Spider-man: The Other

[Velorath]

Actually the full title of this arc is Spider-man: The Other: Evolve or Die, or more simply "that 12 part Spider-man crossover that'll be running for the next few months".  The first arc is written by Peter David and runs through Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man #1, Marvel Knights Spider-man #19, and Amazing Spider-man #525.  The next 3 issue arc will be written by Reginald Hudlin (invariably referred to as the guy who wrote and directed "House Party", and current writer of Black Panther), JMS gets the arc after that, and then I think they each write epilogues or something like that.

Let me start off by saying a couple of things.  Starting off a new series (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man) with a 4 month long crossover is the kind of thing comics fans will point to 10 years down the road as one of the points when they knew that the folks at Marvel had fucking lost it.  The people behind shit like this and House of M really need to die in a pile of chromium, glow in the dark, die-cut cover, pile of mid-90's, multi-part crossover, comic books fire.  The second thing I'd like to address is that it just feels wrong having Spider-man living in Avenger's Tower, although he at least seems to recognize that himself.

Getting down to the story itself which I was fully prepared not to like just on basic principal, I was actually surprised to find that it's not too bad so far.  Ok, so the new villain Tracer is sort of corny, and I wasn't anxious to see the return of Morlun (who only appears in a few sequences so far), but other than that I think Peter David does a lot of good character moments, and the overall plot has actually got me interested.  On the other hand, we've got Hudlin doing the next part and while he's not a bad writer per se, there have been some glitches with his Black Panther series (continuity and timeline issues which for all I know could be from conflicting editorial dictates), so things could take a dive from here.  I also find JMS's writing to be either pretty good, or complete crap, not to mention he has the Internet posting attitude of a Vault board poster.

But basically, Spidey's had some doctor exams done following some on-the-job injuries, and it turns out that explosions, toxins, and bullet wounds are the least of his health problems.  While we haven't yet been shown exactly what the problem is, apparently it's life threatening to the the point where Morlun and Tracer say they'd feel bad fighting someone that sick.  Each issue so far has been from a different character's point of view (Peter's, MJ's, and May's) and while I thought when I first heard about that, that it would turn out gimmicky, I think David's use of MJ and May brought a lot of emotion to the story.

With Peter David's sense of humor, he seems like a good fit to be writing an ongoing Spider-man series.  I only wish he'd just been able to do that without getting dragged into this crossover with other people writing his title for the next couple months.  Decent art, although the art in MK Spider-man has a bit too much of a manga influence for my taste.  Mike Deodato's art in ASM on the other hand really stood out to me, and the opening sequence reminded me of something out of the Tales of Terror comics from the 80's.  Also as far as art goes, if you're going to pick up these books, the second printing covers each feature Spider-man in his various costumes from over the years including Classic, Black, Ben Reilly, Bag Man, and Scarlet Spider so far.  Apparently Peter will be getting a new costume at the end of the story.

[Margalis]

Peter David did write some Spectacular Spider Man back in the day and his stuff was quite good.

How many spider books are there now? I remember when the 3 were Amazing, Spectacular and Web it was a real struggle to fill out all three and make them decent.

[Velorath]

Peter David did write some Spectacular Spider Man back in the day and his stuff was quite good.

How many spider books are there now? I remember when the 3 were Amazing, Spectacular and Web it was a real struggle to fill out all three and make them decent.

Right now there's the 3 main ones which are involved in this crossover as well as Ultimate Spider-man, which of course doesn't take place in the main Marvel Universe.  Oh, and there's also Spider-man Unlimited, and I guess New Avengers if you want to count that since he's a member.

[HaemishM]

Spider-Man should never have been a member of the New Avengers, just like Wolverine and for much of the same reasons. The worst part is that his lines in New Avengers are usually the only ones besides Luke Cage's that actually seem to portray the character the way he should be. Him living in Avenger's mansion is really a bad idea.

I saw that David was writing a Spidey book and had hope. JMS's Spidey stories were mediocre at best. The emotional moments were good, but the whole mystical Spider avatar thing just fell flat for me.

[Velorath]

Spider-Man should never have been a member of the New Avengers, just like Wolverine and for much of the same reasons. The worst part is that his lines in New Avengers are usually the only ones besides Luke Cage's that actually seem to portray the character the way he should be. Him living in Avenger's mansion is really a bad idea.

I saw that David was writing a Spidey book and had hope. JMS's Spidey stories were mediocre at best. The emotional moments were good, but the whole mystical Spider avatar thing just fell flat for me.

I'd suggest at least trying Peter David's arc on The Other then.  Peter Parker is fairly unnerved by the fact that he's on the Avengers, living in the Tower, happily married, and Aunt May is healthy.  He's waiting for the catch, and it eventually comes, and the best part about the story so far has been all the character moments.

[Velorath]

Read Hudlin's arc, which ranges from ok to crap.  Low points are a seemingly pointless visit to see if Black Panther can help with Peter's illness for no reason other than the fact that Hudlin has been writing the current Black Panther series, and Peter along with Aunt May and MJ in Iron Man suits breaking into Doom's castle to use the Time Machine (so they can see Ben and Pete's parents).

Not much progress is made in the first two issues.  Reed Richards, Bruce Banner, Yellowjacket, Iron Man, and Goliath all pretty much say they can't figure out how to cure Pete.  Later he visits Dr. Strange who informs him his condition is mystical in nature, but there's nothing Strange can do.  In the last issue of this arc, Morlun shows up to beat the shit out of Spider-man in a fight scene that lasts most of the issue.  The issue ends with Morlun tearing one of Pete's eyes out and then finishing him off.  JMS takes over for the next arc, which hopefully will be better than Hudlin's, though I doubt it will be as good as Peter David's.

[HaemishM]

Aunt May and MJ in Iron Man suits breaking into Doom's castle to use the Time Machine (so they can see Ben and Pete's parents).

That tells me all I need to know about how much I'll enjoy this arc. As in, not at fucking all.

Later he visits Dr. Strange who informs him his condition is mystical in nature, but there's nothing Strange can do. 

Someone needs to tell Marvel (and Bendis) that Dr. Strange is the goddamn Sorcerer Supreme, not just some tarted-up pussy in a cape and 70's moustache.

[Margalis]

Aunt May in an Iron Man suit? That sounds like something right out of a 60s book.

[Velorath]

Someone needs to tell Marvel (and Bendis) that Dr. Strange is the goddamn Sorcerer Supreme, not just some tarted-up pussy in a cape and 70's moustache.

Dr. Strange has been reduced to a plot device.  JMS had his shot at rebooting the character but the mini he did was pretty much crap, and didn't sell all that well either, so I'm guessing Marvel has pretty much just written off the character for the time being.

[Johny Cee]

Someone needs to tell Marvel (and Bendis) that Dr. Strange is the goddamn Sorcerer Supreme, not just some tarted-up pussy in a cape and 70's moustache.

Dr. Strange has been reduced to a plot device.  JMS had his shot at rebooting the character but the mini he did was pretty much crap, and didn't sell all that well either, so I'm guessing Marvel has pretty much just written off the character for the time being.

Dr. Strange has always been a plot device.  He's just too bizarre and powerful a character to be anything else.

I remember a Hulk issue from the 80's where the Hulk went on a rampage in NYC.  After plowing through a horde of SHIELD agents, armed forces, and superheros Dr. Strange just pops in and zaps him to an alternate dimension or something....

It's sort of like Magneto always dieing/coming back,  or the way Xavier is randomly paralyzed/not paralyzed.

[Johny Cee]

By the way... 

Don't mean to butt in and derail these.  I don't read comics now, but I enjoy the nostalgia.  The folks would always let me buy a few for the long car ride whenever we went to visit the blueblood relatives in NYC,  and I went through that comic phase for a while.

As to Spider-man being part of a team:

You guys are spot on.  Spider-man is the Marvel equivalent to Batman.  He can work in a team,  but he never really fits in.  He's too much of loner, and much of his character is based around foiling common crooks and those villains who are just out to rob a bank or two.

Spider-man was never meant to be saving the world every other issue....  It takes away from the realism that the character is based around.  Peter Parker is that loser who makes good,  who never has anything go right for him.  Most of his nemeses are the flawed society type.  Criminals and villains twisting their powers towards purely selfish ends.

[Velorath]

So this is what The Other is building up to?  A Tony Stark designed Spider-man costume doomed to end up as a minor footnote in Spidey history a few months down the road?  Spidey has some many "new" costumes that even feauturing a different costume on the variant covers for each issue of the 12 part "The Other" storyline, there were still plenty of costumes they didn't have room for.  You'd think that would serve to remind Marvel that giving Spider-man a new costume everyone knows won't last, just might not be the most epic way to close out a 12 part crossover.

[Ironwood]

There are no words to explain how ass that is.

It doesn't even fit.

[Ironwood]

Someone at SomethingAwful summed up my contempt :

"My money's on this turning out to be some kind of sentient iron armor symbiote that takes on a life of its own, and then spawns an EXTREME sentient iron armor symbiote. And that's when the CLONES come in..."

[HaemishM]

They went through all of that to give him a shitty Iron Man suit?

Oh, now I MUST read this, just to laugh.

[Velorath]

They went through all of that to give him a shitty Iron Man suit?

Oh, now I MUST read this, just to laugh.

Well that and the fact that he was reborn after dying... but now we don't really know if it was Peter or the Spider that was reborn.

Which only serves to remind me of the "who's the real Spider-man?" shit of the clone saga.

[Shockeye]

Which only serves to remind me of the "who's the real Spider-man?" shit of the clone saga.

That's easy. The real Spider-Man is Tobey.

[Merusk]

Let me start off by saying a couple of things.  Starting off a new series (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man) with a 4 month long crossover is the kind of thing comics fans will point to 10 years down the road as one of the points when they knew that the folks at Marvel had fucking lost it. 

Why wait? I'll say it now, it's fucking stupid.  Crossovers are a blatant attempt to get you to buy more comics.  They are the ENTIRE reason I stopped reading comics in the 80's.  I had an allowance, and buying 4 different Transformers  and 3 different GI Joes and whatever else I felt like reading was enough to make me say "fuck this."  I laugh that they still get away with this garbage.

[HaemishM]

I've just caught up with this, up to part 10. The Peter David stuff was well-written. The Reginald Hudlin... not so much. Matter of fact, I can safely say I really dislike this writer. I've tried reading both this and the Black Panther stuff he does, and I just don't like it, without really being able to put a finger on it. The art in the Marvel Knights Spider-Man books I fucking hate. Anime-inspired SHIT. In the book that is most focused on the more "mature," adult themes, we get art that looks like kindergarden refrigerator hangings. Just drek.

I've never liked the whole "mystical Spider" avatar story. I can't say I much cared for Parker eating the face off of Morlun. I can say that all three of the writers have a better handle on the Avengers as a team and a set of characters than Bendis does in the New Avengers book.

Also, they really need to find a way to differentiate Henry Pym from Steve Rogers visually. There was a whole scene in one of the books that I spent thinking Cap was talking some really out-of-character sciency stuff before realizing it was Henry Pym (and only because Aunt May called him by name).

[Velorath]

I've just caught up with this, up to part 10. The Peter David stuff was well-written. The Reginald Hudlin... not so much. Matter of fact, I can safely say I really dislike this writer. I've tried reading both this and the Black Panther stuff he does, and I just don't like it, without really being able to put a finger on it. The art in the Marvel Knights Spider-Man books I fucking hate. Anime-inspired SHIT. In the book that is most focused on the more "mature," adult themes, we get art that looks like kindergarden refrigerator hangings. Just drek.

I've never liked the whole "mystical Spider" avatar story. I can't say I much cared for Parker eating the face off of Morlun. I can say that all three of the writers have a better handle on the Avengers as a team and a set of characters than Bendis does in the New Avengers book.

Also, they really need to find a way to differentiate Henry Pym from Steve Rogers visually. There was a whole scene in one of the books that I spent thinking Cap was talking some really out-of-character sciency stuff before realizing it was Henry Pym (and only because Aunt May called him by name).

My main problem with the use of Hank right now is another one of those continuity glitches Marvel seems to have a lot of.  Over in Thunderbolts right now, Hank really isn't very supportive of the New Avengers.

[Shockeye]

Isn't Henry Pym Ant-Man? I mean, who the fuck cares what Ant-Man thinks.

[Velorath]

Isn't Henry Pym Ant-Man? I mean, who the fuck cares what Ant-Man thinks.

He's Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket, or just plain ol' Dr. Pym depending on what day of the week it is.

[Shockeye]

Isn't Henry Pym Ant-Man? I mean, who the fuck cares what Ant-Man thinks.

He's Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket, or just plain ol' Dr. Pym depending on what day of the week it is.

In other words, he was never interesting enough to be one character. So who the fuck cares what Ant-Man thinks?

[Ironwood]

Stingers.

What the fuck.