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Spider-Man

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN: The Human Heart of the Superhero

July 21, 2021 by Doug Smith Leave a Comment

For more than five decades, Spider-Man has remained one of the most popular and enduring comic book heroes. Created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, Peter Parker was the ultimate power fantasy to millions of readers young and old: an ordinary, shy kid who was suddenly blessed with spectacular powers. But since swinging into our lives in 1962, Spider-Man’s stories have evolved, as Peter met fellow heroes, lost friends and family, fought a bunch of his clones, struggled with his own mortality, and even lived through the heat death of the Marvel Universe. Once an incredibly down-to-earth look at superheroes, Spider-Man began to outgrow his everyman roots, with each larger-than-life threat increasing the fantastical elements of Peter’s life. To many, this trend reached its peak during Dan Slott’s 10-year run on the title, with Spider-Man founding his own billion-dollar company, gaining an arsenal of high-tech equipment, leaping into a multiversal epic alongside other spider-people, and, yes, fighting even more clones somehow (Don’t know why people keep coming back to that.) While Slott’s run still had plenty of great moments, it became clear to readers that the creators involved with Spider-Man weren’t as interested in the man behind the mask. That is, until Tom Taylor, along with artist Juann Cabal began their own run in 2019, fittingly titled Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Trading the high-tech, high-concept elements of Slott’s run for a more intimate adventure, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is a celebration of the human heart of the character, and how even the smallest of actions can make a world of change.

*SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THIS RECENT LIMITED SERIES*

[Read more…] about FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN: The Human Heart of the Superhero

Filed Under: Featured, Marvel Reviews Tagged With: Spider-Man

Is the Nick Spencer Run on Amazing Spider-Man… Good?

June 11, 2021 by Sean Dillon 5 Comments

No.

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Though, in its defense, the main Amazing Spider-Man title hasn’t been consistently good since Peter Parker was possessed by the ghost of Doctor Octopus (though, even then, that run was hobbled by Dan Slott’s inclination towards mediocrity and continuity fetishism); and it hasn’t been consistently great since the ’90s. There are many reasons for this, from an inexplicable notion that Spider-Man is a character who has to function like a teenager (I blame John Byrne) to the far more understandable (if still depressing) notion that Peter Parker must be a straight white guy who suffers for our sins (I blame Sam Rami).

* Spoilers for the run to date follow *

[Read more…] about Is the Nick Spencer Run on Amazing Spider-Man… Good?

Filed Under: Featured, Marvel Reviews Tagged With: Spider-Man

Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius) Reading Order!

June 4, 2021 by Charlotte Fierro 1 Comment

Spider-Man doesn’t lack iconic villains, from the Green Goblin to Venom and Carnage or even Kraven and Mysterio. But if there’s one representing the wall-crawler’s mirror image, his darker reflection, it’s Otto Octavius. From fighting Spider-Man as the supervillain and mad scientist Doctor Octopus to replacing him as the Superior Spider-Man, Otto might not have ruined Peter’s life quite as much as Norman Osborn has, but he has challenged our hero in a way no one else can, as a constant reminder of the worst-case scenario of who he could become.

In recent years, Otto has turned towards a possible redemption and tried his luck at being a superhero, but he still has a lot to make up for despite his efforts. Currently, it would seem Otto is back to his roots of supervillainy, but who knows what the future may hold for the eight-limbed scientist with the best bowl cut in the Marvel Universe.

Related:

Spider-Man

Green Goblin

[Read more…] about Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius) Reading Order!

Filed Under: Featured, Marvel Characters Tagged With: doctor octopus, Spider-Man

Silk (Cindy Moon) Reading Order!

May 25, 2021 by Latonya Pennington Leave a Comment

Cindy Moon (aka “Silk”) first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (2014). Created by Dan Slott and Huberto Ramos, this Korean-American journalist is one of three members of the Spider-Women; she’s been a member of both the Protectors and Agents of Atlas; and is a co-founder of The Order of the Web.

In her recent appearances, Silk has really come into her own as a superhero by stepping out of Peter Parker’s shadow and learning to open up to others after ten years of isolation resulted in her developing anxiety and her family going missing.

Not only has Cindy Moon reunited with her family and saved the multiverse. All while finding time to  but she has also been:

  • An Agent of Atlas
  • A Protector
  • A co-founding member of The Order of The Web
  • In three solo series…
  • …And more than a few team-ups

Silk has woven her own excellent web of stories. Since it was recently announced that a Silk live-action television series is currently in development, Silk’s future seems very bright. [Read more…] about Silk (Cindy Moon) Reading Order!

Filed Under: Featured, Marvel Characters Tagged With: silk, Spider-Man

Big Brawls and Brooding Babes in Acts of Vengeance: Spider-Man & The X-Men

May 13, 2021 by Sara Century Leave a Comment

Web of Spider-Man #61, written by Gerry Conway, art by Alex Saviuk, Keith Williams, and Bob Sharen, lettering by Rick Parker

The early ’90s were a wild time for comics, and it’s no exaggeration to say that seismic shake-ups were happening all across the medium. Nowhere was that more true than at Marvel, where creative teams of many years were being ousted in favor of new directions brought in by “fresh new artists” like Rob Liefeld, Jim Lee, Todd MacFarlane, and a handful of others. Stylism over substance took the industry by storm, and the effects of that, both positive and negative, are still felt to this day.

Amid the changing creative teams and the industry-wide trends that would ultimately define the era, there is Marvel’s Acts of Vengeance crossover. A core group of elite supervillains including William Fisk, Magneto, the Red Skull, and the Wizard (among others) recruited dozens of villains to attack different superheroes than they normally would under the premise that fighting slightly changing up the heroes’ rogue galleries would leave them permanently defeated. This… didn’t… work, mostly because there was zero strategy behind it. This razor-thin plot is typical of the time period: highly disjointed, and still completely badass, because it allowed months of page space dedicated to big, pointless brawls that didn’t really have to adhere to any kind of a coherent overarching plot outside of the ongoing stories within each individual book.

Collects: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #326-329, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (1976) #158-160, WEB OF SPIDER-MAN (1985) #59-61 and #64-65, WOLVERINE (1988) #19-20, ALPHA FLIGHT (1983) #79-80, NEW MUTANTS (1983) #86, UNCANNY X-MEN (1981) #256-258 and material from X-FACTOR (1986) #50 [Read more…] about Big Brawls and Brooding Babes in Acts of Vengeance: Spider-Man & The X-Men

Filed Under: Featured, Marvel Reviews Tagged With: Spider-Man, X-Men

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