Julhin's Profile

WTF happened to you Bendis?

Time for my anual read of Spideys beginnings. Don't know if i'll be able to write a lot here, but it's worth a try. Here we are, Spider-Man's origin story. I mean, what can i say about this issue that hasn't been said? its has cemented a legacy that will outlive us all. In this issue we get to know Peter and learn about his life. We see how he gets his powers, how he decides to use them for himself, a quick and earned transition of stance from a kid who has been always berated and powerless and now has the power to be on top. Why does it feel earned? because Lee and Ditko convey to us that he is a flawed human being. All the sucess, the first taste in his life of being at the top, get over his head so much that it leads to the event that will change his life forever. He lets a thug get away after one of Spider-Man Exhibition shows, and this thug later kills his beloved Uncle Ben. "With great power there must also come-great responsibility." as said by Stan in the narration box. Interesting that we see this phrase come from Uncle Ben in every adaptation, but it's not even said directly in this story, and it's the core definition of the character. It can't get more iconic than this. Its a testament that a line's emotional weight isn't always about who says it, it's about what it means to the story. And i wanna say this again, but god, those are 20 pages of beautiful character work. Let's break down all that we learn from the "main" characters here: Peter Parker: a smart, loved teenage kid living in Queens with his beloved aunt and uncle, who very much love him, and he loves them. A good-hearted kid, an A+ student with a great future. But like most introverted kids, not well treated by the most popular students, hell, even students in general. We see him being dismissed by Sally because he's not Flash Thompson. We see him invite Liz Allan and some others to the science expo; they make fun of him. We feel for him, but he's not perfect. He gets angry, he can indeed get over his head easily, just like we see when he gets his powers. Aunt May: Heartwarming and caring from the very beginning, a voice of wisdom. Uncle Ben: Loving husband and great father figure from the very beginning. Flash Thompson: gets one line of dialogue and one panel, and we already know he's popular, he mocks "bookworks" like Peter, and he gets all the high school girls. Liz Allan: Not a bully, but clearly a popular girl diva. We have other minor characters that appear here who eventually are developed throughout the course of Spideys history as well. All of it works, to be honest, and for me, its more expository and dated language doesn't make this less engaging, although i see why many new reader find it hard to get into. In 20 pages, everything that we associate with Spider-Man is already there, and from those pages, all of his mythos will be developed. Brilliant stuff. But But......there is one major flaw, althought is not any of the creators fault: No bonesaw. Yep. I said it. Bonesaw > Crusher Hogan.

Literally amazing.

A classic xD

Ah, the 60s! Silver age comics are so absurd....i love it! The first story here is so fun. It already sets the tone for who Spider-Man is at this point. Torn between heroism and survival, slandered by the media. The space mission might seem too "big" for a character we associate with street level, grounded adventures, but it works(it's the 60s lol). J. Jonah Jameson is instantly iconic, a generational hater from his first ballon dialouge. The money struggles, the loneliness, the weight of responsibility on his shoulders, it's all here from the beginning. The second story however is a mixed bag for me. The Fantastic Four sequence is fantastic (no pun intended). Great action, fun banter, and Peter being underestimated only to prove himself against Marvel's first family is awesome, even thought they were clearly holding back. The Chameleon is a cool villain and works fine, but the Cold War Soviet spy plot? Even more absurd than the rocket story. It's very "America in the '60s," and it pulls the story into weird territory for me. I find it so funny how in those early spidey issues things escalate so quicky. We see him web launching through the city(AWESOME), using web parachutes(AWESOME!), landing and piloting a boat(hum?)....to a Soviet Submarine(HUM?????)....but the issue manages to have a great ending very fitting to the character. No matter how absurd things get, Peter struggles, his constant battle to balance his life, his imperfect humanity, is the driving force of those stories. The dated aspects of it doesn't detract from how iconic this issue is. Steve Ditko is already shining. There's real mood, tension, and human fragility in his work, this is personal to him from the gecko. The dialogue, although dated in rhythm, is still surprisingly readable. Some of Stan's lines could easily be adapted today with only slight tweaks. A fantastic launch for what will become a legendary series.

Hummmm... yeah... this one was stranger than I remembered lol. I had fun with the Vulture, with his absurd schemes, and even more absurd police tactics to fit the plot. Old man dressed as a vulture, who has a secret base in an abandoned silo.....I love comics, man. We also have some very interesting developments here, especially with Peter upgrading his webshooters and arsenal. I love that he recognizes the need to improve, and he upgrades accordingly. He needs more webs, so the cartridges have more web fluid. He will need to recharge at some point, and he can't choose the moments, so he now has a belt full of web cartridges. The Tinkerer story, however, if you read this without the future retcons in mind... is just... WOW. A product of its time, indeed. Love to see Flash and Liz little by little interacting more with Peter, even if most of the time it's because they're making fun of him, but you can't say they aren't trying to get him involved whenever their group plans to go out. But Peter clearly is not the most welcoming guy, which we know why, but still, teenage Peter definitely doesn't help himself. I will say, though, that I love that he doesn't back down when he's being made fun of by Flash or other students. I miss seeing this more in other adaptations because it makes his evolution in the future much more well-earned.

This one is always a treat! The origins of one of his most deadly and iconic villains. Ditko's was not only ahead of his time, he was evolving at an absolute crazy speed. His storytelling skills, his sharpness, his emotions at every sigle panel, he was a gem. We also have the first appearence of the spider signal here! And again, i just love how Human Peter is. He is trying to honor his uncle, he's helping his aunt to keep their lifes together taking pics for the bugle, he's studying, juggling so much. And yet, just like a teenager or any human being, he sometimes makes you think "dude, WHY?". He's having so much success fightiing crime, that again, he thinks he's unstoppable, going as far to wish to have someone to give him a challenge. I love the fact that Ock is such a imposing villain, that's he is the first to beat SUPERMAN( Isn't that right, STAN???), he bested him one to one. Although Ock's temperamental and egostistical personas will be more developed down the line, it feels earned here, from the very beginning. And i love that even though Peter is learning and evolving as a hero completely by himself, he's still looking at the right places to learn a thing or two. Ever since his creation, the F4 at any capacity is a looming figure that indirectly shapes Spider-Man to become who he is meant to be, even Johnny which at this current time is as immature as Peter, manages to give him the necessary push forward to learn the big thing about being a hero: never give up. Basically, this is the first example we have in a Spider-Man comic of what would later become Peter's unbreakable will, he always gets back up, no matter what. Lovely, i love reading this run, it's the bible for all things Spider-Man.