Spider-Man's powers and equipment

The fictional Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man, who debuted in 1962, is well known for his unique superhuman abilities as depicted in the comics and other media. He receives most of his powers when he is bitten by a radioactive common house spider. He uses his technical skill to develop equipment and weapons to complement his powers, and wears a number of costumes, many of which have special properties.

Original abilities

When Peter Parker was bitten by an irradiated spider, radioactive mutagenic enzymes in the spider's venom quickly caused numerous body-wide changes. Immediately after the bite, he was granted his original powers: primarily superhuman strength, reflexes, and balance; the ability to cling tenaciously to most surfaces; and a subconscious precognitive sense of danger, which he called a "spider-sense".

Several biologists on the History Channel's Spider-Man Tech special stated the effect of a radioactive spider bite (if any) would not be nearly enough to cause a mutation in a human body. However, they said the use of "genetically engineered" spiders from the live-action movie and the Ultimate continuity was more plausible. Instead of radioactive venom, the bite would have to carry a powerful retrovirus (similar to HIV) that would spread through the body by taking over neighboring cells and actually becoming ingrained in the person's DNA. They illustrated this by showing the results of an experiment where glow genes from deep sea jellyfish were introduced into the embryos of lab mice. The resulting mice were born with the glow gene as a part of their own DNA and glowed light green whenever an ultraviolet light was shined on them.

Infinity War

The Infinity War is a six-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics in 1992. The series was written by Jim Starlin and penciled by Ron Lim, Ian Laughlin, Al Milgrom, Jack Morelli and Christie Scheele.

The storyline is a direct sequel to the 1991 Infinity Gauntlet crossover, and was followed by Infinity Crusade in 1993.

Publication history

The main series was published between July and November 1992. Important plot points were also in Warlock and The Infinity Watch #7 - 10 (Aug. - Nov. 1992), also written by Starlin.

The story had additional tie-ins including Alpha Flight #110-112, Captain America #408, Daredevil #310, Deathlok #16, Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #42-47, Fantastic Four #366 - 370, Guardians of the Galaxy vol 1 #27-29, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #41-44, Marvel Comics Presents #108-111, New Warriors #27, Nomad vol. 2, #7, Quasar #38-40, Silver Sable and The Wild Pack #4-5, Silver Surfer vol. 3, #67-69, Sleepwalker #18, Spider-Man #24, and Wonder Man #13-14. All of these were published between July and November 1992. What The--?! #20 featured a parody story about various comedic superheroes struggle against the "Infinity Wart".

Avengers Infinity

Avengers: Infinity is a four-issue American comic book limited series published from September to December 2000 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Roger Stern and drawn by Sean Chen, Scott Hanna, Steve Oliff and Troy Peteri.

Publication history

Writer Roger Stern has explained a number of the decisions that went into the planning of the series. On the diverse team line-up he said "I just put together a list of Avengers who would be at loose ends, and who would be good choices for a big, cosmic adventure ... with a welcome bit of kibitzing from Kurt Busiek and Tom Brevoort."

The idea of the huge hand "came from the image that Carlos Pacheco gave us in Avengers Forever #10. Kurt and I had asked him for a shot of a gigantic hand bigger than the star it was reaching for -- and, boy, did he deliver!"

The story also partly led into the "Maximum Security" storyline.

Plot summary

The cosmic hero Quasar receives a distress call from a colony of the alien Rigellians in deep space. The character arrives to find the colony destroyed and a single survivor - the superhero Jack of Hearts - who is in a coma. Quasar summons all nearby members of the superhero team the Avengers, with the Thunder God Thor, the Titanian Eternal Starfox, heroines Tigra and Photon and outsider Moondragon responding.

Iron Man

Iron Man (Tony Stark) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, as well as its associated media. The character was created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. He made his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39 (cover dated March 1963).

An American billionaire playboy, business magnate, and ingenious engineer, Tony Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a kidnapping in which his captors attempt to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction. He instead creates a powered suit of armor to save his life and escape captivity. Later, Stark augments his suit with weapons and other technological devices he designed through his company, Stark Industries. He uses the suit and successive versions to protect the world as Iron Man, while at first concealing his true identity. Initially, Iron Man was a vehicle for Stan Lee to explore Cold War themes, particularly the role of American technology and business in the fight against communism. Subsequent re-imaginings of Iron Man have transitioned from Cold War themes to contemporary concerns, such as corporate crime and terrorism.

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from Latin: ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is by mass the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust. Its abundance in rocky planets like Earth is due to its abundant production by fusion in high-mass stars, where the production of nickel-56 (which decays to the most common isotope of iron) is the last nuclear fusion reaction that is exothermic. Consequently, radioactive nickel is the last element to be produced before the violent collapse of a supernova scatters precursor radionuclide of iron into space.

Like other group 8 elements, iron exists in a wide range of oxidation states, −2 to +6, although +2 and +3 are the most common. Elemental iron occurs in meteoroids and other low oxygen environments, but is reactive to oxygen and water. Fresh iron surfaces appear lustrous silvery-gray, but oxidize in normal air to give hydrated iron oxides, commonly known as rust. Unlike many other metals which form passivating oxide layers, iron oxides occupy more volume than the metal and thus flake off, exposing fresh surfaces for corrosion.