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By Dan Leone

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IN HONOR OF his 40th anniversary, and just in time for the movie, the Cartoon Art Museum hosts the first-ever major exhibition of original artwork from Spider-Man's long-running comic book series. The show features almost 20 pages of drawings by Steve Ditko, who created the character with Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee, as well as dozens more drawings by the artists who took over where Ditko left off: John Romita, Ross Andru, Todd McFarlane, and others. The original drawings offer fascinating insights into Marvel's process of comic book creation. For example, patches of Wite-Out and pasted-over text balloons show an artist's hand at work in ways that are completely invisible in the final product. Special sections of the show focus on Peter Parker's wedding, "Marvel Team-Ups" (Spider-Man paired with Daredevil, the Transformers, the Black Widow, etc.), and an issue devoted to the aftermath of Sept. 11. Unless you're already a Spider scholar, however, you might find yourself wishing the show had fewer pictures and more text on the walls. After I viewed the exhibit, I still had a few unanswered questions: How did Stan Lee's writerly presence fade as he became gradually less involved with Spider-Man's production? How do the changes in the drawings over the years reflect the changing expectations of comic book audiences? Was there really nothing inside the "Marvel No-Prize" envelopes? And what's the secret behind Spider-Man's continued popular appeal, 40 years after his original conception? That's one question the show does answer, at least in part. Spider-Man may have super powers, but the very ordinariness of his alter ego, Peter Parker – a guy concerned with women, money, his boss – brings him back down to earth with the rest of us. Tues.-Sun., 11 a.m.-5 p.m., 655 Mission, S.F. $2-$5. (415) CAR-TOON. (Lindsey Westbrook)