Spider-Ham
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Spider-Ham (Peter Porker) is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic funny animal parody of Marvel Comics' popular Spider-Man character, created by Tom DeFalco and Mark Armstrong.
He first appeared in the one-shot humor comic book Marvel Tails Starring Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #1, which was then followed by an ongoing bi-monthly series, Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham. The series lasted 17 issues, all of which were published under Marvel's Star Comics imprint.
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[edit] Character biography
Peter Porker was born a spider (simply named Peter). Residing in the basement lab of May Porker, a slightly goofy animal scientist who had created "the world's first atomic powered hairdryer," hoping that "the introduction of nuclear fission into America's beauty salons" would "revolutionize the hair care industry". After dousing her head with water and activating the dryer, May Porker accidentally irradiated herself, and in a fit of delusion, bit Peter, who then found himself transformed into an anthropomorphic swine much like May Porker herself. Running from the Porker homestead disoriented, Peter soon came to realize that he still retained a spider's abilities:
"This is astounding! Am I a spider with the limitations of a pig? Or a pig with the proportionate strength and agility of a spider? I've become something greater than either spider or pig... I've become a Spider-Ham!"- Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #15 (May 1987)
After this startling series of events, Peter (who adopted the surname "Porker", that of his benefactor May Porker, whom after the accident reverted mentally to a state in which she believed she was Peter's loving aunt) dedicated himself and his new-found abilities to fighting injustice and the occasional animal parody of established Marvel Comics villains.
[edit] Misadventures
Porker, in his spider-themed alter-ego's first adventure teamed him with Capt. Americat, as they attempted to foil the nefarious plot of "The Marauder", in a series of events that led to the creation of the Hulk-Bunny (Marvel Tails #1, "If He Should Punch Me").
Several months later, Spider-Ham encountered one of his only re-occurring menaces in the form of Ducktor Doom (Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #1, "The Mysterious Island of Ducktor Doom"). Spider-Ham would meet again with Doom when Porker would foil the would-be world conqueror's plot to create an army of living super vegetables (Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #6, "Salad Daze").
Other notable menaces Porker would face along the way include The Bull-Frog (a funny animal parody of the Marvel villain Man-Bull), the Buzzard (a opossum take on the Spider-Man adversary The Vulture), Hogzilla (a swine counterpart to the more popular Gojira, or as he's known in the United States, Godzilla), and The King-Pig (seemingly the swine equivalent of Marvel's mob-boss The Kingpin).
The series also included back up strips featuring such characters as Deerdevil (Daredevil), Goose Rider (Ghost Rider) and the Fantastic Fur (the Fantastic Four). Some of these back-ups were contradictory, presenting different anthropomorphic versions of characters in different stories, such as two Namor counterparts: the Sub-Merchandiser (a dog) and the Sub-Marsupial (possibly a wombat). (Note: the Asinine Torch (a donkey) that appeared in a story with the Sub-Marsupial and the Fantastic Fur's Simian Torch are not two variants of the Fantastic Four's Human Torch; since he was depicted as elderly in the 1980s, and referred to as an "old sparring partner" of the Sub-Marsupial's, he was obviously a counterpart to the golden age Human Torch.)
After the cancellation of his solo series, Marvel Tales, a monthly reprint series which specialized in reprints of Spider-Man's past adventures began carrying Porker as a back-up feature in 1987, beginning with issue #201 (cover dated July 1987).
These adventures appeared sporadically, in issues 201-212, 214-219, 223-230,233,236,237 239, 240, and 247
Amongst other characters, the Marvel Tales stories introduced the heavily-weaponed vigilante shark Punfisher (a parody of the Punisher).
[edit] Post-cancellation
Another notable appearance of the character was in the Marvel humor anthology title, What The--?! (which itself was a parody of Marvel's "What If...?" series). In issue #3 of that title (cover dated October 1988), Porker met with Raven the Hunter (an obvious parody of Spider-Man's nemesis Kraven the Hunter) in a story that satirized the popular "Kraven's Last Hunt" storyline which had been featured a year earlier in Marvel's Spider-Man titles. Spider-Ham also makes appearances in issues #18, 20, 22 & 24 of "What The--?!"
Even Marvel's once-popular 2099 line of titles wasn't safe, as seen in the 26th issue of What The--?! (cover dated Fall 1993), which featured "Spider-Ham 15.88", a humorous take-off on Peter Parker's future counterpart, Miguel O'Hara a.k.a. Spider-Man 2099.
Spider-Ham has also appeared in Generation X #52 and on the cover Wha…Huh? #1.
In Spider-Man Family #1, there was a sixteen-page Spider-Girl story, in which May Parker (Peter Parker's daughter) watches a DVD showing a small portion of a fictional Spider-Ham animated series, discovering that it was created by one of Spider-Man's enemies, Jack O'Lantern. Also in the issue, there was a reprint of Marvel Tails #1.
Spider-Ham was selected by fans and retailers to be the focus of the final variant cover by Mike Wieringo to the Spider-Man: The Other crossover, Amazing Spider-Man #528. [1]
Amazing Spider-Man writer J. Michael Straczynski has been quoted in interviews as having written an Ultimate Spider-Ham one-shot to be published later in 2006. The whole concept was considered possibly a joke played on fans by Straczynski, until the October 13th "Joe Fridays" on Newsarama. [2] It is slated for a January 2007 release. [3]
[edit] Toys
There were two Kubrick toys made of Spider-Ham. One was the hero himself, and the other was Pork Rind.
[edit] Other Characters
The Spider-Ham comic parodied a variety of other Marvel characters.
| Character | Real Marvel Character | Animal |
|---|---|---|
| Spider-Ham | Spider-Man | Spider/Pig |
| Spider-Ham 15.88 | Spider-Man 2099 | Spider/Pig |
| May Porker | Aunt May | Pig |
| Mary Jane Waterbuffalo | Mary Jane Watson | Water buffalo |
| J. Jonah Jackal/Black Jackle | J. Jonah Jameson | Jackal |
| Batt Burdock/Deerdevil | Daredevil | Deer |
| Kay-Mar the Sub-Merchandiser | Namor The Sub-Mariner | Dog |
| Sub-Marsupial | Namor The Sub-Mariner (Golden Age) | Marsupial (possibly a wombat) |
| Asinine Torch | Human Torch (Golden Age) | Donkey |
| Goose Rider | Ghost Rider | Goose |
| Ducktor Doom | Doctor Doom | Duck |
| Doctor Octopussy Cat | Doctor Octopus | Cat |
| Dr. Bruce Bunny/Hulk-Bunny | Hulk | Rabbit |
| Steve Mouser/Captain Americat | Captain America | Cat |
| The King-Pig | The Kingpin | Pig |
| Harry Beast | Harry Cleese | Dog |
| Hogzilla | Godzilla | Pig/Lizard |
| Hobgobbler | Hobgoblin | Turkey |
| Raven the Hunter | Kraven the Hunter | Raven |
| Doc Clamson | Doc Samson | Clam |
| Croctor Strange | Doctor Strange | Crocodile |
| Magsquito | Magneto | Mosquito |
| Iron-Mouse | Iron Man | Mouse |
| Thrrrr Dog of Thunder | Thor | Dog |
| Silver Squirrel | Silver Surfer | Squirrel |
| Croak | Cloak | Frog |
| Badger | Dagger | Badger |
| Ant Ant | Ant-Man | Ant |
| Sandmanatee | Sandman | Manatee |
| Galactypus | Galactus | Platypus |
| Nick Furry Agent Of S.H.E.E.P | Nick Fury | Bear |
| Kang Aroo | Kang the Conqueror | Kangaroo |
| Ultrog | Ultron | Gorilla |
| Quackula | Dracula | Duck |
| The Fantastic Fur | The Fantastic Four | Various |
| Mooster Fantastic of the Fantastic Fur | Mister Fantastic | Moose |
| Invisible Gorrila of the Fantastic Fur | Invisible Girl | Gorilla |
| Simian Torch of the Fantastic Fur | Human Torch | Gorilla |
| Thang of the Fantastic Fur | Thing | Bear |
| The Scavengers | The Avengers | Various |
| Scarlet Pooch of the Scavengers | Scarlet Witch | Dog |
| Quack-Silver of the Scavengers | Quicksilver | Duck |
| Squawkeye of the Scavengers | Hawkeye | Seagull |
| Black Panda of the Scavengers | Black Panther | Panda |
| Pigeon of the Scavengers | Vision | Pigeon |
| Baron Zebro | Baron Zemo | Zebra |
| Paste Pot Peep | Paste Pot Pete | Sheep |
| Mad Stinker | Mad Thinker | Skunk |
| Mandaringtail | Mandarin | Ringtail |
| Frank Carple/Punfisher | Punisher | Shark |
| Pork Rind | Venom | Pig/Symbiote |
| Flash Tombenstein Bear | Tombstone & Flash Thompson | Bear |
