Spider-Man: Identity Revealed
June 19, 2006 | 6 Comments
As a side effect of needing to choose a side in Marvel’s Civil War event, Spider-Man has been put in a position where he needs to reveal his identity to side with Iron Man’s pro-registration views, or become a criminal with Captain America and the other super heroes who are anti-registration.
Amazing Spider-Man #532 is the big lead in to his monumental decision. They brilliantly cover the topic from many angles as Peter Parker and family explore the many facets of his character. In the end, Peter has made his decision, he’s going to run. Until Aunt May meets him on the way out the door. To her their is clearly no option about the decision he has made, he will reveal himself, she believes more in his character than he does. This is the last bit of reassurance he needs to make the hard decision. It then cuts to him at the press conference with Tony Stark who has already made clear his identity Iron Man connection. The final frame of this issue was exhilarating. In his classic red and blue costume Spider-Man steps to the podium and says: “Hi, good morning. Thank you for coming. I’m standing here today because… well, because… I have an announcement to make.”
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 a fan, I feel a little mixed about it. In many ways I hate to see some of the old formula modified. In other ways I’m happy to see them do it in a way that can’t be taken back. I can clearly see how this spins all new fresh stories and excitement for Spider-Man.
Civil War #2 hits shelves this week and is being clearly promoted by Marvel as the issue where Peter reveals himself as Spider-Man. Following issues are being unified under the Spider-Man Unmasked event title. The major media has latched onto this story and its actually gotten coverage on CNN, MTV, NY Times, USA Today and more. It’s fun to see printed comics find their way into main stream media occasionally. Usually that honor is reserved for comic based movies…
Immediate repercussions I expect to see will hopefully answer some age old questions. What will J. Jonah Jameson’s reaction be? How Peter’s school sees him when he returns as their teacher. How will newly hired gym teacher and former bully/biggest Spider-Man fan Flash Thompson react? How will this effect the daily lives of Mary Jane and Aunt May? How does this fit into the larger Civil War story arc? Can Peter finally be less poor? Will Spider-Man be less hated by the public?
It’s an exciting time to be a Marvel fan and definitely great to be a Spider-Man fan.
Tags: aunt may, civil war, comic, comic books, comics, costume, fan, flash thompson, gwen stacy, iron man, j jonah jameson, marvel, mary jane, powers, secret identity, spider-man, spider-man unmasked, spiderman, tony stark, unmasked
Spider-Man: The Other - New Powers Revealed
February 14, 2006 | 9 Comments
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
New Avengers, New Comics Legend
November 23, 2005 | 5 Comments
Over the last few months of reading Amazing Spider-Man, a continually running core plot point has been his membership in a newly reformed Avengers. Never having been a huge Avengers fan, I wasn’t initially very interested, but this interest has slowly increased.
I just completed reading New Avengers Volume 1: Breakout, which collects New Avengers #1-6. After completing this, I was hooked. The writing was just all out fantastic. I hadn’t been this excited about a comic since the Ultimate Spider-Man Collection. It was then it hit me.
Bendis wrote Ultimate Spider-Man, and he also wrote New Avengers. In fact it was him who dissolved the original Avengers. That series has been compiled in the aptly named Avengers Disassembled.
Bendis has also been involved in writing Daredevil, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four. In the meantime he created and wrote Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Secret War, Alias, Powers, and House of M. He’s also responsible for bringing Spider-Woman and Luke Cage back to life.
I’m looking forward to getting my hands on as many Bendis written stories as I can. As far as I’m concerned he’s a living legend like Stan Lee, Frank Miller, Jack Kirby, or Steve Ditko. In 5-10 years all the comics based movies will be driven by the characters and worlds Bendis is creating and expanding right now.
Tags: alias, amazing spider-man, avengers, bendis, book, breakout, brian michael bendis, comic, comic book, comic books, comics, daredevil, fan, fantastic four, frank miller, house of m, jack kirby, marvel, marvel team-up, new avengers, powers, secret war, spider-man, spider-woman, spiderman, stan lee, steve ditko, ultimate, ultimate fantastic four, ultimate spider-man, ultimate x-men, ultimates, x-men