#Web of Spider-Man Reprint

[kingdomcomicscenter-blog]

[ewanb10]

Something crazy just happened, so I got spider man 2 (good game) and it's version 1.0??? After a year of it being out?!? How the h-e double fuck did this happen?

[dailydamnation]

Time Is a Flat Stepping Disc Part 80 The Illyana Rasputin timeline issue by issue

Web of Spider-Man Annual #2 Warlock does not sleep. Which causes some trouble when he watches TV loudly. Illyana gets cranky at her disturbed sleep, but while that makes her more blunt towards Warlock than she'd usually be, she still looks after her fellow stranger-in-a-strange-land, recognizing that he should learn from the world itzelf, not its depiction on TV.

Is it available on Marvel Unlimited: Yes Has it been reprinted in an Epic Collection: No

[dailyspiderplush]

Not Spider-Plush but still cool #2.

Arañita Super Historias, aka Spidey Super Stories. Spanish reprints of Spidey Super Stories, which means that some mexican kid out there has the first appearance of Web-Man in spanish. Couldn't find that cover, though.

[king-gob]

Ben Reilly Reading Order

A friend asked me for a reading order for Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider, and it turns out that is easier (MUCH easier) said than done.

Four and a half hours later, here it is. I figured I’d share it here as well, for anyone who might want it.

ORIGINAL CLONE SAGA Amazing Spider-Man #139-151

CLONE SAGA PRELUDES "Shrieking" - Amazing Spider-Man #390-393 "Live and Let Die" - Web of Spider-Man #113-116 "Beware the Rage of a Desperate Man" - Spider-Man #46-49 "The Predator and the Prey" - Spectacular Spider-Man #215-216 "Son of the Hunter" - Spider-Man #50

CLONE SAGA: ACT I (OF III) "Power and Responsibility/The Double" - Web of Spider-Man #117 - Amazing Spider-Man #394 - Spider-Man #51 - Spectacular Spider-Man #217 "The Exile Returns: Part One" - Web of Spider-Man #118 - Spider-Man #52 "Back from the Edge: Part One" - Amazing Spider-Man #395 - Spectacular Spider-Man #218 "Second-Rate Choices" - Spider-Man Unlimited #7 "The Exile Returns: Part Two" - Web of Spider-Man #119 - Spider-Man #53 "Back from the Edge: Part Two" - Amazing Spider-Man #396 - Spectacular Spider-Man #219 DETOUR: "Separation Anxiety" - Venom: Separation Anxiety #1-4 "Web of Life/Web of Death" - Web of Spider-Man #120 - Amazing Spider-Man #397 - Spider-Man #54 - Spectacular Spider-Man #220 - Amazing Spider-Man #398 - Web of Spider-Man #121 - Spider-Man #55 - Spectacular Spider-Man #221 "Behind the Terror" - Spider-Man Unlimited #8 "Funeral for an Octopus" - Spider-Man: Funeral for an Octopus #1-3 "Smoke and Mirrors" - Web of Spider-Man #122 - Amazing Spider-Man #399 - Spider-Man #56 "Puppet" - Spider-Man: The Clone Journal #1 "Players and Pawns" - Spectacular Spider-Man #222 - Web of Spider-Man #123 - Amazing Spider-Man #400 (Also Part 1 of "The Parker Legacy")

CLONE SAGA: ACT I (ACT II) (OF III) "Aftershocks/The Parker Legacy" - Spider-Man #57 - Spectacular Spider-Man #223 DETOUR: "Carnage Unleashed" - Venom: Carnage Unleashed #1-4 "The Mark of Kaine" - Web of Spider-Man #124 - Amazing Spider-Man #401 - Spider-Man #58 - Spectacular Spider-Man #224 - Spider-Man Unlimited #9 DETOUR: New Warriors #59-60 "Lives Unlived" - Web of Spider-Man #125 "Crossfire" - Amazing Spider-Man #402 - Spider-Man #59 - Spectacular Spider-Man #225 DETOUR: Spider-Man 2099 Meets Spider-Man #1 "The Trial of Peter Parker" - Web of Spider-Man #126 - Amazing Spider-Man #403 - Spider-Man #60 - Spectacular Spider-Man #226 "Planet of the Symbiotes" NOTE: If you read this (and you should), you should also read the Venom detours above. - Amazing Spider-Man Super Special #1 - Spider-Man Super Special #1 - Venom Super Special #1 - Spectacular Spider-Man Super Special #1 - Web of Spider-Man Super Special #1 "The Lost Years" - Spider-Man: The Lost Years #1-3 NOTE: There is an issue #0 but it's all reprints of stuff earlier in this list.

CLONE SAGA: ACT II (OF III) "The Jackal Files" - Spider-Man: The Jackal Files #1 "Maximum Clonage" - New Warriors #61 - Maximum Clonage Alpha #1 - Web of Spider-Man #127 - Amazing Spider-Man #404 - Spider-Man #61 - Spectacular Spider-Man #227 - Maximum Clonage Omega #1 "Exiled" - Web of Spider-Man #128 - Amazing Spider-Man #405 - Spider-Man #62 - Spider-Man Unlimited #10 DETOUR: At this point, Ben joins the New Warriors. He will be involved with them until issue #71, four issues before the end of the volume. The Maximum Clonage prelude in issue #61 is the only one that really matters for the Clone Saga so read those or don't, depending on how comprehensive you want to go and/or how much you enjoy New Warriors. - New Warriors #62-71 "Time Bomb" - Spectacular Spider-Man #228 - Web of Spider-Man #129 "The Greatest Responsibility" - Amazing Spider-Man #406 - Spider-Man #63 - Spectacular Spider-Man #229 "The Parker Years" - Spider-Man: The Parker Years" DETOUR: Spider-Man Team-Up #1-5

CLONE SAGA: ACT III (OF III) "You Say You Want an Evolution" - Scarlet Spider Unlimited #1 "Virtual Mortality" - Web of Scarlet Spider #1 - Amazing Scarlet Spider #1 - Scarlet Spider #1 - Spectacular Scarlet Spider #1 "Cyberwar Part One" - Web of Scarlet Spider #2 - Amazing Scarlet Spider #2 INTERLUDE: Green Goblin #1-3 "Cyberwar Part Two" - Scarlet Spider #2 - Spectacular Scarlet Spider #2 NOTE: The next several issues aren't a "story arc" in a traditional sense, but just follow Ben settling in as the One-And-Only Spider-Man. - Sensational Spider-Man #0 - Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1996 - Spider-Man Holiday Special 1995 - Amazing Spider-Man #407 - Spider-Man #64 - Spectacular Spider-Man #230 - Spider-Man Unlimited #11 "Nightmare in Scarlet!" - Web of Scarlet Spider #3 - New Warriors #67 - Web of Scarlet Spider #4 "Family Plot" - Spider-Man/Punisher: Family Plot #1-2 "The Final Adventure" - Spider-Man: The Final Adventure #1-4

CLONE SAGA: ACT IV (OF III) "Media Blizzard" - Sensational Spider-Man #1 - Amazing Spider-Man #408 - Spider-Man #65 "The Return of Kaine" - Spectacular Spider-Man #231 - Sensational Spider-Man #2 - Amazing Spider-Man #409 - Spider-Man #66 "A Show of Force" - Spectacular Spider-Man #232 "Web of Carnage" - Sensational Spider-Man #3 - Amazing Spider-Man #410 - Spider-Man #67 - Spectacular Spider-Man #233

CLONE SAGA: ACT IV (ACT II) (OF III) "Blood Brothers" - Sensational Spider-Man #4 - Amazing Spider-Man #411 - Spider-Man #68 - Spectacular Spider-Man #234 - Sensational Spider-Man #5 - Amazing Spider-Man #412 "It Begins with a Bang Not a Whimper" - Spider-Man #69 DETOUR: Venom: The Hunted #1-3 "Who Did Spider-Man Murder?" - Spider-Man Unlimited #12 NOTE: The following issues follow a loose storyline of Ben fighting villains while Peter slowly becomes sick. - Spectacular Spider-Man #235 - Daredevil #354 - Sensational Spider-Man #6 - Amazing Spider-Man #413 - Spider-Man #70 - Spectacular Spider-Man #236 - Sensational Spider-Man #7 - Amazing Spider-Man #414 - Spider-Man #71 - Spectacular Spider-Man #237 "Redemption" - Spider-Man: Redemption #1-4

CLONE SAGA: ACT IV (ACT III) (OF III) "Onslaught Impact" - Amazing Spider-Man #415 - Spider-Man #72 NOTE: Some more filler. Editorial problems at this time caused the Clone Saga to majorly stall out. - Spider-Man Unlimited #13 - Sensational Spider-Man #8 - Spectacular Spider-Man #238 - Sensational Spider-Man #9 - Amazing Spider-Man #416 - Spider-Man #73 - Spectacular Spider-Man #239 - Sensational Spider-Man #10 - Amazing Spider-Man #417 - Spider-Man #74 - Green Goblin #13 (end of this run; Ben is there) - Spider-Man Unlimited #14 "Revelations" - Spectacular Spider-Man #240 - Sensational Spider-Man #11 - Amazing Spider-Man #418 - Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75 (title change from adjectiveless SM)

CLONE SAGA: EPILOGUE - Spider-Man: The Osborn Journals #1 - Spider-Man: 101 Ways to End the Clone Saga #1

POST-REVELATIONS "Who Was Ben Reilly?" - Amazing Spider-Man Annual #36 - Amazing Spider-Man #608-610 "Scarlet Spiders" (Spider-Verse tie-in) - Scarlet Spiders #1-3

THE CLONE CONSPIRACY - Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4 #16-18 - Captain America FCBD 2016 (B story) - Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4 #19 - Clone Conspiracy #1 - Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4 #20 - Clone Conspiracy #2 - Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4 #21 - Clone Conspiracy #3 - Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4 #22 - Clone Conspiracy #4 - Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4 #23 - Clone Conspiracy #5 - Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4 #24 - Clone Conspiracy: Omega

BEN REILLY: SCARLET SPIDER "Back in the Hood" - Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #1-6 DETOUR: Secret Empire "Death's Sting" - Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #7-9 "The Slingers Return" - Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #10-13 "Bad to the Bone" - Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #14

DAMNATION - Doctor Strange: Damnation #1 - Doctor Strange #386 - Doctor Strange: Damnation #2 - Doctor Strange #387 - Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #15 - Doctor Strange: Damnation #3 - Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #16 - Damnation: Johnny Blaze, Ghost Rider #1 - Doctor Strange #388 - Iron Fist #78-80 - Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #17 - Doctor Strange: Damnation #4 - Doctor Strange #389

BEN REILLY: SCARLET SPIDER (ACT II) "Untitled Mysertio Arc" - Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #18-19 "Deal with the Devil" - Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #20-25

SPIDER-GEDDON - Edge of Spider-Geddon #1-4 - Spider-Geddon #0 - Superior Octopus #1 - Spider-Geddon #1 - Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #311-312 - Spider-Geddon #2 - Spider-Girls #1 - Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #1 - Spider-Force #1 - Vault of Spiders #1 - Spider-Geddon #3 - Vault of Spiders #2 - Spider-Force #2-3 - Spider-Geddon #4 - Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #2 - Spider-Girls #2-3 - Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #3 - Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #313 - Spider-Geddon #5 - Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #4

DETOUR: BATTLE FOR THE SERPENT CROWN NOTE: Cameo from Ben in this Conan team-up book. - Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown #1-5

DETOUR: IRON MAN BY CHRISTOPHER CANTWELL NOTE: Ben is one of Tony's "Space Friends" that join him in his crusade against Korvac. He drops out of the book around issue #19, when the group disbands. - Iron Man Vol 6 #1-19

SPIDER-MAN: BEYOND - Amazing Spider-Man #75-78 - Amazing Spider-Man #78.BEY - Amazing Spider-Man #79-80 - Amazing Spider-Man #80.BEY - Amazing Spider-Man #81-85 - Devil’s Reign – Spider-Man #1 - Amazing Spider-Man #86-87 - Mary Jane & Black Cat: Beyond #1 - Amazing Spider-Man #88 - Amazing Spider-Man #88.BEY - Amazing Spider-Man #89-92 - Amazing Spider-Man #92.BEY - Amazing Spider-Man #93

DARK WEB DETOUR: Hellions #1-18 DETOUR: New Mutants #25-28 NOTE: These detours will set up the Madelyne Pryor half of the Dark Web scheme. Completely optional for the purposes of this list, but recommended (They are good!) - Spider-Man/Venom: FCBD 2022 - Amazing Spider-Man Vol 6 #14 - Dark Web #1 - Amazing Spider-Man Vol 6 #15-17 - Dark Web: X-Men #1-3 - Amazing Spider-Man Vol 6 #18 - Dark Web: Finale #1 NOTE: I would read Hallows' Eve, as that book is about to circle around back into ASM for Ben plotlines. Might be a good idea to watch the upcoming Dark X-Men, as well.

[youcantcallmethat]

Web of Spider-Man #1 (1984)

Reprinted in Extreme Venomverse #1 (2023)

[episodicnostalgia]

Comic Book Break: The Venom Symbiote

Featured art by Ron Lim: Covers for Marvel Tales #266-268 Mark Bagley: Carnage/Spidey/Venom Poster Ron Frenz: Cover for Amazing Spider-Man #252

I grew up as a Spider-man fan in the 90’s, which means I (predictably) thought Venom was the coolest villain of all time.  My Dad introduced me to Spidey’s ‘modern era’ shortly after Carnage first hit the scene, which means the Symbiote villains were a hot topic.  As such, my first introduction to both Venom and Carnage would be in the pages of ‘The Amazing Spider-man’ #365, and boy did that issue leave an impression. 

You see up to that point my fascination with the web head was moderately new, and I remained largely ignorant to the finer points of his lore.  My Dad had just begun to re-discover comic books for the first time since his childhood, and this particular issue was a extra sized anniversary edition, replete with a holographic cover, character histories, and even a handful of bonus stories that were framed around various side characters who could reminisce about Spider-man’s classic tales.  It was a handy way to bring new readers up to speed, and it worked well enough on my Dad (much to my approval) for him to continue collecting until the Clone Saga ruined everything.  ASM #365 also featured this absolute BANGER of a poster by Mark Bagley.  Check it out!

That image was seared into my brain, and two things became abundantly clear to me 1) Those villains were unequivocally, the greatest characters in modern literature, and 2) I needed to know why. Obviously I asked my Dad who those guys were, and he proceeded to explain the basic premise of the Symbiote suit and it’s history with Spider-man.  Needless to say, I became obsessed with finding an issue, ANY ISSUE, that featured Venom and/or Carnage; I wanted to know everything about these guys.  The only obstacle that stood between me and my goal was my age, as I was still quite young, and I think my folks were just the tiniest bit leery of exposing me to a characters who looked and behaved like, if we’re being honest, bloodthirsty hell demons (or brain thirsty, as the case may be).

As luck would have it, my dad found a pretty fair compromise in the pages of ‘Marvel Tales’.  MT was a series that featured reprints of classic-or-topical spider-man comics from days of yore, often with new cover art by a current artist.  Since the introduction of Carnage was turning heads towards the Spider-man books (also around the same time the comic book speculators boom was taking off)  it was a prime opportunity for Marvel to reprint the issues of ASM that introduced the original symbiote creature (written by Roger Stern).  So, my dad bought me several issues (pictured up top, and immediately below) to satiate my curiosity for another year before I finally got finally see Venom himself, and in the mean time I was simply delighted to be reading the origin story as I went.

Since those days, my interest in Venom has wavered dramatically depending on the project/medium/who’s writing him, and I’ve found much of what’s been produced fairly underwhelming; but my admiration of the design for Spider-man’s black costume has remained steadfast.  If I’m being (perhaps heretically) honest, I almost prefer the black costume to the original.  Something about it just feels so correct for the character, and clearly I’m not the only person who felt as much.  Despite some initial push-back,  the black costume had garnered enough support by the end of the 8-issue symbiote saga, for it to be brought back as just a ‘regular costume, but with the symbiote aesthetic.’ From that point on, it would feature regularly for several years before Venom officially inherited the look.

And just to be clear, no I wouldn’t ever truly want to replace Spider-man’s classic look, but you gotta admit, the black suit looks mighty slick.

[popculturebuffet]

Into the Spider-Verse: Spider-Ham (Marvel Tails #1 and Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham #15) (Comissioned by WeirdKev15)

Hello all you happy webheads and welcome back to Into the Spider-Verse, my look at the origins of every webslinger from the landmark film in the build up to Across the Spider-Verse. And it's bittersweet to be this close to the end of the web here: i'm proud of myself for this project and kev for having cooked it up as it allowed me to really dig into my love of spider-man, and comics in general, with new ideas and even possible new retrospectives wholesale coming out of this.

But before we can end this ride, we still have one Spidey to cover, who after our previous spider-persons adventures with crackers and milk, their predecesors literal oppisite sex clone, mob goons without fear, rock n roll pop art halluciongens in your giant spider mecha, and giant spiders stripping you naked, one man comes along to say..

Yes it's time for the debut of Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham a

And i'm sure many of you, both those familiar with the comics and those who just watched the movie, are asking the same question: why. The answer is simple. Way way back in the 1980's, Marvel had a new animated arm, Marvel Productions, which was a massive deal, producing both GI Joe and Transformers, which both started as comics first to promote the upcoming toylines, as well as Dungeons and Dragons, My LIttle Pony Tales, Muppet Babies, Jem and the Holograms, Kid N Play and the Biker Mice From Mars. There were also of course marvel cartoons like Spider-Man(the 80s one), Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, The Incredible Hulk, the more popular Incredible Hulk and the infamous and destined to be covered Pryde of the X-Men Pilot.

So naturally Marvel wanted more ips to feed into the almighty merchandising machine, because shockingly, companies have ALWAYS wanted every dollar they can get out of making more and more adaptations as long s they can afford it. So two writers set to work to spitball this: They were Tom DeFalco, a longtime spider-man editor who would go on to write the guidebook I had as a kid that really got me into the comics and taught me a lot about his rogues gallery and more importantly would write the book himself briefly, being the one to crystalize Mary Jane's tragic Backstory and her knowing Peter Parker is spider-man all along. WIth him was the wonderful Larry Hama, at the time writing GI JOe for marvel.. and at the time of this writing STILL writing his continuation of that continuity for IDW as he should. Hama deserves all the credit for setting the foundations of the GI Joe universe most adaptations follows and for writing one hell of a comic in the process, and not one to rest on his laurels would later have the defining run on Wolverine's solo book.

So as you can imagine when these two legends get together.. they created a simple but enduringly weird joke that has lasted decades. It's a concept that just works: Spider-Man.. but he's a funny animal. Weirdly though Marvel Animation passed on it, not wanting anything to do with it despite the fact that in a time when Garfield was at the peak of his powers and they'd be making muppet babies, funny animals were a VERY easy sell. Seriously why Marvel Animation was so stupid is a riddle for the ages but Marvel liked printing money, so they put Porker in a one shot, Marvel Tails, parodying the marvel reprint mag marvel Tales. That said DeFalco didn't expect much from it and was suprised months later when the higher ups asked for another issue. He explained it was a one shot.. and then they asked when the next issue was and he got the memo. While DeFalco wrote the one shot that launched the character he freely admits he's not the one who made him a star. That honor goes to Steve Skeates. Skeates had been a mainstay in the industry, paticuarlly having a run on Aquaman i've been trying to read for some time that really launched the character to new heights before Superfriends would shove him back to the depths for a while. He was burnt out on the industry and freely admits he wouldn't of done the book for Larry Hama if it was any other book, but felt the format allowed him to do a throwback to the kinds of books he liked writing while still throwing in plenty of comedy to keep it fresh. The result was pretty great, with Skeates wisely having Porker's various foes not be the obvious joke of being the animals they resemble, for instance the Vulture being a possum in a buzzard suit instead of a vulture.

And we'll be seeing that contrast between Porker's humble one shot joke beginings and evolved more nuanced parody as unlike most of the characters featured... Porker didn't get his origin story for a while. While most of the spider-persons got there's in their very first appearance or arc, Porker's origin didn't come about till late in his solo books run. So today we'll be looking at both his first appearance in Marvel Tails, and his origin story in Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham #15 under the cut!

Spider-Ham begins his career in a typical spider-man setting: stopping a typical gang of thugs with ease and some quips. But it's not long before we get into one of the weird things about this story, something that just dosen't really work with it: Captain Americat. Cap is pictured here as Peter's steadfast partner and a reporter at his paper and none of this works. Now this is an AU, it COULD work and the idea of steve and peter being closer partners and steve mentoring him is great, just as the idea of Tony mentoring him was a brilliant one the movies captalized on. But here it's just treated as a normal thing without really being used for a joke that this is so unusual. A large part of this is something that's easy to forget as it hasn't been true about the character since the early 2000's. Spidey.. used to be a bit of a loner when it came to the rest of the Marvel Universe. Granted he was the kind of loaner who had an entire ongoing dedicated to him teaming up with other heroes and a tv show where he had two super college roomies he'd fight crime with, but when it came to consistant teamups his only real super friends were the fantastic four and in a few years Daredevil. Spider-Woman existed, but Jessica was largely her own thing by design, with only the name in common and wouldn't really become an ally or even friend of peter's till they were in the avengers together. Peter would have team ups but he really wasn't super close with the rest of the marvel universe. This changed in the early 2000's as his joining the new avengers gave him a lot of new allies in the marvel universe: He'd be on the new avengers until Brian Micheal Bendis left the book, he joined HIckman's avengers for the first arc, with Doc Ock taking his place, and joined the Mighty Avengers and Mark Waid's avengers afterwords, only in the last few years taking a break from the group entirely, ironically as his MCU counterpart became heavily associated with them himself. Not only that the dawn of the spider-verse and miles migrating to become the 616's second spider-man, meant peter soon had a spider-family.

Even now in his current tirefire of a solo i've been purposfully avoiding but suspect i'l lhave to confront some day, he has Ms Marvel, soon to be thrown in the fridge, Norman Osborn, long story, and his current girlfriend the black cat. Peter's no longer the solo operator he once was.. but back then it's very weird fo ra parody of the character to just.. casually hang out with Captain America regularly and this angle was wisely dropped.

This isn't the only weird thing in this issue either. For some reason rather than pulling from peter's many rogues, the issue has him face the Masked Marauder, some punk ripping off a super high tech arcade. It comes off more like a Scooby Doo Mystery complete with various red herings and the actual culprit showing up early on. He's not even the main threat as the everlovin hulk is also shoved into this issue. His origin is a little neat, with Bruce Bunny being an arcade game maker who gets shoved into a cabinet.

The result though just isn't that funny. Ther'es a good joke about steve stashing his shield in his coat

But otherwise i'ts just kinda.. there and didn't leave the best first impression back when I first read it. It's nicely drawn, but dosen't have much actually to say or any really satire of the character. It's clear they had the name but no idea what to do with it. THe backup is pretty funny though, the weird Goose Rider, take a while guess, who just.. spends it riding around, thinking about grabbing a burger, and dealing iwth shouty civlians and some random doofus called chainsaw. This satire.. actually works as from what I can tell Ghost Rider's early rogues gallery before his reinvention in the 90's wasn't all that impressive with few exceptions. It's more what I wanted. Thankfully when Peter got his title shot, things perked up and by the time we get to his origin... we get something delightful.

As you can tell both by the cover used for this review and from the title, this one's a parody of spider-man no more. Even if you haven't read the story (I've only read the iconic issue iwth the cover), you've doubtlessly seen it's cover, and the various homages to both that and the shot of peter throwing his costume in the trash and walking away, both by spider-heroes and the rest of the marvel. It helps that Sam Rami choose it as the backbone of Spider-Man 2 and ended up making an even BETTER version of the story in the process. Even Miles had his own version of it after his mom died and he blamed himself for it since the second ultimate venom was the reason she died. If you've read more recent comics and seen Rio alive and well that's because Miles befriended the Molocule Man, a very shy man with the power to control molocules... which shockingly for comics has been treated every bit as horrifyingly powerful as it should since his introduction, with MM's only real wekaness being his crippling neurosis. So when the universe died and was put back, Molocule brought her back as a thank you present. I had a point here.. ah yes.. I love the Molocule Man and feel he's a highly underated character. Oh that with the severe stress and sacrifice of being a spider-man, it's not a huge leap to have that moment of doubt. And it's an even shorter leap to take that moment and parody it and Peter's angst for all it's worth. We open with J Jonah Jackal hooking himself up to an idea machine while his three young wards, the junior newsboys watch. They are Jermiah Jackal, JJJ's snooty nephew, Bunson Bunny, our resident nerd who talks in big snetences and Upton Adam Stray, a combination of a black sterotype and

If your getting some deja vu from a rich magnate having three young sidekicks who both acompany him and try to steer away his worse instincts, one of whom is jonah's literal nephew.. GOOD. It means you have good taste and also get the bit. Spider-Ham has a bit of the old Scrooge McDuck stories in it's dna, simply adding spider-man and his rogues to the mix, and really JJJ is such a perfect fit for scrooge and Peter for Donald, that I can't blame both writers for dipping into this formula when it fits spider-man shockingly well now he's a pig.

This issue is written by steven Mellor, who took over the title later in his run, but like Skeates does a really fun job with it.

With Jonah having peter come to the clubhouse to view an idea he came up with that involves the kids

Peter deals with typical spider-man things. That is trying to get a date with his ex Betty Bat. It goes about usual for peter

Also as you might have noticed, hilariously, Peter Porker looks a LOT like John Mulaney, despite having been created only one year after John was born. I mean he's also a talking pig but the hair is distractingly like his future voice actors and I love it.

Baby P decides to handle this like a mature, rational young swine

Before bemoaning that he's still single.. what I like is that Mellor both really gets how Peter Parker Mopey Rants work, and milks it with everyone starring not sure what to do as peter ineternally rants and the janitor eventually asking him to leave as he's getting his tears on the floor. Peter then reflects back to his origin, the reason we're here. And even for a talking pig.. peter's origin is hilaroiusly bizzare. It's my kind of weird shenanigans. Okay so in this version Peter.. was a spider, which is clever enough.. but May was a mad scientest who befriended peter and showed him her new invention: a fission powered hairdryer. It made her radoactive, it wasn't good.. and well... I can't say what happens next and have most of you belivie it actually happened so here's photographic evdience.

This.. this is comedy gold, and clever as all hell. Just deciding to have may be radioactive nad bite peter. It's as nuts as it is brilliant and I love it. So we get the standard origin moments of Peter testing out his powers.. and we also get a nice gag out of him bending a pipe in the original amazing fantasy #15

Peter returns to find may basically the dodering old lady sterotype she was in earlier spider-man comics, and decides to look after her and not tell her the truth, as well as put his powers to use. Peter's genius in this version is also from the bite and thus Spider-Ham is born

After running into flash thompsons counterpart, who sadly isn't named flash beagle, we get jonah's meeting where he's dressed himself and the boys up in superhero outfits and ...

To become Black Beagle and his beagle brigadeers. Peter is dragged along for this and this.. is easily the weakest part of the issue. While the idea of Jonah becoming a hero himself is great and has been used well, here it's just kinda there and is mostly a setup for them to befriend "Andy Warthog" and see a bunch of celebrity pastiches. It's a boring page or two

Thankfully it picks up with a delightful parody of one of my faviorite spider-man rogue as the Hobgobbler crashes the party! God bless this pun. He kidnaps one of the celebrties and we get a ncie character moment. Despite how silly this character and his origin are... it's still neat to see the core of spider-man.. is still present.

No matter the universe, no matter who wears the mask... they can't turn down responsiblity. Try as he might.. Peter just can't let someone else get hurt if he can help it and that's what makes spider-man the hero we love so much: that drive to help people no matter what it takes. It's what makes a spider-person what they are wethere they be man, woman, ham or nb.

So Peter naturally wins, in a nicely drawn fight, cooks the turkey and drive sJonah home. He WANTS to just get some deserved sleep but Aunt May has other plans.. thankfully said plans give our hero his much deserved happy ending. Action is already his reward.

As you can probably figure, this issue is a massive improvment and it's clear even with two diffrent writers, the full ongoing got the concept better and more importantly had more fun with it. The result.. is fucking great. Also the puns. Dear lord the puns. And that's not getting into the backup which has the scavengers fight kangaroo the conquerer. Who damn well better be among the council of kangs. At any rate this issue was greatr and even with the brief slowdown, is a great issue, not only getting me reintrested in this run, but also showing off just what you can do with a parody: have it be both heartfelt and clearly get what it's making fun of while still being great.

Next Time: The web ends as we look at the movie itself. Anyone can wear the mask but is one Miles Morales up to the task? Can he fill peter's shoes? Well yeah, I mean there's even a sequel, but it's still one hell of a ride.

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

BHOC: MARVEL TALES #94

BHOC: MARVEL TALES #94

I bought this issue of MARVEL TALES from my usual spinner rack at the local 7-11. It reprinted, as usual, a story from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN published about six years before. At that time, AMAZING SPIDER-MAn was in the midst of one of its more seismic changes: Stan Lee, having been promoted to publisher of the company, had given up all of his scripting duties, so suddenly the web-slinger’s life was…

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 010: The Night of the Prowler (ASM 78-82, Ann 6)

MASTERPOST

This arc, we transition from the 60s to the 70s! And we start by Annual 6 which is, and I quote, "41 pages of indescripable excitement"! The Sinister Six are here, muahahahhahaaaaa!

(Note: Ann 6 is a reprint of Ann 1, which I hadn't read but definitely makes sense, and a re-telling of the first issue).

Sadly, this issue is drawn by Ditko, which means even a shirtless Peter can't make me drool. What a shame.

So Otto escapes prison by Bluetooth-manipulating his detached mechanical arms, Ditko and Lee re-establish the setting, and that's only on the first page because no time to mess around because Thor's here on page 2! Good grief, the pacing is brisky. Sadly, after two panels, Thor is already far away. It was very subtle advertisement! But it also helps reinforce the (for now very lackluster, if that's what you're looking for) idea that the super-heroes are part of the same world.

Then suddenly Flash is here in his high-school personality, and then DR STRANGE is here to tell you to read his magazine. Wow, they really wanted to sell those magazines! This sure reads as the editorial becoming aware of how much of a success Spider-Man was.

We can see the writing has definitely improved since the first issues... even though this one is from 1969, just like the Tablet arc!

So the storyline is set "months" after Uncle Ben's death, which confirms to me that this is still high-school. Okay. All right.

And then as soon as Spidey loses his powers, he sees the Fantastic Four in what appears to be an attempt at showing as many cameos as possible.

In spite of his colleagues' messy yet sensible plan of "let's all gang up on Spidey at once", Otto says they'll each have a go, one after another. The idea is to weaken him by fighting him in each of their respective favorite elements. Okay, that's not so bad...

May's wondering what's wrong with Pete, surmising it might have something to do with "that girl he's been seeing", who's obviously... Betty Brant. Hey, remember when Betty Brant was a character? Me neither!

Peter's confused on what to do now, and passersby are amazed at "Giant-Man... and the Wasp!" Meanwhile, May and Betty get kidnapped. May by coincidence, and Betty because, according to Peter, "they know [he] was willing to fight [for her]".

The cameos pile on vertigineously as the Torch sends a message in the sky to Spider-Man and Charles Xavier says to "Ignore it! It doesn't concern us."

Spidey goes to fight Electro and the miracle happens! He's got his powers back. Basically, he was feeling depressed about Ben's death, but now he's fine! I must say I prefer SM2's version. It's a bit more subtle and well-executed. But that's still a commendable effort.

Jameson calls the Fantastic Four to ask if they've seen Spider-Man, and Jane replies that no, she didn't, and she adds that Jameson should probably call the police. Dear Lord.

Johnny wants to help Spidey (he seems to be Spidey's most regular partner) but Spidey objects. This fight is personal. This makes no sense but go off, king. But Otto is far from being a monster. He serves tea and Danish pastries to his lady guests, what an angel!

Then the X-Men attack Spidey but nooooo they're Mysterio's robots! So many plot twists!

Then we get some real comedy that I could absolutely see in a MCU movie. It's actually really funny!

Another comedic scene is the Vulture ordering Spidey to remove his web-slinging device, or he'll just fly away and won't tell where Betty and May are. Because every time Spidey beat him, it was thanks to his webbing. Spidey obeys, because of course he does.

Spidey almost beats Otto, but then Otto's like "hey, I can control my arms with Bluetooth. Why should I even fight in person?" and thus, Otto proves his girlboss status. He can't be bothered to get to the party! However, he can't help himself but want to be there to drown Spidey in a giant fishbowl (what the writer smoked for this issue, i can't possibly figure).

The two ladies are eventually rescued, but May hates Spider-Man and is really starting to dislike her nephew's slang, so she asks that he FUCKING stops saying stuff like "shook up".

There's a second story that re-tells in more details the first meeting between Spidey and the Fantastic Four (hey, remember to buy their mags!), which is basically the same, then a third story, where Spidey thinks he's going to mess with the Torch and his girlfriend because he lives in a telenovela.

Johnny actually has a really cute outfit that I'd love to cosplay one day. I already got a white shirt, the tie seems to be red, but I don't have a red tie. Still. I think it's a great look. Simple, but it definitely works!

...Well now I want to be checkered pants. Jesus.

Anyway, he quickly gets rid of this outfit to fight Spidey. Spidey gets angrier, Johnny gets angrier, then the other Fantastic Four arrive, show their sympathy to Spidey, who gets even angrier, they fight, then Jane and Spidey flirt with each other. The end. Oof.

Overall, Annual 6 is a lot of fun thanks to its bizarre assembly. It feels like a greatest hits that I'd recommend it if you want to see what Ditko's run was like. But it's definitely a downgrade, sandwiched between Romita Sr. issues. Lighthearted fun, at least.

Now, onto the main dish! As a reminder, I haven't read anything between 1969 and 1973, so it will be mostly new for me!

(gosh I really need checkered pants)

My familiarity with the Prowler is his appearance in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, and his appearance in Into the Spider-Verse. Since Miles doesn't exist yet, I'm curious about what's going to happen.

Peter calls Gwen, but...

What the fuck.

Turns out Gwen wants to understand why Peter keeps disappearing and stuff. Be careful, honey. Curiosity killed the cat...

After about 10 pages of delightful soap opera (seems like the 50/50 ratio's back!), I suddenly get flash-backs (both types) as Hobie Brown makes his entrance. I remember, now!

Hobbie wants to help his window-cleaning fellows be better protected, but his boss is against it because money. CoMiCs ArE nOt PoLiTiCaL!!! And Jameson tries to defend him because he's not racist.

From the very beginning, the Prowler is a very compelling character. He explains (to the reader) that he modified his cleaning equipement to become a super-villain. This is great! Economical exposition and very interesting.

A very compelling issue and a great return to the soap genre. In the letters, Ronald Gayda makes excellent points and did the maths:

Yes yes yes!

Michael J. Susko, meanwhile, argues that someone knowing Peter's secret could help him hide it! Didn't think about that, but absolutely.

The opening of the next issue assures us that it was initially planned as a three-issue storyline -- but it's been reduced to two! Which concludes neatly the year, yay!

And the first pages are absolutely terrific. Peter looks like a shojo romance hero.

And the issue concludes just as stellarly. Spidey doesn't turn Hobie in. I wonder what's in store for this character...

With these panels, we're done with 1969. Onto 1970!

I always appreciate Peter Parker being a handsome motherfucker. I hope we get to see the Prowler again, though!

But first, Peter wants to fight.

Anyway, the Chameleon is back! His last appearance was Issue #2! That's a blast. After taking the place of Captain Stacy, he takes the place of... none other than Peter himself! What a fun twist.

It's another fun issue that I really enjoyed.

In the reader's letters, the topic of Peter's hair regularly comes up. I think his hair are perfect, so Linda, yes, you're right.

Issue 81 features the Kangaroo, a villain nobody cares about!

Most importantly, this issue features the return from Aunt May, to my displeasure. She was nice where she was. She's been away since #72! And she's immediately worried about her nephew. Next to them, the aforementioned Kangaroo escapes from custody and recounts his sad life story.

He looks like a kid, then as his resolve comes back, he's an adult again. Kudos to the artist!

So Aunt May's dead (and I laughed).

And that's a nice panel.

Naturally, Peter girlboss gaslights gatekeeps May and she now thinks she's senile. Which, come on. Isn't far from the truth. She treats Peter as if he was five. Dear Lord.

In the letters, the readers talk about the same subjects again and again, but the Prowler is praised. Good! It's a great story.

In the final issue of this post, #82, Electro's back! But more importantly, Harry's shaving his stache. He had it since issue 74! I honestly think it wasn't so bad.

Peter wants to get money, so he asks to appear on TV, however he needs to dry his Spidey suit, but can't do it while showing his face...

So what's his solution?

Excellent.

The issue is alright, has fun ideas, but overall isn't that great.

The letters finally address my biggest gripe: I have never been able to faithfully reproduce Spidey's hand gesture to shoot a web, and Stan Reynolds has the same experience! Someone also wonders what kind of name is Flash. It can't possibly be written on his birth certificate, can it now?

There's the occasional weird letter, but there's also heartfelt opinions. Hobie seems to be a beloved character! They had to make him come back after that, didn't they?

So here we are. We finished the Sixties era of Spider-Man... What a journey!

[maxwell-grant]

Any thoughts on Darkman, the Liam Neeson movie? I heard it was originally going to be a Shadow movie.

I love Darkman very much, but I've realized recently that this love comes with some pretty bittersweet feelings at the story behind it.

Michael Uslan: I was going to produce a Shadow feature film with Sam Raimi, but Sam got consumed by back-to-back movies and we ran out of time. We were headed in a good, period piece direction and managed to do so without relying on yet another bout with Shiwan Khan. I later had another major director passionate to do The Shadow, but a person at the company wanted to do a modern day TV series instead, which ultimately did not go... - comment saved from a post in The Shadow Knows Facebook group

For those of you who only now got into The Shadow or don't remember, for much of the early 00s, when The Shadow basically had no current projects and Conde Nast was taking down webpages and fan content left and right, the only things that kept this "fandom" alive were occasional fanfics (many of which are gone now), and the dim light in the horizon that was the rumors that Sam Raimi was finally going to make his Shadow film. Dig back on The Wayback Machine for Shadow web page and you're gonna see this as consistently the only thing they had to look forward to in regards to the character. These rumors floated around for over a decade, at one point Tarantino was even supposed to direct it, but he confirmed in 2013 that it wasn't going to happen. At least, not with him at the helm.

The project has been dead for a while now, and Conde Nast seems to be shuffling around plans for the character, and I deleted my Facebook months ago so I haven't kept up with any news, although it seems the James Patterson novel wasn't received too well, so I'm not sure what other plans they have in the pipeline.

Back in the 1970s, after the release of Richard Donner's Superman and in line with The Shadow's pop culture resurgence, thanks to the paperback reprints and the 70s DC run, there were plans to make a Shadow feature film, and there were quite a handful of scripts being tossed around for the following years (Will Murray states most of them were horrible), several names attached to the project at one point or another. The plans died down a bit following Gibson's death and only really picked up again after the 90s, and of course we all know that the 1994 movie came out with spectacularly bad timing. From what I recall, it seems Sam Raimi wanted to make his Shadow film in the 80s, was unable to secure the rights, and then just made his own version, which would go on to be his first major motion picture.

Even after making Darkman, Sam Raimi still wanted to make The Shadow. I guess that's ultimately the bittersweet part for me. I imagine the current state of Shadow media would be significantly better if Sam Raimi, who was a fan of the character and the pulp version (and even knows of The Shadow's connection to Houdini and stage magic), got to make his Shadow film, years before Blood & Judgment, years before Burton's Batman made it impossible for a Shadow film not to be compared to it, in a time period where it wouldn't have had to compete with The Lion King and The Mask for box office. And second, I have been drawing up my plans for Shadow projects for, what, 5 years now? And I have just barely got my foot off the door as a filmmaker. Sam Raimi had a decade-long career as a cult filmmaker before he got turned down, and decades later, after becoming a household name in charge of Marvel's biggest icon, the project still fell through. It doesn't exactly get my hopes up, y'know.

I love Darkman, it's the best Shadow film that doesn't technically star the real Shadow, and it works pretty well on it's own regardless of that association, but I do get pretty sad looking at it from the outside, because I just can't help but think on what it could have been.

In some aspects I do think the film benefits from not being about The Shadow proper, because it means Raimi got the freedom to do whatever the hell he wanted. The character of Darkman already existed separately from Sam Raimi's plans for a Shadow film, already carrying off the Phantom / Universal Monster influence, and what Raimi did was basically combine the two ideas together.

He took the basic iconography of The Shadow, a terrifying urban crimefighter in coat and slouch hat, and add in other Shadow traits like his mastery of disguise, his disfigurement, and that wonderful scene where he's invisibly running circles around a panicky triggerman while laughing maniacally, a moment which definitely feels like Raimi taking a second to indulge himself to do what you can call The Classic Shadow Scene with a character he's, for the most part, succesfully convinced us (and Conde Nast's lawyers, most importantly) isn't supposed to be The Shadow.

But then he filters these through his own influences and style to make him a new character, so instead of a mysterious mastermind with lots of resources and a enigmatic background, instead he's a disfigured and psychotic scientist with a vengeance against those who made him that way. He's like Night Raven, in the sense that he's built off traits that The Shadow has, but develops them differently to the point he stands on his own as a character. It's The Shadow combined with The Phantom of the Opera, filtered through a 1930s Universal Horror lens, played for greater tragedy and a dash of Evil Dead 2 wackyness.

He hides away in trashed up ruins and bickers with a cat, he has fits of rage that make him endanger innocents, he has a doomed love affair, and sometimes he gets so batshit he gives us hilarious moments like "TAKE THE FUCKING ELEPHANT" and "SEE THE DANCING FREAK! PAY - FIVE - BUCKS! TO SEE THE DANCING FREAK!". Moments that really show why he was such a good fit for Spider-Man despite the liberties he took with the source material.

I think the big thing that helps to make Darkman works as a property in it's own right is also that, ultimately, these influences are ultimately at the forefront of it, and the core of it works on it's own. Darkman is a believable, engaging character in his own right, one who tells a story that would be more at odds with The Shadow proper. 

In some aspects, Darkman tries to be The Shadow, he is forced to become The Shadow by literally picking the clothes off a dumpster after he escapes the hospital, and it's a miserable, wretched existence, in a way rather befitting his status as a legally safe knock-off. He is a creature of nightmare who lost his face and takes on a dozen others to fight crime by turning terror against them, except he is still just a man in the end, and no man was ever supposed to live like this.

Raimi was also inspired by the Universal horror films of the 1930s and 1940s because "they made me fear the hideous nature of the hero and at the same time drew me to him. I went back to that idea of the man who is noble and turns into a monster".

He originally wrote a 30-page short story, titled "The Darkman", and then developed into a 40-page treatment. At this point, according to Raimi, "it became the story of a man who had lost his face and had to take on other faces, a man who battled criminals using this power"

A non-superpowered man who, here, is a hideous thing who fights crime. As he became that hideous thing, it became more like The Phantom of the Opera, the creature who wants the girl but who was too much of a beast to have her

I decided to explore a man's soul. In the beginning, a sympathetic, sincere man. In the middle, a vengeful man committing heinous acts against his enemies. And in the end, a man full of self-hatred for what he's become, who must drift off into the night, into a world apart from everyone he knows and all the things he loves.

For the role, Raimi was looking for someone who could suggest "a monster with the soul of a man"

It's the fact that Darkman is ultimately played for vulnerability and tragedy that really sets him apart. While I wouldn't go far enough to say The Shadow is a man with the soul of a monster, still, the difference in presentation is still there when it comes to these two. The Shadow is The Other, Darkman is You. Darkman is the victim of extraordinary circumstance that affects his life, The Shadow is the extraordinary circumstance that affects the lives of others. People react to The Shadow, Darkman reacts to people (and rather poorly).

One is the man who takes off his skin (or yours, staring back at you) to reveal the weird creature of the night ready to prowl and pounce and cackle at those who think they hold power over it's domain, and the other is the monster who falls apart bit by bit until you are left staring at the broken man within who has no choice but to be something he was never supposed to be.

The Shadow is The Master of Darkness. Darkman weaponizes the dark, but in the end, he's still just a man, lost within it. Not everyone can be The Shadow, and you would most likely turn into Darkman if you tried.

[quasar1967]

Giant-Size Spider-Man #4

Jan 21st 1975

3rd appearance of the Punisher in "To Sow the Seeds of Death's Day!"  The Punisher has discovered that an evil mastermind is testing biological weapons on kidnapped Americans somewhere in South America. After recruiting the web-slinger to help him, the Punisher and Spider-Man break into the offices of the shadowy Deterrence Research Corporation in New York City. However during the attack, the wall-crawler is captured and transported to the death camp of Moses Magnum! Can the Punisher rescue the Amazing Spider-Man and the captive civilians before they meet a horrible fate?

 First appearance of Moses Magnum. (Note: The Punisher appears next in Marvel Preview Magazine 2.)

 Back up story: "The Wondrous World of Doctor Strange!"  Spider-Man and the Master of the Mystic Arts team up to battle Xandu! Reprinted from Doctor Strange 179. (Notes: The story originally appeared in Amazing Spiderman Annual 2, and was later reprinted in Doctor Strange 179. A reprint of the cover of Doctor Strange 179 is included in the issue.) 

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Were I to have an insane and unrealistic amount of power over at Marvel I’d re-organize the Spider-Man relevant trades. I share the belief that the hurdle to new readers isn’t so much that there is a long history so much as a history spread all over the place. Wanting to read Spider-Man isn’t simple even if you do have the time and patience to read 50 years worth of comics. You need to know WHICH comics and WHAT ORDER to read them in. And the latter has a multiple choice answer!

This is part of why USM was so strong in it’s early days. 1 title, no satellites, no spin-offs. All you needed to do was pick up issue #1 or trade volume 1 and read sequentially from there. Not just easy to follow but easy to catch up and thus allow readership to grow.

Thus I propose that we simply organize the Spider-Man brand into a series of sequential trades. Functionally these will be like the Deadpool Classic trades, but with multiple trades following the various characters of the Spider-Verse. Want to read just about Peter Parker, you pick up his trades. But want to read just about Miles or Venom? The trades will have you covered going across their respective histories in the in-universe reading order.

In other words you need not worry about whether story arc A in ASM happens before story arc B in Spec and where Guest appearance C fits in. The trades would sort it all out for you. You’d just pick up any volume and read cover to cover, with tiny subplot pages and text inserted where relevant to clarify things. E.g. if there were 2 three part stories happening at the same time, you don’t want to interrupt that, so you’d just print one then have some text saying ‘the following three issues take place during the events of the ASM #X-Z’.

Additionally, in order to not make things unnecessarily confusing I’d omit retroactive stories like Untold Tales of Spider-Man, Symbiote Spider-Man, etc from these trades. My rationale is that not only would these spoil certain things but more significantly as time goes by people will inevitably write more retroactive stories meaning the trades would need to be constantly amended.

Instead I’d simply make a ‘Companion’ trade series reprinting such stories in publication order with a few notes explaining where they take place relative to the original issues. E.g. you’d pick up ‘Peter Parker: Spider-Man Classic Companion Volume 1’ and before you read Untold Tales of Spider-Man #1 a note would inform you it happens after ASM #3 or whatever.

So what would these trade series be exactly?

Something like this:

1.       Peter Parker: Spider-Man Classic: Simply every Peter Parker appearance or relevant comic book. ASM, Spec, New Avengers, Secret Wars, guest appearances, everything!

2.       Mary Jane Classic: Same thing for Mary Jane, albeit to save some time we could simply reprint the MJ relevant pages from various comics as there would be little need to reprint a whole Spidey adventure she just cameos in. The info text could simply give you context for each appearance before we got to meatier stories. I’d employ this method for all of the following whenever relevant.

3.       Black Cat Classic: Obviously this would include her solo minis but also and team appearances like in Heroes for Hire.

4.       Daily Bugle Classic: It occurred to me there were several stories focussing upon a lot of the supporting cast that didn’t feature Spider-Man himself. That aside people love the supporting cast so I figured some trades chronicling their exploits would make sense. For this trade series it’d focus upon J. Jonah Jameson first and foremost but also Betty Brant, Joe Robertson, Ben Urich, etc

5.       The Many Loves of Spider-Man Classic: Same idea but with the Spidey girlfriends who don’t have that many appearances to their name. The main focus would be Gwen Stacy because for good or ill she’s a character who people are interested in. But you could also throw in appearances from Deb Whitman, Carlie, etc.

6.       Spider-Man’s Tangled Web: TBH I couldn’t figure out a good name for this one, but essentially this would be about Peter’s friends who aren’t superheroes, Bugle employees or girlfriends of his. This would include Flash Thompson (pre-Venom), Liz Allan, Randy Robertson, possibly Glory Grant although she’d also fit in with the Bugle trades I guess. Throw in the Tangled web issues and your good to go!

7.       Clone Classic: As you might expect this would chronicles Ben Reilly and Kaine’s exploits, but also for good measure ALL the clearly clone related stories. So we’re talking appearances involving Miles Warren and Gwen’s clone too. Although I guess the latter could fit in ‘the Many Loves of Spider-Man’ trades.

8.       Spider-Man’s Amazing Friends Classic: All of the superhero friends Spider-Man has who are closely associated with him and have had off and on titles over the years. Prowler, Silver Sable, Rocket Racer, Sandman (when he reformed), Jackpot, Alpha, Will O’ Wisp, etc

9.       Goblins Classic: I thought of doing a trade purely about the Osborns but this seemed more logical. It’d cover every appearance of the Goblin related characters. We’re talking Norman Osborn, Harry Osborn, Bart Hamilton, Roderick Kingsley, Ned Leeds, Jason Macendale, Phil Urich, Green Goblin V, Hobgoblin from Bendis’ Secret War, Gabriel+Sarah Stacy, Lily Hollister and whoever else will become a Goblin

10.   Doctor Octopus Classic: Speaks for itself, and yeah it’d include his clones from Superior onwards too.

11.   Symbiotes Classic: I thought of having this be about all the symbiotes OTHER than Venom and Carnage but having 3 sets of trades for symbiotes seemed ridiculous. This would cover every symbiote (Venom, Carnage, Hybrid, Scream, Toxin, Mania, Sleeper, etc) along with major hosts of theirs. Eddie Brock, Cletus Kasady, Mac Gargan, Flash Thompson, Andi Benton, etc

12.   Sinister Six Classic. Maybe you couldn’t call these guys A-listers strictly speaking but these would be the real famous Spider-Man villains who haen’t already been mentioned. We’re talking the Vultures, Electros, Kravens, Mysterios, Chameleon, all the really classic costumed Spidey bad guys you could think of with the exception of some of the folks I’m gonna name below

13.   The Many Foes of Spider-Man Classic: This would chiefly chronicle the stories about the characters from Deadly/Lethal/Superior Foes of Spider-Man, most importantly Boomerang, Beetle and Shocker

14.   Spider Women Classic: All the 616 centric Spider Ladies. Jessica Drew, Julia Carpenter, Mattie Franklin, Cindy Moon, Anya Corazon, maybe even throw Madame Web in there for good measure. I think it makes sense to consolidate them together into a trade series as their publication histories meant they were usually passing the baton onto one another.

15.   Miles Morales: Spider-Man Classic: Guess who this is about. Obviously this would include his appearances in Champions, Avengers, etc

16.   Gwen Stacy: Ghost Spider Classic: Every Spider-Gwen/Ghost Spider/Earh-65 Gwen appearanceD

17.   Spider-Ham Classic: You get the picture. Although I’d also add in versions of Spider-Ham that are from different Earths as well

18.   Spider-Man 2099 Classic: We’re actually already doing these in real life, but I’d want them to include every version of Miguel too and brief appearances across other titles

19.   Ultimate Spider-Man Classic: Obviously the same deal for Ultimate Peter Parker, but I’d also include Ultimate Jessica Drew as well

20.   Web of Spider-Verse: A trade series that reprints in publication order every other AU Spider-People out there. All the What Ifs, the Earth X stuff, House of M, X-Men: Forever, 1602, Noir, India, Peni Parker, Fairy Tales and of course Web Warriors

21.   Spider-Girl Classic: We’re already doing this one too. Just wish it’d come out faster!

22.   Spider-Man: Japan Classic: ALL the Japanese Spider-Man stories. Every appearance of Supaidaman from Spider-Verse and beyond. Every appearance of Spider-Man J, Mangaverse Spider-Man, Spidey Fake Red and most controversially Spider-Man: The Manga (deffo gonna have to put a mature readers disclaimer on those ones.

[hellzyeahwebwielingessays]

The Not-So-Amazing Mary Jane Part 9: MJ is making Peter’s mistake from AF #15 (despite knowing better)

Previous Part

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Master Post

During parts 6-8 (especially parts 7-8) I discussed how out of character MJ’s attitudes towards Beck and his crew were. Allowing Beck and his crew to walk free is especially moronic when you consider her relationship with Peter.

For years  she has had a very deep relationship with a man whose life has been largely defined by one  instance where he knowingly allowed a criminal to walk free.

I feel it’s redundant to point to specific instances of MJ clearly being aware of Peter’s origin.

What is more important is this question: Does MJ’s awareness of Peter’s origin correlate to Mary Jane practicing the lessons it taught him?

In other words just because Peter learned valuable lessons from Ben’s death and MJ is aware of that, does it mean she  has also learned those lessons?

Does she  know that you shouldn’t knowingly allow a criminal to walk free if you can avoid it? That it is irresponsible to do so? That there can be very serious life or death repercussions of doing so?

The answer to that would be: Yes absolutely!

For starters it rather boggles the mind that for years Mary Jane could be totally aware of the details of Peter’s origin and understand that it’s at the root of pretty much everything  he does (including risking his life) and not herself grasp that it’s exemplifies a lesson everybody  can learn from. After all the ‘salt in the wound’ of Peter letting the burglar go is that he didn’t even need  super powers to avert his uncle’s death. Merely tripping him up or standing in his way would’ve delayed him just enough for the security guard to apprehend him.

But even if you don’t wish to accept common sense as a valid argument there are other examples, both implicit and explicit.

In ASM #127 MJ witnessed a murder committed by the Vulture (not the original) and was terrified of talking to the police about what she saw. Peter berated her harshly for this. After some attempts on her life by the Vulture MJ decided she would talk to the cops.

This clearly demonstrates MJ waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back then (before even knowing Peter’s origin) grasped the ethical implications of letting the guilty roam free.

Much later in ASM #275 MJ learns Peter intends to retire as Spider-Man. This is something she is on board with as she cares about his safety. The situation prompts her to ask about his origin (an excuse for Marvel to simply reprint Amazing Fantasy #15). It is an important moment of growth for MJ individually and in her and Peter’s relationship.

When he is done MJ asks why Peter is retiring if he became Spidey out of responsibility. This demonstrates she absolutely grasped the lesson at the heart of his origin. In this same scene MJ thinks to herself that she has privately admired Peter’s heroism. She wishes she could be more like him since she feels bad about always running from her own responsibilities. These would chiefly include abandoning her pregnant sister; see her own origin from ASM #259. As the scene continues MJ actually laments the Peter is now acting like her.

This pretty clearly demonstrates MJ utterly understands  how the lessons within Peter’s origin can apply to her. She feels bad about herself precisely because she doesn’t  put them into practice.

Her final appearance in the issue has her trying to talk Peter out of it. She tells him he’s making a mistake and isn’t being fair to himself or anyone else. 

When taken in the context of the above pages this dialogue heavily implies MJ is speaking from a place of personal experience. She knows that it’s bad to ignore one’s responsibilities and the ‘anyone else’ she is referring to could be directly referring to herself.

To make things even more blunt she follows that up by telling Peter straight that he can make a difference. That he owes it to the world to use his powers properly. This culminates with MJ, in spite of her concern for Peter’s safety, telling him he has  to suit up and save Sha Shan from the Hobgoblin.

As a whole the issue at least heavily implies Mary Jane gets Peter’s ultimate lesson. If you look at it as a math problem she doesn’t just see how someone got to the final answer, she understands the concepts and the mechanics of why what they did resulted in that final answer.

More than this Mary Jane actively grew in response to learning Peter’s lesson and seeing him live by it.

Arguably the most notable example of this can be found in ASM #290-292. In these issues Mary Jane learns her sister Gayle (the one she abandoned) is in jail and immediately heads out to Pittsburgh to help her. There she learns that her sister had tried to steal a rare manuscript on behalf of their abusive father Phillip, who’d drifted to the wrong side of the law.

Phillip wants MJ to retrieve the manuscripts Gayle hid before she was caught and without hard evidence Gayle would be released. MJ was torn between lingering loyalty to he father, misplaced guilt for causing her parents divorce, her desire to help her sister and doing the right thing legally speaking. She was torn up enough that she requested Peter fly over to help her out.

Ultimately she chose to turn her father into the police, hoping that under the circumstances her sister would be okay and it’d be worth it for them to be rid of their father for good.

Whilst she was on the fence for a while before making her decision, Mary Jane purposefully didn’t tell Peter so as to not force him to choose between helping her or letting a crook go. She makes it clear his presence in her life was instrumental in finally deciding what to do.

Perhaps more clearly than anything else we have (or will) look at these events firmly establish MJ’s growing sense of responsibility. Simultaneously they display how it is directly tied to Peter’s presence in her life and above all else her understanding  of the life lesson he lives by.

MJ grasped this lesson so well that she took steps to avoid putting Peter in a similar position to when he encountered the burglar.

She grasped this lesson so well that she was willing to risk her sister’s freedom and  send her Dad to jail for it. And her Dad was hardly on the same level as the likes of Mysterio.

Further proof of MJ’s growth can be observed in Web of Spider-Man Annual #6. Here MJ serves jury duty and does so willingly (hinting that this is a form of growth from her youth). Of all the jury members she is the only one who maintains the defendant is guilty. This is because she is the only one who is aware of what Spider-Man is really like and as such knows the defendant is falsely blaming Spidey for his own crimes.

In essence this is MJ clearly unwilling to let a crook walk free because she knows he is guilty.

Further food for thought is provided in Spider-Man Unlimited v3 #2. In this story MJ is working on a movie, specifically the role of a police officer’s wife. In an interview the art and dialogue clearly show us that MJ connects to the role through her relationship with Peter.

After the interview MJ ponders the ridiculousness of how she is treated compared to Peter considering the importance of his heroic work.

Towards the end of the story she tells Peter that she feels like she doesn’t do anything valuable compared to him, a sentiment he disagrees with and corrects her on.

This story at least implies that MJ is fully aware of the importance of Peter’s job and would like to actively contribute to it in some kind of similar way, to make a difference. Which in turn implies that she understands the lesson underpinning Peter’s job in the first place.

My final example is a contentious one I will admit, but it does provide yet more food for thought.

It stems from the atrocious ASM #605. The story contradicts not only the stories mentioned above but also Peter and MJ’s established characterization in general. However it does contain the clearest cut example of Mary Jane absolutely 100% understanding and putting into practice Peter’s ultimate life lesson.

The gist of things is that Mary Jane, whilst in L.A., finds herself caught up in dangerous encounter with the White Rabbit. For her own protection MJ disguises herself as Alice of Wonderland fame, complete with a creepy mask.

Sprinkled throughout the tale are flashbacks to a heated (and bullshit) argument MJ and Peter had in the past. As MJ tries to escape she comes across a the White Rabbit preparing to murder a civilian, this then triggers another flashback to the argument with Peter. She recalls Peter essentially telling her to not simply stand by and do nothing as he once did. This prompts MJ to intervene and save the civilian.

Again, this is a contentious example to bring up (for various reasons) and I absolutely own up to that.

However, it shows that even when one uses nonsensical Brand New Day era stories and mischaracterization Mary Jane still  understood and acted upon the same lesson Peter lived by.

Thus from whatever angle you slice it from she isn’t going to allow criminals evading justice (let alone actively perpetrating crimes) to get away with it if she can do something about it.

And yet that is exactly what she is doing in AMJ.

Of course a counterargument to this would be that the situation in AMJ is different by virtue of Beck (and arguably his crewmembers) seemingly seeking some form of redemption in making the movie.

But that’s a topic for next time.

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Master Post

[biggoonie]

AMAZING FANTASY #15 FACSIMILE EDITION

Written by STAN LEE Penciled by STEVE DITKO Cover by JACK KIRBY The landmark, industry-changing issue that introduced the Amazing Spider-Man! When high school wallflower Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, his life is transformed — first for the better, then for the worse! With his new array of arachnid abilities — including speed, strength, agility and, thanks to his scientific know-how, spinning webs — Peter seeks fame as the costumed celebrity called Spider-Man! But his cavalier attitude soon comes back to haunt him, and shatter the lives of his beloved Uncle Ben and Aunt May! Peter Parker is about to learn a powerful lesson, one that has never been taught better than by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko: With great power there must also come great responsibility! It’s one of the all-time great Marvel comic books, boldly re-presented in its original form, ads and all! Reprinting AMAZING FANTASY (1962) #15. 32 PGS./All Ages …$3.99

[sweetwateriver]

[id: a tweet from @/comickeys reading "in the 1970's, publisher la prensa did not believe that mexicans would read spider-man after gwen stacy died. they created 45 original issues after spiderman 119 where she lives, that have never been translated or reprinted. this is their marriage issue. marvel needs to collect these!" attached is the cover of 'el sorprendente hombre araña' #128. peter and gwen are dressed in a suit and wedding dress respectively. peter is kissing gwen on the cheek and she's holding a bouquet of flowers. spider-man is in a web in the background and on the bottom are panels of the green goblin looking upset. end id]

abksbjnksbid i love comics so much u can just do WHATEVER