A shy, unassuming high-school student, Peter Parker prefers the company of his teachers to that of his classmates, who call him "Midtown High's only professional wallflower." His only living relatives, Uncle Ben and Aunt May, think the world of him.

One evening, while attending a demonstration of radioactivity at General Techtronics Laboratories East, Parker fails to notice a spider drop through a "radioactive ray" and receives a massive dose of radiation. It bites him and dies. Light-headed, Parker leaves the demonstration, only to be nearly run over by a car. He leaps to safety, but is surprised to find he has jumped much further than intended—he lands on the side of a building and is clinging to the bricks by his fingertips.