A Definition Of Selfish I've Never Heard Of

Chad Nevett started up his Random Thoughts column again on Comics Should Be Good this week, and one of his random thoughts was that it's perfectly in character for Spider-Man to bail on his fellow heroes because Spidey's character is that he's 'a selfish child'. This point was echoed by one of the commenters, who argued for its accuracy on the grounds Spider-Man believes the world revolves around him. Everything that goes wrong is Spider-Man's fault, he has to stop every super-villain that goes on a rampage, even though there are 1,000 other heroes in New York, so and so forth.

As you may imagine, I generally disagree with these statements (as did others who commented on the post). We'll get to Carl in a minute, let's start with Nevett. I'd like it if there were some greater explanation for his assertion, since it'd provide some idea of what angle he's coming from, but we'll work with what we have. OK, the bailing out, near as I can tell, is in Fear Itself, and based on what little I've heard online, Spider-Man begged out of the big fight because he feels out of his depth. I assume this means he's portrayed as afraid he'll get hurt, and so he took off. Which, yes, I would agree that's a pretty selfish response. I wouldn't agree that it's in-character for Spider-Man.

Yes, he's bailed on other heroes at times before. He left a team-up with the Torch against the Green Goblin once. Of course, he did that because he was supposed to be looking atfer his Aunt May, and that was back in the Lee/Ditko era, so I'd think we could chalk that up to youth. There was the John Byrne "Everyone against Galactus" fight, where Spidey and Daredevil sat on the sidelines, though Spidey wanted to jump in and was advised against it (this could be what Fraction was going for, that Spider-Man knows he'll just be in the way. I can't say). Still, he didn't try to duck out during Secret Wars, or Civil War (even though getting the hell out of the country would have been a much smarter option, there had to be some country that wouldn't follow the SHRA), or Infinity Gauntlet. However outclassed he might be against these gods, they can't be on the level Thanos was when he controlled all aspects of the universe. So no, I don't think Spider-Man pulling a cut n' run is in character. As noted in the comments of Nevett's post, Spider-Man tends to fight even harder when he's out of his league (Juggernaut, Firelord, Hulk, etc.) It's also worth considering that even on occasions where he's lost his powers, Peter will still throw on the costume and try to help those in need (see Amazing Spider-Man #341-343 for one example, though it's worth mentioning those villains were trying to draw him out because they knew he didn't have any powers at the moment). How that jibes with the act of a 'selfish child', I don't know. Maybe Fraction's setting it up for Spider-Man to make some surprise cavalry moment, where he swings in with some gizmo he and Reed cooked up to turn the tide.

{Edit, 11:30. I remembered some other things I thought might be worth bringing up. They're mostly in this paragraph, though I added a few others thoughts where they seemed to fit better.} There are all the times Peter gives up being Spider-Man. "Spider-Man No More!" and all that. Typically it's out of frustration with how being Spider-Man is wrecking his relationships, his jobs, his education, or he gets it in his head he's not making a difference as Spider-Man. That could certainly be considered selfish, as he's decided to put his personal life ahead of the people who he could be protecting. One's feeling on how selfish that is may vary depending on how much of a responsible you feel he has to use his powers to help others. If you feel it's wrong for him not to use his powers that way, then yes, it's selfish. If you figure he's only doing it out of the goodness of his heart (or from a guilt complex), then you might feel it's perfectly reasonable for him to step away. Considering how big a bunch of jerks most civilians in the Marvel Universe are, I can completely understand why he might get fed up, but that's me.

You could make the argument Spider-Man is childish because he thinks wearing a gaudy costume to punch out criminals is a childish response to the way of the world, but that's hardly exclusive to Spider-Man, you could argue (as Carl did) that it's selfish of Peter to put his guilt complex (or over-developed sense of responsiblity if you prefer) ahead of his friends and loved ones. I suppose it is, in a sense. He knows how bad he'll feel if he ignores the Scorpion's latest rampage, and ends up missing dinner with Aunt May as a result.

I tend to see it as an inevitable consequence of doing the right thing. It isn't always convenient with one's schedule. There are times I had a choice between helping someone or doing my own thing, and I didn't particularly want to give up on doing what I wanted, but I did. Mostly because I knew if I didn't help that person, I'd feel lousy about it later. That's how I know it was the right thing to do. If I'd ignored that in favor of my own desires, that'd be the act of a selfish child.

As to Carl's point that it's selfish for Spider-Man to think every villain is his problem because there are so many other heroes around. Yes, we and Spider-Man know that. What we know he doesn't is he's in a story. If a writer sends Electro on a robbery, but doesn't trot Spider-Man out to stop him, we as readers know some other hero will show up. Daredevil, Ben Grimm, the New Warriors, Gravity. Spider-Man doesn't know that*. All he knows is Electro is causing trouble, right now, and he, Peter Parker, could go do something to stop him. If he doesn't, because he figures the Heroes for Hire will take care of it, and he's wrong, then people were hurt, possibly killed because he did nothing. We know how Spider-Man feels about people dying because he did nothing.

Carl's point could be that because Parker feels so guilty about things he has no control over, he fights crime to assuage it, and in so doing, hurts the other people in his life. He puts his need to not feel guilty ahead of their desire to spend time with him. I guess you could call it selfish, but it's a strange kind of selfish that saves a lot of people's lives at the cost of his own personal life.

* His past history suggests other heroes won't be available. The FF, Avengers, X-Men, and even Dr. Strange were all M.I.A. when he first fought the Juggernaut. The Fantastic Four weren't around when he tangled with the Firelord, and the Avengers were in the Savage Land until the fight was almost over. Again, we know that's the writer at work, but all Parker knows is when he's really up against it, he frequently is on his own.