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.

A Storied Week – Week Ten

I hope you’re ready for a slight bending of my rules this week. I only read two short stories. Big shock! Reading isn’t my strength lately, but it’s still going, just slowly. But what do I have to accompany those two stories? Two graphic novels!

Due to the comic format being quick reads, even if they’re collected into 100-200 page books, I think I’ll consider these two as short stories this week because it didn’t take long to read them, and one definitely read more like a short story compared to the first which had more of a novel feel to it.

I read the first two mini-series in the Marvel 1602 “multiverse” series. They were interesting, and as you’ll see, Marvel: 1602 was a big hit with me. the second wasn’t bad either, but didn’t stack up well next to Neil Gaiman’s writing.

I also want to make a quick mention of Carole Lanham’s story that I read. I read The Reading Lessons from her collection The Whisper Jar. I also mention her novel of the same name that I’m currently reading. Lanham has reissued the short story, on its own, under the title V.I.L.E: Reading of Violent Indefensible Lust and Evil. I haven’t had the chance to ask Lanham about it yet, so I’m not sure if the new release has any changes to the version I read, but if anything, it’s probably just been better formatted and had a small edit at the very least. It’d be a good way to check out her writing if you don’t feel like grabbing the entire collection.

The Reading Lessons, by Carole Lanham

(story read in the collection The Whisper Jar)

This story is sort of a reread for me. Lanham released her novel of the same name earlier this year and I’ve been reading it off and on since then (good book, I’m just distracted by life). This story is the basis for The Reading Lessons novel. To be up front, this story is an early version of the first (roughly) 25% or so of the novel, in a slightly condensed form. That’s why I considered it a bit of a reread.

What’s interesting, for me, is to read “the novel”, but without it being as fleshed out and developed. Already knowing what it’ll turn into, I’m biased to enjoy the novel more. But I can still say that new readers will be able to enjoy what the story has to offer.

I won’t get into the differences, but I think that if a reader enjoys the story, he or she might be compelled to check out the novel to continue Hadley and Lucinda’s story.

Marvel: 1602, by Neil Gaiman

I’m not much of a graphic novel reader, but I’ve been warming up to them more and more lately. When I saw that Gaiman wrote this one and what it was about, I had to check it out.

Basically this is a mini-series (8 comics) set in 1602 with some of the more popular Marvel characters as if they’re from 1602, not our time. This is one of the multiverse scenarios that Marvel has been exploring.

I only have a basic experience with these characters and the more modern Marvel Universe as a whole, but I found it to be a great storyline and was very interested to see how mutants/superheroes may be treated centuries ago…basically like witches (witchbreed).

I also think Gaiman’s writing aided in my enjoyment. I find many comics/graphic novels lacking in the writing department, but this one was great. Fleshed out, great dialogue, it wasn’t too basic or sparse. It makes me want to read some other Gaiman comics.

1602: New World, by Greg Pak

This was a five comic continuation of Gaiman’s Marvel: 1602 that I also read this week, and because I enjoyed that series, why not see where it goes from there?

One big difference is the change in writers. Gaiman is listed as the “creative consultant” (whatever that means), but Pak takes over the role of writer. While the story was still good, it’s noticeably different. There’s more of a “blah” feeling to it (for me) than a compelling page-turner to keep me going as this strange alternate history unfolds, which the first series had. I think this is due more to Gaiman being a great storyteller, and less to do with the five comic format compared to the eight of Marvel: 1602 (though that’s part of it, I’m sure).

Still, it was a good series and we get to see “The Spider” (Spider-man of the time) storyline begin.

The Honest Truth About The Zombie Apocalypse, M. Stark

I grabbed this short story earlier today because a friend recently recommended Starks’ novel Remember Me and this was a freebie. Great way to check out an author’s short work.

I’m on the fence with how I felt about the story. It had some good humor, but I think for five “Kindle” pages, the author tried to do too much without the space to execute it “properly”. The story was trying to be funny, have a commentary on the zombie genre, and have a scene going on at the same time.

It felt too scattered as the narrator scrambled around trying to tell what he was doing to escape his house, all while making jokes about house the zombie mythos is wrong in our media (either his world’s media, or the real world). I was reading and thinking “you have a few pages to say what you want…you can keep it straight for that long.” Also, none of what the narrator says is much different from many zombie stories, movies, etc already out there, even the ending wasn’t a big shock. So I don’t know what the “honest truth” part was really about, unless it’s more a commentary on something like The Walking Dead show only, then I can see some points.

But still, for a few minute read, I was mildly entertained, even if it was a big confusing for having some forward moving story to it.

Have you read any short stories this week? Do you know of any short stories to suggest to me or my readers? Feel free to share your thoughts and recommendations in the comments on this post or more privately through the contact page, if you want you’d like to type something longer up.