We all know Spider-Man, right? He’s a guy from Queens named Peter Parker, who got bitten by a radioactive spider and became CEO of a multimillion dollar company. He owns a car that can drive upside down, too. Yep, good ol’ Spidey.
A few months ago, Marvel announced a new direction for their flagship character. Peter Parker had already risen from his roots as a struggling-to-make-ends-meet, hard luck hero. Aunt May’s favourite nephew had become an entrepreneur in recent years and worked as the head of cutting-edge tech firm Parker Industries. The new direction would send Parker around the world, with adventures that wouldn’t be limited to just New York City anymore. Spider-Man would be the company’s mascot and the public would be told that the wall-crawler is Parker’s bodyguard. Some fans scoffed that these changes would make the character a weak mimic of Iron Man, robbing Spidey of the everyman charm that’s made him a favourite. Thankfully, they don’t.
Today’s first issue of the new Amazing Spider-Man comic — written by Dan Slott with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Cam Smith and Marte Gracia — marks the debut of this new era. So far, the decisions to shift Spidey into a different gear are all working well. Part of the conceit of Marvel’s line-wide relaunch of their superhero comics is that eight months have passed since readers last saw these characters but Peter’s ascendance into the upper echelons of global technological innovation is a continuation of already ongoing plotlines. Writer Dan Slott has steered Peter Parker through a long cycle of personal growth over the last few years and, though it’s presented on its face as a new start, Amazing Spider-Man #1 feels like the crescendo of previous Spidey storylines.
There’s a moment in this first issue where it looks like Peter is going to react like he used to. He’s just danced with an attractive co-worker and it seems as if he’s going to work up the courage to ask her out.
That’s not what happens. You can hear the steel in his voice in the sequence above. This is what it looks like when Peter Parker acts like a grown-arse man.
Several sequences show that Slott anticipated some of the critiques he’d be getting. To his credit, he makes it clear where Peter’s worldview differs from that of Tony Stark.
The fancy new highlighted costume, upgraded webshooters, Parker Industries’ contract to provide S.H.I.E.L.D. with tech, hiring a hero friend to also be a secondary Spidey… all of those status quo changes provide new sparks for longtime readers. They also buttress the character work that’s gone into Peter over Slott’s tenure. Suddenly, the banter that’s been part of the character’s DNA feels different. This isn’t a guy who’s masking his nerves or fear. This is a man who’s talking trash because he knows he can take his enemies down.
Marvel had an infamous moment years ago where they backed away from letting Spider-Man grow up.This Peter Parker comes across as someone who’s overcome serious challenge and has a fuller sense of himself. He’s a better man, which should consequently make him a better hero. He’s taking on more power and responsibility, just like Uncle Ben taught him. ‘Bout damn time.
Comments
9 responses to “Major Changes In Today’s Amazing Spider-Man Comic”
Meh, sounds a bit like a re-telling of Superior Spider-Man.
Still haven’t fixed the lack of MJ.
Dan Slott wrote Superior Spider-Man too, this isn’t a retelling as much as it is a continuation of threads he started there.
I’m sceptical of a rich Peter Parker, but there isn’t a bigger fan of Spider-Man than Dan Slott.
The man’s obsessed, he references shit in his comics that most writers wouldn’t bother to remember. He knows Spidey better than anyone in the planet.
I think Spidey’s in good hands, I’m very sure Slott will handle this new direction better than anyone.
I miss MJ too 🙁
It just seems like a retracing of steps, so far. Otto went all cocky and confident and it lead to his downfall. I can see this happening to Peter, though if it somehow get’s MJ back in the picture, I’ll forgive him for everything!
where is the best place to subscribe to read this comic?
Your local comic book store.
You can also check marvel and grab the online comic version as well once their available 😀
There’s also the Marvel Unlimited option which is the comic equivalent of Netflix (i.e. flat subscription around 10-12 bucks and access the whole archive); new releases I think are on a 6-9 month delay before they’re available under MU though to read.
Damn too confused now after all the shuffling and craziness. This is continuation of… what? Is this the same Peter Parker that was pro-registration and went public during the civil war? That made a deal with a demon to save Aunt may and got his marriage and relationship with MJ erased from reality? Who got body switched with Doc Ock but eventually managed to wrestle his body back from the memories left in his subconcious?
Going public was erased by the deal with mephisto to save his aunt. He’s the Peter who had his mind taken over by Doc Ock and then got it back. I think they pretty much ignore all 20 odd issues of volume 3 (The volume between Superior Spider-Man and this Post-Secret Wars version).