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.

According to the Huffington Post, we finally have some concrete proof on who Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man will be facing in the upcoming franchise reboot The Amazing Spider-Man. C. Thomas Howell, who has been cast for the movie, spilled the beans on some of the movie’s plot on the Retro Radio podcast. If you want to avoid potential plot spoilers, skip this part, in a nutshell, he revealed the Lizard to be appearing in the movie as one of the villains, though it is unknown if he’s the only villain. Regardless, here’s what Howell had to say:

“There is not a whole lot to talk about. Sony wants us to be hush-hush right now. I play a relatively small role. I play a construction worker who’s son is caught in the middle of a battle between the Lizard and Spider-Man on the Manhattan bridge. Spider-Man helps me get my son back from this perilous situation. There is some payback there at the end of the movie. Spider-man is kind of hurting. I help him when all of the other people won’t. Part of the story is, the nation thinks he might be a bad guy. They don’t know what to think. Because of my experience on the bridge with my kid, I know he is a good guy. I pitch in and help out at the end. That is the best way.”

So there you have it. It seems they’re really going to play up the “Spider-Man: Hero or Menace” angle, which is pretty refreshing to me. In the Raimi movies, that kind of went on the back burner, what with Spidey being New York’s hero and getting the key to the city and all that. As to what the movie Lizard will look like, no news on that front yet, but here’s a concept from DeviantArt member MalottPro to whet your appetite.

This week I am writing about the newest issue of one of my all time favorite comic books; Ultimate Spider-Man. The newest issue, out this week, is #155. It is a prelude issue to the Death of Spider-Man, which is pretty much another ploy from Marvel to get people off their asses and buy some comic books.

But I digress, back to issue #155, and like I state in all of my reviews, SPOILER ALERT! This issue starts out with Peter getting fired from his job because he was missing a lot of work when he fights crime. Peter hangs his head in shame and walks out the door only to get a call from J. Jonah Jameson telling him they need to talk. For people not keeping up with the series, Jameson has found out that Peter Parker is actually Spider-Man when Peter and him were kidnapped by the Chameleon. Jameson ended up getting shot in the head, leading readers to believe he would lose his memories of Peter’s secret identity, but Jameson and his memories survived. Since then, he has had the Daily Bugle writing stories in Spider-Mans favor instead of blasting him. The fact that Jameson calls Peter out of the blue got me pretty excited as I had almost forgotten he knew about Peter and I am now ready to see where this story goes.

The majority of the issue takes place in Jameson’s office at the Daily Bugle where he has a heart to heart with Peter. It is revealed that Jameson would have died if the bullet had been three centimeters to the right. Because of this, he feels he owes a debt to Peter. This is a new side to Jameson we have not seen before; a man searching his soul for the right thing to do. Of course, his first initial reaction was to out Peter in the Daily Bugle knowing damn well this would bring more business, but after much contemplation, he decided this would not be the wisest choice.

Jameson decides he wants to do something for the boy who saved his life and asks Peter what he would like. All Peter asks for is to get his old job back working for the Daily Bugles website, but on the condition that he can miss a day or two or three when he must be out doing his good deeds as Spider-Man. Jameson does not believe that Peter’s request is anything special and asks Peter why he wants a job when he has such powers. Peter simply states that with all he can do, it will never pay his bills and he would like to go to college someday. Hearing this, Jameson states he will pay Peter’s way through college, but that is not what Peter wants. Like a sucker, he wants to earn the money himself. Jameson really seems like he wants to help Peter so he agrees to give him his job back with a hefty pay raise and opens Peter a college scholarship. But what would a story be without a catch.

Jameson states to Peter he just wants one thing in return – the Daily Bugle gets all exclusive story rights to Spider-Man stories. With a shake of the hands Peter agrees and then leaves. As he is heading home, he comes across a fight between another costumed hero and a bunch of crooks on roller blades. Spider-Man swings in to help save the day and discovers the costumed hero is none other than Kitty Pryde, formally of the X-Men. A while back, she had been revealed as a mutant (a crime in the Ultimate universe now) and ever since has been in hiding. After the fight is won, Peter talks her in to coming home to see Booby Drake (Iceman), Johnny Storm (the Human Torch), and Gwen Stacey, whom are all living with Peter and Aunt May. Just one big happy family. Kitty Pryde decides to go home with him and they walk into a surprise birthday party for Peter (his 16th). The party is a great success. When Mary Jane gets a private moment with Peter she hands him Tony Stark’s gift, a pair of newly redesigned web shooters.

In last month’s podcast, we discussed some theories on how the ‘death’ of Spider-Man was going to go down. My own personal theory was that Marvel won’t kill off their huge money maker (even if it is only in the Ultimate universe), but that they would kill Tony Stark and have Peter Parker take over as Iron Man. Essentially, this would “kill off” Spider-Man. After reading this issue, I believe my theory is soon to be fact!

In conclusion, Brain Michael Bendis, who has written Ultimate Spider-Man since the beginning, has always been a favorite of mine. For a while there he was pumping out dozens of comics each month and I have never been disappointed. Bendis has kept Ultimate Spider-Man at the top of my reading pile for years and I’m sure it will remain there for years to come. I will admit I miss Mark Bagley’s art, the artist for the first hundred plus issues, but for me it’s more about the story nowadays. I am finding that when the art in comics is great, it is just an added bonus.

If you haven’t checked out Ultimate Spider-man, do it! I guarantee you will not be disappointed. Now let’s get off our collective asses and buy some comic books.

This should be some expected news on the Spider-Man Broadway musical front. The NY Daily News is reporting that all preview showings of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark for the next two to three weeks have been cancelled to allow for some major “retooling” of the $65 million+ production. On top of that, director Julie Taymor is no longer involved in the musical, there’s been no confirmation on whether she quit or was fired.

Inside sources are also noting that the opening date for the Spider-Man musical – which was originally set for this coming Tuesday, March 15 – will be pushed back about another 3 months. If these reports are true this will mark the sixth time this ill-fated production has been delayed!

“Taymor is out. She’s left the building,” the source told The News.

Producers of the beleaguered $65 million play plan to shut down preview performances for two to three weeks to retool and hold new rehearsals, multiple sources told The News.

“I will say about these producers, they will do whatever it takes. They want a great show,” a member of the production staff said Tuesday night. “When others would have given up, they will not.”

Plans being worked out Tuesday also call for the show’s official opening night at the Foxwoods Theatre, scheduled for Tuesday, to be postponed for three months, according to the sources.

-NY Daily News

I have to say this about the Producers of this train wreck: They are nothing if not persistent in getting this musical to open. To me, this has just sounded like a horrid idea to begin with and the writers’, producers’, and director’s vision was just too big and elaborate for a live stage, but they have continued to press on despite injuries, rewriting, and nearly universal negative critic reviews. Apparently Glenn Beck is a huge fan – but I’ll let you go ahead and decide who you’re going to listen to: professional Broadway critics, or a loon who preys on the fears of the elderly and sheep-minded youth.

It may be the best thing to just let this die. Even if it ever does open, it looks like it could end up being just the biggest, most expensive, and widely publicized flop in the history of Broadway. Even shutting down production for a few weeks will cost more than a million dollars each day – so at what point does everyone who has invested their money just cut their losses and walk away? It will certainly be interesting to see how this drama plays out over the next several weeks and months. Hell, something tells me if someone is making a documentary about this production that will be far more entertaining than the actual musical will be . . .

Update/Contributor’s Note 03/09/11 – 11:30AM MT: In case I did not make it clear, these reports are coming from several sources close to the production. At the time of this story no official word has been given from the Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark production, nor from Julie Taymor. The only thing that is being said is the insistence that the production is experiencing good ticket sales:

“The production is not commenting on the most recent speculation about the show,” spokesperson Rick Miramontez told TODAY.com. “There are no canceled performances, and last night’s show was sold out.” – MSNBC

An official comment on all of this speculation is expected to come at some point today, and of course we will bring you that information as soon as it becomes available.

This week I am writing about a book I had given up reading a while back; Amazing Spider-Man. I decided to try the book one more time because Marvel has a new gimmick – the ‘.1’ numbering – which they believe new readers will see as the perfect jumping on point.I read Amazing Spider-Man, # 654.1. Right now, I will say that the biggest selling point for me was Humberto Ramos’ art in this issue. Outstanding! Now I want to give you a rundown of the story that goes with the art … Spoiler Alert!

We start off with a government controlled Venom and his host is none other than Flash Thompson. The venom suit portrayed in the book looks more like a military black-ops outfit; I thought it had a Spider-Man Noir vibe to it. So with this outfit, Flash/Venom infiltrates a big party filled with all kinds of rich socialites. With the symbiote turning itself into a tuxedo, Flash/Venom goes out on the dance floor with a beautiful woman, of course, and plants a symbiotic tracking device on her. Mission completed!

After the mission, back at Project: Rebirth HQ, the scientists use a “sonic purge” to separate the symbiote suit from Flash. It is at this point we learn that Flash has a 48 hour period of time before the symbiote suit starts to permanently bond with him and the government has various fail safes implanted into Flash in case the symbiote gets out of hand. Now that we know the government is keeping us safe, we see the symbiote suit being removed from Flash Thomspon – GASP! – he has no legs!

Now for the second mission for our legless wonder, the rescuing of a kidnapped banker who works for one of the Middle East’s largest oil company and this mission doesn’t go to well. During the rescue and eventual shoot-out, a grenade is thrown and blows off Flash/Venoms’ legs (his reaction to this leads me to believe that he lost his real legs in a similar fashion). It is at this moment when Venom rears his ugly head and shows his teeth, literally. The banker that was supposed to be saved by Venom is now a witness to a gruesome slaughter. Even better, while all of this is going down, the ‘Venom Wranglers’ have lost contact with the symbiote and have no idea what is going on. Venom and banker-man make it out alive and for some reason keep the secret of Venom’s incident to themselves (brown trousers time, anyone?). The people at Project: Rebirth have a feeling that something hinky is going on, but don’t know what. At the end of the issue, Flash goes home to his girlfriend, Betty (Brant I assume), who is upset that he has missed a funeral for a woman named Marla.

So that’s the basic rundown of this ‘.1’ issue. Seeing as I have not read an issue of Amazing Spider-Man in a few years, I wouldn’t say this was a “perfect jumping on point for new readers” by any means, but it was still a pretty decent one. The things I had questions about were things like; How did Flash loose his legs? How did Flash get involved with Project: Rebirth in the first place? Who the hell is Marla?! Minimal things that, I’m sure, will be answered as we continue to read the series, well, we hope will be answered.

The new Spider-Man film starring Andrew Garfield is attracting a lot of attention lately. Be it the new suit, or incredibly awkward-looking pictures of said suit, everyone is talking about it. One thing that hasn’t been mentioned as of yet is what will the new film be called? Well now, thanks to the Hollywood Reporter, it can be told. The title for the Spidey franchise reboot is officially The Amazing Spider-Man. I for one think that’s a great title, it was rumored to be the original working title for Spider-Man 2, and I’m glad they decided to use it. It still says “Spider-Man” without having the same name as the first Raimi movie. Also included was a new image of the full suit. UPDATE: Now with ultra hi-res picture.

It certainly looks better than when the lenses are missing, I must say! Let us know what you think!

The Spider-Man Broadway catastrophe musical , Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark opened it’s doors to critics yesterday . . . and it wasn’t pretty. I’m not familiar with Broadway reviews, but I would feel comfortable calling it a blood-bath.

This production has been wrought with delays, injuries, and a bloated budget and has been postponed more times than I care to recall. From day one I have had zero interest in making a trip to NYC to check out a Broadway musical about my favorite web-slinger, and I can say with 100% certainty now that any miniscule part of curiosity I had to maybe check this out is now gone. Yesterday (Feb. 7) was the date the musical was originally supposed to open, it has since been moved back to March 15, but it was the date critics were allowed to come in and see what is supposed to be the final product. Let’s take a look at what the critics had to say:

The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney called the show, directed by Julie Taymor and featuring songs by U2’s Bono and The Edge, “chaotic, dull and a little silly.”

“When this amount of time and money is tossed at a show, even demanding theatergoers should be awed, not bored,” he asserted.

New York Times critic Ben Brantley wrote, “Spider-Man is not only the most expensive musical ever to hit Broadway; it may also rank among the worst.”

“I’m not kidding. The sheer ineptitude of this show, inspired by the Spider-Man comic books, loses its shock value early. After 15 or 20 minutes, the central question you keep asking yourself is likely to change from ‘How can $65 million look so cheap?’ to ‘How long before I’m out of here?” he added.

Gawker’s Richard Lawson thinks the show can’t be saved, calling it, “really, truly horrendously and unfixably bad down to its bones.”

“The book is a travesty, the music is lazy and awful—it’s like listening to the scraps left on the floor after U2 recorded “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”—and the actors, including the voice-cracking lead Reeve Carney, are just not up to the vague, sloppy task set before them. If every flying element worked pretty much perfectly, as it did when I saw it, the show is still one of the worst things, if not the worst, I’ve ever seen on Broadway,” he added.

The Los Angeles Times’ Charles McNutly blames Taymor’s “run-amok direction” for the show’s downfalls.

“This is, after all, her vision, and it’s a vision that has been indulged with too many resources, artistic and financial… The investors of Spider-Man have inadvertently bankrolled an artistic form of megalomania. The book, by Taymor and Glen Berger, is an absolute farrago, setting up layers and subplots before the main narrative line has been established,” he wrote.

[Source: THR]

So, there you have it. What a lot of us were expecting seems to be proving to be true and this may turn out to be far and away the biggest bomb in Broadway history – taking a beloved superhero down with it.

If any of you readers out there have seen any of the preview shows and wish to share your point of view, drop me a line at tyson@bigshinyrobot.com and I’ll be happy to post your thoughts!

Do you have any desire to see Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark? Anyone out there surprised by these reviews?

We have seen a lot of pics come from the set of Marc Webb’s Spider-Man film – and they just keep rolling in.

By now we have all gotten a good look at the new costume, lines have been drawn, opinions have been set – but, now we get to see some photos of this Spider-Man in action! There are some reports rolling in that the man in this costume performing the “stunt” is indeed Peter Parker himself, Andrew Garfield, but there is no way to be 100% positive of this. Either way these are some pretty cool photos to check out!

Marc Webb’s untitled Spider-Man film hits theaters on July 3, 2012!

[Source: Daily Mail, HolyMoly]

Share your thoughts in the comments below!

On Location News have posted a slew of new photos from the set of Marc Webb’s Spider-Man reboot (if you couldn’t tell by the over-zealous use of watermarks)! These pictures give us the best look at the new Spider-Man suit to date, and I have decided I like it.

There seems to be a pretty solid line drawn in the geek community with regards to liking and hating the new Spidey suit. I like the new direction, it brings in a good mix of Ultimate Spider-Man, 2099 Spider-Man, and Classic Spider-Man to give us fans something new instead of just a rehash of the movie costume that came before it. I’m glad Webb and company have taken some liberties with the costume while still staying faithful to the “feel” of the original costume and I can’t wait to see it in action on the big screen. Even if you disagree and hate the costume, keep in mind that the most important thing is that it’s a solid movie – I firmly believe that if the script and acting are all great, those who hate the costume will be willing to overlook it, and maybe even come to like it! Marc Webb’s untitled Spider-Man film is set for release on July 3, 2012.

Enjoy the pictures below and feel free to share your thoughts on the costume in the comments below!

Starring Jeff Vice from MSN Entertainment and Jimmy Martin from SLUG Magazine (and both regular panelists on The Geek Show Podcast), the Big Movie Mouth-Off is produced and directed by Bryan Young (me) and Elias Pate from Big Shiny Robot! It appears on Xfinity On Demand in Utah and on Xfinity’s Channel 6, on line, and at Brewvies Cinema Pub.

You’ll want to friend the Big Movie Mouth-Off on Facebook, too, as they are constantly giving away passes to advanced screenings of all the newest films.

First we have the podcast:

The podcast features the stars and producers of The Big Movie Mouth-Off film review show, which appears here at Big Shiny Robot! and on Xfinity (Utah On Demand and Channel 6).  That lineup is: Jeff Vice from MSN Entertainment, Jimmy Martin from SLUG Magazine, and Bryan Young (me) and Elias Pate from Big Shiny Robot! and ShineBox Media Productions.

To download the latest episode from iTunes, follow this link .

There, you should rate and subscribe to the podcast.

This week, we cover:

• The Golden Globes
• The Batman casting news (Bane and Catwoman)
• X-Men First Class problems
• Spider-man
• Warner Brothers reboots
• Arnold Schwarzenegger is a free agent
• Sundance 2011 Preview

And now on to the reviews. First is The Green Hornet!

Then we have Rabbit Hole:

And finally, Season of the Witch

We’ll back later in the week with more reviews, and next week with the seventh episode of the podcast!