Amazing Spider-Man

Amazing Spider-Man 96-98, 121-122

The Death of Gwen Stacy.  Unlike the Stan Lee Fantastic Four, this really holds up.  Its status as a classic holds up, not just from an ideas/plot standpoint, but from an execution one as well.  Even knowing how it's going to end, I was still enthralled and reading as fast as I could. Her death does not get any easier, no matter how many times I read it.  

The trade that I read these issues in also included an epilogue by JM DeMatteis and John Romita Sr.  I don't know when it originally appeared. Peter Parker recalls the last date he went on with Gwen. He fully acknowledges that his memory may have exaggerated the perfection of that night and their final kiss.  

“And maybe I’m still trying to find meaning - and some long-sought consolation - where none really exists.  But it really doesn’t matter. Because if I choose to believe that’s how it was - then that’s how it was.”

And who are any of us to deny him that?

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Good

Tangled Web

Tangled Web 4

Tangled Web was a Spider-Man anthology series.  It allowed writers to tell tales where Spider-Man played merely a tangential role.  Kind of like Gotham Central for Batman. I bought it sporadically, based on the creative team involved for each arc.  (I’m sad that I missed out on the Ennis/McCrea three-parter.)

Greg Rucka and Eduardo Risso produce a masterpiece in issue four.  The hook is simple: One of the Kingpin’s top lieutenants botches a weapons deal.  He knows that the punishment for this is death. He accepts it with equanimity, and walks to his execution with his back straight and his head held high.  He proves his loyalty to the end, and is rewarded with his family’s lives. It’s all very Godfather, where everything is strictly business.

The excellence is in the execution - The way the man meticulously showers, shaves, and dresses for his final night.  His calmness as his wife rages against the injustice. The way he tucks his children in for the last time. His reasoned discussion with his boss.  

All of this is equally visualized by Risso and Steve Buccellato on colors.  I especially lik his final walk to the Kingpin’s office. He’s so alone and dwarfed by his surroundings.  It reminds me a lot of Mr. Banks’ lonely walk at the end of Mary Poppins.

I'll use any excuse to show Mary Poppins here.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Really Good

Tangled Web 11, 21

The Darwyn Cooke issues.  Just about anything this man works on is magic.  (Twilight Children is the exception.) He’s as good of a writer as he is a penciller, and both of these one-shots are pure delights.  

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Good

Tangled Web 5-7, 12, 18

The rest of my Tangled Web issues aren’t good enough to keep.  Issues 5 and 6 places the Rhino in a Flowers for Algernon scenario.  I dislike the original story and I disliked this as well. It’s not the fault of the stories, I just find the whole premise depressing and horrible to contemplate from a “this is just about the meanest thing you can do to a person” standpoint.  It’s exactly why I find Alzheimer’s to be the worst disease in the world.

Though I did find this amusing.  (The chimp had the same intelligence-boosting procedure as the Rhino, and had become a classical music conductor.)

Issue 7 is the start of a Daredevil Born Again situation - A cab driver knows Spidey’s secret and is tempted to sell it for financial gain.  At least it’s not for another drug fix, it’s to pay for cancer treatment. But I didn’t care or stay around long enough to see how it ended.

Issue 12 is an interesting examination of how it sucks to be a D-list villain’s kid.  

I don’t know what the fuck Ted McKeever was thinking with issue 18.  Spellcheck? It’s so batshit crazy that on second thought, I need to keep it around.  I can’t forget about this issue.

We do, Spellcheck.  We do.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine (Cutting all but 18)

Spider-Man/Black Cat, Spider-Man: Blue

Not from anything I read, I just found this while searching for images and fell in love.

Spider-Man and Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do 1-5

Rape and other forms of sexual abuse are rarely addressed in mainstream superhero comics, and I commend Kevin Smith for tackling the subject.  But it reads very after-school special, and so it doesn’t have the same impact that I imagine it could have.

Terry Dodson’s art is wonderful to look at as usual, but his good girl style is an odd choice given the dark topic.  

I have zero idea of how to rate this book.  Calling it “Fine” or “Nice” doesn’t seem appropriate.  So new category. “Huh.” will be used for titles like this that defy conventional ratings.  It’s not bad, not good. Just...huh.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Huh.

Spider-Man: Blue 1-6

I know The OC came after this was published, and it’s not like the “two girls fighting over a guy” is the newest trope in the world, but my main question reading this was, “When did Peter Parker become Seth Cohen?”  A social pariah suddenly becomes the focus of two beautiful women when they discover the strength of his character.

Tale as old as...at least these three.

Peter's in over his head.

So is Seth.

Not the only time Seth found himself in a Spidey situation.

The majority of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s story is entertaining enough.  It’s way better than their Hulk and Captain America, maybe a little better than their Daredevil.  Sale draws a very lumpy Spider-Man, but it works here.

So many bumps and lumps.

His Gwen Stacy is a lot more femme fatale than I normally picture her.

A lot more Veronica than Betty here.

His Norman Rockwellian home scenes are as idyllic as ever.

And he recreates a couple of iconic panels that, while unnecessary, still speak to the geek in my heart.

But it’s the last few pages that really took that heart and squeezed it for all it’s worth.  

*Sigh*

That kiss caps six issues worth of longing and build-up, and the poignancy is magnified by Peter’s flashback narration.  The joy of that kiss is laced with the sadness of her upcoming death, and Peter will never be able to separate the two.

Even more amazing are the final two pages.  MJ hears Peter talking to the ghost of his first true love, and doesn’t react with any hint of jealousy or anger.  There’s only love and understanding for both her husband and her friend long gone. She knows that both Peter and herself are the people they are today, are together as a committed couple, because of Gwen Stacy.  It’s beautiful.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty Good

Solo

Solo

I went into this with absolutely no positive expectations whatsoever.  Han was never my favorite part of the Star Wars universe, while taking nothing away from Harrison Ford’s iconic performance.

Let’s start there.  I compared everything Alden Ehrenreich did on screen to my mental image of how Ford would have looked.  Which isn’t really fair to Ehrenreich, but Ford defined that role in a way that other recast actors in the universe did not; My mind didn’t have the same problems watching Ewan McGregor play a young Alec McGuinness, or Donald Glover nail Billy Dee Williams’ Lando.  

It also didn’t help that Ehrenreich looks like a cross between Leonardo DiCaprio and Emile Hirsch.  So my brain was really processing Leo and Hirsch playing Ehrenreich playing Ford playing Solo.

Emilia Clarke was her usual looks-vulnerable-but-makes-you-regret-fucking-with-her self.  (I also liked her as Sarah Connor, despite the public reaction to Terminator: Genisys.)

They will all mess you up.

Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca stole the show.  His physicality communicated everything the audience needed to know.  He’s a fine successor to Peter Mayhew.

Tangent: Why does everyone, even Han, treat Chewie like a second class citizen?  Chewbacca’s always relegated to the role of porter, carrying all of the heavy equipment and trailing a few steps behind everyone else.  He rarely walks side by side with Han, as you would imagine a partner would. People usually talk as if he’s not in the room and his opinion doesn’t matter.  Just because he doesn’t speak your language doesn’t mean he’s stupid. He deserves better treatment. And a medal. He deserves that, too.

That gripe did nothing to diminish my excitement at seeing Han and Chewie take the controls of the Falcon for the first time.  

Chills.  Chills, I tell you.

Not a fan of hearing Wookieespeak coming out of Han’s mouth.  After the initial amusement, it just sounded stupid.

L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) had her moments of humor, but her revolutionary schtick was a little too obvious and in-your-face at times.  

Ray Park (Darth Maul) must have been thrilled beyond belief when Lucasfilm came calling again.  I’m sure he thought Darth Maul would have opened tons of doors back in 1999, but that was not to be the case.  I hope this leads to more appearances for him in future Solo movies.

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.  Standard summer blockbuster fare, but with the added bonus of the best IP ever.  

Regret Watching: No

Would Watch Again: Yes

Would Buy: No

Rating: Nice

Amazing Fantasy, Amazing Spider-Man Annual, Spider-Man Unlimited

Amazing Fantasy 16-18

Kurt Busiek fills in the gap between Amazing Fantasy 15 and Spider-Man 1.  

Once again, I’m left wondering why this was so much more effective than DeFalco’s Spider-Girl and Latour’s Spider-Gwen.  A cursory examination suggests that the narration might have something to do with it. Busiek relies heavily on Peter’s inner monologue, and it uses it to great effect in exposing his inner turmoil in dealing the the aftermath of his uncle’s death (and all the other stresses that come with being a social outcast a school and brand new powers).  

DeFalco’s second person narrator automatically distances the reader from Mayday Parker.  Latour only uses captions sporadically, making it a lot harder to get into Gwen’s head.

But that can’t entirely be it.  It’s not like I can’t tell what’s going on in Mayday or Gwen’s head, but I still don’t sympathize with them as much.  I don’t care about their struggles as much as I do Peter’s (and Miles in Bendis’ Spider-Man). Why??? It gets added to the list of things to explore someday.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Nice

Amazing Spider-Man Annual 15

I clearly bought this for the art, with Frank Miller and Klaus Janson taking a break from their Daredevil chores to draw this Spidey/Punisher/Doctor Octopus (?!?) slugfest.  Seriously, Doc Ock? Such an odd matchup for the Punisher. The story by Dennis O’Neil is fine. His dialogue actually reads a lot like Miller’s, I would have been fooled if you’d told me Miller had written it.  

O'Neil's dialog.

Miller's.  In this case, there's something similar about the rhythm of talking over the guy in the background.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Fine

Spider-Man Unlimited 12

I bought this to support Tom Beland, who wrote the second story in this anthology (of two).  

There’s nothing memorable about the first tale, by Christos Gage.  Spider-Man fights Stilt-Man then tries to help Big Wheel turn a new leaf.  (Big Wheel finds his proper place in the world on the monster truck circuit, by the way.)   

Beland’s story fares far better.  It eschews any kind of fighting, and focuses on the importance of inspiration and education in children’s lives.  Peter Parker calls on his fellow heroes to assist him in ensuring that one of his students doesn’t head down the wrong path after his parents are murdered.  

All they do is talk to the kid.  And it makes all the difference. Peter is stunned by the generosity and emotional honesty that all of his friends exhibit, and Beland successfully transfers that awe to me as well.  By emphasizing the humanity of the Marvel superheroes, Beland crafted a touching Spider-Man short story.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Nice

Spider-Gwen, One-Punch Man

One-Punch Man 1

I bought One-Punch Man last week because I was at the local bookstore (there are so few left nowadays!) and wanted to support it by purchasing something.  For some reason, I settled upon this. I’d heard good things about it (though I can’t recall from where…), so why not?

Meh.  Standard action manga art.  Over the top monsters with generic designs.  The conceit of a hero who’s bored because he kills everything with one punch is intriguing to me, but after seeing it in action, I’m as uninterested as Saitama.  There’s no point to any of the fights. One the writer, doesn’t even pay lip services to the concept of an overarching plot. I’m all for getting right to the fighting, but you’d better impress if you do.  (Dragonball is the number one example that comes to mind.) One-Punch Man does not.

I do love his look, though.  The bald head, the ridiculous costume, and the expressionless face amuse me.  

Edge of the Spider-Verse 2, Spider-Gwen 1-5

The costume.  Spider-Gwen is all about that amazing, unbelievably cool costume.  I love that it’s Gwen Stacy beneath the mask, but it could be anyone and I’d still have given this title a shot.  

Robbi Rodriguez

Cliff Chiang

Everything about it sings to me:

1. The hoodie!  It all starts with the hoodie and the red web lining.
2. Combined with the white mask, it creates an eerieness that’s very much in contrast to Gwen Stacy’s sweetness.  
3. The solid white upper top in stark juxtaposition to the black bottom half.  
4. Defying all sense, teal boots.  So perfect.  

I can look at this thing all day.

J Scott Campbell

Kris Anka

Which makes it so sad that the comic itself isn’t more interesting.  It’s not all that different from Spider-Girl. It’s a little more focused on her battles with the local villains, as opposed to school/family drama, but that’s about it.  

Comparing them to another teenaged Spidey, why do the adventures of Miles Morales succeed where these sputter?  Bendis is the obvious answer, but is that the only one? Something to consider. Anyway. I don’t own any more issues after this trade, and I’m still not interested in reading more.  But I will keep on looking at the pretty pictures and buying the statues.

Own it.

Buying it.

Sara Pichelli.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Fine

Spider-Girl

Spider-Girl 14, 17-19, 21-23, 26, 37, 51

The rest of the DeFalco issues read the same as yesterday’s - Perfectly serviceable and entire forgettable.  There’s nothing there that I can’t get anywhere else for a decent superhero fix. I’m cutting the whole collection, with the exception of issue 51.  Sean McKeever writes that issue, and it showcases the sensibility that he’ll go on to provide for the Mary Jane titles a couple of years later.

Issue 51 speaks way too closely to my own experiences growing up.  I was that same shy kid, in love with a girl and ill-equipped to properly handle my feelings.  I, too, utilized the method of writing multiple letters that I would never send to her. At least that was better than the times I actually delivered them, I suppose - There are fewer things more horrifying in retrospect than the 3 AM email where you actually hit the Send button.

Which isn’t to say that I regret that time of my life.  I needed to get through that phase in order to reach the next, the one where I learned that self-confidence is a lot more attractive than the lovelorn mooning that looks so romantic in the movies.  The one where you should make sure there’s some sort of mutual attraction before devoting your every waking moment to winning her love. The one where you should leave her alone after she tells you she’s not interested.  Persistent grand gestures is a lot more creepy in real life.

Yet even as I recognize the futility of the boy’s letter, I also see the purity of his feelings.  As foolish as his love may be, his heart is good and his intent is true. Love Actually got a lot of stuff wrong, but I firmly believe that it nailed this one:

Ahem.  Clearly McKeever tapped into something with this issue.  It’s definitely something that I haven’t gotten in any other comic book, and for that, it gets my highest appreciation.    

Regret buying? Yes

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine (Cutting everything but 51)

For Issue 51:

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Major Feels

Spider-Girl, Invincible Iron Man

Invincible Iron Man 600

What a mess.  Bendis crams a bunch of random events together into his final issue, none of which are very interesting.  There’s no closure, but he never made me care enough about anything these threads to really want any. He does himself no favors by having AI Tony Stark call it out:  “I love the chaos. I love knowing as much as I know...and not knowing what is going to happen next.” Mission accomplished, you left this title in chaos.

But let’s not forget that Bendis gave us Riri.  That’s enough for me out of this title.

Thank you for her, Bendis.

Spider-Girl 2-5, 9, 11-13

I really have zero idea why I bought such a huge chunk of this title.  I must have gotten an amazing deal on them. I haven’t even read any of these issues ever, so this won’t technically be a re-read.  

Like Spider-Gwen, this title spun out of a one-shot appearance (What If?, in this case).  Like Spider-Gwen, it’s a take on a teen-aged, female Spidey. And like Spider-Gwen (which I’ll be reading immediately after Spider-Girl), it’s okay.  It’s very much of a bygone era, when even the complicated life of a budding hero (parents, school drama, homework, and villains of the month) can be sorted out in 22 pages.  It feels almost quaint, like an all-ages title. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Tom DeFalco’s execution is spot on. He’s painting by the numbers, but it’s still a fine looking work at the end of the day.  And the actual art by Pat Olliffe hearkens back to that earlier time as well, very Marvel house style.

DeFalco makes the very interesting choice of writing his narration in omniscient second person.  I can’t recall another instance of it in comic books, and it really stands out.

The time travel story in issue 11 where May meets her teen-aged parents is cliche, but makes for some really nice moments nonetheless.

Ratings after I finish reading all the DeFalco issues, I don’t expect the quality to shift from issue to issue.

Silver Surfer

Silver Surfer 4

A classic cover by John Buscema.

The issue itself is full of much Stan Lee ado about nothing.  Loki constructs the most byzantine plot he can to kill Thor, eventually tricking Surfer into attacking the Thunder God.  Loki Iago’s his dupes into conflict, magically whispering his poisons into their ears. When Surfer realizes he’s been manipulated, Loki teleports him back to Earth.  End of issue. Sooooo after all that, everybody ends up as they started, none the wiser. While most comics end with the status quo maintained, this one feels egregiously pointless.  If the goal was to show a Thor/Surfer fight with no consequences, why waste all that time on setup? Why leave only 6 pages for the fight? Good thing it was so pretty.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine

Silver Surfer 1-2

Moebius draws the Silver Surfer, thus providing the impetus for this classic scene.  

I have very little exposure to Moebius’ work.  This might actually be the only thing of his that I have in my collection.  From what I’ve seen, I’m a fan. His reputation might, in fact, be well earned. In defiance of Denzel, I prefer him to Kirby on this character. 

Moebius

Moebius

Kirby.  

As I read these two issues, I could not believe that Stan Lee wrote it.  It lacks his signature flair, and there was an economy and elegance to his words that I had not seen from him before.  On top of that, his story about blindly following leaders still rings true thirty years later. Even if it is a bit too on the nose.  It have been too much to expect Stan to change completely.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Fine

Silver Surfer 75

A very early addition to my comic collection.  This one gets a Major Feels rating, I can’t measure it objectively.  This issue’s a well executed fight sequence with beautiful art by Ron Lim.  He was at his best on this title. Tom Vincent’s colors have a lot to do with it too.  

A kaleidoscope of colors, perfect for a cosmic title.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Major Feels

Silver Surfer 123

I think I bought this because it was Ron Garney’s next stop after his first stint with Mark Waid on Captain America.  He does an amazing Surfer, very reminiscent of Moebius’. But the plot bores, and I’m not sorry that I stopped with this issue.

So smooth, so graceful.

Not from the issue, but I find it gorgeous.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine