Favorite (Comic) Book Characters: #SpiderMan

Favorite book characters? Is this a brand new series for the blog? Maybe. I don’t know. The idea is about five seconds old because I needed a title for a post idea I just came up with. Not that I have many favorite characters or much to say about them, but if it sounds like a fun idea to post every now and then, let me know. I’ll try to keep it up. And I’d be happy to let guests write up posts about their favorite characters.

The spark for this idea was my recent reintroduction to Spider-Man. He’s always been my favorite superhero. Very early on it was Batman and/or Superman. But I think that’s only due to those two getting more exposure than the Marvel universe’s characters. Then came the X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons in the 90s. Spidey became a favorite from then on. After that I got into the comic Peter Parker: Spider-Man. Though, to be honest, I don’t remember anything specific about them.

While I don’t have as much dislike toward the Spider-Man movies from the early 00’s as most people, I have a decreasing care for them as they came out. More so now than at the time. But no need to go into too much detail. I’ve also see the two Amazing Spider-Man movies. They weren’t bad, but I can’t stand that guy as Peter Parker. He was good as Spider-Man though. Maybe it’s the mask.

Now that Spidey is in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), I had the urge to see what Spider-Man is like in more recent comics. Some people thought they should have put the Mile Morales Ultimate Spider-Man into the MCU instead. But I didn’t know much about him. I also knew that Spider-Gwen (Gwen Stacey becoming S-M instead of Parker, different universe, don’t try to think too hard. Multiverses can ruin your brain) is a popular character. On top of this, I was planning to see the Civil War movie. (Quick review: I enjoyed it A LOT more than I expected. I had low expectations because I’ve read the CW comics and knew they weren’t following much of it for the movie. But it was great. Plus: SPIDER-MAN.) Between Miles and Gwen, that’s two big differences to the Spider-Man story I didn’t know much about.  I know Peter Parker/Spider-Man. The same basic story line for decades. Maybe I should see these other people being this man-spider hero. (Ok, Spider-Gwen is technically Spider-Woman…but I see her as Spider-Man. She’s the Peter Parker of that universe, basically, and as long as Spider is in the name, I don’t care. It’ll be worth reading.) (Another side note: I haven’t read any Spider-Woman comics before. Maybe I should.)

What did I do next, you might be thinking? Or you’re thinking: “Just get on with it.” Yea, I probably should. Next, I put holds on the first Spider-Gwen collection and first two Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (the Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man) collections. I devoured them. I like Spider-Gwen, though I need more to work with to see just how much I like her. I have collections that take place before her first one does on hold. I’ll form a better opinion after reading them I think. But Miles Morales? I REALLY enjoyed those first two collections. I devoured them. I don’t know much of the Ultimate Spider-Man story line. It’s a bit different from the “normal” one, but I don’t feel like I missed out. Peter Parker as Spider-Man has died. Miles Morales gets bit by a different spider around the same time and is taking his place. That’s the basics. It’s well written. It’s all new, so it’s not just a reworking of the original. And Miles is a great character. He’s a kid. He has different motivations from Peter, and just as much drive to help. I have the 3rd, 4th, and 5th collections on hold now and can’t wait until I can read them. I could easily see Miles becoming my favorite Spider-Man (though Parker will never be far behind since he’s the original that I grew up with).

What I’m starting to realize, and what makes Spider-Man ever more of a favorite character for me is that anyone can be Spider-Man. All they need is: Spider powers, a cool costume, and a good heart. Gwen Stacey became the Spider-Man of her universe. Miles Morales took over for Peter Parker. They’re both Spider-Men in my mind. I didn’t have an issue accepting it, like I might for other superheroes. Anyone can put on the Iron Man suit of armor, but are they still Iron Man? I don’t really feel that’s the case. As much as I like Falcon from what I’ve read/seen of him, I don’t care for the Captain America thing. Falcon’s great as his own hero. (But I’m not well-versed enough to make a bigger judgement on that.) Spider-Man, so far, is Spider-Man no matter who. There’s comedy. A big heart. And he’s always dealing with the media ruining his public image…yet he’ll still do the job he feels responsible doing: Saving the day!

Who are some of your favorite characters? I’d love to hear about them. If you’d like to write up a guest post on one for the blog, let me know. I’m happy to have you as a guest. Just use this contact form.

#PoetryMonth – Poetry in Films

I think you get it by now. Poetry can be found almost ANYWHERE in our lives. In print, coming from our radios, written in the clouds by one of those planes who write things in smoke…ok, I don’t know if anyone’s done that. Maybe someone should get on that.

Today, I want to give a bit of a different recommendations list. It’s the last one of Poetry Month and maybe your eyes are getting tired from reading so much poetry. It’s time to give them a break and watch some movies!

This is list composed of films either based on poems or poets’ lives. I’ve watched them all, which is why they made the list. I Googled a few to get names and found many other lists out there I could have used to expand this one, but I felt like a list of ten that I’ve actually seen and would recommend was better. There’s no particular order. So no one movie is better than ano…wait. Dead Poets Society is the BEST film on this list. The rest are in no particular order. Make sure you watch that one out of any here. The rest were on Netflix at some time in the last few years. There was a period of time I binge watched any bio-film on a writer I could find there. A few didn’t make the list because they weren’t poets. Ok, well, Joyce and Lawrence were technically poets and I did watch a film on each, but the focus wasn’t their poetry. I also don’t remember the films’ names, but go find them if you’d like.

So, as we kick off the last week of Poetry Month for 2016, please go watch some movies. (That’s something I don’t often say.)

• Dead Poets Society
  • Don’t worry about what it’s about. Just go watch it. Oh, and Robin Williams is in it.
• Sylvia
  • Biographical film about Sylvia Plath
• Troy
  • Based on The Iliad
• Brother, Where Art Thou
  • Based on The Odyssey
• Howl
  • Biographical film about Ginsberg and the controversy surrounding the poem.
• Black Butterflies
  • Biographical film about Ingrid Jonker.
• Pandaemonium
  • Biographical film about Coleridge and Wordsworth
• I’m Not Here
  • Biographical film about Bob Dylan. Yes, that guy. He’s a great poet.
• No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
  • Documentary on Bob Dylan.
• Shakespeare in Love
  • I don’t think I need to say that this one’s about.
• Tom & Viv
  • Biographical film about T.S. Eliot.
• Bukowski: Born Into This
  • Documentary on Bukowski.

Find something you might want to read? I hope so. Want to see another set of recommendations focused on a theme? Let me know what that theme is, and if you can help with some recs for it, include them in the message.

Happy reading!