Category Archives: Spider-Man
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #12
The epic battle between nephew and uncle comes to a grim conclusion this issue, and unfortunately, it’s just not as strong a story as the last two issues. That’s not to say this is a bad issue, by any means, but Ultimate Spider-Man #12 just doesn’t pack the same cerebral or physical wallop that issues #10 and #11 did respectively. The fight between the new Spider-Man and his uncle the Prowler is quite awesome, with one or two cool moments. But there are a couple odd story choices that I think weigh down the overall comic.
I also think this was a less than stellar way to end the battle between Miles and his uncle. Aaron loses all of the moral ambiguity he seemed to have and turns into a total super-villain. Though at least Miles maintains some of that family love.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
I can’t put my finger on it, but this final battle between Spider-Man and Prowler didn’t feel as powerful as it should have. The stories leading up to this confrontation have been great. I’d even go so far as to say Miles’ second story arc is better than his first. But this fight just doesn’t have enough oomph behind it. The two men duke it out on a rooftop, with Aaron going full-blown villain. In past issues, I’ve loved that Aaron still seemed to have an interest in Miles’ well-being, because they’re family. The flashbacks to the two of them in better times were enjoyable. I really got the sense that Aaron was the ‘cool uncle’. Even after finding out that Miles was Spider-Man, Aaron still had little traces of good intent in him.
But when you tell your nephew that you’re going to drop his corpse in his father’s lap, you’re definitely not being invited to Thanksgiving dinner anymore. And that’s probably what disappointed me the most. Uncle Aaron is lost to us in this issue, in more ways than one.
Click the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
6 Villains I Want and 6 I Don’t Want in the New Spider-Man Movies
I would not have chosen the Lizard for The Amazing Spider-Man movie reboot. But then I didn’t have the unenviable task of picking a new super-villain to star in the reboot after most of the big names had been used in the three previous films. Who else were the writers supposed to pick? Well I’m glad you asked!
Spider-Man has the second best Rogue’s Gallery in all of comics (behind Batman). He’s got smart villains, bruiser villains, small-time crooks and big-time megalomaniacs! So with this new Spider-Man franchise being launched, who would I choose for the upcoming sequels?
It’s kind of obvious
OK, so I’d pick Venom. And probably even Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. What can I say, they’re some of the best, coolest and most cinematic of Spider-Man’s villains. And I wouldn’t bat an eye if the new franchise wanted to use them. But you and I both know that Spider-Man has many, many more foes to choose from. So being the comic book geek that I am, I’ve put together a list of the 6 villains I want to see in future movies, and 6 that I don’t. Not all of Spidey’s bad guys are made for the big screen.
Review: The Amazing Spider-Man
Bring on the new trilogy! The Amazing Spider-Man reboots the Spidey franchise with new depth, better action and, most importantly, real dramatic subtlety. This new film by director Mark Webb makes the old Sam Raimi trilogy look like a Saturday Morning Cartoon. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at those old movies the same way again. Especially since lead actors Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone (as Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy) make the old couple, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, look like community theater.
I had my reservations about a rebooted, darker Spider-Man film, but this new movie blew me away. The Amazing Spider-Man may be just a redo of the classic origin story, but it does it so much better than the previous film that it more than justifies the new direction.
Movie rating: 5/5: Great!
This is definitely a Spider-Man film. Despite most of the action taking place at night, giving the film a much darker look than its predecessors, The Amazing Spider-Man hits all the right notes to capture Spidey on the big screen. It’s got humor, it’s got costumed action, it’s got the overwhelming sense of responsibility and guilt, and it’s got a wonderful juxtaposition between Peter Parker living an ordinary life with his Aunt May vs. flying through the city in a blue and red costume.
But this is first and foremost Peter Parker’s movie. The focus is on how Peter grows as a man and becomes the hero we all love, and that may be my favorite part of the movie.
Peter doesn’t just become the heroic Spider-Man after Uncle Ben is killed. There are gradual stages that he goes through that change him from an angry, guilt-ridden teenager into the hero who saves New York. That’s the subtlety I mentioned above. Following that path and seeing the growth in Peter’s character made for a wonderful film. By the end, Spidey is a hero, the bad guy is defeated and we have ourselves a new franchise! I can’t wait for more!
Spoilers and more review after the jump!
Expect Amazing Spider-Man Review on Wednesday
Hey everybody! Not much going on in the world of geekery – well there is some stuff, but I’m working on a bigger post for tomorrow regarding some cool happenings at Marvel Comics. So tune in tomorrow morning for that. But beyond that news, not much. So I figured I’d let everyone know that my review of The Amazing Spider-Man will be up on Wednesday morning, the Fourth of July! I’m not going to the midnight showing tonight, to which I usually go alone. This time I’ve got a buddy who really loves Spider-Man, and we’re gonna see the movie on Tuesday
We went and saw the midnight showing of Spider-Man 3 in costume. He as Spider-Man, and me in a makeshift Venom outfit. Behold!
I made it myself!
That was a blast. Anyway, no costume this year, but now I’m actually writing movie reviews. So it’s a nice trade-off. If you’re eager for my review, be here on Wednesday. I have my hopes up. But The Amazing Spider-Man has been getting some mediocre reviews from some comic book sites I frequent. We’ll see! Let’s hope for the best!
And just so that I give you something, enjoy this new Assassin’s Creed 3 trailer!
Spider-Man to Team Up with Poochie
Or at least his own Poochie equivalent: Alpha!
File this new comic book news under ‘eye-rolling’, as Marvel is apparently going to give Spider-Man a sidekick! According to Fox News (of all places), a new character named Alpha is going to be introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #692 in order to celebrate Spider-Man’s 50th anniversary. Marvel has been teasing “Who is Alpha?” for a week or two now, and today they finally revealed that he’s going to be some white kid who accidentally gets super-powers while visiting Peter Parker’s lab.
Someone got paid to design that costume?
Since Peter is going to feel directly responsible for the kid (‘power and responsibility’ kind of being Peter’s thing), then Spider-Man is going to take Alpha under his wing to teach him about being a superhero. And in glorious fashion, Alpha is going to not only be more powerful than Spider-Man, but he’s going to be edgy and have a little attitude. Because that’s exactly what comic book fans want in their shoe-horned characters. Apparently they also want painfully generic black and teal superhero costumes.
When I first saw this announcement this morning, I thought it had to be some kind of joke. This story could almost qualify as an Onion parody about Spider-Man getting a generic, mainstream media-friendly sidekick.
Check out this quote from Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso from that article:
“Part of it is that Spider-Man is grown up. He’s older, more seasoned, but young at heart. He’s still a young man, but he’s been around. It’s interesting because it flips the paradigm. Teen hero Spider-Man is now responsible for this teen hero sidekick. He’s responsible because one of his inventions caused this kid to get his powers. He’s directly responsible for the responsibility this kid now has with his new powers. He feels he has a responsibility to make sure this kid walks the right path, which won’t prove easy.”
Did you guys know that Spider-Man is all about ‘responsibility’?
After giving it a lot of thought, I’ve decided that Alpha is being trotted out for a mainstream-friendly story designed to reinforce the ‘powers and responsibility’ motto in time for Spidey’s big anniversary. Alpha is going to be an homage to classic Spider-Man stories. There’s no way this kid is a permanent sidekick for Spider-Man. Or even filling in as a replacement Spider-Man. In fact, I think these news stories are using the word “sidekick” a bit too heavily. Maybe he’ll stick around and become a member of the supporting cast, someone Peter is always thinking about and looking out for, but we’re not talking a Robin level of sidekickery. He’s not going to become as intricate a partner to Spider-Man as the Boy Wonder is to Batman. He’s just going to become a new character in Spider-Man’s life because Dan Slott had a great idea about Spider-Man feeling directly responsible for Alpha getting super-powers.
You can check out a preview for issue #692 and the origin of Alpha right here.
Basically it looks like Peter invents some kind of ‘Science Gizmo’ that fires ‘Parker Particles’, which blast the kid and give him super-powers. Ho-hum.
Science!
If Spider-Man were to really get a permanent partner, the people at Marvel Comics could come up with someone a lot more creative than Alpha.
There is no way that the brilliant Dan Slott, current writer of Amazing Spider-Man, came up with such a bland, generic-looking character as a permanent sidekick to Spider-Man. I mean, c’mon. The name ‘Alpha’ is as generic as calling a new superhero ‘Power Boy’ or ‘Vengeance’. And that costume is ridiculous. Not even a mask?
Here’s what Slott himself said on the message boards at ComicBookResources:
As soon as I turned in the first draft of the story, I said, “When news of this breaks, there are going to be 3 comments made IMMEDIATELY on the internet…”
“I dropped Spider-Man shortly after Brand New Day started and I honestly haven’t missed it. This whole, sidekick thing just shows how right I was to drop it when I did.” <– I nailed this one almost WORD FOR WORD!
The other two involve the words “Poochie” and/or “Scrappy Doo.”
🙂Seriously tho– This is going to be a fun storyline and one I’ve wanted to do for ages. It is VERY Spider-Man. It’s SUCH a Spider-Man story straight-to-the-core. In fact it is SO VERY VERY VERY a quintessential Spider-Man story– it’ll be one of the ones where people AFTER THEY’VE ACTUALLY READ IT will go, “I can’t believe the series has been going for 50 years and no one EVER told that story before.”
So clearly Slott recognizes just how generic and impromptu Alpha is, comparing the character to Poochie and Scrappy-Doo. Slott recognizes that idea and dismisses it. So it’s safe to say that he has something else in mind. Which is good to know, because Slott is a great writer, and there’s no way he’d be responsible for such a weak character.
However, I think Slott would absolutely be willing to create such a boring character as a foil for Spider-Man. Because, as he said, this is Spider-Man’s story, not Alpha’s story. Alpha is just a plot point. He’s a character for Spider-Man to react to. He’s someone for Spider-Man to mentor and reinforce his ‘power and responsibility’ motto. This will be like those Public Service Announcement comics. A fluffy, mainstream-friendly story that anyone can pick up and appreciate Spider-Man for Spider-Man.
We love ya, big guy!
Though we can probably anticipate a dark twist or two, like Alpha becoming a villain or something. I doubt Alpha will be immediately dropped after one story. I’m sure Slott has an end game in mind.
And if you want anymore proof that Alpha is just a mainstream-friendly character: Alpha’s real name is ‘Andy Maguire’. In the big screen films, Spider-Man has been played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Come on!
Henchman-4-Hire 