Current Events with Spider-Man

The "Spider-verse" prelude began last Wednesday, in Superior Spider-Man 32.

Wait. Wasn't Superior Spider-Man finished, and Amazing Spider-Man (with the real Peter Parker returned) already started?

Yes, yes it was.

Superior Spider-Man takes place while Doc Ock (as Peter Parker and Spider-Man) was displaced in time at the Horizon Labs explosion (in Superior Spider-Man #19, I believe). Apparently it wasn't just a quick jaunt through time -- he wound up in the year 2099, and we're finally seeing what happened.

When he attempted to make his way back home, he kept encountering alternate universe... all of which featured recently murdered Spider-Men, all of which were killed by the same dual-forked weapon. It's not clear if these are all Spider-Men we've met in different dimensions (we see the Armored Spider-Man, which was an alternate costume to 616 Peter and ALSO an alternate dimension where Peter was wealthy instead of poor. It could have been another altogether, however...)

You know, this guy.

In this rather expansive issue, Doc Ock decides that the menace must be faced and that the best way to do so would be to recruit as big an army of Spider-Men as possible, from across all the dimensions. Not, you know, an army of Hulks or something. But whatever. The end of the issues shows him having already begun his army, which will prove to be interesting...

I'm excited for this event, though this one issues seems to have covered a ton of ground, and it's only a prelude! It was a good read, though, and I like the idea that Superior Spider-Man may meet the revived 616 Amazing Spider-Man due to this time/dimension hopping. It may even give more insight as to why Ock makes the sacrifice in the "last" issue of Superior.

Also, as a side note on why I love the issue, I've recently been getting into the Skottie Young Variant covers, which depict marvel characters as babies. I have a few already, though mostly by accident, but now that I have a little girl, it's a great way to bring nerd-dom into her room. I grabbed two copies of this variant, which is only half of the Skottie Young Spider-verse spread, the second of which will come with Amazing Spider-Man #9. I want one set for my daughter's wall and one for my basement!

Love this!

Now, back in the current Amazing Spider-Man issues, I'm not liking the story much at all. I dislike that Black Cat will be a villain (I've said this before), and I really don't enjoy the backstory they're giving Silk, the new female spider-character (this one having been bit at the same spider that bit Peter). It was a bit too easy and includes her actively being locked away for years and years, the secret of her location only being found due to a story element from the Original Sin event.

... Also, the... relationship between Silk and Spider-Man doesn't really have any background for where they immediately go with it, but I suppose this isn't the first time Spidey's run on instinct. The issue itself seemed poorly written, however, where elements were repeated so much that I pictured the writer speaking to a two year old when actually planning this issue. Meh. I've really not been impressed with the return of Amazing Spider-Man, yet managed to love the most recent issue of Superior. Wonder if they're purposefully trying to tank the main title and character.

Oh well.

Still looking forward to seeing "every Spider-Man ever" during the Spider-verse event! It's yet another opportunity where they could, possibly, bring back Ben Reilly! ...I've said this before, haven't I?

Bring Ben Back!

Extra! Extra! Spider-Man (Costumes) Edition

These are five of my favorite Spidey stories featuring him in different costumes!

Sorry that it's coming so late, first day of regular office hours and the school being officially open, so I'm swamped at work and will be holding extra late hours! Fear not, I will continue with my MWF schedule, there will just be a short adjustment period.

Spider-Man #542 (Back in Black 4 of 5): This is during the short run when Peter dons a black suit (non-organic, mind you!) during a dark time in his life -- after unveiling his secret identity to the public during Civil War, Aunt May his shot by a sniper. Peter finds out that the Kingpin is behind it, even though he is in prison. Peter is not happy about this. He breaks into the prison and proceeds to brutally beat the Kingpin in front of his men. The kicker comes when Peter takes of his costume and tells Wilson Fisk that he isn't fighting him as Spider-Man, he's fighting him as Peter Parker. It's an intense moment delivered well and is a good issue featuring the Black Suit and no suit, so it's almost a two in one for this post.
Civil War (Part 7): This occurs at the end of the Civil War event, and is one of my favorite moments in the entire arc. It is Spidey back in his original suit after changing sides and ditching his Iron Spider costume. This scene shows Spider-Man's agility, moving so past that there are multiple images of him in the same frame. That is something I've always enjoyed seeing in Spidey comics, and I appreciate Spidey getting the jump on Reed Richards as well.
The Amazing Spider-Man #410 (Web of Carnage 2 of 4): In this run, Ben Reilly, as Spider-Man, joins with the Carnage symbiote. He attempts to contain it within himself so it can't get out and do any more damage. This is during one of the tense moments between Peter and Ben, when they're trying to determine who the clone actually is, and Peter doesn't have his powers to back him up when he confronts Spider-Carnage. It's a terrible '90s story line, but Spider-Carnage has an awesome design that I'd like to see more of (I'm looking at you, upcoming Minimum Carnage mini-series!) As an aside, I also love Ben Reilly's redesign of the classic Red and Blues, so this is another issue/run that hits two for one on this post.
The Amazing Spider-Man #650: I'll be honest, I don't love the Tron look that Spidey (and several other heroes) have been trying on. That being said, Big Time (the run this outfit appears in) and this suit are noteworthy for a few things -- I enjoy the art, it features the new Hobgoblin (an improvement simply because he's a unique character), and Peter is finally using his brain again when it comes to the hero side of his life! This costume was created and designed by Peter, as opposed to Iron Man's Iron Spidey suit, the last technological advanced suit Spidey wore. There have been more since (Spider-Armor Mk II, Anti-Sinister Six), but this is the start of Spidey showing that he's got more than just Spider-Powers at his disposal.
The Amazing Spider-Man #500: Anyone who knows me or has been following this blog for a bit probably expected to see a Scarlet Spider issue here or somewhere on the list. You'd be right in thinking it's my favorite Spider-Costume, but this list is devoted to Spider-Man; Scarlet Spider just doesn't cut it (though I did still sneak Ben in here). This costume, known as the "Final" Costume, is only glimpsed briefly in a vision Spider-Man has of his final stand. This is why he shouldn't get between magic users when they want to fight it out. I'm simply putting it here because I think it is one of the more interesting redesigns I've seen and I'd be very interested to actually see Spidey use it some time (he did receive it two issues after witnessing it in the future).

That's it! Some interesting issues featuring decent costumes and some interesting costumes featured in acceptable issues.

I do have three honorable mentions that just missed the cut:

Noir

Cyborg

Iron-Spider

Next time I'm switching it up again! I'm going to list my top five suggested novels, and I'll make sure to stay away from any I used in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy edition!

50 Shades of Spidey

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