Geekscape Comics: Weekend Reads!
Welcome to the first edition of Weekend Reads! It’s your little, weekly dose of comic book goodness that focuses on some aspect of my weekend reading!
This weekend I longed for the Spider-Man of years past.
The reads:
These books are both full of potential right now. Slott is setting up to explore some potentially Jessica Jones/The Purple Man-esque themes with Mr. Negative, who can take control of essentially anyone that he wants. Bendis, on the other hand, seems to be writing a book that is going focus on Miles Morales’ internal battles (i.e. struggling to balance his personal life and his life as Spider-Man). The art of both books is top notch. There isn’t much that I find wrong with either book, but I’m struggling to connect with them.
I appreciate the direction Marvel is taking with Spider-Man, but I can’t help but long for a Peter Parker more like the one originally conceived by Lee and Ditko. Peter was a character who could never get out of his own way. Even when he won, he’d lose; many of his victories as Spider-Man came at the cost of extreme personal loss. His struggle to fit in, to balance his priorities and endless battles not to feel like a giant screw-up made him more relatable than any other super-hero in comics. Sure, he could spin webs, had spider strength, etc. but I think back on the character I obsessed over growing up and recall more of his personal struggles and losses than his supervillain battles. I’ve come to the realization that I didn’t fall in love with the character of Spider-Man, I fell in love with Peter Parker.
Peter Parker, now the CEO of a multi-international corporation, is a much less relatable character. He no longer solves his problems with his small science experiments; he relies on his company. His financial struggles have become minimal. He has little time for a relationship because he is focused on Spider-Man and running his business. The character who any reader could once relate to has become one with who very few can empathise.
As I mentioned before, it looks like Bendis is going to explore many of those original Peter Parker themes I loved with Miles Morales but it just isn’t the same when it isn’t Peter. There is potential for many fans to fall in love with Miles (many already have) but I just can’t imagine I ever will. I’ll keep trying, but I don’t believe Miles will ever be able to replace Peter Parker.
Peter Parker? Miles Morales? Could care less? What are YOUR thoughts on the state of Spider-Man in the all new, all different, Marvel universe? Tweet us or tell me directly that I’m a big baby!
