"The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man" is a Spider-Man

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...

 story written by Roger Stern

Roger Stern

Roger Stern is an American comic book author and novelist.-Early career:In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine CPL , one of the first platforms for the work of John Byrne...

, originally published in The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man. Being the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a monthly periodical and was published continuously until it was...

 #248 in 1984

1984 in comics

-Year overall:* The independent publishing boom continues, as Antarctic Press, Continuity Comics, Deluxe Comics, Matrix Graphic Series, and Renegade Press all enter the arena...

. In the story, a young fan of Spider-Man meets his hero.

This comic was elected as one of the "Top 10 Spider-Man stories of all time" by Wizard

Wizard (magazine)

Wizard or Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture was a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment from July 1991 to January 2011...

 and is regarded as among the most-loved Spider-Man stories.

Plot

Young Tim Hammond lies in his bed. Newspaper captions say that he is the greatest Spider-Man fan in the world and has collected every article available on him, including a whole album of The Daily Bugles retractions. Suddenly, Spider-Man comes into his room. In the following hours, the two trade anecdotes about Spider-Man's long career. The hero is surprised and touched by how much the boy adores him.

Tim asks who Spider-Man really is. Spider-Man surprisingly takes off his mask, identifies himself as Peter Parker, and retells the fateful night when his negligence let Uncle Ben die, causing him to fight crime. The story does not change Tim's admiration of his hero. Spider-Man departs; the last of the newspaper captions states that the boy's only wish is to meet the hero in person because he will die from leukemia

Leukemia

Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...

 in a few days.

Background

Most of Amazing #248 is Spider-Man's fight against Thunderball

Thunderball (comics)

Thunderball is a Marvel Comics supervillain and a frequent enemy of Thor and a somewhat reluctant ally of the Wrecker and the Wrecking Crew. The character was created by Len Wein and Sal Buscema and first appeared in Defenders #17 .-Fictional character biography:Dr. Eliot Franklin was born in...

, but Stern's backup story is remembered much better than the main tale. According to Stern:

Partly, I'm sure that it sprang from a desire on my part to do a short human-interest story in the style of Will Eisner

Will Eisner

William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...

 -- that's why the story is partially advanced through newspaper clippings...I was trying to be Eisneresque.

In other media

The story loosely inspired a two-part story ("Make a Wish/Attack of the Octobot

Make a Wish/Attack of the Octobot

"Make a Wish/Attack of the Octobot" is a two-part episode from season 3 of the Spider-Man animated series.-Summary:In a battle with Dr. Octopus a medical research building is destroyed. Blaming himself, Peter is considering giving up being Spider-Man, when he meets a mystic figure named Madame Web...

") in the third season of Spider-Man: The Animated Series

Spider-Man (1994 TV series)

Spider-Man, also known as Spider-Man: The Animated Series, is an American animated series starring the Marvel Comics superhero, Spider-Man. The show ran on Fox Kids from November 19, 1994, to January 31, 1998. The producer/story editor was John Semper, Jr. and production company was Marvel Films...

. The major difference is that the kid in question is a girl, named Taina. It's mentioned she has a twin brother named Timmy. Another reference to Tim is at the end of the episode where there is a plaque that reads "WISH COME TRUE FOUNDATION FOR TERMINALLY ILL CHILDREN".

Collected editions

The story has been reprinted several times and collected in various trade paperbacks

Trade paperback (comics)

In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...

including The Very Best of Spider-Man (December 1994, ISBN 0-7851-0045-8).