“Kraven’s Last Hunt”! Next question! 😛

He has sticky white stuff shooting out of him

Ah, puberty!

He is dealing with all of these struggles that we all must endure when he gains his powers. His origin takes place smack dab in the middle of one of the most confusing and trying times we all go through in life.

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head here. High school is that age where a lot of people start to define (or redefine) themselves, which Spider-Man’s an ideal metaphor for. Despite wearing a mask, Peter’s more himself when he’s dressed as Spider-Man, at least in this era. He’s the part of ourselves we WANT people to see at that age, the fun, free, charismatic side that sometimes has to pull and kick its way out of the quagmire of high school politics. The metaphor of the dual identity also really works well in high school– many teenagers behave differently around their friends than they do around their parents, just as Peter does when he faces supervillains as Spider-Man.