Alias

Aunt May
Nick Name
|
Civilian ID
May Reilly Parker
Occupation

Homemaker

Landlady
Legal Status
Citizen of the United States with no criminal record.
Nation or Planet of Origin
Brooklyn, New York
Group Affiliation
Silver Foxes (Senior Citizen Organization)
Base of Operations
Queens, New York
Height
5' 5"
Weight
110 lbs.
Eye Color
Blue
Hair Color
White (formerly blonde)
Skin Tone
Caucasian
Known Powers
Normal human with no superhuman abilities having the frailties of a woman her age.

Exceptional parenting and homemaking abilities.
Accessories
None
Common Enemies
Dr. Octopus I
Regularly Appearing

Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 & 2

Peter Parker Spider-Man Vol. 1 & 2

Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 1 & 2

Spider-Man Vol. 2

Web of Spider-Man
First Appearance

Amazing Fantasy #15  (Aug. 1962)

Origin

Spectacular Spider-Man An. #4 (Nov. 1984)
Creator

Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
Origin
May Reilly grew up during the depression and as a young woman became smitten with Johnny Jerome, who she believed would offer her an exciting and prosperous life during hard economic times.  Her other suitor was the poor but honest Ben Parker, who was aware of Jerome's criminal tendencies.

Johnny proposed to an unsuspecting May and encouraged her to elope after he robbed a jewelry store and murdered the proprietor.  Ben stopped May from eloping and Johnny was convicted of his crimes.

May and Ben married and lived together for many years but were childless  until Ben's brother Richard and his wife Mary left their son Peter (Spider-Man I) with the Parkers.

The couple were espionage agents that went on a mission from which they never returned and Ben and May became Peter's adopted parents.

Tragedy would befall the Parkers when Peter was still in high school.  Peter was granted superhuman abilities by a freak accident involving a irradiated spider.  Desiring to use his new found powers Peter entered a wrestling competition.  When the venues box office was robbed Peter neglected to stop the burglar.

The burglar had been a cellmate of a depression-era gangster, who at one time resided in the Parker's current Queens home and stashed a considerable sum of money.  Aware of the money from the incarcerated gangsters tendency to talk in his sleep the burglar broken into the Parker's home.  When Ben struggled with the intruder he was fatally shot.

Peter vowed to use his powers as Spider-Man to apprehend the burglar.  When captured, Peter recognized the man he failed to stop at the wrestling arena weeks earlier.

The strain of Ben's death caused May to develop a fragile heart condition, which prompted Peter to conceal his identity as Spider-Man.  May eventually discovered Peter's secret and after years of fearing her nephew's alter-ego she has become one of his greatest advocates.