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A major theme through the decades of comics has been the identity crisis that Parker continually deals with, which culminated with multiple "Clone Sagas" where Parker had to face multiple clones of himself only to find that he himself was a clone that replaced the original Peter Parker. The theme of identity is also dealt with more subtly as Parker regularly struggles to decide if Spider-Man is the alter-ego to Peter Parker or if Peter Parker is the alter-ego to Spider-Man. Donald Palumbo argues that Spider-Man's main source of alienation outside of the Daily Bugle's smear campaign "takes the form of ruptures with fathers and father figures" (76). Peter Parker is an orphan who lost his father figure during adolescence, and ever since, he has encountered super villains who stand as twisted father figures as best shown by the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) who believes Parker to be his son though not in blood, which further alienates Parker as his best friend Harry Osborn (the son of Norman Osborn) deals with his father's coldness by blaming Parker. .
The Existential protagonist is bombarded by the absurd, and perhaps, no Existential protagonist is faced with them more often than Spider-Man. Mole men rise from the under the Earth to commit genocide on the surface dwellers. Spider-Man's closest friend, outside of Peter Parker's social circle, can fly and be encompassed with flame at will. Mutants with super powers are popping up all over the world, and many are pushing for an extinction event against Homo sapiens. As Palumbo notes, absurdity is prevalent in the Marvel Universe, but Peter Parker accepts and seeks to right the absurdity of his world (77). Spider-Man's origin story is familiar to many as he returned to mainstream consumption in 2002 with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man. Though the origin story has been retold with different details, the basic story remains the same with every telling.