Skip (real name: Steven Westcott) is a villain from an early era Spider-Man comic, in was what is known as a "special issue" character and thus was designed to warn children about real-world dangers (in this case child molestation).
Biography
When Peter Parker was younger, he first met Skip during a visit to the public library. Peter's studiousness impressed Skip, nicknaming him "Einstein", and the two became fast friends, something encouraged by Aunt May, as she had been worried that her nephew spent too much time alone. Peter and Skip would often spent time alone at the latter's house while his mother was away at work, and one night, Skip showed Peter some pornography, and suggested that they "touch each other like the people in the magazine." Peter was terrified by this, but, according to him, was "too frightened to leave", implying that Skip had molested him in some way. Peter then stopped spending time with Skip and eventually worked up the courage to tell Aunt May and Uncle Ben of what had happened that day.
Years later, Peter overheard his young neighbor Tony Lewis rejecting the advances of his baby sitter Judy. After changing into his Spider-Man persona and scaring Judy away, learning of how she had been touching Tony in the wrong ways, Peter (without naming himself) told the young boy the story of how Skip had sexually abused him as a young child. Peter then swings Tony across town to his parents and returns to his apartment, satisfied in helping his neighbor and confronting one of his own personal demons. Spider-Man later recalls these events again during a fight with the Hobgoblin.
Trivia
- It is also unknown if Peter was Skip's only victim, though it is unlikely as Skip had the personality of a sexual predator - meaning he likely abused others.
- Although not confirmed in the comic itself Skip almost certainly ended up getting arrested for his crimes as Aunt May and Uncle Ben would of surely informed authorities of the incident (both being extremely protective of Peter as well as of strong ethical backbone): if convicted Skip would likely of went to prison for a significant time for child grooming.
- Like many older era comics, it is unknown if this event is part of current Spider-Man canon or not. Furthermore, it's speculated that these events perhaps never actually happened and that the story was made up by Spidey himself to teach Tony a lesson, but there are no ways to prove that.
