COMIC BINGE: The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Parker Luck
It’s been a long time in my comic book universe, since I’ve seen Peter Parker. For some, this may not have been the case, but over the last year I’ve been stuck with reading Superior Spider-Man as I had exhausted all of the significant Spider-Man books we have at the library. The Amazing Spider-Man is the new title for Marvel NOW! that finally showcases the return of Peter Parker, the webslinger we all know and love. Over the last year or more, we’ve had the Superior Spider-Man, and for those who don’t know the significance of that, it means that Doc Ock was Spider-Man. Yes, Peter Parker was dead, and Doc Ock had become the hero he always was looking to crush. It took Doc a few books to figure out just where he fell on the scale of being a hero or a villain, but he found a happy medium. It was an entertaining idea, but after awhile Spider-Man just didn’t feel like Spider-Man anymore. Superior Spidey was a horndog it seemed, always eyeing his next catch before he’d even finished with the first one. He truly exploited the powers and prowess of Parker because as himself, these were things I suppose that he never was able to have. So, Doc Spidey builds up an empire under the guise of Peter Parker, by establishing himself in the science field with a new degree. He has a girlfriend, who is not Mary Jane, and he’s definitely taken Parker’s life into his own hands and made it his own, even though of course everyone around Peter hasn’t noticed. Which is one of my biggest problems with Superior Spider-Man, however enjoyable it may be, that the villains nor the other heroes like the Avengers can tell that Spider-Man is not himself! They can’t even tell that Parker has been body snatched, and that was something I could never disbelieve as I read the book.
However, Superior Spider-Man did one thing we always hope for with some of our favorite titles, and that’s to change things. Spider-Man is a very secure, locked down franchise, that doesn’t have to do much but churn out the same butter and the kids are going to love it. You find authors and writers and artists are less and less willing to go out on a limb and do something new, because the same thing has always worked. Fortunately for us, Superior Spider-Man gave Marvel a chance to reinvent a very, very familiar character, without having to tell an origin story all over again and starting from scratch. Over the last few Superior stories, Peter’s “spirit” seemed to be fighting its way back from the mental hell Doc left him in, which was Doc Ock’s dying body. I’m not sure that it’s ever explained quite how Peter’s spirit is still alive, but let’s just assume that it’s attached to the Spider-Mantle and it was bound to come back eventually. The Amazing Spider-Man starts up with Peter returning to his old body, and his old life, though it’s all new to him. Doc has a well-established life in place, and it has Peter wondering if he can really even be Spider-Man again now that the face of his franchise has been changed. Also, old villains are re-established and made even more vengeful because of past happenings, and we meet a new team of super villains as well, that were pretty hysterical. This unique return to home story by frequent Spidey contributor Dan Slott, is something I think the character really needed. This reboot of sorts does a lot to re-establish who Peter Parker is, but he’s not a kid anymore, and that was always something I thought should be explored a little more.
Since Peter’s life is surrounded by adulthood at every corner, I always thought it was an easy and boring choice when they left him in school with his school buddies in all the stories. Peter is as smart as some people ever are, and he has more responsibility than most people ever want. Peter is the definition of what adults wish they were, and what children dream to be. This book captures that very idea, that Peter Parker even in adulthood does not have it all figured out. Sure, he has a super degree in something that he is not good at, but I’m sure he can make it work. Peter now has a new girlfriend who loves the Peter she thought was always the real Mr. Parker, but finds that even though he’s not with MJ, he still doesn’t know who he loves. Throughout the book you see Peter Parker come face to face with things we’ve always seen him up against or dealing with, but it’s with new eyes. Peter has died, and come back to life as an adult. As a new man, Peter is struggling yet again to find himself underneath the red-and-blue tighties, but now he’s also trying to figure out who Doc Ock was as Peter Parker. As he discovers Doc Ock’s legacy as Spider-Man, he uncovers the legacy he thought had once left behind in his own Spider-suit. It’s all really rather interesting, and it sounds silly, but the way that Superior set up this volume was awesome. I was really pleased and ecstatic to be reading the smartalic and childish Peter Parker Spider-Man again, as Superior Spider-Man had become too smart, bold, and really just not the Spider-Man we love. Definitely recommend reading some Superior Spider-Man so you have an idea of what is going on here, but you can pick most of it up from exposition and Parker’s recounting of events. And yet again, the art in Spider-Man is one of the most consistently drawn title groups out there. A definite must-read for Spider-Fans!
RATED : ( PG-13 )
STORY : ( 9 / 10 )
ARTWORK : ( 9 / 10 )
COVERS : ( 7 / 10 )
AWESOME : ( 8 / 10 )
FINAL RATING : ( 9 / 10 )