philippos42 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
philippos42) wrote2014-01-16 04:51 pm
philippos42) wrote2014-01-16 04:51 pm
Entry tags:
Spider-Man memories and thoughts
I mentioned before that I am a Spider-Man fan from way back.
I'm of the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends generation. I already knew of Spidey, natch, but that show was actually my introduction to Marvel's mutants and the idea of the X-Men. I'm pretty happy that my baby cousin is seeing those now and running around playing at being Firestar.
I used to get Marvel Tales at the newsstand, beginning with when they were reprinting the Ditko stuff. I'm glad I was exposed to as much of the 1960's stuff as I was. 1960's Spider-Man was reprinted a lot back in the 1980's, unlike the other Marvel characters. I think it may have been something that was reasonably commercial, and also held up better than other stuff of the era.
The first comic book series I bought regularly was Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, around the time Peter David started writing it. Tom DeFalco was writing Amazing Spider-Man at that time, and I still tend to think of those two as "good" Spider-Man writers. Ah, bias. (But they have been pretty good with Spidey, really.) This was after Pete got rid of the controversial alien costume. In fact it "died" in Web of Spider-Man #1, which was not at my neighborhood newsstand, so I didn't get it. (I read a friend's copy.)
A year or two later, I bought the issues where Peter and MJ decided to get married, and did so. I've lost those, sad to say. David Michelinie handled the engagement pretty well, I thought. I've heard of other people complaining about bringing MJ back and marrying the two of them, but I think it was a reasonable character progression if you were reading the previous two years of the comic. The problem with a series like this is that you have fans who used to read it, and fans who are reading it now, and they know different books.
Spider-Man was even a big part of me finding comic book literary criticism. The character concept attracts a certain kind ofloudmouth pretentious fan who comes up with theories about why Spider-Man is a better concept than some other superhero, and what he represents as a metaphor. I bought a magazine of writing about Spider-Man--Fantaco's Chronicles--when I was a kid, and it was interesting.
(For the record, I tend to think that Spider-Man worked because of the real-world grounding and large supporting cast, rather than just because he was a teenager or whatever.)
After Spidey got married, let's see. Todd McFarlane showed up, and gave Spidey's webshooters gloppy webs and Mary Jane curly hair. Not bad things. But then he and Michelinie brought back the alien costume as an antagonist, and thus put Spidey back in the red and blue. I'm OK with either costume for Spidey, really, but I got sick of all the symbiote stories after that.
I drifted away from Spider-Man. I guess I had never bought more than a year or so of issues in a row anyway. But I'd grown up around the trademark, and liked him.
Then there was a revival of the clone stories: trippy fun at first, but a concept tumor that took over the books. Spider-Man had encrusted too much new "weird" with the clones and symbiotes, maybe, but the fans of the book in those days knew that as what Spider-Man was. It's hard to "fix" the book if you're trying to get rid of what has become the concept.
And then they swept the clones under the rug, and that worked OK, but then they tried killing off MJ--or having her turn up alive and leave Peter--and it turned out the marriage was too much part of the actual concept, where the clones were not. Not really surprising, except maybe to some people who worked at Marvel.
And then there was something of a revival. Paul Jenkins did some amazingly good stuff of which I have seen bits here and there. J. Michael Straczynski was brought on and did some moderately smart "fixes" to the series--but also threw in some questionable stuff. And which is which may depend on your opinion!
He was even unmasked in a big crossover, which was arguably the most awkward thing for the future of the trademark, although the new powers after "The Other" were gilding the lily.
And then, yeah, I guess it ended a few years ago? Oh, there's still a newspaper strip. Well, that's OK.
No, seriously, Spider-Man got rebooted. Pete and MJ's marriage had actually been a major part of Marvel's landscape and marketing for a good while, and it had been part of the premise for a generation. And Marvel de-aged them and wrote it out. Retcon madness.
I haven't been following the book closely since sometime around then.
But someone recently pointed out that being a Spider-Man fan is a miserable kind of fandom--and they are right! Where once Spider-Man was Marvel's major, major character, now being a Spider-Man fan is a bit like having a fat, bald, middle-aged guy come to your house every month, rip some siding off your house, yell at your kids, and kick someone you love in the gut.
Accelerating craziness! From clones... ... to a weird alien costume... ... to the costume deciding to be your enemy... to it having babies that are psycho killers... to more clones, to Norman Osborn being alive inexplicably, to your wife missing and presumed dead, to her leaving you, to THE OTHER and SINS PAST and CIVIL WAR and OHGOODGODIJUSTSOLDMYFUTURETOTHEDEVIL, to dying and having some piece of your psyche watch as Otto freaking Octavius takes over your body and your life, very badly...
I think Marvel just likes to throw insane crack in the book, now.
It was more fun when it was team-ups with Razorback or Silver Sable, wasn't it? Or teaching the Beyonder about bathrooms?
Oh, well. At least there's the newspaper strip?
I'm of the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends generation. I already knew of Spidey, natch, but that show was actually my introduction to Marvel's mutants and the idea of the X-Men. I'm pretty happy that my baby cousin is seeing those now and running around playing at being Firestar.
I used to get Marvel Tales at the newsstand, beginning with when they were reprinting the Ditko stuff. I'm glad I was exposed to as much of the 1960's stuff as I was. 1960's Spider-Man was reprinted a lot back in the 1980's, unlike the other Marvel characters. I think it may have been something that was reasonably commercial, and also held up better than other stuff of the era.
The first comic book series I bought regularly was Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, around the time Peter David started writing it. Tom DeFalco was writing Amazing Spider-Man at that time, and I still tend to think of those two as "good" Spider-Man writers. Ah, bias. (But they have been pretty good with Spidey, really.) This was after Pete got rid of the controversial alien costume. In fact it "died" in Web of Spider-Man #1, which was not at my neighborhood newsstand, so I didn't get it. (I read a friend's copy.)
A year or two later, I bought the issues where Peter and MJ decided to get married, and did so. I've lost those, sad to say. David Michelinie handled the engagement pretty well, I thought. I've heard of other people complaining about bringing MJ back and marrying the two of them, but I think it was a reasonable character progression if you were reading the previous two years of the comic. The problem with a series like this is that you have fans who used to read it, and fans who are reading it now, and they know different books.
Spider-Man was even a big part of me finding comic book literary criticism. The character concept attracts a certain kind of
(For the record, I tend to think that Spider-Man worked because of the real-world grounding and large supporting cast, rather than just because he was a teenager or whatever.)
After Spidey got married, let's see. Todd McFarlane showed up, and gave Spidey's webshooters gloppy webs and Mary Jane curly hair. Not bad things. But then he and Michelinie brought back the alien costume as an antagonist, and thus put Spidey back in the red and blue. I'm OK with either costume for Spidey, really, but I got sick of all the symbiote stories after that.
I drifted away from Spider-Man. I guess I had never bought more than a year or so of issues in a row anyway. But I'd grown up around the trademark, and liked him.
Then there was a revival of the clone stories: trippy fun at first, but a concept tumor that took over the books. Spider-Man had encrusted too much new "weird" with the clones and symbiotes, maybe, but the fans of the book in those days knew that as what Spider-Man was. It's hard to "fix" the book if you're trying to get rid of what has become the concept.
And then they swept the clones under the rug, and that worked OK, but then they tried killing off MJ--or having her turn up alive and leave Peter--and it turned out the marriage was too much part of the actual concept, where the clones were not. Not really surprising, except maybe to some people who worked at Marvel.
And then there was something of a revival. Paul Jenkins did some amazingly good stuff of which I have seen bits here and there. J. Michael Straczynski was brought on and did some moderately smart "fixes" to the series--but also threw in some questionable stuff. And which is which may depend on your opinion!
He was even unmasked in a big crossover, which was arguably the most awkward thing for the future of the trademark, although the new powers after "The Other" were gilding the lily.
And then, yeah, I guess it ended a few years ago? Oh, there's still a newspaper strip. Well, that's OK.
No, seriously, Spider-Man got rebooted. Pete and MJ's marriage had actually been a major part of Marvel's landscape and marketing for a good while, and it had been part of the premise for a generation. And Marvel de-aged them and wrote it out. Retcon madness.
I haven't been following the book closely since sometime around then.
But someone recently pointed out that being a Spider-Man fan is a miserable kind of fandom--and they are right! Where once Spider-Man was Marvel's major, major character, now being a Spider-Man fan is a bit like having a fat, bald, middle-aged guy come to your house every month, rip some siding off your house, yell at your kids, and kick someone you love in the gut.
Accelerating craziness! From clones... ... to a weird alien costume... ... to the costume deciding to be your enemy... to it having babies that are psycho killers... to more clones, to Norman Osborn being alive inexplicably, to your wife missing and presumed dead, to her leaving you, to THE OTHER and SINS PAST and CIVIL WAR and OHGOODGODIJUSTSOLDMYFUTURETOTHEDEVIL, to dying and having some piece of your psyche watch as Otto freaking Octavius takes over your body and your life, very badly...
I think Marvel just likes to throw insane crack in the book, now.
It was more fun when it was team-ups with Razorback or Silver Sable, wasn't it? Or teaching the Beyonder about bathrooms?
Oh, well. At least there's the newspaper strip?