By Jerk-Bot and Kill-Tacular-Tron
If you think it’s been rough to be Peter Parker in recent years, it’s been just as rough to be a fan of the beloved Marvel Comics character and his superhero alter ego, Spider-Man.
A third movie in Sam Raimi’s cinematic trilogy, 2007’s bloated, bizarro “Spider-Man 3,” made money. But audiences were left scratching their heads as to what they’d seen … the movie nearly undid all the good it’s two, infinitely better predecessors did.
And in the hands of writer J. Michael Straczynski and co-plotter/artist (and Marvel Comics chief) Joe Quesada, a disastrous story line titled “One More Day” not only broke up Spidey and his seemingly perpetual lady love Mary Jane Watson, it turned many longtime fans off. (Even once the exact nature of the plot machinations was revealed, the story turned out to be a failure.)
That’s “Ultimate” version, which celebrated 100-plus, very successful issues under the direction of writer Brian Michael Bendis. That was before Bendis had to reboot the title and dig out his characters from “Ultimatum,” a similarly disastrous, “Ultimate” universe crossover directed by another writer (the hit-and-miss … mostly miss … Jeph Loeb).
Luckily, this is the ideal time to come back to the Spidey fold. There’s a new movie in the works from ironically named “(500) Days of Summer” director Marc Webb and a trio of screenwriters … titled “The Amazing Spider-Man” … that promises to bring the characters and the story back to the basics. (British actor Andrew Garfield is replacing Tobey Maguire in the webbed suit.)
The comics have taken their own interesting directions as well. BRS!’s own Jerk-Bot makes his case for readers to check out the “616” (traditional) version of the character … in the long-running “Amazing Spider-Man” title … while Kill-Tacular-Tron takes on the “Ultimate” version.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (published twice a month, $3.99)
WHO’S IN CHARGE THESE DAYS? Dan Slott (writer); Humberto Ramos, Stefano Caselli and Marcos Martin (artists).
WHAT’S CHANGED? With the end of the three-times-monthly “Brand New Day” directive has come the infinitely better, twice-monthly “Big Time” directive. Gone is the loser-at-love-and-mostly-everything-else version of Peter Parker. He’s now working at a job he loves, as a scientist and researched for a “thinktank” of like minds, run by eccentric billionaire Max Modell. And while he’s no longer with Mary Jane Watson, Peter has a steady girlfriend, forensic scientist Carlie Cooper. He’s even “related” to his nemesis J. Jonah Jameson, since Peter’s Aunt May married Jonah’s father.
WHAT’S GOOD? Slott gets fun and funny. (His “She-Hulk” series is well-worth finding. Trust me.) He certainly gets the character and knows what’s funny (and what is not about the character). For the first time in a long time, “Amazing” actually lives up to its billing.
This is also, arguably, the best art team in many a moon. And there are a variety of styles being employed. Ramos has an exaggerated, either cartoonish or manga-ish, style, Caselli’s art is more grounded and realistic, and Martin has been called by many the Second Coming of Spidey co-creator Steve Ditko. (If you don’t believe the hype, buy issue #655, a trippy, sometimes dialogue-free tale that has many calling Martin a sure award winner.)
WHAT’S BAD? As with everything coming from the Big Two publishers, ASM occasionally “crosses over.” Upcoming issues will tie into the “new” “FF” monthly title, as well as the “Avengers” books … Spidey is now a member of both teams … and the big “Fear Itself” event book will have repercussions as well.
Also, a “point-one” issue existed solely to launch a new “Venom” monthly series. (Believe it or not, it’s Peter’s former nemesis and now pal Flash Thompson who’s wearing the alien symbiote.)
IN CONCLUSION: The first story line in “Big Time” (issues 648-651, which are now in trade paperback form) was so good that sales are actually up again, and the good word of mouth spreading. You should try it now. If you love Spidey as much as we do, at least …
ULTIMATE COMICS: SPIDER-MAN (published once a month, $3.99)
WHO’S IN CHARGE THESE DAYS? Brian Michael Bendis (writer); David Lafuente, Sara Pichelli, Takeshi Miyazawa and Chris Samnee (artists).
WHAT’S CHANGED? In August 2009 the Ultimate Spider-Man series was relaunched as Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, picking up after the events of the previously mentioned Ultimatum event. Unlike Peter’s 616 counterpart, more and more people know about his alter ego. Keeping a secret identity isn’t nearly as easy as you would think. Currently Aunt May’s home is more of a halfway house for super hero teenagers. Bobby Drake, Johnny Storm, Gwen Stacy and Kitty Pride know about Parker’s night life, as well as live with him and his aunt. And the latest entry in people that know who Parker is the most shocking yet. J. Jonah Jameson.
WHAT’S GOOD? Everything? Is it okay to say everything? Seriously, every time someone nags that creator-owned books are the only way to go, and super hero books are “boring and repetitive” I bring up this book. Always fresh and full of new twists and turns. One of my recent favorites? Peter Parker being subject to “Super Hero School”.
Carol Danvers has a meeting with the Ultimates (Captain America, Thor and Iron Man) to discuss what to do with Spider-Man. Namely the amount of collateral damage he’s doing. Parker will stop a diamond thief with $11,000 in stolen jewelry, but cause $2.7 million dollars in property damage. The Ultimates all share stories about Spider-Man and what they think of him. Afterward it is put to a vote whether or not he will be forced to retire until he’s of age. This leads me to the possibly bad side of this story.
WHAT’S BAD? Well, the big thing right now in the Ultimate universe is the “Death of Spider-Man” crossover. I highly doubt they will kill off Parker. In my opinion, Spider-Man is the flag ship character for the Ultimate Comics. I’m pretty sure it’s just going to be a play on words. I think fellow ‘bot Kiley’s theory is the most likely. Ironman’s got a brain tumor, and he’s been getting really buddy buddy with Parker, even giving him new web shooters as a birthday present. It seems as though Marvel is setting it up for Tony to step down, and Peter to take the helm as Iron Man. Maybe.
Similar to what Jerk-Bot had brought up, it can be really irritating (and obvious) when Marvel tries to shove some big event down our throats to get sales up. It generally feels forced and hardly ever helps the title.
IN CONCLUSION: I’ve always really enjoyed Ultimate Spider-Man, but in the last thirty or so issues I have fallen in love with it. When I worked at the comic shop and people would ask me the best way to get into X-Men or Spider-Man, I’d point them to the Ultimate trade paper backs. Marvel keeps them in print, and they are hard to put down. Plus, Bendis tends to write for the trade, so reading them this way is highly beneficial.
Jerk-Bot is the robotic nom de plume or Utah-based writer/reviewer Jeff Michael Vice. He would like you to listen to him rant about movies and other geeky stuff on both the Geek Show Podcast and the Mediocre Show , as well as watch him review movies on the Big Movie Mouth-Off .
Kill-Tacular-Tron spends his days running Ackley Design LLC. giving small businesses a face. His nights are spent screaming at people he doesn’t know on Xbox LIVE.