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November 02, 2004
Spider-man. Organic Webs vs. Web-shooters. Discuss.
Newsarama reports that "Due to the changes Peter Parker underwent through the four-part “Changes” arc (#17-#20...), he now has organic webshooters in his wrists – just like his film counterpart."
My first reaction to this story was that I don't want to care. Having an opinion one way or the other on this topic is surely some kind of badge of dishonor, is it not? It would reduce me to the status of drooling fanboy, a description that is probably accurate, but one that I like to deny.
On the other hand, surely it is my journalistic duty to offer my opinion on the development that would be the hot topic of the day at the store tomorrow if anybody spoke to each other rather than climbing over one another to get to the latest issue of X-Crap-o-rama. Plus, I may as well face it: there is a shamefully large portion of my brain dedicated to opinions about subjects such as Spider-man.
The verdict is: I welcome this development. It is long-overdue. It never rang true to me that a 16-year old kid could have invented the web fluid and the web shooters that Spider-Man used. If he was such a friggin' genius at both chemistry and mechanical engineering, couldn't he have found a more lucrative profession than selling crummy photos of himself to the Daily Bugle? He could have at least spent a weekend inventing something equally incredible, then selling the rights and living off the royalties.
As for arguments about Marvel somehow "selling out" by sacrificing years of continuity in order to bring their properties in line with the movie versions: Eh. That doesn't ring very true to me. Why shouldn't Marvel do what they want with their characters? I have my doubts that this move is going to bring a swarm of movie fans into the comic stores now that they won't be utterly confused by the previous incomprehensible difference between the movie character's webs and the comic book character's webs. I don't think Marvel really expects that to happen either; heck, the direct market sales on Spider-Man books have actually decreased since 2002 when the first movie was released. I see it as cherry-picking an element of the movie that was actually an improvement for the character.
I will tell you this, though: this whole improved Spider-sense thing is a different story. That just sounds stupid. There's a reason why knuckleheads like Ant-Man and Aquaman get so little respect, and it starts with the fact that talking to animals is pretty low on the list of cool powers. Besides, his spider-sense already rubs up against the line between interesting character element and escape-hatch plot device.
My advice, which I know will go unheeded, is to vote with your wallet. If you think it's a dumb idea, stop buying Spider-Man books. Of course the whole argument is academic for me, since I only read Ultimate Spider-man, and presumably that title will be unaffected by this decision. But let it be known that I am NOT afraid to stand up and admit that I have opinions about this whole stupid inconsequential non-issue! Frankly, worrying about this is a lot easier than worrying about things like the U.S. being incapable of running fair elections. But that's a rant for another day...
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at November 2, 2004 11:06 AM
Comments
Picketarian poses an interesting point, particularly the part about "if he was such a figgin' genius at both chemistry and mechanical engineering, couldn't he have found a more lucrative profession than selling crummy photos of himself to the daily bugle". On the other hand there are lots of talented people out there who get distracted or side tracked from pursueing their goals and god-given gifts.The only part that I disagreed with is when it was mentioned that "it never rang true to me that a 16 year old kid could have invented the webfluid and the webshooters that Spiderman used". In the past I've heard people say something similiar to that statement, commenting that if gifted scientists employed at prestigious corporations couldn't figure how to create a web-shooter, then what chance does a teenager have. Answer:
It's not a question of whether scientists could do it, It's a question of why would they create such a device. Remember, Spiderman had a legtimate reason to invent web-shooers because he needed to supplement the one ability that he lacked and simply added to his natural spider-like abilities. Besides, Spiderman was a friggin' genius, meaning that he, like any other genius, can think in creative ways that the average person cannot.
Posted by: peter chisholm at September 27, 2005 09:51 AM