I may have said this before (once or twice), but I love Spider-Man. Yep, the comicbook character. I’ve been something of a huge fan since I first met him back in 1962 (yes i AM that old!). Over the years I’ve managed to collect all but a handful, a handful-and-a-half of his comics (I’m missing something like 30 of the nearly 600 issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, and not from the early episodes, but from the ones that happened around the turn of the century.The other day I just read Vol 2 #38, the issue where Peter’s beloved Aunt May finally confronted him about the truth that she just learned. Apparently she learned in the issue or two prior that he is Spider-Man (no, I don’t have that issue, but I’m hunting for it). Anyway, the story was written by J. Michael Straczynski and illustrated by John Romita, Jr.
What makes the story especially powerful is that, for all intents and purposes, there is no villain, and there is no violence (other than Peter recapping his oprigin and talking about the death off his Uncle Ben at the hands of a bugler), the story is told entirely as an encounter between Peter and his Aunt after years of him keeping the secret of his dual life from her. (To be sure, while it has been better than four decades for us, in the “Marvel Universe” only about 10 years have passed. Still that is a long time to keep a secret.
It was also one of the best and most poignant Spider-Man stories I have ever read. If you haven’t ever read the story, and you are a fan of either Spidey or comicbooks in general, I strongly urge you to seek this story out and read it for yourself.
It is really THAT good.
5 comments:
I'm glad that not only do I own the issue; but that I read it and love it very much I re-read it evry once in a while more than a "Tom Defalco" (my favorite writer) story
Oh that one is on of my favorite issues in all Spidey's history. It made aunt May relevant after they brought her back and didn't know what to do with her for a few years.
Having Peter keep the secret from her again in ASM now just makes me sigh in frustration.
Well, ASM #600 is coming up and we can only hope that they will use that issue to fix all that they have screwed up.
For a while I was hopeful, but now, I'm not so sure.
Nah, if the next arc being shown is Mary Jane being back (601 - 603), but not with Pete, just potentially getting back together, then all we're getting is MJ returning to NY for a time, but nothing fixed. :/
This crap is still going to be going on for who knows how long.
He showed his face to fellow "New" Avengers & the FF (Fantastic 4, not Final Fantasy).
...........Maybe the best solution for me is to stop reading new Spidey stories? The thing that stops me from committing to this decision is being a die-hard Spider-Man fan, but there still are Spider-Man things boring to me
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