The Death of Spider-Man
Mar. 25th, 2012 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdelmonteLast year, after over a decade, Marvel ended (for the second and final time) a comic featuring a revamped (or rather, Ultimate) version of Peter Parker. I got to read it this week.
I think I have noted that despite not being much of a fan of Brian Michael Bendis, I came to love Ultimate Spider-Man. It wasn't always perfect, but it was often really good, and well drawn, and fun, and a reminder of why I loved Spider-Man. Especially as a teenager. The adult Spidey seemed increasing hard to enjoy, stuck in the same luckless life he had in his youth. The new younger version, OTOH, tried really hard to move beyond that while still remaining that hero who understood the joys and the nightmares of being Spidey.
Alas, just as the Ultimate Peter Parker was getting trained by the other heroes of his timeline, just as it looked like everything might come together, Marvel or Bendis or someone made two decisions. The first was that, if the Ultimate line of comic was to really be different than the main line of Marvel books, anyone could die. This had been established already when the alternate version of Wolverine died at the end of crossover event. But killing Peter Parker would really make the point. The second was that the Ultimate line needed a lot of shaking up to remain a success.
Thus we get "The Death of Spider-Man." Which was really two intersecting but distinct stories. One was about Spidey's worst enemies knowing he is Peter Parker and coming to kill him. The other was about all the other Ultimate heroes fighting each other. I have no idea what they were fighting about, since that story was in another comic. Except for one crucial scene.
Where Spidey is in the right place to get in the way of a sniper's bullet aimed at Captain America. And when Spidey comes to, Capt America and everyone else is no one to be seen. He was shot and left for dead. By another story.
Which kind of ruins the rest of the comic for me, since his death is not related to the fight against his foes. Yes, he fights heroically to stop them, and saves Aunt May from the Green Goblin. And yes, if the bad guys weren't doing their thing, he might have gotten help. But the bottom line is that this big death was more about rebooting the entire line than building to a natural ending for the character.
What a letdown. 10 years of great storytelling are replaced by "everyone fights everyone else" and "the heroes are jerks," themes that have defined too much of mainstream Marvel of late. Themes that Bendis seems to enjoy. Themes I don't.
Did Peter Parker die a hero's death? Yes. He saved Cap, and his aunt, and a lot of innocent people. Does he live a big legacy? Yes. But in that crossover where Wolverine died, it seemed for a while that Spidey also died, saving innocent victim's of a massive flood created by a bad guy. A death chronicled by a remorseful J. Jonah Jameson, who (like the original version) never liked Spidey. Had Peter Parker died then, it would have impressed me a lot more.
Instead, his death feels entirely like a plot point. Or a sales pitch, since we got a new line of Ultimate books again, and a new Spidey. I can't comment about the new Spidey yet. Word is, the comic featuring him is great, and I look forward to reading it. But for now, the last battle of Peter Parker has left me with a bad taste in my mouth. This could have been a lot better.
I think I have noted that despite not being much of a fan of Brian Michael Bendis, I came to love Ultimate Spider-Man. It wasn't always perfect, but it was often really good, and well drawn, and fun, and a reminder of why I loved Spider-Man. Especially as a teenager. The adult Spidey seemed increasing hard to enjoy, stuck in the same luckless life he had in his youth. The new younger version, OTOH, tried really hard to move beyond that while still remaining that hero who understood the joys and the nightmares of being Spidey.
Alas, just as the Ultimate Peter Parker was getting trained by the other heroes of his timeline, just as it looked like everything might come together, Marvel or Bendis or someone made two decisions. The first was that, if the Ultimate line of comic was to really be different than the main line of Marvel books, anyone could die. This had been established already when the alternate version of Wolverine died at the end of crossover event. But killing Peter Parker would really make the point. The second was that the Ultimate line needed a lot of shaking up to remain a success.
Thus we get "The Death of Spider-Man." Which was really two intersecting but distinct stories. One was about Spidey's worst enemies knowing he is Peter Parker and coming to kill him. The other was about all the other Ultimate heroes fighting each other. I have no idea what they were fighting about, since that story was in another comic. Except for one crucial scene.
Where Spidey is in the right place to get in the way of a sniper's bullet aimed at Captain America. And when Spidey comes to, Capt America and everyone else is no one to be seen. He was shot and left for dead. By another story.
Which kind of ruins the rest of the comic for me, since his death is not related to the fight against his foes. Yes, he fights heroically to stop them, and saves Aunt May from the Green Goblin. And yes, if the bad guys weren't doing their thing, he might have gotten help. But the bottom line is that this big death was more about rebooting the entire line than building to a natural ending for the character.
What a letdown. 10 years of great storytelling are replaced by "everyone fights everyone else" and "the heroes are jerks," themes that have defined too much of mainstream Marvel of late. Themes that Bendis seems to enjoy. Themes I don't.
Did Peter Parker die a hero's death? Yes. He saved Cap, and his aunt, and a lot of innocent people. Does he live a big legacy? Yes. But in that crossover where Wolverine died, it seemed for a while that Spidey also died, saving innocent victim's of a massive flood created by a bad guy. A death chronicled by a remorseful J. Jonah Jameson, who (like the original version) never liked Spidey. Had Peter Parker died then, it would have impressed me a lot more.
Instead, his death feels entirely like a plot point. Or a sales pitch, since we got a new line of Ultimate books again, and a new Spidey. I can't comment about the new Spidey yet. Word is, the comic featuring him is great, and I look forward to reading it. But for now, the last battle of Peter Parker has left me with a bad taste in my mouth. This could have been a lot better.
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Date: Mar. 26th, 2012 04:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: Mar. 26th, 2012 05:08 pm (UTC)