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

Down for maintenance, sorry for the inconvenience!

Should Probably Follow Up... (Mostly about Spidey Costumes)

I mentioned some things I'd be working on in my last post, and figure it's a good time to make good on (some of) them!

The list:

New design for the blog (It's hideous!)-- ... Well, starting on a low point, I won't be doing this right now!

Marvel AR App Post -- Less of a full posts, more of a comment:
I'm about halfway through Avengers vs X-Men and decided to check out the Augmented Reality app it mentions. On every page/panel with the "AR" symbol, there is something extra that can be unlocked using the AR app and your phone's camera.

Sometimes it's just sketches of the panel -- this doesn't interest me in the slightest. Some of the more interesting ones, however, involve writer/artist commentary and character profiles. I would LOVE to see more character profiles given in AR form -- it is an interesting way to get character info across, especially if they aren't well known. This would also be an interesting way to get new readers familiar with older characters. I think an entire AR assisted book detailed certain groups would be an interesting way to go with this.

It's a gimmick, sure. The little red "AR" log is annoying, absolutely. But it has piqued my interest and I hope to see it more -- Augmented Reality has been getting more interesting with ever iteration. My Playstation Vita and Nintendo 3DS both have some really interesting AR capabilities that I would love to see brought over to another medium I enjoy.


Spider-Man Costume (among other things) Post -- Yeah, another comment vs full blown post.
If you are reading this blog continuosly, I will try to mention when I say something that could be a spoiler to new readers. I don't gaurantee that this will always happen, and I won't try to hide them beyond mentioning that a spoiler is upcoming.

Like now. A potential spoiler for Ultimate Spider-Man is coming, skip between the lines if you're concerned!
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(Utlimate) Peter Parker is dead. Yup, they killed him. I don't approve of this decision, but Marvel has always had a hell of a time trying to bring in new blood into a Spider-Man series. Remember the Clone Saga? That was an attempt to let (616) Spidey hang up the webs and start a family, all the while introducing Ben Reilly (his clone) as the new, single, blonde Spidey! If you don't know how that ended, well... let's just say Peter is still Spidey and probably always will be.
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Ok, spoilers over, sort of. If you don't know that there is a new (Ultimate) Spider-Man running around, that's on you. His name is Miles Morales and he brings a little ethnic flavor to our normally pasty-pale caucasion Spidey. I don't hate the change, I just wish they'd gone about the transition differently. That being said, my biggest gripe was the new costume design. I didn't enjoy the black and read and though it was far too bland. I'm more of a (Ben Reilly) Scarlet Spider/New Spider-Man costume kinda guy -- new twists but easily recognizable.

I'm about 9 issues in and have to admit, however, that the new look has grown on me. Different artists are able to give the limited red on black a little more variation, a little more life, and I'm liking it. It's still no (Ben Reilly) Scarlet Spider, but it will suffice for now.

To continue the Spidey Costume trend, I HATE the New Scarlet Spider's costume. First, it's another red and black variant! Cut it out! Second, it reminds me too much of Flipside (a Spider-Man 2099 villain)!

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Now, I like me some Spidey 2099 as much as (and probably more than) the next guy, but I'd like 2099 stuff to stay where it belongs. And this isn't tarnishing the name of my favorite Spider, Scarlet Spider! And I won't begin to mention how bitter I already am at KAINE being the new Scarlet... that's just too much to bear. I'll accept Red and Black for Miles, but not for Kaine. Here's hoping he gets a new costume together pronto (I'm pretty sure he even took one from Peter at the end of Spider-Island that would have been acceptable).

Last on the costume issue, which turned out to be more of a post than I expected, is everyone's favorite (616) Peter Parker! The new writing has Peter's brains being applied to his Super Hero antics in the form of new equipment, especially new costumes. This is a great way to bring back the intellectual Peter to the athletic Spidey. I wasn't terribly pleased when Spidey donned Iron Man's variant, but I much more approve of all of Spidey's new stuff. Sure, some of it looks dumb, but at least there's no attempt to permanatly change the character, he just now has an armory appropriate for every cause. The Ends of the Earth run going on now (I don't think it ended, though maybe I'm behind again) has an Anti-Sinister Six armor that looks kinda silly, but I love that Spidey is preparing for the evnetual show downs he nows he'll have.

That's all on costumes! We've got the (now) good, the (very) bad, and the (sometimes, yet still acceptable) ugly.


Star Wars: The Old Republic Post -- You guessed it, I'm going to get to this bad larry another time!

And more! -- Eclectic posts will follow!