Uncle Ben Parker

Few supporting characters in comics history carry as much emotional weight as Uncle Ben Parker, whose debut in Amazing Fantasy #15 — one of the most celebrated first issues of the Silver Age — helped launch an entire mythology at Marvel. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962, Ben exists at the moral heart of the Spider-Man universe, a presence whose influence echoes across decades of storytelling in The Amazing Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, and beyond. He shares the page with some of Marvel's most iconic figures — Peter Parker, Aunt May, Gwen Stacy, and Spider-Man himself — and the fact that four of his appearances are recognized as key collector issues speaks to just how foundational this character truly is. Across 64 years of publication, Uncle Ben Parker remains proof that a character doesn't need a cape or a superpower to be unforgettable.