[mkotschi]

Howdy folks,

Delurking here to ask a question.

I've seen threads before relating Superman to Captain Marvel, and Doctor Fate to Green Lama etc.

But I haven't seen anyone talk about a Spider-Man like type character from the Golden Age.
Were Stan Lee and Steve Ditko really that original in their conception of the character?

Failing any real analogue from the Golden Age can anyone recommend any Trickster type superheroes on GAC?

Thanks 

[JonTheScanner]

There are reports that Spider-Man was Jack's idea at Marvel and he was copying a hero he and Simon developed but never published, called The Silver Spider.  The Silver Spider concept was also reportedly used as the basis for Archie's Fly (which Joe and/or Jack started).

Back in the Golden Age, there was DC's Tarantula, but he wasn't very close.

[Captain Audio]

Wiki had this to say about the 1940's DC Tarantula character.

The Tarantula possessed no super-abilities, but relied on several gimmicks and his quick wits. He was trained in hand-to-hand combat, as well as some acrobatics, and had a passing interest in stage make-up and stage magic. He used suction cups attached to the soles on his boots to allow him to walk up walls and hang from ceilings. He also used a "web-gun" which fired a string of fast-hardening nylon that could be used to swing from one anchored point to another and ensnare his victims. He was even called a "spider man," all this decades before the "other" Spider-Man made his debut.

So there were a few similarities in style, but no radioactive spider bite to give superhuman abilty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_(DC_Comics)

[paw broon]

mkoschi, Trickster was a villain, wasn't he?  Anyway, although others are more capable of pointing you in the right direction on GAC., I'm sure you'll be bored to hear that in the U.K. we had Gadget Man and Gimmick Kid, a short lived strip in Lion, a weekly comic published by IPC, in the late 60's and 1970.  These were full fledged costumed heroes whose headquarters were in a hollow iceberg.  They used lots of invented gadgets and tricks to fight crime.
Also, DC comics had Merry, Girl of a Thousand Gimmicks (have I got that right?)  I'm too lazy to rake about for a copy of Strange Adventures? (have I got that right?) where she was reprinted.
Gosh, I feel a bit thick -  consulting Rovin, I see that Merry debuted in Star Spangled Comics #81, 1948 and has a really daft origin, but she eventually replaced Stripesy as the Star Spangled Kid's sidekick.

[phabox]

Not only did she push Stripesy off the scene but Merry ultimately even knocked The Star-Spangled Kid out of his own strip, with a 'sister' like that who needs any enemys -LOL

[mkotschi]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, are there any others that come to mind that are available on GAC?

[Ed Love]

Spider Queen: 1941, Eagle Comics 2-4 (Fox). Created a web formula that she used for swinging.
Firefly: Top Notch Comics (MLJ). through a chemical formula gave himself the proportionate strength and abilities of insects.
Black Terror: His secret formula came from researching ants!

Now, if you want a character that is very much in the vein of Silver-Age Marvel ie a normal guy who gets special powers that are often as much a hindrance to his life as it is to helping him fight crime, I'd suggest the pulp hero Captain Zero who has had several issues reprinted recently. The stories have quite a bit of sensibilities that one finds in the 1960s Stan Lee stories.

[narfstar]

Can't forget MLJ's Web

[paw broon]

Although you wont find it here, The Spider (the British one, that is) is one of the great Villain/hero character anywhere and there is a vol. of his stories available, reprinting stuff from Lion, a British weekly, from the mid 60's. As well as using webs, he also utilised lots of gadgets. More about him here:-
http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/s/spider.htm

[boox909]

Although you wont find it here, The Spider (the British one, that is) is one of the great Villain/hero character anywhere and there is a vol. of his stories available, reprinting stuff from Lion, a British weekly, from the mid 60's. As well as using webs, he also utilised lots of gadgets. More about him here:-
http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/s/spider.htm

I do like the Brit Spider...I have not read much, but I liked what I did.

B.