Category: Spider-Man

A MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL

By Susan K Putney & Berni Wrightson (Marvel)
ISBN: 0- 87135-154-4

Marvel’s experiment with graphic novel publishing in the 1980s produced some classy results that the company has seldom come close to repeating since. Both original concepts and their own properties were represented in that initial run and many of the stories still stand out today – or would if they were still in print.

One such is this charming fantasy fable written by Susan K. Putney and painted by comic-book legend Berni Wrightson. Marandi Sjörokker is not the twelve year girl she appears to be. For a start she’s been twelve for over two hundred years, and when she introduces herself by calling Spider-Man “Petey” she reveals how she knew him when he was a toddler and she delivered his Uncle Ben’s newspapers.

And so begins a wild and gently charming other-dimensional romp, full of action and spectacle, as the web-slinger takes a break from his grim and grimy reality to help the permanently adolescent sorceress against the demonic and unstoppable TordenKakerlakk (which I’m reliably informed is Norwegian for Thunder Cockroach). Moreover, this witty, whimsical coming-of-age tale is beautifully and imaginatively illustrated by a master craftsman. A wonderful change-of-pace tale that perfectly displays the versatility of everybody’s favourite wall-crawler – and one long overdue for re-release.

© 1986 Marvel Entertainment Group/Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Stan Lee & Steve Ditko (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-905239-80-1

This third volume of the chronological Spider-Man sees the World’s Most Misunderstood Hero begin to challenge the dominance of the Fantastic Four as Marvel’s top comic book both in sales and quality. Steve Ditko’s off-beat plots and superlative art had gradually adapted to the slick and potent superhero house-style that Jack Kirby was developing (at least as much as such a unique talent ever could), with less line-feathering and more bombastic villains, and although still very much his baby, Spider-Man had attained a sleek pictorial gloss. Stan Lee’s scripts were perfectly in tune with the times, and although his assessment of the audience was probably the correct one, the disagreements with the artist over the strip’s editorial direction were still confined to the office and not the pages themselves.

Thematically, there’s still a large percentage of old-fashioned crime and gangsterism here. The dependence on costumed super-foes as antagonists was still nicely balanced with thugs, hoods and mob-bosses, but those days were coming to an end too…

The collection (reprinting Amazing Spider-Man #20-31 and Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2) kicks off with ‘The Coming of the Scorpion!’ wherein J. Jonah Jameson lets his obsessive hatred for the arachnid hero get the better of him, hiring scientist Farley Stillwell to give a private detective Scorpion-based superpowers. Unfortunately the process drives the subject mad before he can capture Spidey, leaving the wall-crawler with yet another super-nutcase to deal with.

Issue #21 guest-starred the Human Torch. ‘Where Flies The Beetle’ features a hilarious love triangle as the Torch’s girlfriend uses Peter Parker to make the flaming hero jealous. Unfortunately the Beetle, a villain with a high-tech suit of insect armour (no sniggering) is planning to use her as bait for a trap. As usual Spider-Man is in the wrong place at the right time, resulting in a spectacular fight-fest.

‘The Clown, and his Masters of Menace’ is a return engagement for the Circus of Crime (see Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man 1964 ISBN: 978-1-905239-58-0 for their first appearance) and #23 was a superb thriller blending the ordinary criminals that Ditko loved to feature with the arcane threat of a super-villain attempting to take over the Mob. ‘The Goblin and the Gangsters’ is both moody and explosive, a perfect contrast to ‘Spider-Man Goes Mad!’ This psychological thriller finds a delusional hero seeking psychiatric help, but there’s more to the matter than simple insanity, as an old foe makes an unexpected return…

Issue #25 once again saw the obsessed Daily Bugle publisher taking matters into his own hands: ‘Captured by J. Jonah Jameson!’ introduces Professor Smythe, whose robotic Spider-Slayers would come to bedevil the Web-Spinner for years to come, hired by the newsman to remove Spider-Man for good.

Issues #27 and 28 form a captivating two-part mystery saga featuring a hot duel between The Green Goblin and an enigmatic new criminal. ‘The Man in the Crime-Master’s Mask!’ and ‘Bring Back my Goblin to Me!’ comprise a perfect Spider-Man tale, with soap-opera melodrama and brilliant comedy leavening tense thrills and all-out action. ‘The Menace of the Molten Man!’ (#28) is a tale of science gone bad and is remarkable not only for the action sequences and possibly the most striking Spider-Man cover ever produced but also as the story where Peter Parker graduated from High School.

‘Never Step on a Scorpion!’ sees the return of that lab-made villain, hungry for vengeance against not just the Wall-Crawler but also Jameson for turning him into a monster. Issue #30 is another quirky crime-thriller which lays the seeds for future masterpieces. ‘The Claws of the Cat!’ features the hunt for an extremely capable cat-burglar, (way more exciting than it sounds, trust me!) and sees the introduction of an organised mob of thieves working for the mysterious Master Planner. The sharp-eyed will note that scripter Lee mistakenly calls their boss “The Cat” in one sequence, but really, let it go. That’s the kind of nit-picking that gives us comic fans a bad name and so little chance of meeting girls…

‘If This Be My Destiny…!’ ends the year as the as the Master Planner’s high-tech robberies lead to a confrontation with Spider-Man. The next volume will feature the concluding episodes – in my opinion Lee and Ditko’s best work ever, anywhere, but that’s then not now, so be content (if you can) with Peter at College, the introduction of Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy, and Aunt May on the edge of death…

However the volume doesn’t end here due to the odd trick of placing the summer Annual’s contents after the December issue. In 1965 Steve Ditko was blowing away audiences with another oddly tangential superhero. ‘The Wondrous World of Dr. Strange!’ introduced the Web-Slinger to a whole other reality when he teamed up with the Master of the Mystic Arts to battle a power-crazed wizard named Xandu in a phantasmagorical, dimension-hopping gem. After this story it was clear that the Spider-Man concept could work in any milieu.

This cheap and cheerful compendium is a wonderful way to introduce or reacquaint readers with the early Spider-Man. The brilliant adventures and glorious pin-ups are superb value and this series of books should be the first choice of any adult with a present to buy for an impressionable child. Or for themselves…

© 1965, 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

A MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL

 

By Charles Vess (Marvel)
ISBN: 0- 87135-692-9

Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think this truly beautiful painted graphic novel has been re-issued since it first came out in 1990. If that is the case then it’s an appalling oversight as Spirits of the Earth is one of the prettiest graphic novels ever produced, not to say one of the most entertaining Spider-Man adventures ever told.

Newlyweds Mary Jane and Peter Parker are astounded and delighted to discover that an unknown relative has left her a castle deep in the Scottish Highlands. Setting off for a second honeymoon they soon become embroiled in ancient magic and high-tech abominations courtesy of the Celtic branch of the perfidious Mutants and Millionaires organisation The Hellfire Club…

Ghoulies, Ghosties and villainous super-criminals combine with some of the best artwork you’ve ever seen for a truly wonderful adventure that desperately needs to be on your bookshelf. My copy also contains a lovely pictorial travelogue by Vess entitled “A Scottish Journey”. Hopefully yours will too once you track down this little gem.

© 1990 Marvel Entertainment Group/Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Stan Lee & John Romita (Marvel/ Panini Publishing UK)
ISBN13: 978-1-905239-32-0

By 1977 Stan Lee had all but surrendered his role as editor and guiding light of Marvel Comics for that of a roving PR machine to hype-up the company he had turned into a powerhouse. In that year two events occurred that catapulted Marvel’s trademark character into the popular culture mainstream. One was the long anticipated release of the Amazing Spider-Man live action TV show – a mixed blessing and pyrrhic victory at best – whilst the other, and one much more in keeping with his humble origins was the launch of a syndicated newspaper strip.

Both brought the character to a wider audience but the later offered at least a promise of editorial control – a vital factor in keeping the Wallcrawler’s identity and integrity intact. But even this medium dictated some tailoring of the “Merry Marvel Madness” before the hero was a suitable fit with the grown-up world of the Funny Pages.

Which is a longwinded way of saying that completists and long-time fans will be happy with this collection of strips, as will any admirer of the black-and-white artwork of the senior John Romita (latterly inked by the great Frank Giacoia); but the stories, tame, bowdlerised and rather mediocre, struggle without the support network of a Marvel Universe, and are necessarily dumbed-down for readers not familiar with the wider cast or long history.

If the reader is steeped in the common folklore of Spider-Man, the adventures introducing Dr. Doom and Dr. Octopus are merely heavy-handed, but for newcomers they are presented as if all participants are already familiar, with no development or real explanation. A new villain The Rattler comes next, followed by the more appropriate (for strips at least) gangster The Kingpin before the strip finally gets around to a retelling of the origin, but now based on that aforementioned TV show rather than the classic Lee/Ditko masterpiece. It is safe to say that in those early years the TV series informed the strip much (too much) more than the comic-books.

A revised Kraven the Hunter came next, which presented an opportunity to remove Mary Jane Watson from the strip in favour of a string of temporary girl-friends, more in line with the TV version, and this also signalled a reining-in of super-menaces in favour of a less fantastic string of opponents such as a middle-Eastern terrorist. The launch of a Spider-Man movie took Peter Parker to Hollywood and a new version of deranged special-effects genius Mysterio, before Dr. Doom returned, attempting to derange our hero with robot pigeons and duplicates of Peter Parker’s associates.

This is followed by an exceptional run as three street thugs terrorise Aunt May for her social security money, and Spider-Man has to foil a crazed fashion-model who has discovered his identity and is blackmailing him. These human-scale threats are a perfect use of the hero in this more realistic milieu – and they are the best stories in this collection (reprinting the first two years of the feature; from January 3rd 1977 to January 28th 1979), which regrettably ends with a (feel free to shudder) protection racket story set in the Disco owned by Flash Thompson and Harry Osborn.

The wonderful art sadly can’t counteract the goofy stories that predominate in this collection, nor has time been gentle with the dialogue, which is so antiquated that it might be dug up on Time Team, but there is nonetheless a certain guilty pleasure to be derived from this volume if you don’t take your comics too seriously….

© 1977, 1978, 2007 Marvel Characters Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Brian M. Bendis, Mark Bagley & Art Thibert (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-7851-0968-4

After Marvel’s problems of the mid 1990s, the company came back swinging, and one new concept was the remodelling and modernising of their core characters for the new youth culture. The ‘Ultimate’ imprint abandoned the monumental continuity that had been Marvel’s greatest asset and the company’s major characters were given a separate universe to play in and makeovers to appeal to a contemporary, 21st century audience.

As the Ultimate wall crawler ended his second year the characters had stabilised, the relationships had crystallised and everybody concerned accepted that the series was here for the long haul. Bendis, Bagley and Thibert were beyond the experimental stage and were crafting stories in their teen-friendly soap-opera that could aspire to something other than novelty value.

This sequence (originally printed as issues #22-27 of the monthly comic) features the return of Norman Osborn, the insane millionaire industrialist whose experiments led to the creation of Spider-Man. Believed killed as the mutated Green Goblin, he is back, and knows Peter Parker’s secrets. He also intends to make Peter his accomplice, if not slave, and threatens Parker’s nearest and dearest to get his way.

Luckily Nick Fury steps into the picture. Running covert agency S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury is responsible for handling superhuman affairs for the government. Unable to tackle Osborn himself, Fury will safeguard the innocents and give Spider-Man free rein to deal with the deranged and vengeance-crazed Goblin. All Peter needs to do is beat the most dangerous super-maniac in the world….

And even if he wins, he’s only got until he turns eighteen before he’s legally an adult and Fury can legally draft him. How different is it to be owned by a millionaire madman or an elected one?

Frenetic and compelling, the charisma of the misunderstood outsider fuels this readable pot-boiler of teen-angst and school-daze. Light but addictive, and stuffed with hot chicks, this glossy super-soap brings good comics to the post-literate generation.

© 2000, 2001 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Brian M. Bendis, Mark Bagley, Art Thibert & Erik Benson (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-7851-0879-3

After Marvel’s problems of the mid 1990s, the company came back swinging, and one new concept was the remodelling and modernising of their core characters for the new youth culture. The ‘Ultimate’ imprint abandoned the monumental continuity that had been Marvel’s greatest asset and the company’s major characters were given a separate universe to play in and makeovers to appeal to a contemporary, 21st century audience.

Collecting issues #14-21 of the ultra-updated Ultimate Arachnid, this volume amps up the angst with the newly modified Doctor Octopus and the Australian TV star Kraven the Hunter, each setting their sinister sights on the spindly neophyte superhero: One for revenge and the other for publicity and a movie contract.

The convoluted silliness of the original Spider-Man is just beginning to creep into these tales, but quite frankly, that’s unavoidable if you’re producing soap-opera super-heroics. For the moment however there’s still Peter’s developing relationship with drop-dead-gorgeous girl-next-door Mary Jane, the introduction of stunning – and possibly psychotic – bad-girl Gwen Stacy, loads and loads of glossy action and a running stream of people who might have deduced Spider-Man’s secret identity…

Frantic fun with a sharp edge to it, this version of Spider-Man is very similar to the movies and that must surely be a benefit to all those converts from celluloid to paper adventuring.

© 2000, 2001 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Brian M. Bendis, Mark Bagley & Art Thibert (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-7851-0820-3

After Marvel’s problems of the mid 1990s, the company came back swinging, and one new concept was the remodelling and modernising of their core characters for the new youth culture. The ‘Ultimate’ imprint abandoned the monumental continuity that had been Marvel’s greatest asset and the company’s major characters were given a separate universe to play in and makeovers to appeal to a contemporary, 21st century audience.

Puberty is hard enough for anybody, but if you’re the high school science geek, every bully’s target of choice, suddenly the man-of-the-house and soon-to-be-breadwinner, life is horrible. Compound that with the suspicion that the Most Beautiful Girl in the World might have the hots for you – or might not – and that you’re a superhero driven by overwhelming guilt to risk your life fighting monsters and super-villains every chance you get, and what you have is the second collection of the other, newer Peter Parker: Spider-Man.

Highlights in this highly readable tome include Peter getting a job at the Daily Bugle, Aunt May’s attempt at the “Birds and Bees” talk with her hapless nephew, Mary Jane’s reaction to learning one of Peter’s secrets and of course the Die Hard-inspired assault on the overlord of crime’s skyscraper fortress as Spiderman tries to destroy the Kingpin of Crime.

The early incorporation of old Spidey foes such as The Enforcers and Kingpin into the new mythos was a canny move. Neither is as outlandish as many old villains and at the start establishing the hero as the most uncanny element was important. Even the inclusion of Electro was low key, and his costuming restrained. Using Crime rather than World Conquest kept the fantasy realism intact. But soon enough the baroque nature of superheroes will be straining at sensibilities and credibilities again…

This is a sharp, credible effort to make a teen icon relevant again and a funny, thrilling read for the old and jaundiced.

© 2000, 2001 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Brian M. Bendis, Bill Jemas, Mark Bagley, Art Thibert & Dan Panosian (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-7851-0786-X

After Marvel’s bankruptcy problems of the mid 1990s the creative fraction of the company came back swinging, and one of the most successful concepts was the brutal remodelling and modernising of their core characters for the Hip and Now ‘Ultimate’ imprint. Eschewing the hide-bound continuity that had originally taken Marvel to the top of the comicbook heap, the company’s major characters were given complete makeovers, a new universe to play in and were carefully re-crafted to appeal to a young, contemporary, 21st century audience.

Peter Parker was once again a nerdy high-school geek, brilliant but bullied by his physical superiors, there was a much more scientifically feasible rationale for the spider bite that gave him super-powers, and his Uncle Ben still died because of his lack of responsibility. The Daily Bugle is still there as is the outrageous J Jonah Jameson. But now in a more cynical, litigious world, well-used to cover-ups and conspiracy theories, arch foe Norman Osborn – a corrupt and ruthless billionaire businessman – is behind everything.

Any pretence to the faux realism of traditional superhero fare is surrendered to a kind of tried-and-tested TV soap-opera melodrama that links all characters together in invisible threads of karmic coincidence, but, to be honest, it actually doesn’t hurt the narrative. As long as internal logic isn’t contravened, it doesn’t have to make sense to be entertaining.

By reworking key moments of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man, the creators have captured the core value of the original and cast in it terms that modern youngsters can readily assimilate. The Ultimate Peter Parker speaks to the new young reader in the same way the 1960s incarnation spoke to my generation.

The storyline is very close to what movie-goers saw in the first Spider-Man movie, which is no coincidence and a big bonus if watching the film turned viewers into comic collectors. The art is frenetic and vivid, Brian Michael Bendis’ dialogue as fresh as anything on television and the pace is non-stop. If you need to recapture or recreate an audience, this is a very positive way to do it.

© 2000, 2001 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By J.M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck & Bob McLeod (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-7851-2330-X

One of the most memorable Spider-Man epics of the last forty-odd years has finally been repackaged and is available again. No cheap paperback edition yet (that I know of) but Kraven’s Last Hunt (originally collected as Spiderman: Fearful Symmetry) is probably worth the extra cost and a more sturdy format.

The eerie psycho-drama that originally ran in 1987 through Amazing, Spectacular, and Web of Spider-Man saw a dark and obsessed Kraven the Hunter finally defeat his arch-nemesis and Oedipally replace him, before inevitably succumbing to his tragic just desserts.

After years of battle, Kraven here is back-written into an intrinsically noble but twisted relic of a bygone era, whose compulsion to defeat Spider-Man spirals into a demented desire to consume and then become him. Kraven’s initial success only serves to highlight the fundamental differences between them, such as how each deals with the savage and cannibalistic rat/man hybrid Vermin who brutally rampages through the rain-soaked and terrified city in a compelling and efficient sub-plot, or with those ordinary people that impinge upon the lives of protagonist and antagonist equally.

Despite the heavy psychological underpinnings, Fearful Symmetry is a gripping thrill-ride adventure, simultaneously moody and fast-paced. Writer DeMatteis curtails his wearisome tendency to overwrite, stifles his leanings toward flowery sentimentality and the maudlin, and lets the art team of Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod have plenty of opportunities to impress with traditional comic art set-pieces.

This series electrified Spider-Man fans when it first appeared and it has lost none of its power today. This is a must-have item for any fan of the medium.

© 1989 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 

MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN: Volume 1 DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN
ISBN 0-7851-1437-8

MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN: Volume 2 VENOMOUS
ISBN 0-7851-1675-3

MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN: Volume 3 THE LAST STAND
By Mark Millar, Terry & Rachel Dodson and Frank Cho (Marvel Comic)
ISBN 0-7851-1676-1

The Marvel Knights imprint is pretty much credited with saving “the House of Ideas” after the near disastrous financial collapse of the mid-1990’s. It’s become a watchword for edgier, more worldly-wise, almost tongue-in-cheek material aimed at an older, more discerning fan. There are one or two stinkers, but generally this has produced a better quality of story, more accessible to new and/or older readers. The three books here comprise one extended adventure, blending that real-world sensibility with the truly bizarre continuity that had grown around Marvel’s most over-exposed character.

After yet another defeat for the Green Goblin (who has known Spider-Man’s secret identity since the earliest days of the hero’s career), which has lead to that villain’s actual incarceration for a change, our hero gets a mysterious phone call that literally changes his life in an instant. The mystery caller knows all Peter Parker’s secrets, and moreover, has kidnapped his beloved Aunt May. All Parker’s loved ones are at risk and someone out there has an irresistible hold over Spider-Man. He can’t even be sure that she’s even still alive, a notion that becomes increasingly real as the weeks pass with no word.

In a protracted search through the far corners of the Marvel Universe the increasingly desperate hero encounters old friends and a veritable legion of old foes who aren’t the clowns and bozos he – and we – were used to anymore. By the end of the saga our view of the status quo is utterly changed, and the world is a much darker and cynical place.

Sharp, edgy and funny scripting is wonderfully blended with the hyper-realistic illustration of the Dodsons and Frank Cho for a harsh and vivid revitalisation of many of the web-slingers greatest foes to produce an epic romp that is ideal to jump on or jump back to the amazing world of Spider-Man. However this should always have been one volume, not three. Maybe Marvel can rectify that error with the next imprint.

© 2004, 2005 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.