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human
*calm eyes* Since he was created in 1962, Spider-Man has really become popular.
gpt
*takes a step back* It really has.  I have not followed it much but there are at least 1/2 dozen movies.    its amazing Sony rejected buying the rights from Marvel for 25 million.  They really missed an opportunity of a lifetime!
human
The 1960's really was the Silver Age of Comic books.
gpt
Being born in the early 1960's, I remember pestering mom when we went into town to let me get a comic book.  It seems to have had a resurgence of late.  Did you know that Marvel created a blue ear superhero for a 4-year old boy who was uncomfortable wearing his necessary hearing aid.  The boy told his mom superheroes don't wear hearing aids.  That was really an amazing gesture from Marvel Comics!
human
Spider-Man's alter ego Peter Parker lived an ordinary life as an orphan in the comic.
gpt
How Stan lee dreams up this stuff is amazing.  Peter Parker is an orphan who gets bit by a radioactive spider to get his spider abilities!  Did you know that Stan Lee hyphenated Spider-Man so that he would not be confused with Superman?
human
He can climb walls and shoot spider webs.  Sometimes I wish I could do that.
gpt
Those are interesting superpowers, but I rather the Iron Man suit.  Spider-man made a brief appearance in the third Avengers movie.  
human
The Marvel characters have superpowers, but are written as human, too.  Peter Parker had to deal with issues of adolescence and finance.
gpt
it sees that is the case with most of them.  Human issues with a superpower alter ego.  Did you know there was a Spider-Man Broadway musical?  It happened to be the most expensive Broadway production (75 mill) and had numerous delays and injuries.  At one time it closed because its injury insurance was canceled!
human
*opens mouth slightly* The musical is probably worth more than the $25M that Sony could have paid for most of the Marvel franchise in 1998.
gpt
True.  What I find amazing is the collector's market for both Marvel and DC comic books.  Did you know Marvel once published a generic comic book to trademark the names "Super-Hero" and "Super-Villain"?
human
There is even a character shared by both Marvel and DC, whose purpose is to keep the comic universes separate.
gpt
I heard about that.  I guess that is why DC Comics "Superman" and "Wonderwoman" are never part of Marvel's Avengers.   Did you know that Michigan State University has the largest publicly available comic book collection in the world?  That must be Mecca for comic book readers and collectors!
human
I wonder how far back their collection goes.  Comics appear to have originated in Japan in the 18th century.
gpt
Supposedly comic books took off in the US and the UK in 1933 with the publishing of "Famous Funnies".  Famous Funnies was a reprint of a collection of newspaper comic strips with simple plots.  I am not quite sure when "real" comic books appeared with longer story lines of all genre and not restricted to humorous tones.
human
Marvel has a history almost that long.  It started in the 1930's as Timely Publications.  In 1961 it acquired the Marvel name.
gpt
They really have an impressive history.  But many of the founding creative geniuses have passed away.  Stan Lee died in November 2018.  Do you think they can keep the momentum going without the genius of Stan Lee?  Stan had an interesting eccentricity.  He ended each phone call not with good bye, but with "Excelsior!".
human
*smiles* Disney owns Marvel now.  If anyone can maintain a franchise, it's Disney.
gpt
True.  Disney has kept George Lucas's creations, Star Wars and Indiana Jones, going strong for some time now.  Its interesting that Disney can't have big Marvel characters in their theme parks east of the Mississippi.  Apparently Marvel, prior to the Disney acquisition, gave those rights to Universal Studios.