included, have the same length of 12 hours.
The day arcs at 20° latitude. The Sun culminates at 46.56° altitude in winter and 93.44° altitude in summer. In this case an angle larger than 90° means that the culmination takes place at an altitude of 86.56° in the opposite cardinal direction. For example, in the southern hemisphere, the Sun remains in the north during winter, but can reach over the zenith to the south in midsummer. Summer days are longer than winter days, but approximately the difference is no more than only two and a half hours. The daily path of the Sun is steep at the horizon the whole year round, resulting in a twilight of only about one hour and 20 minutes in the morning and in the evening.
The day arcs at 50° latitude. During the winter solstice Sun does not rise more than 16.56° above the horizon at midday, but 63.44° in summer solstice above the same horizon direction. The difference in the length of the day between summer and winter, from here to the north, begin to be striking – slightly more than 8 hours at winter solstice, to more than 16 hours during the summer solstice. Likewise is the difference in direction of sunrise and sunset. At this latitude at midnight (around 1 a.m. with summer legal hour) the summer sun is 16.56° below the horizon, which means that astronomical twilight continues the whole night. This phenomenon is known as the grey nights, nights when it does not get dark enough for astronomers to do their observations of the deep sky. Above 60° latitude the Sun would be even closer to the horizon, only 6.56° away from it. Then civil twilight continues almost all night, only a little bit of "nautical twilight" obviously around the local midnight. And above 66.56° latitude, there is no sunset at all, a phenomenon referred to as the midnight sun.
The day arcs at 70° latitude. At local noon the winter Sun culminates at −3.44°, and the summer Sun at 43.44°. Said another way, during the winter the Sun does not rise above the horizon, it is the polar night. There will be still a strong twilight though. At local midnight the summer Sun culminates at 3.44°, said another way, it does not set, it is the polar day.
The day arcs at the pole. At the time of the summer or winter solstices, the Sun is 23.44° degrees above or below the horizon respectively, irrespective of time of day. Whilst the Sun is up (during summer months) it will circle around the whole sky (clockwise from the North Pole and counter-clockwise from the South Pole), appearing to stay at the same angle from the horizon, therefore the concept of day or night is meaningless. The angle of elevation will gradually change on an annual cycle, with the Sun reaching its highest point at the summer solstice, and rising or setting at the equinox, with extended periods of twilight lasting several days after the autumn equinox and before the spring equinox.

text:
Day arcs at 0° latitude, equator.

Day arcs at 20° latitude.

Day arcs at 50° latitude.

Day arcs at 70° latitude.

Day arcs at 90° latitude, pole.


document_title: 8-track tape

question_text: when did the first 8 track come out

question_tokens: when did the first 8 track come out

root

text: 8-track tape

text: History[edit]

text: The original format for magnetic tape sound reproduction was the reel-to-reel tape recorder, first available in the United States in the late 1940s, but too expensive and bulky to be practical for amateur home use until well into the 1950s. Loading a reel of tape onto the machine and threading it through the various guides and rollers proved daunting to some casual users—certainly, it was more difficult than putting a vinyl record on a record player and flicking a switch. Because in early years each tape had to be dubbed from the master tape in real-time to maintain good sound quality, prerecorded tapes were more expensive to manufacture, and costlier to buy, than vinyl records which could be stamped much quicker than their own playing time.

tag: p

text: To eliminate the nuisance of tape-threading, various manufacturers introduced cartridges that held the tape inside a metal or plastic housing to eliminate handling. Most were intended only for low-fidelity voice recording in dictation machines. The first tape cartridge designed for general consumer use, including music reproduction, was the Sound Tape or Magazine Loading Cartridge (RCA tape cartridge), introduced in 1958 by RCA. Prerecorded stereophonic music cartridges were available, and blank cartridges could be used to make recordings at home, but the format failed to gain popularity.

text: Development of tape cartridges[edit]

text: The endless loop tape cartridge was first designed in 1952 by Bernard Cousino around a single reel carrying a continuous loop of standard 1/4-inch, plastic, oxide-coated recording tape running at 3.75 in (9.53 cm) per second. Program starts and stops were signaled by a one-inch-long metal foil that activates the track-change sensor. (Bill Lear had tried to create an endless-loop wire recorder in the 1940s, but gave up in 1946. He would be inspired by Earl Muntz's four-track design in the early 1960s.)

text: Inventor George Eash invented a cartridge design in 1953, called the Fidelipac cartridge.[5] The Eash cartridge was later licensed by manufacturers, notably the Collins Radio Company, which first introduced a cartridge system for broadcasting at the National Association of Broadcasters 1959 annual show. Fidelipac cartridges (nicknamed "carts" by DJs and radio engineers) were used by many radio stations for commercials, jingles, and other short items. Eash later formed Fidelipac Corporation to manufacture and market tapes and recorders, as did several others, including Audio-Pak (Audio Devices Corp.).

text: There were several attempts to sell music systems for cars, beginning with the Chrysler Highway Hi-Fi of the late 1950s (which used discs). Entrepreneur Earl "Madman" Muntz of Los Angeles, California, however, saw a potential in these "broadcast carts" for an automobile music system. In 1962 he introduced his Stereo-Pak four-track cartridge stereo system and tapes, mostly in California and Florida. The four tracks were divided into two "programs", typically corresponding to the two sides of an LP record, with each program comprising two tracks read simultaneously for stereo playback. He licensed popular music albums from the major record companies and duplicated them on these four-track cartridges, or "CARtridges", as they were first advertised.

text: Introduction of Stereo 8[edit]

text: The Lear Jet Stereo 8 track cartridge was designed by Richard Kraus while working under Bill Lear and for his Lear Jet Corporation in 1963. The major change was to incorporate a neoprene rubber and nylon pinch roller into the cartridge itself, rather than to make the pinch roller a part of the tape player, reducing mechanical complexity. Lear also eliminated some of the internal parts of the Eash cartridge, such as the tape-tensioning mechanism and an interlock that prevented tape spillage. By doubling the number of tracks from 4 to 8,[6] the recording length doubled to 80 minutes.

text: In 1964, Lear's aircraft company constructed 100 demonstration Stereo 8 players for distribution to executives at RCA and the auto companies.

text: Commercial success[edit]

text: The popularity of both four-track and eight-track cartridges grew from the booming automobile industry.[7] In September 1965, Ford Motor Company introduced factory-installed and dealer-installed eight-track tape players as an option on three of its 1966 models (Mustang, Thunderbird, and Lincoln), and RCA Victor introduced 175 Stereo-8 Cartridges from its RCA Victor and RCA Camden artist's catalogs.[8] By the 1967 model year, all of Ford's vehicles offered this tape player upgrade option. Most of the initial factory installations were separate players from the radio (such as shown in the image), but dashboard mounted 8-track units were offered in combination with an AM radio, as well as with AM/FM receivers.[9] Muntz, and a few other manufacturers, also offered 4/8 or "12-track" players that were capable of playing cartridges of either format, 4-track or 8-track. With the backing of the US automakers, the eight-track format quickly won out over the four-track format, with Muntz abandoning it completely by late 1970.

text: Despite its problems, the format gained steady popularity because of its convenience and portability. Home players were introduced in 1966 that allowed consumers to share tapes between their homes and portable systems. By the late 1960s, the 8-track segment was the largest in the consumer electronics market and the popularity of 8-track systems for cars helped generate demand for home units.[10] "Boombox" type players were also popular but eight-track player/recorders failed to gain wide popularity and few manufacturers offered them. With the availability of cartridge systems for the home, consumers started thinking of eight-tracks as a viable alternative to vinyl records, not only as a convenience for the car. Within a year, prerecorded releases on eight-track began to arrive within a month of the vinyl release. The eight-track format became by far the most popular and offered the largest music library of all the tape systems.[11]

text: Eight-track players were fitted as standard equipment in most Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars of the period for sale in UK and worldwide. Optional 8-track players were available in many cars and trucks through the early 1980s.

text: Ampex, based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, set up a European operation (Ampex Stereo Tapes) in London, England, in 1970 under general manager Gerry Hall, with manufacturing in Nivelles, Belgium, to promote 8-track product (as well as musicassettes) in Britain and in Europe, but it struggled and folded in 1974.[verification needed]

text: Quadraphonic eight-track cartridges (announced by RCA in April 1970) were also produced, Ford being particularly eager to promote in-car quadraphonic players as a pricey option. Neither Chrysler, General Motors, nor American Motors ever offered a quadraphonic tape player. The format enjoyed a moderate amount of success for a time but faded in the mid-1970s. These cartridges are sought by collectors since they provide four channels of discrete sound, unlike matrixed formats such as SQ, which Columbia/CBS Records used for their quadraphonic vinyl records.

text: Early karaoke machines[edit]

text: Daisuke Inoue invented the first karaoke machine in 1971 called the Juke-8.[12][13]

text: Other use[edit]

text: Milton Bradley's (MB) OMNI Entertainment System was an electronic quiz machine game, similar to Jeopardy! or later You Don't Know Jack video game series, using 8-track tapes for playback analog audio for questions, instructions and answers as well as digital signals in magnetic tape data storage on remaining tracks to load the right answer for counting the score. Some year[clarification needed] before the Mego Corporation launched the 2-XL toy robot.[14]

text: Decline and demise[edit]

text: Eight-track players became less common in homes and vehicles in the late 1970s. The compact cassette arrived in 1962, and by the 1970s the eight-track cartridges had greatly diminished in popularity. In some Latin American countries as well as European, the format was abandoned in the mid-1970s in favor of the cassette. The UK never had as much use as the compact cassette in cars and home players were almost unknown in the UK.

text: In the US, eight-track cartridges were phased out of retail stores by late 1982. Some titles were still available as eight-track tapes through Columbia House and RCA (BMG) Music Service Record Clubs until late 1988. Many of these late-period releases are highly collectible because of the low numbers that were produced and the few customers who ever purchased them. Among the most rare is Stevie Ray Vaughan's Texas Flood. Another is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Live/1975-85, which was one of the very few boxed sets to be released on vinyl, cassette, compact disc, and eight-track tape.

text: There is a debate among collectors about the last commercial eight-track released by a major label, but the fan website 8 Track Heaven cannot find a major label release past Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits in November 1988.[15] Radio Shack continued to sell blank eight-track cartridges under its Realistic brand until 1990. [16]

text: The professional broadcast cart format survived for more than another decade at most radio stations. It was used to play and switch jingles, advertisements, station identifications, and music content until it was replaced by various computer-based methods in the 1990s. This format survived longer because it was used for relatively short sound loops, where starting from the beginning was more important than other criteria. The endless loop tape concept continues to be used in modern movie projectors, although in that application the spool is actively rotated and not drawn by tension on the film. That too, however, is being supplanted by digital cinema technologies.

text: Some independent artists still release eight-track tapes, such as the US band RTB2, who released We Are a Strange Man in 2011.[17] Also, bands sometimes release eight-tracks as special releases; for example, The Melvins released a limited-time, live eight-track album,[18] Cheap Trick issued a limited edition version of their album The Latest on the format on June 23, 2009,[19] and power electronics solo artist Waves Crashing Piano Chords has released multiple eight-track tapes since 2012, as well as starting an eight-track tape label, H8-Track Stereo. In the book Journals, Kurt Cobain wrote about wanting to release Nirvana's album In Utero as an 8-track tape, but this never happened. Apart from a select group of highly collectible artists, the record club issues, and the quadraphonic releases, many eight-track tapes seem to have limited value to most collectors, especially if the tapes have been misused or appear to be worn.

text: Design[edit]

text: This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (February 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: In the Cousino, Eash, Muntz, and Lear cartridges, tape was pulled from the center of the reel, passed across the opening at one end of the cartridge and wound back onto the outside of the same reel. The spool itself was freewheeling and the tape was driven only by tension from the capstan and pinch roller.

text: With a reel turning at a constant rate, the tape around the hub has a lower linear velocity than the tape at the outside of the reel, so the tape layers must slip past each other as they approach the center. The tape was coated with a slippery backing material, usually graphite and patented by Bernard Cousino, to ease the continuous slip between the tape layers. While the design allowed simple, cheap, and mobile players, unlike a two-reel system, it did not permit rewinding of the tape. Some players offered fast-forward by speeding up the motor while cutting off the audio; but rewinding was never offered, because it was technically impossible.

text: Muntz's cartridge had used two pairs of stereo tracks in the same configuration as then-current "quarter track" reel-to-reel tapes. This format was intended to parallel his source material, which was usually a single LP (long playing) record with two sides. Program switching was achieved by physically moving the head up and down mechanically by a lever. The Stereo 8 version doubled the amount of programming on the tape by providing eight total tracks, usually comprising four programs of two tracks each. Lear touted this as a great improvement, because much more music could be held inside a standard cartridge housing, but in practice this resulted in a slight loss of sound quality and an increase in background noise from the narrower tape tracks. Unlike the Stereo-Pak, the Stereo 8 could switch between tracks automatically, with the use of a small length of conductive foil at the splice joint on the tape, which would cause the player to change tracks as it passed the head assembly.

text: The cartridges have an audible pause due to the presence of a length of metallic foil, which a sensor detects and signals the end of the tape and acts as a splice for the loop. The foil passes across a pair of electrical contacts which are in the tape path. Contact of the foil closes an electrical circuit that engages a solenoid which mechanically shifts the tape head to the level of the next track.

text: Most players produced a mechanical click when switching programs, although early Lear players switched silently. Because of the expense of producing tape heads capable of reading eight tracks, most eight-track players have heads that read just two tracks. Switching from program to program is accomplished by moving the head itself. Since the alignment of the head to the tape is crucial to any tape system, and because eight-track systems were generally designed to be cheap, this configuration further degraded the sound of the eight-track tape.

text: The Stereo 8 system was fairly simple, mechanically, but presented difficulties in various primary areas:

text:
Capstan wear and buildup. As tape residue, dirt and lubricant built up on the capstan, the tape speed would increase and, since the buildup was uneven, the tape speed would become correspondingly uneven. Similarly, some units were subject to the capstan wear, causing a decrease in tape speed. Technicians routinely kept a supply of new capstans on hand ready to install into worn decks for this reason, during the heyday of the format. Once the capstan wears only .001" the tape speed slows. Replacing or resurfacing the capstan would restore operation. The old "matchpack" or "matchbook" under the tape fix while playing, was done primarily because the capstan was worn or polished, and would no longer grip the tape and play it at the correct speed. Replacing or resurfacing the capstan, restores proper operation without using a wedge under the tape.
Head alignment. This was an issue for two reasons: a) Azimuth misalignment results in reduced high frequencies, and b) Head height misalignment allows sounds from adjacent tracks to bleed over, an effect sometimes known as "double-tracking". This is due to the resultant time delay between the left and right channels resulting in a degradation of phase correlation. This effect is enhanced in an 8-track system, as compared to either reel-to-reel or cassette, due to the larger physical distance, on the tape, between the left and right channel tracks. Resetting head height and azimuth is a primary service procedure required, when refurbishing any vintage tape deck. Once set the player will perform accurately. This format, unlike other tape formats, features a movable head with four positions. Among audio service technicians, there used to be a joke that "the eight-track is the only audio device which knocks itself out of alignment four times during each album." When tracking/azimuth is set using a high quality (ex: Columbia) or alignment tape, correct operation will be restored. Some brands of 8-track decks had adjustable tape head thumbwheel knobs on the front panel, so the listener could adjust the tracking, much like a VHS or Beta tape was adjusted for picture quality. The listener could then adjust the tape head individually for each tape, avoiding double tracking.
The sensing foil that would allow the tape to switch programs, could dry up, fall off, and the tape would separate, and disappear inside the sealed cartridge. This was especially prevalent on bootleg tapes, that used cheaper sensing foils. Had the tape been reinforced on both sides at this point, the tapes would be much more reliable. Many modern collectors replace the old sensing foil with a more robust, properly reinforced foil. As of 2014[update], rolls of new sensing foil and new pressure pads sell at a steady pace on eBay and other specialty online sites who cater to the format.
The movement of the head at program switch point could sometimes pull the tape up or down, causing the tape to fold over and start playing the back side of the tape. The tape would continue to play, albeit muffled and barely audible. Continued playing would flip the entire tape over, so the tape would be wound on the reel inside with the backside showing. Many vintage tapes can be found with the back side of the tape, facing forward. The program switch point is often the place where the tapes would be ingested into the player i.e. "eaten", when the tape head moved from program 4, to program 1- its furthest track change movement. While moving upward the head would grab the tape, fold it over, and when this fold hit the capstan, it would wrap around the capstan and ingest the tape into the player.
The "melted" rubber pinch rollers that can be found in many early 8-Track cartridges were the result of the rubber not being fully cured. After discovering this cause, later cartridges used only fully cured (hard) rubber pinch rollers that did not deteriorate as much over time.
Tape tension was another cause of unreliability. Prerecorded eight-track tapes tended to hold only a single album, about 46 minutes of content, or 11.5 minutes per track. Consumers wanted the ability to record more music on a single cartridge, so manufacturers came out with units of greater capacity, i.e. 60 and 90 minutes tapes. A few 100 minutes tapes do exist. With the corresponding increase in tape length, there was a greater velocity differential between the tape being drawn from the center of the reel and the tape being fed back to the outer edge of the reel as it passed the capstan/pinch-roller assembly (loop length). A 90-minute tape also exerts more drag on the tape deck motor, making a large AC 120 volt motor imperative to play the longest tapes. Over time, cheaper tapes may tighten, making it more difficult to feed, and to maintain a constant playback speed. Once a tape sheds most of its graphite backing, it will bind up and the tape won't play.

tag: ul

text: When the sliding tape pack would pull itself tight, for whatever reason, a jammed 8-track cartridge was the result. A quick solution was to hold the cartridge in one hand, facing down, while pulling out a section of, about 4-6' in length from the outer winding side. A quick tug on the tape would cause it to immediately wind in and the result was a loosened up tape pack that would play correctly.

text: Failing that, another solution was to open the cartridge, cut the tape at the splice, and relieve the excess tension by manually unwinding one or two sections from the outer edge of tape (loop length) while keeping the reel stationary, then re-splicing the tape, with a fresh piece of foil. Another, simpler fix was to shake the cassette in the plane of the tape reel with a rotary motion, sometimes this would cause the windings inside to rotate and loosen. If the cartridge has shed its graphite backing, it would have to be discarded. Small businesses that specialize in transferring audio tapes to digital format can remove the tape from the cartridge and play it on a small reel-to-reel player to extract maximum fidelity.

text: A decrease in the quality of the parts used in the eight-track cartridge, that is, plastic pinch rollers, lubricant quality and quantity, etc., was another blow to the faltering format. As these problems further reduced the reliability, sound quality, and consistent tape speed, the eight-track eventually developed a reputation for being unreliable.

text: Composition[edit]

text: The Stereo 8 introduced the problem of dividing up the programming intended for a two-sided LP record into four programs. Often this resulted in songs being split into two parts (the split was often made during an instrumental break or a repeated chorus), song orders being reshuffled, shorter songs being repeated, and songs separated by long passages of silence. Some eight-tracks included extra musical content to fill in time such as a piano solo on Lou Reed's Berlin, extra verses on The Rolling Stones' Some Girls and a guitar solo in Pink Floyd's Animals.

text: In rare instances, an eight-track was able to be arranged exactly like the record album version, without any song breaks. Examples of this are Quadrophenia by The Who, and some versions of Days of Future Passed by The Moody Blues. Other examples of this rarity are Freeways by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Bursting Out Live by Jethro Tull, Live Bullet and Nine Tonight by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Caught Live + 5 by The Moody Blues, The Concert in Central Park by Simon & Garfunkel, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and The Dominoes, Octave by The Moody Blues, the US version of Three Sides Live by Genesis and Coda by Led Zeppelin (a record club only release).

text: Comparison with compact cassette[edit]

text: There are numerous reasons for the format's decline.

text: Some of the inherent deficiencies of the format were:

text:
High wow and flutter due to the constantly changing load presented by the sliding tape pack
Tendency to jam as the tape got dirty, the lubricant wore away, and the tape was exposed to heat
Flattening of the pinch roller, over time, when a cartridge was left plugged in, causing increased wow and flutter
Inability to attain and maintain head alignment due to the movable head design
Rewind is impossible
Consumer units with both play and recording function were rare and expensive
The order of the songs was often changed, and program changes sometimes occurred in the middle of songs (because the album had to be split into 4 programs, the tape length had to be that of the longest program, and any inequality in program length caused blanks that had to be fast-forwarded through)

text: As time went on, these issues were compounded as later cartridges started using cheaper, lower quality materials, such as plastic pinch rollers. Another contributing factor was an effort by record companies to reduce the number of formats offered. In the late 1970s, when sales of eight-tracks slipped, they were quick to abandon the format.[citation needed]

text: While the cassette offered features that the eight-track lacked, such as smaller size, greater reliability and both rewinding and home recording capability, it also had disadvantages:

text:
Its tape speed was half that of Stereo 8, producing theoretically lower sound quality
The tape needed turning over after one side of playing was finished (until late in the lifecycle of the compact cassette, when 'auto-reverse' mechanisms became more popular)
It required greater mechanical complexity of the player

text: However, constant development of the cassette turned it into a widespread high-fidelity medium and also lowered the cost and complexity. That, combined with the inherent deficiencies of the Stereo 8 format, contributed to its decline.


document_title: Spider-Man

question_text: when did the first spiderman comic come out

text: Spider-Man

text: Publication history

text: Creation and development

text: In 1962, with the success of the Fantastic Four, Marvel Comics editor and head writer Stan Lee was casting about for a new superhero idea. He said the idea for Spider-Man arose from a surge in teenage demand for comic books, and the desire to create a character with whom teens could identify.[16]:1 In his autobiography, Lee cites the non-superhuman pulp magazine crime fighter the Spider as a great influence,[15]:130 and in a multitude of print and video interviews, Lee stated he was further inspired by seeing a spider climb up a wall—adding in his autobiography that he has told that story so often he has become unsure of whether or not this is true.[note 1] Although at the time teenage superheroes were usually given names ending with "boy", Lee says he chose "Spider-Man" because he wanted the character to age as the series progressed, and moreover felt the name "Spider-Boy" would have made the character sound inferior to other superheroes.[17] At that time Lee had to get only the consent of Marvel publisher Martin Goodman for the character's approval. In a 1986 interview, Lee described in detail his arguments to overcome Goodman's objections.[note 2] Goodman eventually agreed to a Spider-Man tryout in what Lee in numerous interviews recalled as what would be the final issue of the science-fiction and supernatural anthology series Amazing Adult Fantasy, which was renamed Amazing Fantasy for that single issue, #15 (cover-dated August 1962, on sale June 5, 1962).[18] In particular, Lee stated that the fact that it had already been decided that Amazing Fantasy would be cancelled after issue #15 was the only reason Goodman allowed him to use Spider-Man.[17] While this was indeed the final issue, its editorial page anticipated the comic continuing and that "The Spiderman [sic] ... will appear every month in Amazing."[18][19]

text: Regardless, Lee received Goodman's approval for the name Spider-Man and the "ordinary teen" concept and approached artist Jack Kirby. As comics historian Greg Theakston recounts, Kirby told Lee about an unpublished character on which he had collaborated with Joe Simon in the 1950s, in which an orphaned boy living with an old couple finds a magic ring that granted him superhuman powers. Lee and Kirby "immediately sat down for a story conference", Theakston writes, and Lee afterward directed Kirby to flesh out the character and draw some pages.[20] Steve Ditko would be the inker.[note 3] When Kirby showed Lee the first six pages, Lee recalled, "I hated the way he was doing it! Not that he did it badly—it just wasn't the character I wanted; it was too heroic".[20]:12 Lee turned to Ditko, who developed a visual style Lee found satisfactory. Ditko recalled:

text: One of the first things I did was to work up a costume. A vital, visual part of the character. I had to know how he looked ... before I did any breakdowns. For example: A clinging power so he wouldn't have hard shoes or boots, a hidden wrist-shooter versus a web gun and holster, etc. ... I wasn't sure Stan would like the idea of covering the character's face but I did it because it hid an obviously boyish face. It would also add mystery to the character....[21]

text: Although the interior artwork was by Ditko alone, Lee rejected Ditko's cover art and commissioned Kirby to pencil a cover that Ditko inked.[18] As Lee explained in 2010, "I think I had Jack sketch out a cover for it because I always had a lot of confidence in Jack's covers."[22]

text: In an early recollection of the character's creation, Ditko described his and Lee's contributions in a mail interview with Gary Martin published in Comic Fan #2 (Summer 1965): "Stan Lee thought the name up. I did costume, web gimmick on wrist & spider signal."[23] At the time, Ditko shared a Manhattan studio with noted fetish artist Eric Stanton, an art-school classmate who, in a 1988 interview with Theakston, recalled that although his contribution to Spider-Man was "almost nil", he and Ditko had "worked on storyboards together and I added a few ideas. But the whole thing was created by Steve on his own... I think I added the business about the webs coming out of his hands."[20]:14

text: Kirby disputed Lee's version of the story and claimed Lee had minimal involvement in the character's creation. According to Kirby, the idea for Spider-Man had originated with Kirby and Joe Simon, who in the 1950s had developed a character called the Silver Spider for the Crestwood Publications comic Black Magic, who was subsequently not used.[note 4] Simon, in his 1990 autobiography, disputed Kirby's account, asserting that Black Magic was not a factor, and that he (Simon) devised the name "Spider-Man" (later changed to "The Silver Spider"), while Kirby outlined the character's story and powers. Simon later elaborated that his and Kirby's character conception became the basis for Simon's Archie Comics superhero the Fly.[24] Artist Steve Ditko stated that Lee liked the name Hawkman from DC Comics, and that "Spider-Man" was an outgrowth of that interest.[21]

text: 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".[note 5] 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".[25]:127 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.[25]:127

text: 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".[26] 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".[27] 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]".[28] 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.[17]

text: Commercial success

text: 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.[29]:97 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[9]:211 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."[9]:223 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.[30]

text: 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.[9]:239 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.[9]:239

text: In 1972, a second monthly ongoing series starring Spider-Man began: Marvel Team-Up, in which Spider-Man was paired with other superheroes and villains.[31] From that point on there have generally been at least two ongoing Spider-Man series at any time. In 1976, his second solo series, Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man began running parallel to the main series.[32] A third series featuring Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man, launched in 1985 to replace Marvel Team-Up.[33] The launch of a fourth monthly title in 1990, the "adjectiveless" Spider-Man (with the storyline "Torment"), written and drawn by popular artist Todd McFarlane, debuted with several different covers, all with the same interior content. The various versions combined sold over 3 million copies, an industry record at the time. Several limited series, one-shots, and loosely related comics have also been published, and Spider-Man makes frequent cameos and guest appearances in other comic series.[32][34] In 1996 The Sensational Spider-Man was created to replace Web of Spider-Man.[35]

text: In 1998 writer-artist John Byrne revamped the origin of Spider-Man in the 13-issue limited series Spider-Man: Chapter One (December 1998 – October 1999), similar to Byrne's adding details and some revisions to Superman's origin in DC Comics' The Man of Steel.[36] At the same time the original The Amazing Spider-Man was ended with issue #441 (November 1998), and The Amazing Spider-Man was restarted with vol. 2, #1 (January 1999).[37] In 2003 Marvel reintroduced the original numbering for The Amazing Spider-Man and what would have been vol. 2, #59 became issue #500 (December 2003).[37]

text: When primary series The Amazing Spider-Man reached issue #545 (December 2007), Marvel dropped its spin-off ongoing series and instead began publishing The Amazing Spider-Man three times monthly, beginning with #546–548 (all January 2008).[38] The three times monthly scheduling of The Amazing Spider-Man lasted until November 2010 when the comic book was increased from 22 pages to 30 pages each issue and published only twice a month, beginning with #648–649 (both November 2010).[39][40] The following year, Marvel launched Avenging Spider-Man as the first spinoff ongoing series in addition to the still twice monthly The Amazing Spider-Man since the previous ones were cancelled at the end of 2007.[38] The Amazing series temporarily ended with issue #700 in December 2012, and was replaced by The Superior Spider-Man, which had Doctor Octopus serve as the new Spider-Man, having taken over Peter Parker's body. Superior was an enormous commercial success for Marvel,[41] and ran for 31-issue before the real Peter Parker returned in a newly relaunched The Amazing Spider-Man #1 in April 2014.[42]

text: Character synopsis

text: Fictional character biography

text: In Forest Hills, Queens, New York,[43] Midtown High School student Peter Benjamin Parker is a science-whiz orphan living with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. As depicted in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), he is bitten by a radioactive spider (erroneously classified as an insect in the panel) at a science exhibit and "acquires the agility and proportionate strength of an arachnid".[44] Along with super strength, Parker gains the ability to adhere to walls and ceilings. Through his native knack for science, he develops a gadget that lets him fire adhesive webbing of his own design through small, wrist-mounted barrels. Initially seeking to capitalize on his new abilities, Parker dons a costume and, as "Spider-Man", becomes a novelty television star. However, "He blithely ignores the chance to stop a fleeing thief, [and] his indifference ironically catches up with him when the same criminal later robs and kills his Uncle Ben." Spider-Man tracks and subdues the killer and learns, in the story's next-to-last caption, "With great power there must also come—great responsibility!"[45]

text: Despite his superpowers, Parker struggles to help his widowed aunt pay rent, is taunted by his peers—particularly football star Flash Thompson—and, as Spider-Man, engenders the editorial wrath of newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson.[46][47] As he battles his enemies for the first time,[48] Parker finds juggling his personal life and costumed adventures difficult. In time, Peter graduates from high school,[49] and enrolls at Empire State University (a fictional institution evoking the real-life Columbia University and New York University),[50] where he meets roommate and best friend Harry Osborn, and girlfriend Gwen Stacy,[51] and Aunt May introduces him to Mary Jane Watson.[48][52][53] As Peter deals with Harry's drug problems, and Harry's father is revealed to be Spider-Man's nemesis the Green Goblin, Peter even attempts to give up his costumed identity for a while.[54][55] Gwen Stacy's father, New York City Police detective captain George Stacy is accidentally killed during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus (#90, November 1970).[56]

text: In issue #121 (June 1973),[48] the Green Goblin throws Gwen Stacy from a tower of either the Brooklyn Bridge (as depicted in the art) or the George Washington Bridge (as given in the text).[57][58] She dies during Spider-Man's rescue attempt; a note on the letters page of issue #125 states: "It saddens us to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her."[59] The following issue, the Goblin appears to kill himself accidentally in the ensuing battle with Spider-Man.[60]

text: Working through his grief, Parker eventually develops tentative feelings toward Watson, and the two "become confidants rather than lovers".[61] A romantic relationship eventually develops, with Parker proposing to her in issue #182 (July 1978), and being turned down an issue later.[62] Parker went on to graduate from college in issue #185,[48] and becomes involved with the shy Debra Whitman and the extroverted, flirtatious costumed thief Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat,[63] whom he meets in issue #194 (July 1979).[48]

text: From 1984 to 1988, Spider-Man wore a black costume with a white spider design on his chest. The new costume originated in the Secret Wars limited series, on an alien planet where Spider-Man participates in a battle between Earth's major superheroes and villains.[64] He continues wearing the costume when he returns, starting in The Amazing Spider-Man #252. The change to a longstanding character's design met with controversy, "with many hardcore comics fans decrying it as tantamount to sacrilege. Spider-Man's traditional red and blue costume was iconic, they argued, on par with those of his D.C. rivals Superman and Batman."[65] The creators then revealed the costume was an alien symbiote which Spider-Man is able to reject after a difficult struggle,[66] though the symbiote returns several times as Venom for revenge.[48]

text: Parker proposes to Watson a second time in The Amazing Spider-Man #290 (July 1987), and she accepts two issues later, with the wedding taking place in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (1987). It was promoted with a real-life mock wedding using models, including Tara Shannon as Watson,[67] with Stan Lee officiating at the June 5, 1987, event at Shea Stadium.[68][69] However, David Michelinie, who scripted based on a plot by editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, said in 2007, "I didn't think they actually should [have gotten] married. ... I had actually planned another version, one that wasn't used."[68]

text: In a controversial storyline, Peter becomes convinced that Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider (a clone of Peter created by his college professor Miles Warren) is the real Peter Parker, and that he, Peter, is the clone. Peter gives up the Spider-Man identity to Reilly for a time, until Reilly is killed by the returning Green Goblin and revealed to be the clone after all.[70] In stories published in 2005 and 2006 (such as "The Other"), he develops additional spider-like abilities including biological web-shooters, toxic stingers that extend from his forearms, the ability to stick individuals to his back, enhanced Spider-sense and night vision, and increased strength and speed. Peter later becomes a member of the New Avengers, and reveals his civilian identity to the world,[71] increasing his already numerous problems. His marriage to Mary Jane and public unmasking are later erased in another controversial[72] storyline "One More Day", in a Faustian bargain with the demon Mephisto that results in several other adjustments to the timeline, including the resurrection of Harry Osborn and the return of Spider-Man's traditional tools and powers.[73]

text: That storyline came at the behest of editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, who said, "Peter being single is an intrinsic part of the very foundation of the world of Spider-Man".[72] It caused unusual public friction between Quesada and writer J. Michael Straczynski, who "told Joe that I was going to take my name off the last two issues of the [story] arc" but was talked out of doing so.[74] At issue with Straczynski's climax to the arc, Quesada said, was

text: ...that we didn't receive the story and methodology to the resolution that we were all expecting. What made that very problematic is that we had four writers and artists well underway on [the sequel arc] "Brand New Day" that were expecting and needed "One More Day" to end in the way that we had all agreed it would. ... The fact that we had to ask for the story to move back to its original intent understandably made Joe upset and caused some major delays and page increases in the series. Also, the science that Joe was going to apply to the retcon of the marriage would have made over 30 years of Spider-Man books worthless, because they never would have had happened. ...[I]t would have reset way too many things outside of the Spider-Man titles. We just couldn't go there....[74]

text: Following the "reboot", Parker's identity was no longer known to the general public; however, he revealed it to other superheroes.[75] and others have deduced it. Parker's Aunt May marries J. Jonah Jameson's father, Jay Jameson.[76] Parker became an employee of the think-tank Horizon Labs.[77] In issue #700, the dying supervillain Doctor Octopus swaps bodies with Parker, who remains as a presence in Doctor Octopus's mind,[78] prompting a two-year storyline in the series The Superior Spider-Man in which Peter Parker is absent and Doctor Octopus is Spider-Man. Peter eventually regains control of his body.[79] Following Peter Parker's return, The Amazing Spider-Man was relaunched in April 2014, with Peter Parker becoming a billionaire after the formation of Parker Industries.[80][81] In December 2014, following the Death of Wolverine comic book, Spider-Man became the new headmaster of the Jean Grey School and began appearing more prominently in X-Men stories, taking Wolverine's role in the comic Wolverine and the X-Men.[82]

text: Personality and themes

text:
"People often say glibly that Marvel succeeded by blending super hero adventure stories with soap opera. What Lee and Ditko actually did in The Amazing Spider-Man was to make the series an ongoing novelistic chronicle of the lead character's life. Most super heroes had problems no more complex or relevant to their readers' lives than thwarting this month's bad guys.... Parker had far more serious concern in his life: coming to terms with the death of a loved one, falling in love for the first time, struggling to make a living, and undergoing crises of conscience."

Comics historian Peter Sanderson[83]

tag: div

text: As one contemporaneous journalist observed, "Spider-Man has a terrible identity problem, a marked inferiority complex, and a fear of women. He is anti-social,  [sic] castration-ridden, racked with Oedipal guilt, and accident-prone ... [a] functioning neurotic".[43] Agonizing over his choices, always attempting to do right, he is nonetheless viewed with suspicion by the authorities, who seem unsure as to whether he is a helpful vigilante or a clever criminal.[84]

text: Notes cultural historian Bradford W. Wright,

text: Spider-Man's plight was to be misunderstood and persecuted by the very public that he swore to protect. In the first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the Daily Bugle, launches an editorial campaign against the "Spider-Man menace." The resulting negative publicity exacerbates popular suspicions about the mysterious Spider-Man and makes it impossible for him to earn any more money by performing. Eventually, the bad press leads the authorities to brand him an outlaw. Ironically, Peter finally lands a job as a photographer for Jameson's Daily Bugle.[9]:212

text: The mid-1960s stories reflected the political tensions of the time, as early 1960s Marvel stories had often dealt with the Cold War and Communism.[9]:220–223 As Wright observes,

text: From his high-school beginnings to his entry into college life, Spider-Man remained the superhero most relevant to the world of young people. Fittingly, then, his comic book also contained some of the earliest references to the politics of young people. In 1968, in the wake of actual militant student demonstrations at Columbia University, Peter Parker finds himself in the midst of similar unrest at his Empire State University.... Peter has to reconcile his natural sympathy for the students with his assumed obligation to combat lawlessness as Spider-Man. As a law-upholding liberal, he finds himself caught between militant leftism and angry conservatives.[9]:234–235

text: Powers, skills, and equipment

text: A bite from a radioactive spider triggers mutations in Peter Parker's body, granting him superpowers.[85] In the original Lee-Ditko stories, Spider-Man has the ability to cling to walls, superhuman strength, a sixth sense ("spider-sense") that alerts him to danger, perfect balance and equilibrium, as well as superhuman speed and agility.[85] The character was originally conceived by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko as intellectually gifted, but later writers have depicted his intellect at genius level.[86] Academically brilliant, Parker has expertise in the fields of applied science, chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, mathematics, and mechanics. With his talents, he sews his own costume to conceal his identity, and he constructs many devices that complement his powers, most notably mechanical web-shooters to help navigate and trap his enemies along with a spider-signal as an flashlight and a warning beacon to criminals.[85]

text: Supporting characters

text: Spider-Man has had a large range of supporting characters introduced in the comics that are essential in the issues and storylines that star him. After his parents died, Peter Parker was raised by his loving aunt, May Parker, and his uncle and father figure, Ben Parker. After Uncle Ben is murdered by a burglar, Aunt May is virtually Peter's only family, and she and Peter are very close.[44]

text: J. Jonah Jameson is depicted as the publisher of the Daily Bugle and is Peter Parker's boss and as a harsh critic of Spider-Man, always saying negative things about the superhero in the newspaper. Despite his role as Jameson's publishing editor and confidant Robbie Robertson is always depicted as a supporter of both Peter Parker and Spider-Man.[46]

text: Eugene "Flash" Thompson is commonly depicted as Parker's high school tormentor and bully, but in later comic issues he becomes a friend to Peter.[46] Meanwhile, Harry Osborn, son of Norman Osborn, is most commonly recognized as Peter's best friend but has also been depicted sometimes as his rival in the comics.[48]

text: Peter Parker's romantic interests range between his first crush, the fellow high-school student Liz Allan,[46] to having his first date with Betty Brant,[87] the secretary to the Daily Bugle newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson. After his breakup with Betty Brant, Parker eventually falls in love with his college girlfriend Gwen Stacy,[48][51] daughter of New York City Police Department detective captain George Stacy, both of whom are later killed by supervillain enemies of Spider-Man.[56] Mary Jane Watson eventually became Peter's best friend and then his wife.[68] Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, is a reformed cat burglar who had been Spider-Man's sole superhuman girlfriend and partner at one point.[63]

text: Enemies

text: Writers and artists over the years have established a rogues gallery of supervillains to face Spider-Man. In comics and in other media. As with the hero, the majority of the villains' powers originate with scientific accidents or the misuse of scientific technology, and many have animal-themed costumes or powers.[note 6] Examples are listed down below in the ordering of their original chronological appearance:      Indicates a group team.

text:
Supervillain name / Supervillain team name
Notable alter ego / group member
First appearance
Creator

Chameleon
Dmitri Anatoly Nikolayevich
The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963)[88][89]
Stan Lee[88][89]
Steve Ditko[88][89]

Vulture
Adrian Toomes
The Amazing Spider-Man #2 (May 1963)[90][91]
Stan Lee[90][92]
Steve Ditko[90]

Doctor Octopus1
Doctor Otto Gunther Octavius
The Amazing Spider-Man #3 (July 1963)[89]
Stan Lee[93][94]
Steve Ditko[16][94]

Sandman
William Baker / Flint Marko
The Amazing Spider-Man #4 (September 1963)[95][96]
Stan Lee[95][96]
Steve Ditko[95][96]

Lizard
Dr. Curt Connors
The Amazing Spider-Man #6 (November 1963)[97][98][99]
Stan Lee[97][98][99]
Steve Ditko[97][98][99]

Electro
Maxwell Dillon
The Amazing Spider-Man #9 (February 1964)[100][101]
Stan Lee[102]
Steve Ditko[102]

Mysterio
Quentin Beck
The Amazing Spider-Man #13 (June 1964)[103]
Stan Lee[103][104]
Steve Ditko[103][104]

Green Goblin[105]2
Norman Osborn2
Harry Osborn[106]
The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964)[105]
Stan Lee[105][107]
Steve Ditko[105][107]

Kraven the Hunter
Sergei Kravinoff
The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (August 1964)[108][109]
Stan Lee[108]
Steve Ditko[108]

Sinister Six[110]
List of members
The Amazing Spider-Man annual #1 (1964)
Stan Lee[111]
Steve Ditko[111]

Scorpion
Mac Gargan
The Amazing Spider-Man #20 (January 1965)
Stan Lee[112]
Steve Ditko[112]

Rhino
Aleksei Mikhailovich Sytsevich
The Amazing Spider-Man #41 (October 1966)[113]
Stan Lee[114]
John Romita, Sr.[114]

Shocker
Herman Schultz
The Amazing Spider-Man #46 (March 1967)[115]
Stan Lee[116]
John Romita, Sr.[116]

Kingpin
Wilson Fisk
The Amazing Spider-Man #50 (July 1967)[117]
[118]
Stan Lee[119]
John Romita, Sr.[119]

Morbius[120]
Michael Morbius
The Amazing Spider-Man #101 (January 1971)[121]
Roy Thomas[121]
Gil Kane[122]

Jackal[123]
Miles Warren
The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (February 1974)[123]
Gerry Conway[123]10
Ross Andru[123]

Black Cat
Felicia Hardy
The Amazing Spider-Man #194 (July 1979)[124]
Marv Wolfman
Keith Pollard[124]

Hydro-Man[125]
Morris Bench
The Amazing Spider-Man #212 (January 10, 1981)[126][127]
Denny O'Neil
John Romita, Jr.

Hobgoblin
Roderick Kingsley
The Amazing Spider-Man #238 (March 1983)
Roger Stern[128][129]
John Romita Sr.[128][130]

Venom3
Eddie Brock3
The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (May 1988)15[131][132]
David Michelinie[133]
Todd McFarlane[134]

Carnage
Cletus Kasady
The Amazing Spider-Man #361 (April 1992)[135]
David Michelinie[136][137]
Erik Larsen[138]
Mark Bagley[136]

text: Unlike a lot of well-known rivalries in comics book depictions, Spider-Man is cited to have more than one archenemy and it can be debated or disputed as to which one is worse:[139]

text:
^ Doctor Octopus is regarded as one of Spider-Man's worst enemies and archenemy. He has been cited as the man Peter might have become if he had not been raised with a sense of responsibility.[16][140] He is infamous for defeating him the first time in battle and for almost marrying Peter's Aunt May. He is the core leader of the Sinister Six and has also referred himself as the "Master Planner". ("If This Be My Destiny...!")[141] Later depictions revealed him in Peter Parker's body where he was the titular character for a while.[140]
^ Norman Osborn using the Green Goblin alias is as commonly described as Spider-Man's archenemy.[139][142][143] Mostly after he is the first villain to uncover the hero's true identity, being responsible for setting up the death of Spider-Man's girlfriend in one of the most famous Spider-Man stories of all time which helped end the Silver Age of Comic Books and begin the Bronze Age of Comic Books.[139] He was thought to be dead after that but writers help bring him back from the 1990s and he returned to plague Spider-Man once more in the comic books (such as being involved of the killing of Aunt May) and other heroes (such as the Avengers[144]). He is also an enemy of Spider-Man sometimes just as himself and not just only as his Goblin persona.[145]
^ Another character commonly described as an archenemy is Venom. Eddie Brock as Venom is commonly described as the mirror version or the evil version of Spider-Man in many ways.[89][131][139] Venom's goals is usually depicted as trying to ruin Spider-Man's life and mess with Spider-Man's head when it comes to targeting enemies.[134] Venom is cited as being one of the most popular Spider-Man villains.[146] This popularity has led him to be an established iconic character of his own with own comic book stories.[131][147]

tag: ol

text: Other versions

text: Within the Marvel Universe there exists a multiverse with many variations of Spider-Men.[148] An early character included in the 1980's is the fictional anthropomorphic funny animal parody of Spider-Man in pig form named Spider-Ham (Peter Porker).[149] Many imprints of Spider-Men were created like the futuristic version of Spider-Man in Marvel 2099 named Miguel O'Hara. In Marvel Comics 2 imprint, Peter marries Mary Jane and has a daughter named Mayday Parker who carries on Spider-Man's legacy and Marvel Noir has a 1930's version of Peter Parker.[150] [148] [151] Other themed versions exist within the early 2000's such as an Marvel Mangaverse version and an Indian version from Spider-Man: India named Pavitr Prabhakar.[152] [148]

text: Ultimate Spider-Man was a popular modern retelling of Peter Parker. The version of Parker would later be depicted as being killed off and replaced by an Afro-Latino Spider-Man named Miles Morales.[153]

text: The storyline "Spider-Verse" brought back many alternate takes on Spider-Man and introduced many new inspired ones such as an alternate world where Gwen Stacy gets bitten by a radioactive spider instead along with a British themed version named Spider-UK called Brian Braddock from Captain Britain Corps.[154] [150]

text: Cultural influence

text: In The Creation of Spider-Man, comic book writer-editor and historian Paul Kupperberg calls the character's superpowers "nothing too original"; what was original was that outside his secret identity, he was a "nerdy high school student".[156]:5 Going against typical superhero fare, Spider-Man included "heavy doses of soap-opera and elements of melodrama". Kupperberg feels that Lee and Ditko had created something new in the world of comics: "the flawed superhero with everyday problems". This idea spawned a "comics revolution".[156]:6 The insecurity and anxieties in Marvel's early 1960s comic books such as The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, and X-Men ushered in a new type of superhero, very different from the certain and all-powerful superheroes before them, and changed the public's perception of them.[157] Spider-Man has become one of the most recognizable fictional characters in the world, and has been used to sell toys, games, cereal, candy, soap, and many other products.[158]

text: Spider-Man has become Marvel's flagship character and has often been used as the company mascot. When Marvel became the first comic book company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1991, the Wall Street Journal announced "Spider-Man is coming to Wall Street"; the event was in turn promoted with an actor in a Spider-Man costume accompanying Stan Lee to the Stock Exchange.[9]:254 Since 1962, hundreds of millions of comics featuring the character have been sold around the world.[159] Spider-Man is the world's most profitable superhero.[160] In 2014, global retail sales of licensed products related to Spider-Man reached approximately $1.3 billion.[161] Comparatively, this amount exceeds the global licensing revenue of Batman, Superman, and the Avengers combined.[160]

text: Spider-Man joined the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1987 to 1998 as one of the balloon floats,[162] designed by John Romita Sr.,[163] one of the character's signature artists. A new, different Spider-Man balloon float is scheduled to appear from at least 2009 to 2011.[162]

text: When Marvel wanted to issue a story dealing with the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the company chose the December 2001 issue of The Amazing Spider-Man.[164] In 2006, Spider-Man garnered major media coverage with the revelation of the character's secret identity,[165] an event detailed in a full page story in the New York Post before the issue containing the story was even released.[166]

text: In 2008, Marvel announced plans to release a series of educational comics the following year in partnership with the United Nations, depicting Spider-Man alongside UN Peacekeeping Forces to highlight UN peacekeeping missions.[167] A BusinessWeek article listed Spider-Man as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in American comics.[168]

text: Rapper Eminem has cited Spider-Man as one of his favorite comic book superheroes.[169][170]

text: In 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a case concerning royalties on a patent for an imitation web-shooter. The opinion for the Court, by Justice Elena Kagan, included several Spider-Man references, concluding with the statement that "with great power there must also come—great responsibility".[171]

text: Reception

text:
The culmination of nearly every superhero that came before him, Spider-Man is the hero of heroes. He's got fun and cool powers, but not on the god-like level of Thor. He's just a normal guy with girlfriend problems and money issues, so he’s more relatable than playboy billionaire Iron Man. And he's an awkward teenager, not a wizened adult like Captain America. Not too hot and not too cold, Spider-Man is just right.

IGN staff on placing Spider-Man as the number one hero of Marvel.[172]

text: Spider-Man was declared the number one superhero on Bravo's Ultimate Super Heroes, Vixens, and Villains TV series in 2005.[173] Empire magazine placed him as the fifth-greatest comic book character of all time.[174] Wizard magazine placed Spider-Man as the third greatest comic book character on their website.[175] In 2011, Spider-Man placed third on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time, behind DC Comics characters Superman and Batman.[172] and sixth in their 2012 list of "The Top 50 Avengers".[176] In 2014, IGN identified Spider-Man the greatest Marvel Comics character of all time.[177] A 2015 poll at Comic Book Resources named Spider-Man the greatest Marvel character of all time.[178] IGN described him as the common everyman that represents many normal people but also noting his uniqueness compared to many top-tiered superheroes with his many depicted flaws as a superhero. IGN noted that despite being one of the most tragic superheroes of all time that he is "one of the most fun and snarky superheroes in existence."[172] Empire noted and praised that despite the many tragedies that Spider-Man faces that he retains his sense of humour at all times with his witty wisecracks. The magazine website appraised the depiction of his "iconic" superhero poses describing it as "a top artist's dream".[175]

text: George Marston of Newsarama placed Spider-Man's origin story as the greatest origin story of all time opining that "Spider-Man's origin combines all of the most classic aspects of pathos, tragedy and scientific wonder into the perfect blend for a superhero origin."[179]

text: Real-life comparisons

text: Real-life people who have been compared to Spider-Man for their climbing feats include:

text:
In 1981, skyscraper-safety activist Dan Goodwin, wearing a Spider-Man suit, scaled the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois, the Renaissance Tower in Dallas, Texas, and the John Hancock Center in Chicago, Illinois.[180]
Alain Robert, nicknamed "Spider-Man", is a rock and urban climber who has scaled more than 70 tall buildings using his hands and feet, without using additional devices. He sometimes wears a Spider-Man suit during his climbs. In May 2003, he was paid approximately $18,000 to climb the 312-foot (95 m) Lloyd's building to promote the premiere of the movie Spider-Man on the British television channel Sky Movies.
"The Human Spider", alias Bill Strother, scaled the Lamar Building in Augusta, Georgia in 1921.[181]
In Argentina, criminals that climb buildings and trespass into private property through the open balconies are said to use the "Spider-Man method" (in Spanish, "Hombre Araña").[182][183]

text: Awards

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text: From the character's inception, Spider-Man stories have won numerous awards, including:

text:
1962 Alley Award: Best Short Story—"Origin of Spider-Man" by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Amazing Fantasy #15
1963 Alley Award: Best Comic: Adventure Hero title—The Amazing Spider-Man
1963 Alley Award: Top Hero—Spider-Man
1964 Alley Award: Best Adventure Hero Comic Book—The Amazing Spider-Man
1964 Alley Award: Best Giant Comic—The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
1964 Alley Award: Best Hero—Spider-Man
1965 Alley Award: Best Adventure Hero Comic Book—The Amazing Spider-Man
1965 Alley Award: Best Hero—Spider-Man
1966 Alley Award: Best Comic Magazine: Adventure Book with the Main Character in the Title—The Amazing Spider-Man
1966 Alley Award: Best Full-Length Story—"How Green was My Goblin", by Stan Lee & John Romita, Sr., The Amazing Spider-Man #39
1967 Alley Award: Best Comic Magazine: Adventure Book with the Main Character in the Title—The Amazing Spider-Man
1967 Alley Award Popularity Poll: Best Costumed or Powered Hero—Spider-Man
1967 Alley Award Popularity Poll: Best Male Normal Supporting Character—J. Jonah Jameson, The Amazing Spider-Man
1967 Alley Award Popularity Poll: Best Female Normal Supporting Character—Mary Jane Watson, The Amazing Spider-Man
1968 Alley Award Popularity Poll: Best Adventure Hero Strip—The Amazing Spider-Man
1968 Alley Award Popularity Poll: Best Supporting Character—J. Jonah Jameson, The Amazing Spider-Man
1969 Alley Award Popularity Poll: Best Adventure Hero Strip—The Amazing Spider-Man
1997 Eisner Award: Best Artist/Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team—1997 Al Williamson, Best Inker: Untold Tales of Spider-Man #17-18
2002 Eisner Award: Best Serialized Story—The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2, #30–35: "Coming Home", by J. Michael Straczynski, John Romita, Jr., and Scott Hanna

text: In other media

text: Spider-Man has appeared in comics, cartoons, films, video games, coloring books, novels, records, and children's books.[158] On television, he first starred in the ABC animated series Spider-Man (1967–1970);[184] Spidey Super Stories (1974-1977) on PBS; and the CBS live action series The Amazing Spider-Man (1978–1979), starring Nicholas Hammond. Other animated series featuring the superhero include the syndicated Spider-Man (1981–1982), Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981–1983), Fox Kids' Spider-Man (1994–1998), Spider-Man Unlimited (1999–2000), Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003), The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–2009), and Ultimate Spider-Man (2012-2017).[185]

text: A tokusatsu series featuring Spider-Man was produced by Toei and aired in Japan. It is commonly referred to by its Japanese pronunciation "Supaidā-Man".[186] Spider-Man also appeared in other print forms besides the comics, including novels, children's books, and the daily newspaper comic strip The Amazing Spider-Man, which debuted in January 1977, with the earliest installments written by Stan Lee and drawn by John Romita, Sr.[187] Spider-Man has been adapted to other media including games, toys, collectibles, and miscellaneous memorabilia, and has appeared as the main character in numerous computer and video games on over 15 gaming platforms.

text: Spider-Man was featured in a trilogy of live-action films directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire as the titular superhero. The first Spider-Man film of the trilogy was released on May 3, 2002; followed by Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). A third sequel was originally scheduled to be released in 2011, however Sony later decided to reboot the franchise with a new director and cast. The reboot, titled The Amazing Spider-Man, was released on July 3, 2012; directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield as the new Spider-Man.[188][189][190] It was followed by The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).[191][192] In 2015, Sony and Disney made a deal for Spider-Man to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.[193] Tom Holland made his debut as Spider-Man in the MCU film Captain America: Civil War (2016), before later starring in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017); directed by Jon Watts.[194][195] Holland reprises his role as Spider-Man in Avengers: Infinity War (2018).[196][197]

text: A Broadway musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, began previews on November 14, 2010, at the Foxwoods Theatre on Broadway, with the official opening night on June 14, 2011.[198][199] The music and lyrics were written by Bono and The Edge of the rock group U2, with a book by Julie Taymor, Glen Berger, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.[200] Turn Off the Dark is currently the most expensive musical in Broadway history, costing an estimated $70 million.[201] In addition, the show's unusually high running costs are reported to have been about $1.2 million per week.[202]