Let's ignore the fact that I said I'd have this up on Sunday and it's Thursday. My excuse is that I've been very ill, like I'd been bitten by the kind of radioactive spider that kills you rather than turns you into a superhero. But I did manage to read two of the three books that have made their way to me, so maybe double update?
Anyway, Spider-Man. This is the bit where I admit that I have never even seen the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, apart from half of the second one which was alright. So I came to this text with very little knowledge of Spider-Man's origin story except that he is brought up by his aunt and uncle and that he is bitten by a radioactive spider. This opens by saying it is based on a Stan Lee story but I have no idea how close this is to the original origin story, if that isn't slightly anachronistic when talking about this genre.
To start off, I want to say that I really enjoyed it. I laughed quite a lot, I cried a bit and it felt like a real comic book, from the artwork right down to the tone of the story.
In terms of the art, I did like it. Although I did think everyone had so many lines on their face and veins popping out of them that they looked like they were always clenching. And I was very distracted by Peter's curtains hair-do: it must get in his way when he puts the mask on! But I really liked the blue tint on the flashbacks; it was emotional and sentimental but it wasn't mawkish like it might have been if it was black-and-white or sepia.
I thought the writing was great: despite the story being so familiar, it mostly avoided clichés and, when it did stray into platitude, I still didn't want to laugh at it. I was particularly impressed with the distance between what he was thinking and what he was saying, which evolved near the end of the story. He did a lot of amusing, sarcastic quipping but remained likeable because his thought bubbles gave him vulnerability.
And bits of it were very funny: there is one whole page which is a word for word reconstruction of the economic scene from Ferris Bueller. It is a very dangerous thing to evoke Ferris Bueller in front of me; it's my favourite film, I basically know it off by heart. But I went with it, found it funny rather than annoying. In fact, I was laughing so much I kind of didn't notice what was happening with Peter and so was a bit shocked when he broke the desk.
I was also not expecting Uncle Ben to die: I don't know if that is standard practise in his origin but I did not know it was coming. And I found it suitably emotional: it felt like the start of his character proper and, because I wasn't expecting it, I did cry a little. I was also moved by Harry as a character; I find fathers and sons pretty emotional anyway so both these characters played on my heartstrings very effectively.
My one real criticism is that Mary Jane Watson did not shout out to me as an intriguing love interest: she was pretty, clever and didn't hate him. But she didn't have much personality beyond that, and I'm not sure that he would or should fall in love with her just because she doesn't laugh in his face. To be fair, she hasn't really been in it so maybe I'll warm to her. I just find that 'beautiful popular girl with a heart of gold' thing a little tired, so I hope she gets some proper spark or edge soon.
Anyway, I will definitely be buying the next trade, Learning Curve, because I was really impressed by this. I definitely want to follow this Peter onwards. It is also making me wonder if I shouldn't invest some time in some of the other Ultimate series, like the X-Men. Overall, a solid 7 out of 10.
Next time: Superman For All Seasons
- Grace
Anyway, Spider-Man. This is the bit where I admit that I have never even seen the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, apart from half of the second one which was alright. So I came to this text with very little knowledge of Spider-Man's origin story except that he is brought up by his aunt and uncle and that he is bitten by a radioactive spider. This opens by saying it is based on a Stan Lee story but I have no idea how close this is to the original origin story, if that isn't slightly anachronistic when talking about this genre.
To start off, I want to say that I really enjoyed it. I laughed quite a lot, I cried a bit and it felt like a real comic book, from the artwork right down to the tone of the story.
In terms of the art, I did like it. Although I did think everyone had so many lines on their face and veins popping out of them that they looked like they were always clenching. And I was very distracted by Peter's curtains hair-do: it must get in his way when he puts the mask on! But I really liked the blue tint on the flashbacks; it was emotional and sentimental but it wasn't mawkish like it might have been if it was black-and-white or sepia.
I thought the writing was great: despite the story being so familiar, it mostly avoided clichés and, when it did stray into platitude, I still didn't want to laugh at it. I was particularly impressed with the distance between what he was thinking and what he was saying, which evolved near the end of the story. He did a lot of amusing, sarcastic quipping but remained likeable because his thought bubbles gave him vulnerability.
And bits of it were very funny: there is one whole page which is a word for word reconstruction of the economic scene from Ferris Bueller. It is a very dangerous thing to evoke Ferris Bueller in front of me; it's my favourite film, I basically know it off by heart. But I went with it, found it funny rather than annoying. In fact, I was laughing so much I kind of didn't notice what was happening with Peter and so was a bit shocked when he broke the desk.
I was also not expecting Uncle Ben to die: I don't know if that is standard practise in his origin but I did not know it was coming. And I found it suitably emotional: it felt like the start of his character proper and, because I wasn't expecting it, I did cry a little. I was also moved by Harry as a character; I find fathers and sons pretty emotional anyway so both these characters played on my heartstrings very effectively.
My one real criticism is that Mary Jane Watson did not shout out to me as an intriguing love interest: she was pretty, clever and didn't hate him. But she didn't have much personality beyond that, and I'm not sure that he would or should fall in love with her just because she doesn't laugh in his face. To be fair, she hasn't really been in it so maybe I'll warm to her. I just find that 'beautiful popular girl with a heart of gold' thing a little tired, so I hope she gets some proper spark or edge soon.
Anyway, I will definitely be buying the next trade, Learning Curve, because I was really impressed by this. I definitely want to follow this Peter onwards. It is also making me wonder if I shouldn't invest some time in some of the other Ultimate series, like the X-Men. Overall, a solid 7 out of 10.
Next time: Superman For All Seasons
- Grace
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