Spiderverse File: Salticidae (Jumping Spider) E.5775

The following was found in a hand-written journal allegedly belonging to the vigilante known as Jumping Spider - Earth 5775

I have never seen the point in keeping a personal journal but, some things feel too important not to document. I think I will write as if to a trusted friend who is hearing these things for the first time, that should make this easier.

My name is Doctor Farley Stillwell. If you have an interest in science, you may recognize my name as belonging to the fellow who discovered Neogenics. Further, with my lab partner, Curt Connors, we invented the Neogenic Recombinator - a remarkable innovation in the field and ultimately a very mixed blessing. During a routine test of the recombinator, a harmless jumping spider must have climbed onto the lens and been given a full force dose from the beam. Normally the tiny arachnids are docile but the radioactive energies must have riled it, for when I found it moments later as I was checking the equipment it bit into the back of my hand. I became quite ill for several days and had to retreat to my home where I underwent extraordinary changes. At 5'11" and 170 lbs. I was perhaps on the average side, but the jumping spider imbued my physique with mass! I put on an additional 60 lbs. of sheer muscle, and my eyesight improved to superhuman levels. Now when I focus I actually have binocular vision. Like the jumping spider that bit me, at my max leaping ability, I can jump up to thirty times my own height forward, or straight up, and my body's heightened durability can easily withstand the impact. My strength now puts me alongside well-known superheroes the likes of Captain America! (Although he and I have never actually tested this theory.) My fingertips are able to secrete small amounts of webbing, but it only helps to adhere to the most difficult of surfaces, for example an airplane in flight. An interesting side note: My body has become much hairier, including my facial hair. I attribute this to the spider as well.

It didn't take too long before my lab partner Curt realized something drastic had changed with me and, as I lack much in the way of social graces (and I'm a terrible liar) I admitted to him what had happened. We decided to keep my secret to ourselves, mostly out of our own scientific curiosity and eagerness to test my new abilities. Every night after work we would head out to the rooftops of the nearby warehouse district and see what I could do. Those first few weeks were like a dream to me. No longer was I only a brilliant mind, now my physical body was enhanced to match and it felt like the sky may not even be my limit! One evening, quite by accident we happened upon an armed robbery, and I intervened. I thought, perhaps my powerful body alone would deter the gunmen but they fired at me and, incredibly some extrasensory perception forced me to immediately react and leap out of the way! Curt later called it my 'Farley Feeling'. I subdued the ruffians rather easily and we called the police before fleeing the scene. The thrill of it, the sheer adrenaline, oh I became a bit of a fiend for the sensation: This was something I wanted to experience again! I would need a costume of course. Curt helped me design a special suit to provide more armor, easier movement and lenses to focus my eyesight further, even allowing detailed views of the slightly microscopic. The colors were chosen based on the Regal Jumping Spider. Our work days were important but... The two of us looked forward to our nights the most: Listening to police scanners and figuring out new ways to study my capabilities in action. The next step of course was determining a name for this alter ego of mine and naturally the best moniker was Salticidae! Rather unfortunately, it turned out that most criminals can't even pronounce it, much less understand its meaning. I've tried many times to explain it is the family name for jumping spiders, but, alas. In turn I am usually called 'Salty', 'Jumping Spider', or the much maligned 'Spider-Man' which is just too on-the-nose for my taste.

For months Curt and I worked closer than we ever had before. Prior to the 'incident' Curt was struggling with his marriage, and now that he was spending nearly every available hour at the lab with me, it fully dissolved and they were divorced. I think perhaps, having my transformation and blossoming superhero career to focus on helped him through the worst of it, or at least I liked to think it did.

I, I am reluctant to speak on these next parts as they feel very personal and have little to do with my beginnings into a much larger world of the remarkable, but I'll leave that for fate to decide. I have known my own sexuality for many years, and perhaps the fact that I had never married, or even had a girlfriend, instead burying myself in science and academia since high school would give anyone a clue. Curt knew this about me and we spoke about it once, just the two of us and he let me know that he still respected me and considered me his closest friend. I told him, that in spite of him being straight, I felt the same way. We shared a laugh about it. I suppose it's also fair to say that I fancied my lab partner, a little crush as younger folks might say. He was lean, with a mustache perhaps too large for his face, one arm, the result of an old injury and about as much fashion sense as me. However, he was the only person I had ever met who could match me with words and wits and I loved him for that. Of course I would have never acted on it if Curt hadn't made the first move. It was after a late night of pulling frightened people out of an apartment fire that I made my way back to the lab, (discreetly of course through a large air intake atop the building we had modified to this very purpose.) and found Curt waiting up, a very concerned look on his face. My suit was burned quite badly but any damage to my skin was superficial. Still, my colleague insisted I remove it so he could check for any damage and apply a burn cream as necessary. Begrudgingly I submitted and stripped down to my briefs. I don't know what made that night any different - perhaps he was feeling especially lonely after his divorce, or perhaps the spider had granted me pheromones which I was subconsciously emitting as he rubbed his hands over my chest and stomach but, his words became softer and he moved in close. Feeling his mouth against mine and what happened next... It felt so natural, and good. My heart was pounding in my ears. I thought we would break my desk in half! *Ahem.*

Dr. Connors unfortunately was not quite ready to accept this new development in our relationship, or face the questions it raised regarding his own somewhat fluid sexuality. We spent less time together in our evenings and though we still ran the Neogenics division at Oscorp during the day, he often hid himself away in his office, away from me. It wouldn't be until two months later that I learned what he was up to during that time.

The next pages of the journal appear to have been torn out.