Wednesday, March 30, 2022

A Moment of Comics

 The seminal Spider-Man panel from Amazing Fantasy #15 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Panel of Spider-Man walking: "And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last that in this world, with great power there must also come--great responsibility!

People always forget “must,” but “must” is the most important word.

Everyone likes to say “with great power comes great responsibility,” but that’s not the quote. It significantly obscures the meaning to assert that great responsibility simply and naturally follows great power. For one thing it’s patently false. People assume great power all the time without also realizing any commensurate responsibility. It doesn’t “just happen” that people know what to do, and indeed that is precisely the point of Spider-Man’s origin: it’s not that he gets the responsibility with the power, it’s that bad shit happens when responsibility lags behind power. It’s not that power devolves naturally, but that it must also devolve. It’s very possible to be greatly powerful without feeling so much as a hint of responsibility. 

--Teagan O'Nei, "What He Taught Me"

 

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