Spider-Man was first introduced to the world in August of 1962. His character depicted of a teenage boy named Peter Parker. While Peter was on a school trip he was bitten by a radioactive spider. This later gave him the abilities of a spider. He could climb any wall without the aid of ropes. He had increased senses that made him able to detect danger in a matter of seconds. He built two wrist mechanisms that would launch homemade webs from his arms. He fashioned his own suit and took on the persona of Spider-Man.
His personal story leading him to his heroism was a lot more complicated. Before he officially became Spider-man he lived with his Aunt and Uncle in Queens. His Aunt is seen as Peter’s biggest idol even as spider-man. His uncle Ben however sparked his role. After a robbery gone wrong Uncle Ben is shot and killed leading Peter on a revenge streak searching for the man who did it. On the road to revenge he finds he must make a suit to hide his identity. The famous spider suit was not the first however.
During his High school career he was known to be friends with the son, Harry Osborne, of scientist Norman Osborn also known as The Green Goblin. His high school bully was Flash Thompson and he worked as a photographer for the Daily Bugle. His loudmouth boss was John Jonah Jameson. He had roughly three love interests in his time: Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy and a villain known as The Black Cat.
John Jonah Jameson was one of the few people who hated spider-man sparking his famous news headline “Spider-Man: Friend or Menace” This was based off of Peter Parker’s vigilante career and how he would spark people to become dangerous villains. These villains included (From Spider-man's universe) The Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, The Rhino, Mysterio, The Vulture, etc. The only time Peter Parker/Spider-Man was considerable a villain would be in Robert Kirk man's special edition series Marvel Zombies where Spider-Man has been turned into a Zombie and kills people.
The question of “Is Spider-man a friend or menace” Can be answered only in the eyes of the readers not the fictional characters in the Marvel Universe.