Table of Content
JMS writes an overall entertaining story, far from perfect though it may be. For one, he writes excellent dialogue. He really nails the balance between witty banter and serious colloquy that makes Peter such an entertaining character.
It flowed very well and had a very satisfying ending. Some of Morlun's lines I could have done without though. 2 in particular that I am almost certain that other people had a problem with as well. Peter Parker's narration is frickin awesome as well. You can tell he has grown a lot and definitely thinks as a bit of man-child. I love the ending because it's a great cliffhanger and makes you want to read volume two instantly.
(The Amazing Spider-Man ( Collected Editions #
I feel it embellishes his likability. Spider-Man has always been a heroic figure. He always tries to do the right thing, ever since his Uncle Ben taught him about the importance of responsibility. I like how the comic book reminds us of this, because it's so important in understanding Spider-Man's character and motivation. Then we have this new direction for Peter, and I feel we as readers are watching the hero unfold into something more. A greater role-model not just as Spider-Man, but also as Peter Parker.
He was the creator and showrunner for the science fiction TV series Babylon 5 and, from 2001 to 2007, the writer for the long-running Marvel comic book series The Amazing Spider-Man. Hard to not give this 5 stars, despite it being a very different animal to the other 5 star books on my list. However, I feel it deserves it as being one of the most interesting, original, and downright enjoyable Spidey stories for a long time; Amazing NEEDED a breath of fresh air, and JMS was the right man for the job. Plus the issue-long slugfest halfway through will not only have you on the edge of your seat, but is one of the most smartly written superhero punch-ups you will ever see. Spidey is hopelessly overmatched, yet still finds ways to desperately hold his own and keep going, even getting you to believe he might have a chance of winning... Joining Straczynski is a man of equal legend—John Romita Jr.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL. 1: COMING HOME (0000 - Present)
We had Peter Parker finally evolving into a mature adult, carrying more responsibility on his shoulders by becoming a high school science teacher to a bunch of alienated public school kids. We also explored the mystical and esoteric lore behind Peter's powers, a great turn considering that the comics in the past were always focused on the scientific part. Oh, and Straczynski also revitalized Aunt May's role, making her less of a feeble old heart attack-prone old lady to an active part of Peter's life.
I honestly can't wait to find out what happens next. I think I have an idea, but I better wait to find out. JMS gets Peter's voice exactly right. Like most comedians, Peter uses humor to mask his own pain. That comes through on every page, as Peter deals with his own memories of bullying and eventually has to face a seemingly invincible foe. In fact, Peter's battles with Morlund remind me of Batman vs Bane in the Knightfall story.
Collects/Reprints 6 Issues
Also, I can't help but feel some of the illustrations feel homosexually inspired. I can't put my finger on it, but maybe you can be the judge. One of the problems with comic books is the recycling of old villains instead of creating new ones, and when they do create one, the villains turn out be weak and utterly forgettable.
On the other hand a new and mysterious character appears out of nowhere, this old man who has the same spider powers comes to warn Peter about a great danger ... JR, Jr's art has for my money never been better. There's humor and action and variety.
I don't know if this style has been defined in any of the comic-related media, but I think of it as "comic book dwarfism" -- body parts, particularly heads, often larger than the rest of the body. While the coloring and inking might be better than that from the comics of the 70's-80's, they actually look less realistic to me. Straczynski's run brought new exciting things and all of them were innovative and great.
To ask other readers questions aboutThe Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. A mysterious figure appears suddenly, exhibiting similar powers to Peter. He can stick to walls and jump from building to building, just like the wall-crawler.
I am glad Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man isn't some prophecy or some crap. The idea was handled well and did not take over the story like I thought it would. A lot of great dialogue comes from scenes Peter and Ezekiel discussing this topic. Although, we never find out why Ezekiel knows the information he does. Morlun as a villain was good because he was menacing and seemed like an unfeeling unstoppable force that did provide for a lengthy but bad-ass fight between him and Spider-Man.
One way is to start completely from the beginning, changing, altering and adding to the characters already established story. This is a technique Spider-Man has seen a lot of. The second approach is to retroactively insert details or ideas into the origin that changes the story without altering events we're already familiar with. That's the technique JMS tries to employ in this volume of Spider-Man's "Amazing" brand. While I appreciate the approach that's taken, I can't say that it works very well.
Very nearly the best part of the book. Spider-Man and science go hand-in-hand . Now, I won't try and say that everything has to stay the same and nothing can change, but the attempt here to turn Spider-Man's origin into a mystical one doesn't rest well with me. The overall scientific feel behind the character works really well and while there are certainly mystical aspects surrounding him, the insertion of the element here in such a crucial part of his story just doesn't fit. School shootings, excessive violence, some weird man running around without shoes...
I may have never read a graphic novel in my life but I surprised myself by finding this embarrassingly predictable. 'Why the flapper-doodle did you give it five stars then? Well, it has some redeeming qualities to it, for sure. I found it to be in touch with human emotions, it had some comic dialogue and it is engaging, a quality which most novelists must learn to do unfortunately. I do prefer a novel though, I find it goes way better with my cup of tea than a comic.
This volume brought me back as a Spider-Man fan many years ago, when I first read it. I know that the spider-totem storyline isn't the most popular arc for Spidey fans, but I personally enjoyed it. Now, I am not opposed to my kid being exposed to real-world stuff within reason and he does love super heroes, but this book is almost hilariously not suitable for a child of his age. Do I act like a "responsible" parent and explain to him that that it was a nice gift from Auntie's client, or do I throw caution to the wind and let him be exposed to this book that he was so excited about? I decided that instead of being an asshole parent in his eyes, that let him keep it, so it quickly became his first pick for bedtime reading. There are two ways, that I know of, to re-imagine a superhero's origin.
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