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John Romita Sr.'s Spider-Man was too good-looking for Stan Lee, but after six months he gave up trying to change it

Spider-Man became more handsome and muscular when John Romita Sr. took over the title, despite Stan Lee’s efforts to keep him scrawny and average

News by Joshua Lapin-Bertone, Contributing writer

Published on Fri May 08 2026

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Part of the appeal of Spider-Man is that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created him as a nerd and social outcast. In fact, the second page of Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962) has him being rejected by a female classmate in favor of the more conventionally and muscular handsome Flash Thompson. Peter Parker wasn’t ugly, but he certainly wasn’t good looking either.

All that changed when John Romita Sr. took over the book. Romita, who passed away in 2023, had a background in romance comics and that influenced his work on Amazing Spider-Man. Peter Parker became more handsome, more muscular, and by college he had multiple women fighting over him.

“[Stan Lee] used to drive me crazy saying Peter Parker looks too good. He’s supposed to be a nerd,” John Romita Sr. says during a panel at Toronto Comicon 2012.

“After about six months of kibitzing me about Peter Parker being too good-looking and too well built, he says, ‘He’s supposed to be a nerd. He’s got to be skinny. He’s not supposed to dress right.’ So, I gave him a turtleneck. He said, ‘Now you’re making him a movie star.’ But then, after a few months, he said, ‘Ah, the hell with it. Do it the way you want.’ Because I couldn’t change it. It was something I had no control over.”

Spider-Man was still a hard-luck hero. He still had problems with money, his love life was still complicated, and the public still treated him like a pariah. However, at least he was handsome.

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About Popverse Spotlight: Spider-Man

Listen, bud... Spider-Man is the definition of a modern superhero. From his comic books to his TV shows, movies, games, and more, he is the epitome of the superhero genre — even without a cape! In Popverse Spotlight: Spider-Man, we celebrate all the facets of Marvel's wallcrawler, across all major media, and even include other people who have been Spider-Man in addition to Peter Parker. Face it tiger, you just hit the jackpot!

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May 04 - May 10

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Joshua Lapin-Bertone: Joshua is a pop culture writer specializing in comic book media. His work has appeared on the official DC Comics website, the DC Universe subscription service, HBO Max promotional videos, the Batman Universe fansite, and more. In between traveling around the country to cover various comic conventions, Joshua resides in Florida where he binges superhero television and reads obscure comics from yesteryear.