Spider-Man: The Other - New Powers Revealed
February 14, 2006
In the first Spider-Man crossover since the dreadful clone era stuff of the late ’90s, came January’s conclusion of Spider-Man: The Other.
This 12-part series saw the death and rebirth of Peter Parker. Apparently this followed under some previously unknown ability for spiders to shed their skin once in a lifetime to be reborn anew. Initially the series starts with Peter coming to terms with certain death from an incurable illness. He visits all his major contacts in the Marvel Universe, finally coming up short.
After coming to terms with his assured demise, he finds himself in an amazing fight with Morlun. This ends with Spider-Man in critical condition, at which point Morlun leaves him to die, but not before ripping out his left eye and eating it.
Spider-Man is rushed to the hospital, but his injuries are too severe. A few altercations follow, but I’ll omit the details here… In short, he dies. The death is very well played out. The emotions Mary Jane, Aunt May, and the Avengers as a whole play out is touching. However, this is all happening in like issues 7 & 8 of a known 12-part series with the tag-line “Evolve or Die”. So, with that in mind I’m not sure how they think readers can actually feel as though we’ve lost Peter…
Anyway, he is reborn. All injuries are healed. He’s back to normal, the Peter we know and love. Though there is some lingering oddness, back-story, and twists sure to be played out over the next few years in the Spider-Man series.
The main piece that is sure have long lasting effects in the Spider-Man books, is the unlocking of latent new powers! Spider-Man’s set of powers have more or less gone untouched since his origin in 1962. Certainly nothing as drastic as these changes have occurred.
These are the powers he has discovered so far:
- See in the dark
- Stickiness all over (like he previously had only on his hands)
- “Hear” along his web
- Spikes in his wrists
Apparently in the next issue of Amazing Spider-Man we can expect a new suit revelation, though I’m certain it will not last. For more on the new costume from an article in Newsarama that quotes J. Michael Straczynski:
Between the physical changes to Peter that follow the aftermath of The Other, he gets a second power upgrade courtesy of the ‘Iron Spider’ suit from Stark. What he will discover is that with great power comes not just responsibility but one heck of a price tag. Peter will have to decide if he can pay that price in loyalty to Tony, when the loyalty may cost him things he holds dearest. He will find himself caught in the middle of the Civil War, seeing all sides of the argument, but will be eventually forced to make a decision that will change both his life and the whole Marvel Universes.
One thing is for sure, it’s an exciting time to be a Spider-Man fan!
Tags: avengers, comic, comic book, comic books, comics, costume, iron man, marvel, marvel comics, new avengers, new costume, other, peter parker, powers, spider, spider-man, spiderman, stark, super powers, the other, tony stark
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9 Responses to “Spider-Man: The Other - New Powers Revealed”
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[...] OK… some searching of the blog-o-sphere has revealed this: Between the physical changes to Peter that follow the aftermath of The Other, he gets a second power upgrade courtesy of the ‘Iron Spider’ suit from Stark. What he will discover is that with great power comes not just responsibility but one heck of a price tag. Peter will have to decide if he can pay that price in loyalty to Tony, when the loyalty may cost him things he holds dearest. He will find himself caught in the middle of the Civil War, seeing all sides of the argument, but will be eventually forced to make a decision that will change both his life and the whole Marvel Universes. [...]
[...] I just read Amazing Spider-Man #530 and there were new features to talk about in the new costume. [...]
Spiderman 3 will be cool. Any one want to estimate,how much it will get in Box Office?
[...] Never in my life have I felt so passionately unhappy about a comic. In general even when they are bad they still offer something. Since the conclusion of The Other series, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has become increasingly worse. Peter David is an embarrassment to Marvel, and is greatly tarnishing the Spider-Man name. I was able to tolerate #5 - “Web Log”, even though it seemed out of order in the continuity and certainly took concentration away from Spider-Man. The two issue story “Masks” was uninteresting and I thought I’d be glad to start the next series. This is when things go from bad to gouge my eyes out, burn the comic, and pray the clone saga has not re-emerged bad. Yes, I said it, Peter David’s stories are worse than the mid-90s clone saga. [...]
[...] I had to wake my wife up to read that one page panel. This was a crazy conclusion that was clear to be one of the most significant events in the history of Spider-Man. This rivals the death of Gwen Stacy or his marriage to Mary Jane. It obliterates the new costumes and recent power changes. This is an event that cannot be taken back and changes the stories for the entire future of Spider-Man. [...]
[...] As for Spider-Man/Peter Parker, I always felt as though he was protestant, but I couldn’t put a finger on it. Seeing all the evidence clearly laid out was an interesting viewing. The image included above comes from Amazing Spider-Man #494. The scene occurs as Peter and Mary Jane reunite after a temporary seperation. This scene strikes deeply for me considering the current talk that MJ may get killed in or as a result of Civil War. Personally I hope this doesn’t happen. Between The Other and deciding to unmask, Peter is going through enough. [...]
cool new latent abilities… about that stickiness all over.. i bet he can climb buildings with using his ass.
[...] Amazing Spider-Man this was a big year for Spider-Man. He died and was reborn with new powers in The Other, he got the new iron spidey costume from Tony Stark, he revealed his identity in response to the registration act in Civil War, and as most recently switched sides and gone on the run. A banner year for Mr. Parker and J. Michael Straczynski has done a good job towing us along through all of this. [...]
Well… it seems that “the other” story arc was abruptly stopped by the “civil war” wall!!!! we haven’t read anything about spidey’s new powers neither the pre-civil war time, nor today. Please, don’t let a good story being flushed out.