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| via Comic Book DB |
artist: Sean Chen, Lee Weeks
So, I don't know if you've heard, but Peter Parker's back.
In order to properly appreciate this fact, you've got to understand that he was actually gone for a while. Instead of dead (technically) he got body-swapped with Doctor Octopus. I call it the Doctor Spider-Man era. But it's over.
So this is one of the incidental celebratory issues Marvel released. Marvel does a lot of weird things with numbering. They're not the only ones, but they're getting weirder. Amazing Spider-Man #700.5 is meant to signify that the issue harks back to the old series, rather than the recently concluded Superior Spider-Man (featuring Doctor Spider-Man) or the relaunched Amazing Spider-Man. The actual #700 was the issue where Peter "died"/body-swapped (or concluded "dying"/body-swapping, because for those of you who think these issues might become valuable nonreading material, that occurred in #698).
Anyway, I figured this would be worth checking out. Out-of-continuity stories can be fun. Most of recent Spider-Man under Dan Slott has been part of some arc or another. I was not disappointed.
The lead story, from Brian Reed and Sean Chen, is a throwaway nonsense adventure featuring time travel and the Fantastic Four. Completely nonessential harmless fun. But key word: fun. Because one of the things readers ought to associate with Spider-Man is the ability to have fun reading him. (Most of the time. This is a character who can handle comedy and pathos with equal aplomb.)
The backup, from Kevin Grevioux and Lee Weeks, is the real selling point. It's the other end of Spider-Man, explaining what makes him special beyond his penchant for quippy remarks. It's the message of the character that isn't "With great power comes great responsibility."
Basically, perseverance. Never giving up. Always getting back up. Ignoring the odds. Accepting the consequences. It's a tale featuring a teenage boy who takes all this to heart, and helps Peter recognize this as his true legacy, too. It's the real message of the recent The Amazing Spider-Man 2, by the way. Reading this comic beforehand was a fine way to prepare for it, but it was a real hidden gem. Backup story. This should have been the lead. But perhaps better to close the issue strongly, I suppose...
So, I don't know if you've heard, but Peter Parker's back.
In order to properly appreciate this fact, you've got to understand that he was actually gone for a while. Instead of dead (technically) he got body-swapped with Doctor Octopus. I call it the Doctor Spider-Man era. But it's over.
So this is one of the incidental celebratory issues Marvel released. Marvel does a lot of weird things with numbering. They're not the only ones, but they're getting weirder. Amazing Spider-Man #700.5 is meant to signify that the issue harks back to the old series, rather than the recently concluded Superior Spider-Man (featuring Doctor Spider-Man) or the relaunched Amazing Spider-Man. The actual #700 was the issue where Peter "died"/body-swapped (or concluded "dying"/body-swapping, because for those of you who think these issues might become valuable nonreading material, that occurred in #698).
Anyway, I figured this would be worth checking out. Out-of-continuity stories can be fun. Most of recent Spider-Man under Dan Slott has been part of some arc or another. I was not disappointed.
The lead story, from Brian Reed and Sean Chen, is a throwaway nonsense adventure featuring time travel and the Fantastic Four. Completely nonessential harmless fun. But key word: fun. Because one of the things readers ought to associate with Spider-Man is the ability to have fun reading him. (Most of the time. This is a character who can handle comedy and pathos with equal aplomb.)
The backup, from Kevin Grevioux and Lee Weeks, is the real selling point. It's the other end of Spider-Man, explaining what makes him special beyond his penchant for quippy remarks. It's the message of the character that isn't "With great power comes great responsibility."
Basically, perseverance. Never giving up. Always getting back up. Ignoring the odds. Accepting the consequences. It's a tale featuring a teenage boy who takes all this to heart, and helps Peter recognize this as his true legacy, too. It's the real message of the recent The Amazing Spider-Man 2, by the way. Reading this comic beforehand was a fine way to prepare for it, but it was a real hidden gem. Backup story. This should have been the lead. But perhaps better to close the issue strongly, I suppose...
I guess 698.5 didn't have the same ring to it. I suppose before long they'll start using even more fractions in their numbering: issue 700.666666666! Issue Pi! Or maybe negative numbers. Actually recently I wrote a story where the chapter number goes in reverse. So there's something I guess they could do, though I suppose DC did that once with Zero Hour or whatever. With Superior Spidey maybe that's what they should have done since we all knew eventually Parker would come back, so that way they could have given us a proper time table.
ReplyDeleteI think Marvel did the negative issue thing, actually, already...
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