Post by BackinBlack on Jan 1, 2012 15:31:59 GMT -5
So I finally got a chance to read the infamous series by John Byrne retelling Spidey's early years. I think I now understand the hate this series gets.
While Byrne was able to modernize Superman with some new stories with Man of Steel in the 80's, all he does with Spidey in Chapter One is rehash Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's comics with a few sprinkles of modernization of the time. If you're gonna update Spidey, give us something new. That's probably why Ultimate Spider-Man was such a success. I do realize most of the hate is that it was supposed to be canon, but luckily that was done away with.
Still, I could understand why this series happened. Marvel had just relaunched with the Spider-Man line with Amazing, Peter Parker, and Webspinners, and a series showing Spidey's early adventures would have been nice for newer readers. I only hope that those who read Chapter One later looked into the Lee/Ditko comics.
Here are a few of my gripes with the series:
1. Poor grammar. I don't think Byrne had spellcheck when he wrote this series. I noticed alot of grammatical errors while reading it. For example, he spelled practicing with an 's'.
2. Lack of fluidity. If one were to read the whole series in one setting, like I did, there would be some frustration. Here's an example. Issue 4 ends with Spider-Man being trapped by Dr. Doom, but issue 5 begins with Spidey fighting Lizard, and then there's a flashback to how Spidey beat Doom and then went on to fight Lizard. That happens in like half the issues of the entire series.
3. The final issue doesn't give much closure. By the end Spidey's is viewed as a coward in the public after running away from fights with Green Goblin and Sandman, as he did in Amazing Spider-Man #17-18. It never shows him getting his rep back. The end just shows him saying he'll never give up no matter what Jameson or anyone says, and then he beats Sandman by sucking him up in a vaccum and swinging to the police station to turn him in. And that's it. It at least could've shown Spidey being vindicated.
If I had a choice between this and Essential Spider-Man Vol. 1, I would take the latter.
While Byrne was able to modernize Superman with some new stories with Man of Steel in the 80's, all he does with Spidey in Chapter One is rehash Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's comics with a few sprinkles of modernization of the time. If you're gonna update Spidey, give us something new. That's probably why Ultimate Spider-Man was such a success. I do realize most of the hate is that it was supposed to be canon, but luckily that was done away with.
Still, I could understand why this series happened. Marvel had just relaunched with the Spider-Man line with Amazing, Peter Parker, and Webspinners, and a series showing Spidey's early adventures would have been nice for newer readers. I only hope that those who read Chapter One later looked into the Lee/Ditko comics.
Here are a few of my gripes with the series:
1. Poor grammar. I don't think Byrne had spellcheck when he wrote this series. I noticed alot of grammatical errors while reading it. For example, he spelled practicing with an 's'.
2. Lack of fluidity. If one were to read the whole series in one setting, like I did, there would be some frustration. Here's an example. Issue 4 ends with Spider-Man being trapped by Dr. Doom, but issue 5 begins with Spidey fighting Lizard, and then there's a flashback to how Spidey beat Doom and then went on to fight Lizard. That happens in like half the issues of the entire series.
3. The final issue doesn't give much closure. By the end Spidey's is viewed as a coward in the public after running away from fights with Green Goblin and Sandman, as he did in Amazing Spider-Man #17-18. It never shows him getting his rep back. The end just shows him saying he'll never give up no matter what Jameson or anyone says, and then he beats Sandman by sucking him up in a vaccum and swinging to the police station to turn him in. And that's it. It at least could've shown Spidey being vindicated.
If I had a choice between this and Essential Spider-Man Vol. 1, I would take the latter.
