The Spectacular Squirrel is in fact mild-mannered Peter Bradley.  Peter grew up avidly reading comic books, roleplaying, and watching all manner of television.  He came to idolize Spiderman.  After all, his name was Peter, too!

    One day, after realizing chemistry was not his forte', Peter decided to try to re-create the infamous irradiated spider experiment that gave Spiderman his powers.  Collecting a couple of house spiders, he made his way to his high school where Radioactive Man was giving a speech and a demonstration.  He decided to arrive extra early once he heard Gamma Girl V was supposed to show, she was quite the babe (And around his age, too!), unfortunately all the boys in school got the same idea.

    Before the speech, the infamous Dr. Plutonium and his teen daughter/sidekick, Neutrongirl, arch-nemesis (nemeses? nemesi?) to Radioactive Man attacked, throwing the auditorium into total chaos, where Peter was knocked to the ground and his matchbox of spiders stepped on (ouch)!  Oh no, what's a hero-wannabe to do?  Through comic (or is that cosmic?) coincidence, a nearby squirrel had seen Peter's stash of pistachios (his favorite snack, he was never without them!) and made a mad dash through the radiation field to take them.  Not seeing this, Peter reached out to grab them when the squirrel (gasp!) BIT HIM!  Feeling quite nervous with the attack going on, the squirrel bite, and the urgency to help Radioactive Man and Gamma Girl out, Peter promptly passed out.

    Peter woke up thinking he was dreaming, because Gamma Girl was leaning over him looking concerned.  “He’s coming around dad!” he heard her say.  Radioactive Man came into view overhead and said, “You were very brave, son.  But you got a nasty bite for your trouble I’m afraid.  We’re going to have to watch that carefully.”  Gamma Girl frowned and said, “It’s definitely hot, the squirrel must have been irradiated.” as she finished bandaging him and putting something away into her Atomic Lunchbox.

    The next few weeks, Peter got regular visits from the Deuterium Duo and even got to visit their Nuclear Family at their home.  It was during these visits that Peter discovered he had gained the powers of a common squirrel!  That was 12 years ago, and Peter has since taken up photography and gone onto work for “The Chattanooga Companion”.  He has married and had a large family with his former model wife, Jan.  Finally, in true heroic form, he has since assumed the mantle of THE SPECTACULAR SQUIRREL!, defender of justice & protector of Reservoir Park.