high school?

Well, there's high school, and then there's J J Jameson, and then there's Aunt May, who he loves, but can be kind of an emotional leech. And his best friend. And his girlfriends, who are awesome, but tend to get thrown off of bridges and shit.

And symbiotes, yo. And goddamn KRAVEN.

Oy, the fucking symbiotes. Everybody wants a piece of Peter Parker. Why can't they just leave him alone?

Just once I'd like to hear a henchman (or -woman) say "You know, Spider-Man is close friends with the Fantastic Four and pals around with the Avengers and Doctor Strange. Do you really think it's a good idea to be the person who finally does him in?"

RIP Moebius: [link]

Well, there's high school, and then there's J J Jameson, and then there's Aunt May, who he loves, but can be kind of an emotional leech

But I'm talking about the article, which leans a lot on him being a teenager and that being miserable at the core of his character, as well as a fair amount of emphasis on high school outcast sucking. The thing with Uncle Ben apparently sucked harder because he was a teenager. JJ Jameson is an example of an adult that hates him just because he's a teenager. Aut May is an example of a problematic parental figure.

I had a perfectly cromulent teenagerhood. The "everything wrong" theory doesn't resonate with me.

I'm surprised you like Buffy, then, ita ! They seem very equivalent to me. I don't think liking Spidey's got anything to do with how you (generic you) liked high school, it's the fact that we can look at him and say "sure am glad that shit didn't happen to me!" or "that's my life, I love this guy!" They played to the emotions through family, through jobs, through relationships; all the same things we saw in Buffy. Just my two cents on why I like Spidey. He's the only comic I didn't give for years. Even made sure I got the "Stars and Stripes" (Armed Forces newspaper overseas) every week so I could keep up with him.

I didn't think Buffy had an actually unfair high school life, though. It was sufficiently metaphorical through the monsters that I didn't feel like I was called on to identify with (or be grateful I wasn't) a miserable outcast like that article posits.

But, I thought that being an outcast was part of the point of Buffy. That while she wanted to be normal, every time she tried she was shown quite graphically that she wasn't. Trying out for cheerleading - denied. Running for whichever queen - denied. Having a "normal" boyfriend - denied numerous times. Getting "outed" and being kicked out of the house. Not until Graduation, where the students give her the class protector award, did I ever feel like she felt she was part of the school.

But she was reasonably popular until she became a Slayer. The article's point is that high school was hell for Peter Parker, and powers were his redemption. That's not the same premise at all. Buffy couldn't balance being a normal high school girl because of her powers, and it never gave her the same sense of empowerment that I'm supposed to dig Spider-Man for.

His powers, while complicating his life, and requiring him to snap out of his childish mentality once his Uncle dies, are his vindication, the fulfillment of a teenaged need for empowerment.

That's not Buffy's story.

Note, this is not my analysis of Spider-Man. This is *entirely* based on the article. I'm just saying that if the article is right, then maybe it's no wonder I never clicked with his schtick.