Spider-Man

[thecolorsblend]

With prolonged isolation at home I'm feeling chilled out and at peace. As such I've been diving back into Spider-Man to the point I haven't been interested in anything much else comic related lately.

I've been pondering again why I enjoy Spider-Man. Apart from what I posted here from years back about relatability (which is a big one), I like how he's super powered but completely susceptible to getting his ass kicked. He has gadgets like Batman and Bond, but has a completely different set of circumstances and viewpoints compared to those types. That counterpoint is fun to explore and embrace. I can very easily be dark and mean or silly and lighthearted. The latter is where my head is right now.

By the way, 'Feels So Good' by The Sonic Hijackers would be perfect for a musical montage. I'll be keeping this on loop while I'm baking bread and cooking beef stir fry in any case.

The thing about Spider-Man that works for me is that he's basically a lower class kid trying to make good. Sometimes the whole world is against him. Either his moral clarity is 100% pure or else he really is that determined to make thing up to Uncle Been. Either way, the guy's unstoppable. He never gives up, even when giving up seems like the only sane thing to do.

Also, by all rights, the guy really should be a villain. His origin story? That's not how 99% of heroes begin. And that says a lot about Peter, as far as I'm concerned.

Finally, there's the cathartic Revenge Of The Nerds thing, which is sort of passé now. But it is true that a nerdy kid like Peter in high school back in the sixties would probably grow up to become very well to do. The sky is the limit, really. Tech? Pharma? The NSA? Peter would've had a lot of options to choose from starting in the seventies. I suspect his potential and his drive would eventually allow him to rival Tony Stark.

[The Dark Knight]

I like the low key nature of Spider-Man and indeed Batman. They're underpowered in comparison to their counterparts in the Avengers and the Justice League, but they're the most real. Thinking and acting locally is where noticeable and meaningful change can be made. Are walking cheat codes like Thor really going to be interested in carjackings and bank robberies? That's below their pay grade.

Weapons dealing, drugs and turf wars have a grit level that excites me in ways intergalactic matters don't. Nothing annoys me more than street crime. There's something primal about people looking at the world around them, deciding enough is enough, and then taking on the challenge. I believe a lot of Spider-Man and Batman's popularity is tied to that added sense of struggle and satisfaction.

[The Laughing Fish]

Several years ago, I read Spider-Man vs Wolverine, which was published in the late Eighties, and the What If? sequel. Neither of these were the most memorable comics I've ever read, but it was definitely trying to do something daring with Spider-Man.

From what I can remember, a secret spy (and Wolverine's love interest) called Charlemagne was wanted by the KGB for killing undercover Russian spies, which included slaying those who were living in Manhattan. That's how Peter got entangled in this mess with Wolverine and Charlemagne. The only distinctive memory I still have in the climax Spidey and Wolverine are in the middle of gunfire from the Russians, and Charlemagne decides the only way to end the chaos is to commit suicide - by scaring Spider-Man from behind and tricking him into throwing a lethal punch.



Now I should add context that before the spies had ambushed them, Spider-Man was already on the edge after he had a brief fight with Wolverine, because he tried to stop Logan from killing Charlie as a way to help her commit suicide. Spider-Man, for the first time ever, knew deep down he was put in a position where he would have to kill, but was no match for Logan's strength and was further intimidated by Logan's brutality and cold-blooded threats. Peter Parker certainly made mistakes throughout his life, but this scene really outlines the first time his panic and moral principles are truly tested.



At the end of the day, the hunt for Charlie was over and Peter and Logan go their separate ways scarred from the experience. IIRC, even Ned Leeds was killed by the spies, but Peter still returns home while coming to terms with what he had inadvertently done.

This brings me to the What If? Spider-Man vs Wolverine comic, which was published a few decades later. As it implies in the title, it's set in the alternative where Peter didn't go back to America.

All I could remember in this comic was the simple premise that Spider-Man stayed in Europe to help Logan track down Charlie's sister, who was a SHIELD agent wanted by the Russians, and who happens to have a strong resemblance to Gwen Stacy. Not really sure what they were going with here other than to connect a subconscious layer of guilt in Peter's psyche. That Peter can't go back home to the innocent life as the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man in Manhattan because of his guilt, while he has a chance to start a new life where he becomes more volatile with another woman who happens to resemble his first love he couldn't save? Looking back, it's a bizarre choice.

The biggest turning point for Peter's state of mind was when he outright kills without a flinch.



Are they the best Spider-Man comics out there? Probably not. But I can't fault them for experimenting with the character, and it reminds me it's fun to read alternative "what if" scenarios when a pivotal moment changes a character's state of mind.