Spider-Man Snares Comic Book Honors

NEW YORK — Dick Tracy has a gang of funny-faced bad guys on the run in movie theaters and Bart Simpson rules television airwaves and T-shirt sales, but the summer belongs to Spider-Man for comic book fans.

Less than two weeks after its release in June, the first issue of a new Marvel Comics series, titled simply “Spider-Man,” became the best-selling comic in U.S. history.

And the wisecracking web-slinger snared “favorite character” honors in the annual Comics Buyer’s Guide readers poll. The wall-crawler defeated Batman, last summer’s box office sensation and titleholder since 1985.

Spidey’s success has Hollywood sniffing around for a movie deal.

“When it comes right down to it, I can be pretty awesome if I want,” Spider-Man, also known as Peter Parker, said in an introspective moment in the first comic in the new series, “Spider-Man No. 1.”

He debuted in 1962 as an unpopular teen-ager whose life changed when he was bitten by a radioactive spider. Today, he’s a graduate student in biophysics who shares a New York loft with his glamorous actress-model wife.

“He’s changing with the times, but still contains a lot of the stuff that attracted (people) to the character in the first place,” said Spider-Man’s editor, Jim Salicrup.

Canadian cartoon artist Todd McFarlane, 29, gets much of the credit for the new comic book series’ success. Previously, he drew for “Amazing Spider-Man,” the title of the original comic book series. In 1988, he redesigned the costume to add a “creepier” feel.

The new series’ first run of 2.35 million copies sold out, so Marvel is printing another 400,000, said Pamela Rutt, a spokeswoman for the country’s largest comic book publisher.