Spider-Clone, Spider-Clone, Friendly Neighberhood Spider-Clone

Ever hear the expression “Kissing your sister," well Over in Ultimate Spider-Man, you all know that Ultimate Petey was cloned by Ultimate Doc Ock and spun out in dozens of, well, interesting Ultimate variants. (including Spider-Scorpion, his father (Richard Parker) and, a female version of his own self). Well, my pals over at SpiderFan who can’t leave this sort of stuff along, have come up with their very own spin on the Spider-Clone concept.

Personally it is nothing that you or I didn’t think of already, they just got it into (digital) print sooner. Oh, and my version was way further off the deep end, but here for your reading pleasure is SpiderFan’s spin on the Ultimate Spider-Clone Saga.



If you enjoyed this strip (or want to see it ful sized for better reading), and want to read the entire run of SpiderFan funnies, go here.

They tell me that Captain America is dead...

Still, according to this guy, Cap won’t stay that way for long, and here’s why.

1) In most cases, a comic book character only dies when it makes financial sense for him or her to do so.

2) In most cases, a comic book character only stays dead for as long as it makes financial sense for him or her to do so.

3) In most cases, a comic book character will come back to life when it makes financial sense for him or her to do so.

4)There’s not a tremendous amount of evidence to suggest the “death” of Captain America is any sort of exception to the above three rules. It is “most cases.”

He goes on for eight more reasons, but I truly think that he covers the most important, and certainly the most salient reasons above.

Growing up as a comicbook fan, I learned that you never believe in the death of a character until you see the body. These days, however, with the return of The original Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus, Bucky Barnes, Hawkeye, Superman, and Marvel Comics’ Captain Marv-Vel, all bets are off (Hell, I’ve even seen the still-dead Gwen Stacy wandering around the pages of X-Static presents Dead Girl), so I’m not buyin’ any company line, not yet.



You just watch, a year, maybe two, but certainly not as long as either Bucky or even Mar-Vel. Steve Rogers will be back, and no one is going to convince me otherwise.

Cap, we hardly knew ye!

They keep telling us that Captain America is dead, but there are those among us who refuse to believe that, and choose to cling to a higher ideal that the principles and precepts that were embodied in the living legend will never die.

This is true, especially for the folks who live here.

Bravo gents, it is always tough to lose a hero. Especially one as dynamic as Cap.

The Countdown has begun!

That’s right boys and girls, it is now Go Time, as the official countdown clock to Spider-Man 3 has started. Reserve your seats today, and take a look at this!

I am so totally getting myself one of these pooches!

You know I am!

Dessert in Hell!

I believe that the following image speaks for itself.

Captain America is Still Dead!

This information just in, Captain America, who was shot to death by a sniper in Captain America #25 (and was revealed to be “Not dead yet” In The Initiative #1, has been revealed to be, well, still dead (in New Avengers #28). Apparently rumors of his life can be chalked up to misinformation from the New Director of SHIELD, Tony (Iron Man) Stark.

According to the fan rumor-mill (who, quite frankly don’t believe anyone), many are already discussing the possible replacements for Cap. These people include Bucky (“Winter Soldier”) Barnes (who is fully expected to decline the honor); Frank (“Punisher”) Castle (who won’t decline), and Sam (“Falcon”) Wilson who is already being sized up to take over for Castle after Castle comes to the realization that he doesn’t get to torture and kill thugs while wearing Cap’s red, White, and Blue.

Needless to say, the very concept of a “Sanctioned” African-American Captain America is sending the fan community into a tizzy.

Running as a dark horse candidate for the Star Spangled Union Suit is none other than Peter (“Spider-Man”) Parker, who is being touted by some as The Captain America of the 1960s counterculture generation. Parker, who has switched from his own red and blue union suit to a sleeker all black model with white highlights, while considered to be admittedly a “left field choice” is well-known in the superhero community to be the second biggest Boy Scout (right after Cap himself) and thus lends some credence to his consideration.

More on this story as it develops.

Bye-bye Spidey, Bye-Bye!

While we still haven’t received official confirmation it does appear that the NY Post is no longer including a Spider-Man reprint comic in its Sunday edition. There was no comic in this past Sunday’s edition (March 11, 2007), for the second, non-hooliday week in a row, so I think that it is safe that we can assume the worse, and Spidey is gone.

What a terrible week this has been, First Spidey is dropped from the post, then Cap dies, and Aunt May is shot. I’d ask what else can go wrong, but right about now, I’m afraid to find out.

I’m not dead yet!

That’s right kids, Captain America isn’t quite dead yet, and no, he’s not being a baby about it either. Seriously. Yeah, Yeah, I know that we reported just the other day that Cap bit the bullet (or rather that the bullet bit him), but that was when we were reading a CNN.com report about his demise. Now, we’ve just finished reading Civil War: The Initiative, wherein Ms. Marvel tells Spider-Woman that Cap is alive and in a hospital on The Raft, where he is hanging on for his life.

You can read all about it here.

On another front, we now have Iron Man building a “New” new team of Avengers, and I can’t help but to be struck by the different way that he and Cap went about building their respective teams. Cap chose heroes of moral fiber who (apparently) worked well together under a difficult situation, Stark built a team on more of a George Steinbrenner/NY Yankees approach (Who’s available?/Who can I afford?). Cap wanted a team of stalwart men and woman with whom he could defend liberty, Stark wanted to build the best team that money could buy.

Interesting dichotomy actually. I’d like to see how this all plays out over the coming months. Hopefully it won’t be overly extended just to milk every dollar and angle out of it all, but who’s to know?

Well, that's about it for now, more as it happens.

Could this be the Day that Spidey is gone?

Perhaps, because, after some 24 weeks on having reprint Spider-Man comics in the NY Post, it looks as if my ol’ pal and May Parker’s favorite superhero, Spidey is standing down from his (NY) post. Why do I say this? Well, a buddy of mine stumbled across this ad (to the right) and, well, it speaks for itself.

If I’m reading this correctly, and the worst is to believed, then I’m quite sad over these events. Mostly because I was really enjoying reading all of those old issues. (Plus, I was collecting them for my nephew Tony-o to read.) Needless to say, I honestly think that the Post could have kept the series going for a while longer — through the opening weekend of Spider-Man 3 actually. Still, I did enjoy it while it lasted, and I suppose that I should be grateful for that.

Oh, if you haven’t been reading the reprint comic, or if you missed any issues, I highly recommend that you invest in the series (click the image for the link to the order form). You’ll be happy that you did!

The Perfessor

Cap is a dead man, miss him, miss him

That’s right kids, Captain America is dead. Shot dead earlier today by an assassin’s bullet on the steps of a courthouse as he was being brought to answer for his part in Marvel’s recent Civil War Event:

After close to 60 years in print, Marvel Comics has killed off Steve Rogers, A>K.A. Captain America, one of its most famous and beloved superheroes amid an already controversial story line, "Civil War," which is pitting the heroes of Marvel's universe against one another.

(The rest of the above passage can be found, here on CNN.com.

Which of course brings up, a couple of questions, (some of which I posit and answer here) and others which include if Bucky turns down taking over the role of of his mentor by becoming the new Cap (as the Marvel Previews books would have us believe) then who will become the new Cap (hey, the licensing gods must be served, eh?).

A couple of names that have been put up for consideration are well, Cap’s “other” partner Falcon (is America ready for a(nother) Black Cap?), with The Punisher coming in as a close second. Don’t gasp, if you read the last couple of Punisher War Journals, you would see that this is not that far fetched).

Still, that is all off in the (near or distant) future. Today, we all mourn a fallen hero. Captain America is dead. Long live Captain America!

Free Comicbooks are Coming! Free Comicbooks are Coming!

That’s right; it is coming up on that time of years, boys and girls. Free comics are coming, and you should all be aware!



You should all consider yourself forewarned!

I counted, and it looks like there will be over 30 comics and publications that are going to be given out on that day! I love Free Comic Book Day, and so should you. Especially because it gives us readers the opportunity to sample comics and creators that we might not ordinarily have the opportunity to pick up (especially given the often high costs of comics these days). Personally, this day is my favorite day of the year, beating out Christmas and Easter.

But then, I’m something of a professional comicbok geek, you know.

It’s Another Day in Spider-Land!

Or rather it was a week ago when I landed this issue of the Spider-Man Newspaper Collectible series. As it is a week later and there didn’t seem to be a comic in the NY Post this week, I’m bummed about it (again) and I’m wondering what the cause it this weekend!

Well, I called the Post’s Customer Service line, and got shunted into their voice mailbox to ask the question. If you want to call and ask for yourself (I’ll post the info here when I learn what happened), you can call them at 800.940.7678.

On a totally separate matter, Marvel’s Civil War Event is over (finally) only not so much, as it not only ended with a lame, status quo non-ending, but it just spills over into the next phase of the event, Civil War, the Initiative, where we will spend the next year on the “new, permanent changes” to the Marvel Universe. Yeah, a likely story, I’m currently giving odds that a year from now there will either be a third phase, or the thing will simply die under its own weight, with everything going back to the way it was before the “war.”

Any takers?

Thought not.

This is not to say that some of the stories around the Civil War Event weren’t good, it is just that it was all for naught, as the ending was a major let down. Still, I do feel it necessary to point out the striking similarities between Amazing Spider-Man #538 and ASM issue #106. (or am I the only one that caught that, eh?)

Anyway, As I told you all last week, I spent last weekend at the NY Comicon, well, this Sunday at another (way smaller) con in East Hartford, CT. There (at the E. Hartford show, I (along with my good buddy Ed Traquino) met up with our fellow CAGers. In addition to the show, we had a short meeting that was videotaped by Sean Therrien.

Next weekend I get to attend the NY CAG meeting (which is held every second Saturday at 5:00 P.M. at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art . Is this the (funnybook) life or what?