Techtite's Hardcopy: Book Reviews

"I must admit, even as a former Spider-Man fanatic in my youth, I can't believe how much I've missed...and unless you subscribe to the comic, neither will you."

---from the review

-----------------

Feel free to contribute. As always, review submissions are accepted!

------------------

Also reviewed: Spider-Man (the film). 

-------------

Sidebar :

-------------

Why'd they have to kill off Peter and Mary Jane's baby...? It would have been the pinnacle of coolness to have the Spider-Girl comics be synonymous with the original Spider-Man universe. How? Who cares; maybe a time vortex would make her suddenly a teenager or something. However, "parallel future"...? If some total twit hadn't killed off M.J.'s baby for mere shock value, this wouldn't have to BE a "parallel reality" at all. It's blunders like these that make Marvel's bankruptcy some time back more than understandable. Kudos to current management, however, for trying to rectify these errors the best they can. Spider-girl LIVES!

I've been a bit lax in my Spider-Man reading, admittedly. While I stopped reading at a young age, college had me coming back; when I heard that Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson were finally getting married, I couldn't help but buy the issue. However, aside from that, it appears I'm very, very behind the times. Aunt May is dead? Mary Jane got pregnant, only to have the baby die at birth? Heck, I even missed the whole "clone saga" that this book goes on and on about! Well, regardless of my absence, someone was definitely in my corner; this is the best way for any Spider-Man fan to get up to speed. In fact, it's the finest way for new readers to get up to date as well, with every major storyline covered.

Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide, as a result, delivers on the "ultimate" promise. In addition to dual pages devoted to each main character --from Mary Jane to J. Jonah Jameson; from Doc Ock to The Lizard-- additional pages are devoted to each of the past four decades of Spider-Man. See not only how he's changed through the years, though all the major storylines as well, from the time his costume was a one-piece alien symbiote --which would later become "Venom"-- to the very tragic final story of Aunt May. It's all covered here, along with several of the most pivotal comic book panels from the actual comics.

Of course, layman fans of the new film, Spider-Man, will be most interested in the saga of The Green Goblin, as well as how (hint hint for the sequels...?) Norman Osborn's son, Harry, took over the role upon his father's absence. Many such classic moments are preserved here, including Mary Jane Watson's back story, which the film could only abbreviate for us. What fan of Spider-Man from the 1960's could forget the first sight of Mary Jane Watson by Peter Parker, along with her line of comic book legend, "Face it, tiger...you just hit the jackpot!" While this was indeed worthy enough to make M.J. his main squeeze, Peter has dated many women in his past, and this book covers them as well. See how and why the original Green Goblin fought with Spider-Man to the death, after killing his first love, Gwen Stacey. Yes, the Black Cat is here, too; a Spider-Man squeeze who loves him as long as he kept the mask on...she felt Peter Parker himself was too boring! If you loved the film, and want to know more about such back stories, read this book.

I must admit, even as a former Spider-Man fanatic in my youth, I can't believe how much I've missed...and unless you subscribe to the comic, neither will you. I did know of some spin-offs, like Spider-Man 2099; a high tech spider-man of the future who was genetically altered, and therefore was not unlike the cinematic spider-man, with biological web-shooters. However, I did not know of the storyline where Mary Jane was presumed dead, nor did I know that the Spider-Girl spin-off I've seen on bookstore magazine racks is in fact Peter Parker's daughter from a parallel future. In "this" world of Spider-Man, Mary Jane's baby with Peter was stillborn. How tragic...and yet, I'm more mad at the publicity machine zealots responsible for such a story! Why couldn't they just let Mary Jane and Peter have the baby everyone wants them to have? After all, look how pivotal a baby's role had on The Fantastic Four! Even so, that's another story entirely...and this book is too full to add any more.

If there's any gripe to have in this book, it's that no facet of Peter Parker's life would warrant one of those cool cutaway drawings that make DK Publishing books so popular. In Batman: The Ultimate Guide, for example, there are cutaway maps of the batcave and batmobile. Spidey has no "spider-mobile" nor a spider lair, so this is exclusively a collection of spider-man's allies, villains, and major battles. However, such lack of gadgetry means the majority of this guide is devoted to back story, making its contents much more thorough. The batman guide needed to edit out many stories in its 128 pages, to make way for drawings of dozens of bat-gadgets. Spider-man has the same number of pages, nearly all devoted to storyline. Which approach is better? I'd have to vote for the latter; the Batman guide was forced to omit some pretty pivotal stories to make way for that "utility belt" picture.

Be this as it may, the lack of "spider-gadgets" was never a problem for Peter Parker, and it's not a problem with this book. This is a spectacular compendium of everything that has happened through the years, and I thank the author, Tom DeFalco, for getting me up to speed. There's even a cool introduction by Spider-Man's creator, Stan Lee. If you're even slightly interested in the character, you'll love this book. If you aren't, then read this book, and you will.