Why Spider-Man Revealed His Secret Identity To Just ONE Fan
Spider-Man is Marvel’s original “mystery man.” While the general public knows the identity of heroes like the Fantastic Four or the Incredible Hulk, Peter Parker has worked hard to keep his identity a secret. This is true even in the MCU movies (at least until the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home). Unlike Tony Stark, Spidey can’t afford a state-of-the-art security system to keep his loved ones safe from his enemies, so it makes sense that he keeps his civilian identity hidden from as many people as possible.
So, it may come as a shock that Spider-Man once revealed his identity – simply because someone asked him to. Even more shocking, that someone wasn’t a mind-controlling villain or close family member, but just an ordinary boy.
But before any comic book fans call Peter reckless, the reason Spider-Man chose to take this boy into his confidence turned out to be a far sadder story than anyone would have guessed.
The story took place in a back-up story that appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #248. In the comic, Spider-Man pays a visit to Timmy Harrison, a boy who’s been collecting Spider-Man memorabilia for years. Timmy was featured in a Daily Bugle story and Peter Parker decided to meet his young admirer. Timmy certainly is a devoted fan. In addition to multiple scrapbooks filled with Spider-Man stories (many illustrated by Peter Parker’s photographs), Timmy’s collected reels of Spider-Man’s old television act back when Peter Parker thought he could use his spider-powers to make money. Moreover, Timmy even dug out some of the bullets Spidey dodged in his fight to collect as unique keepsakes.
Impressed, Spider-Man begins answering many of Timmy’s questions. Most of them are things fans would probably ask the wall crawler – How did he get his powers? How do his web shooters work? Why did he decide to become a superhero? Spidey answers all of these questions (taking care to leave out things like his real name or the exact formula of his web fluid). He even gives Timmy a brief demonstration of his spider-powers, much to the boy’s delight. For a few pages, the story reads like an ordinary, “Secrets of Spider-Man” feature, disguised as a Spider-Man story. But then Timmy asks Spider-Man one final question: “Will you tell me who you really are?”
Spidey freezes and reminds Timmy that revealing his greatest secret would put everyone he cares about in danger. Timmy solemnly swears to never tell a single person, and Spider-Man… suddenly pulls off his mask and tells Timmy that his name is Peter Parker and that he took most of the photographs in Timmy’s collection. Delighted that “old man Jameson” has been paying Spider-Man to take pictures of himself for years, Timmy goes to sleep happy – but it’s a sad Spider-Man that swings away. A few panels later we see why – Timmy was actually staying at a hospital for terminally ill cancer patients and only had a few weeks left to live.
“The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man” has since been regarded as one of the best Spider-Man stories ever written, appearing in multiple essential Spider-Man collections. Although a simple story, it reveals the kindness, trust, and decency that drives Peter Parker to do the things he does.
While “The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man” seemingly left no room for a sequel, Timmy Harrison continued to have a profound effect on Spider-Man and his future stories. In one Spider-Man holiday tale, Spidey decides to pay a visit to a children’s hospital as J. Jonah Jameson tries (and fails) to spread some Christmas cheer. Although Jameson tries to kick Spider-Man out, the kids immediately rush to the wall crawler’s defense. Here, readers (and Spidey) get a rare look at the long-lasting effects Spider-Man’s deeds have on the world. One boy remembers how Spider-Man saved him from a super villain battle when he was just a toddler. Another girl tells Jameson how her father – a prison inmate – was saved when Spider-Man held up a collapsing building, giving the trapped men time to get to safety.
But it’s the last boy that makes the biggest impact on Spider-Man… when he reveals he’s Timmy Harrison’s brother. Apparently, Timmy took his brother into his confidence before he died, telling him about Spider-Man’s visit (although leaving out his secret identity). Stating that Timmy died happy having met his hero, Timmy’s brother reveals he inherited and has been adding to Timmy’s Spider-Man scrapbooks. He ends up showing Jameson all the clippings reporting how Spider-Man regularly saved the Daily Bugle publisher despite all the terrible things Jameson said about him. Overwhelmed, Jameson relents and lets Spider-Man give the kids a show.
“The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man” was even adapted into the two-part episode “Make a Wish” that ran in Season 2, Episode 2 and 3 of the popular Spider-Man: The Animated Series from the 1990s. The storyline shows a Peter Parker who wants to quit being Spider-Man – until a note sent to the Daily Bugle sends him to a hospital where a young girl, Maria Taina Elizando, is adding to her Spider-Man collection.
Spidey chats with Taina and shares the story of how he got his powers (the first time his entire origin was related in the series). He even takes Taina web slinging – but later gets captured and brainwashed into helping Doctor Octopus (a plot from The Amazing Spider-Man #55-56). Wanting to help her friend, Taina recruits several New York cab drivers (whose lives were all saved by Spider-Man) to track down Spidey and reminds him of who he really is. By the end of the episode, Spidey reveals his identity to Taina, who is also terminally ill, and remarks that she’s more of a superhero than he’ll ever be.
But perhaps the best example of Timmy Harrison’s legacy is the number of times a “Spider-Man visit” can come true in the real world. Thanks to nonprofit organizations like Put on the Cape, cosplayers portraying Spidey and other heroes have put on superhero-themed events to benefit multiple Children Advocacy centers. Spider-Man movie actors Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield have also been known to visit children’s hospitals and kids’ charities as their alter egos and brighten up a child’s day. Spider-Man may be a fictional character – but his spirit is something that anyone can embody.