I'm not sure why I was surprised, or even a bit disappointed. It was much of the same as Spider-Man 001. Peter Parker is still a poor-man's Tony Stark, a quip that other characters joke about in the comic books. Even though it's meant to be meta, funny and lighten the mood, I just found myself rolling my eyes some more. There are just other characters that are rich and smart, why does he have to be?
Anyway, the board of director's at Peter's company are confused and upset that the Zodiac is after them and is perplexed that Peter gave the Webware to the enemy. In the next few pages, Peter and Hobie Brown go on a mission to recover the Webware. Peter is super cocky and states that it's encrypted and there is no way that they'll be able to hack it by the time Peter and company get there.
Side note. I had no idea who the fuck Hobie Brown was. I asked my husband and we had a 20 minute conversation about D-list Marvel characters that are getting a huge push in the comics because Marvel are putting characters they have rights to in future movies. Oh right.... because in the beginning, before Marvel became a movie studio, they sold some of their rights of some characters to other movie studios. Okay then. So now I have to read about Hobie Brown. Spider-man's "body guard."
How did he get suckered--oh yeah... money. Peter Parker has money now and paid Hobie Brown to dress up as Spider-Man every once in a while. I mean, I guess I'm glad that Hobie Brown, a man of color, is getting a push to appear in things more. Unfortunately he's collateral.
Alright, so Spider-man and the Prowler find the Zodiac base to get back the piece of tech Peter gave up. You guys, this is the hammiest, cheesiest villain writing ever. I love a good hammy villain, but the Zodiac is literally a team of people who call themselves by different astrological signs and say things like, 'hey, I'm a Pisces. I'm a born leader' and 'Calling this Aquarius Base makes no sense.' There are also more jokes about how Spider-Man appeared and how one of the lackeys wished they stayed in Hydra.
There is a page where Spider-man remembers another superhero sacrificing herself so that Spider-man could get away in another mission, prompted him to save two of the lackeys when the base self-destructs. The comic ends with Spider-man and company revealing that it was all part of the plan that Zodiac sent the webware files to all the bases across the world so that S.H.I.E.L.D could track them.
My husband did not purchase the next issue and I'm glad. I found myself rolling my eyes, despite the desperate attempt to save a crappy idea by throwing in meta jokes. If I wanted to read about a rich superhero, I would have gone with Iron man. This is a comic that I won't revisit. Man, I hope all the reboots aren't this bad.
What did you all think of the Marvel reboots? Any particular favorites you want to suggest? Do you have a different opinion on Spider-Man?
Showing posts with label Dan Slott. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dan Slott. Show all posts
Monday, December 14, 2015
Monday, December 7, 2015
Marvel Mondays: The Amazing Spider-Man #1
This idea was given to me by my husband, who does a sketch comedy show in Baltimore parodying his beloved comic books. I have reviewed some comic books before (mostly She-Hulk) but since they are coming out with new number 1s of all the issues, why not review them? He also buys them, so it's mostly him spending the money for me to read.
I randomly picked out the Amazing Spider-Man #1. There are so many movies about this character that it's hard to not know who Peter Parker is by this point. He's a high school kid who's down on his luck, lives in the poorer part of New York and has unspeakable tragedy. He has a tough time with girls but despite of that, he's a witty, snarky guy. My husband and I have had many conversations about Spider-Man and how there is a comic about Miles Morales, which would be a better match for Spider-Man. What frustrates us the most is that there isn't really much diversity in comic books. Don't get me wrong, they are trying and doing a better job of expanding diversity when it comes to some reboot of some characters, but... well, they failed when it came to the reboot of Spider-Man.
Peter Parker is a new age industrialist with branches all over the world. The series opens with Spider-Man and Agent Morse, or Mockingbird, fighting a few bad guys from the Zodiac. Spider-Man is snarky, like he usually is, but... there is something off about Peter Parker. It goes flashbacks to him learning how to drive and learning Chinese at the same time. There is some important bits about S.H.I.E.L.D, but I don't really notice because I'm perplexed to why I dislike Peter Parker so much. Finally, the chase scene ends with them capturing this dude with a lion mask on, who works for Zodiac, who is important... but for the life of me I can't remember why. All I'm concentrating on is why Peter Parker is like Tony Stark, with his gadgets and technological know how. I mean, wasn't he a photographer?
The next scene shows Peter Parker in a suit, discussing the future of his company, and the start of the Uncle Ben foundation. I guess he's using Parker Industries to help the world? Fair wages and raising the quality of life for every person that he employs in the countries his company resides in? Then Slott and company really hit the nail on the head with a reporter calling Peter Parker a "poor man's Tony Stark." Peter leans heavily into it, by patting himself on the back and stating that he's wages are that of middle management and that he couldn't feasibly give himself a pay raise above his junior executives.
...what?
Look, I get what Slott and company were trying to do. In a way, I appreciate it. It's providing commentary for greedy CEOs and Wall Street and the 1%. However... why Peter Parker? Why Spiderman? I feel like they were going to do this with Tony Stark, and at the last minute, decided to go with Spiderman. I'm not very well versed with super hero legend, or the continuity of Marvel.... but it just doesn't fit. There is already a few heroes in Marvel that own their own companies and do what Parker is trying to do (or unabashingly doesn't do it) but Parker doesn't feel like one that needs to do something like that. Isn't the appeal of Spider-Man is that he's a regular Joe that just happens to have superpowers? Wasn't that the reason those movies were so popular and one of the first that Marvel put out, because he was so relatable?
There is a smart bit of Hobie Brown also being Spider-Man to keep Peter Parker's cover intact. However, I don't know Hobie Brown from Adam, and it sort of falls flat. Oh, and there is a gay wedding thrown in there, which I also don't know from Adam. I see that Hubbie also bought the second issue of Amazing Spider-Man, so I hope it really picks up. But the verdict? Peter Parker is another rich white dude who's trying to use his money for good, which isn't a bad thing, but this trope would look better on Tony Stark.
I randomly picked out the Amazing Spider-Man #1. There are so many movies about this character that it's hard to not know who Peter Parker is by this point. He's a high school kid who's down on his luck, lives in the poorer part of New York and has unspeakable tragedy. He has a tough time with girls but despite of that, he's a witty, snarky guy. My husband and I have had many conversations about Spider-Man and how there is a comic about Miles Morales, which would be a better match for Spider-Man. What frustrates us the most is that there isn't really much diversity in comic books. Don't get me wrong, they are trying and doing a better job of expanding diversity when it comes to some reboot of some characters, but... well, they failed when it came to the reboot of Spider-Man.
Peter Parker is a new age industrialist with branches all over the world. The series opens with Spider-Man and Agent Morse, or Mockingbird, fighting a few bad guys from the Zodiac. Spider-Man is snarky, like he usually is, but... there is something off about Peter Parker. It goes flashbacks to him learning how to drive and learning Chinese at the same time. There is some important bits about S.H.I.E.L.D, but I don't really notice because I'm perplexed to why I dislike Peter Parker so much. Finally, the chase scene ends with them capturing this dude with a lion mask on, who works for Zodiac, who is important... but for the life of me I can't remember why. All I'm concentrating on is why Peter Parker is like Tony Stark, with his gadgets and technological know how. I mean, wasn't he a photographer?
The next scene shows Peter Parker in a suit, discussing the future of his company, and the start of the Uncle Ben foundation. I guess he's using Parker Industries to help the world? Fair wages and raising the quality of life for every person that he employs in the countries his company resides in? Then Slott and company really hit the nail on the head with a reporter calling Peter Parker a "poor man's Tony Stark." Peter leans heavily into it, by patting himself on the back and stating that he's wages are that of middle management and that he couldn't feasibly give himself a pay raise above his junior executives.
...what?
Look, I get what Slott and company were trying to do. In a way, I appreciate it. It's providing commentary for greedy CEOs and Wall Street and the 1%. However... why Peter Parker? Why Spiderman? I feel like they were going to do this with Tony Stark, and at the last minute, decided to go with Spiderman. I'm not very well versed with super hero legend, or the continuity of Marvel.... but it just doesn't fit. There is already a few heroes in Marvel that own their own companies and do what Parker is trying to do (or unabashingly doesn't do it) but Parker doesn't feel like one that needs to do something like that. Isn't the appeal of Spider-Man is that he's a regular Joe that just happens to have superpowers? Wasn't that the reason those movies were so popular and one of the first that Marvel put out, because he was so relatable?
There is a smart bit of Hobie Brown also being Spider-Man to keep Peter Parker's cover intact. However, I don't know Hobie Brown from Adam, and it sort of falls flat. Oh, and there is a gay wedding thrown in there, which I also don't know from Adam. I see that Hubbie also bought the second issue of Amazing Spider-Man, so I hope it really picks up. But the verdict? Peter Parker is another rich white dude who's trying to use his money for good, which isn't a bad thing, but this trope would look better on Tony Stark.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)