If it's Thursday, it must be Spider-Man:
Yup, it's Spidey alright.
So what's Web-head up to?
What's going on??
Ahh, yes...
Our creators:
We discussed John Byrne earlier this week (actually, last week, sigh). Here, he's just on art and plot duties. He wrote the last issues pre-relaunch, and a couple of stories during this run, but most of the actual scripting was done by Howard Mackie.
And maybe this is just me over analyzing, but being free of scripting duties on Spider-Man seems to have really let Byrne go wild here. He's really letting his freak flag fly, having tons of fun with angle and perspective and layout. Frankly, it's some of his best, most energetic stuff in years (with Scott Hannah's inks, in this particular case).
So what's the scoop, Spidey? What's going on with your relaunch?
Hmmm, mucho exposition. Let's break it down. Peter had actually given up being Spider-Man, honestly and for real. But young Mattie Franklin (J. Jonah Jameson's niece!!) had taken up the identity...until, that is, she got her butt kicked, and when Peter saved her, she mentioned the word responsibility. Well, that word just makes Peter respond like a Pavlov dog, and, surprise, he became Spider-Man again.
Unfortunately, he didn't tell his wife he'd taken up the role again. (Note to younger readers: Peter Parker used to be married. Powers that be at Marvel decided that was icky, so they had Peter sell his soul to the devil so he wouldn't me married anymore. Because Peter Parker being single is so much greater, except that he hasn't had as much as a single date since Brand New Day started. Go figure).
So when Mary Jane confronts him, well...this one's for the ladies:
Meanwhile, there's a Spider-Woman running around. No, not Jessica Drew or Mattie Franklin or Julia Carpenter. But, this Spider-Woman has been stalking all the others, and "absorbing" their powers for herself:
"He?" Yes, there's mean some mysterious mastermind behind some nefarious shenanigans during this run. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll find out who it is this issue...
You know what we really need to see more often?
The Spider-Signal, that's what.
Poor, poor Peter. I'm sure we've all been in this situation: a woman is drooling over you...
...she throws herself at you...
...and then you wake up with no memory of what happened!!
Uh-oh, here comes the big reveal:
Ah, Otto Octavious...how we've missed you. Of course, he has to boast about his creation of the new Spider-Woman:
Now it's time for death:
Dopey Otto ALWAYS falls for this one...
You'd think by now he'd get some contact lenses, and develop web-proof non-stick glass for his lenses. Some scientist...
But with Otto blinded, he can't give one very important piece of advice to his protegee:
Don't randomly fire power blasts when you're in a secret underwater lab. I mean, duh, right??
Everybody escapes, Peter swims home...what else is there to say?
Oh, yes, John Byrne draws a disturbingly hot Aunt May:
And next issue?
Hmmmm, who could Flash's MYSTERIOUS visitor be? Hmmmm??? (That was a hint, people).
In the interests of completeness, all of this Spider-Woman business would lead to:
A new ongoing, starring Mattie Franklin and scripted by Byrne and pencilled by Bart Sears. It would last 18 issues, after which Mattie faded into Marvel limbo...
So was this worthy of a relaunch? Unlike Byrne's Hulk, I would say maybe. The first few stories of the run kept us guessing who Spider-Man really was, and we had a fresh start for Peter Parker. Mind you, I'm no big fan of just jettisoning hundreds of issues just for the sake of a new #1. But Mackie and Byrne gave us a fun, exciting Spider-Man, and it didn't involve Venom or clones. Good stuff. Nothing earth-shattering or revelatory...just good Spider-Man storytelling. Comfort food.
ELSEWHERE IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE:
Spider-Man wasn't quite up to X-Men levels. But the recent announcement that the film rights situation was cleared up and a major motion picture was on the way had Marvel feeling its Spidey oats. In addition to Amazing, we had:
Peter Parker, Spider-Man #6. A second ongoing, also written by Mackie, and drawn by Romita Jr.
Spider-Man: Chapter One #8. Written, drawn and inked by Byrne, this series basically retold stories from Spidey's early days (this one, for example, re-telling parts of Amazing #13 & 14). Why?
Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #6...think Legends of the Dark Knight, down Spider-Man.
And even in the midst of the uber-popular Kevin Smith/Joe Quesada run, Marvel thought it could pimp Daredevil sales by sticking Spidey on the cover:
That's a lotta Spider-Man. But, as we'll see, that's but a tiny fraction of that same month's X output...
Yup, it's Spidey alright.So what's Web-head up to?
What's going on??
Ahh, yes...Our creators:
We discussed John Byrne earlier this week (actually, last week, sigh). Here, he's just on art and plot duties. He wrote the last issues pre-relaunch, and a couple of stories during this run, but most of the actual scripting was done by Howard Mackie.And maybe this is just me over analyzing, but being free of scripting duties on Spider-Man seems to have really let Byrne go wild here. He's really letting his freak flag fly, having tons of fun with angle and perspective and layout. Frankly, it's some of his best, most energetic stuff in years (with Scott Hannah's inks, in this particular case).
So what's the scoop, Spidey? What's going on with your relaunch?
Hmmm, mucho exposition. Let's break it down. Peter had actually given up being Spider-Man, honestly and for real. But young Mattie Franklin (J. Jonah Jameson's niece!!) had taken up the identity...until, that is, she got her butt kicked, and when Peter saved her, she mentioned the word responsibility. Well, that word just makes Peter respond like a Pavlov dog, and, surprise, he became Spider-Man again.Unfortunately, he didn't tell his wife he'd taken up the role again. (Note to younger readers: Peter Parker used to be married. Powers that be at Marvel decided that was icky, so they had Peter sell his soul to the devil so he wouldn't me married anymore. Because Peter Parker being single is so much greater, except that he hasn't had as much as a single date since Brand New Day started. Go figure).
So when Mary Jane confronts him, well...this one's for the ladies:
Meanwhile, there's a Spider-Woman running around. No, not Jessica Drew or Mattie Franklin or Julia Carpenter. But, this Spider-Woman has been stalking all the others, and "absorbing" their powers for herself:
"He?" Yes, there's mean some mysterious mastermind behind some nefarious shenanigans during this run. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll find out who it is this issue...You know what we really need to see more often?
The Spider-Signal, that's what.Poor, poor Peter. I'm sure we've all been in this situation: a woman is drooling over you...
...she throws herself at you...
...and then you wake up with no memory of what happened!!
Uh-oh, here comes the big reveal:
Ah, Otto Octavious...how we've missed you. Of course, he has to boast about his creation of the new Spider-Woman:
Now it's time for death:
Dopey Otto ALWAYS falls for this one...
You'd think by now he'd get some contact lenses, and develop web-proof non-stick glass for his lenses. Some scientist...But with Otto blinded, he can't give one very important piece of advice to his protegee:
Don't randomly fire power blasts when you're in a secret underwater lab. I mean, duh, right??Everybody escapes, Peter swims home...what else is there to say?
Oh, yes, John Byrne draws a disturbingly hot Aunt May:
And next issue?
Hmmmm, who could Flash's MYSTERIOUS visitor be? Hmmmm??? (That was a hint, people).In the interests of completeness, all of this Spider-Woman business would lead to:
A new ongoing, starring Mattie Franklin and scripted by Byrne and pencilled by Bart Sears. It would last 18 issues, after which Mattie faded into Marvel limbo...So was this worthy of a relaunch? Unlike Byrne's Hulk, I would say maybe. The first few stories of the run kept us guessing who Spider-Man really was, and we had a fresh start for Peter Parker. Mind you, I'm no big fan of just jettisoning hundreds of issues just for the sake of a new #1. But Mackie and Byrne gave us a fun, exciting Spider-Man, and it didn't involve Venom or clones. Good stuff. Nothing earth-shattering or revelatory...just good Spider-Man storytelling. Comfort food.
ELSEWHERE IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE:
Spider-Man wasn't quite up to X-Men levels. But the recent announcement that the film rights situation was cleared up and a major motion picture was on the way had Marvel feeling its Spidey oats. In addition to Amazing, we had:
Peter Parker, Spider-Man #6. A second ongoing, also written by Mackie, and drawn by Romita Jr.
Spider-Man: Chapter One #8. Written, drawn and inked by Byrne, this series basically retold stories from Spidey's early days (this one, for example, re-telling parts of Amazing #13 & 14). Why? 
Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #6...think Legends of the Dark Knight, down Spider-Man.And even in the midst of the uber-popular Kevin Smith/Joe Quesada run, Marvel thought it could pimp Daredevil sales by sticking Spidey on the cover:
That's a lotta Spider-Man. But, as we'll see, that's but a tiny fraction of that same month's X output...
This run was one of Byrne's high points artistically, at least while Hanna was inking him. He scored some cool points with me in this very issue by properly showing the water refracting the light when Spidey was going underwater.
ReplyDeleteMattie did turn up recently in The Loners, but then again, that alone doesn't necessarily mean she's not in Marvel limbo, as that series was basically "here's a bunch of characters from Marvel limbo in a team together...".
ReplyDelete