Jonah Jameson

First Appearance - Amazing Spider-Man #1

by Steve Ditko, 1963

Jonah's first appearance shows him sabotaging Spider-Man's early attempts at fame and fortune with slanderous newspaper editorials with titles like "SPIDER-MAN MENACE". Capitalizing on his headlines, Jonah follows his editorials up with a series of lectures around town slamming Spider-Man for being a bad influence and setting a bad example for children. He goes so far as to call Spider-Man a "lawless, inhuman monster" and declares that Spider-Man should be outlawed.

Jonah's animosity seems to be mostly driven by his desire to have his son, John Jameson, respected and admired for his abilities as a test pilot and not vigilantes who hide their identity.

Even Spider-Man's rescue of John during a failed test launch wasn't enough sway Jonah's opinion on Spider-Man. His very next editorial read: "This newspaper demands that Spider-Man be arrested and prosecuted!" and accused Spider-Man of sabotaging the capsule himself in order to take credit for the rescue.