Friday, November 30, 2007

The Persuader: More than Spider-Man bargained for?

That Mary Jane certainly has a lot of spirit, standing up to that large thug like that. The Persuader looks like he's transforming into a monster in the second panel, and that might cause some trouble later! Spider-Man might have more trouble than he bargained for, he might! I doubt he'll have to worry about the Persuader figuring out his dual identity, though.

Golly, this is more difficult than I thought!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Introducing Our Guest Blogger...

Hello, folks! Land Captain here! After a stint as a character in this very comic strip, followed by random misadventures, I've finally gotten a chance to take a breather, and what happens to be in my inbox? An invitation from Mike P to guest-host this blog! Hope you like what I have to say. Now, let's take a look at today's comic strip:

There's my buddy Peter Parker, hiding behind a dumpster. He's really Spider-Man, you know. I'm sure he's just waiting for the right moment to jump out and knock that Persuader fellow out cold, especially since Mary Jane is being threatened. You know, back when I met Spider-Man in Los Angeles, he was after a large man in a suit named Kurt Kordok. Now he's going after another large man in a suit. That's an awfully big coincidence, right there, to travel across the country just to find out you'll be doing the exact same thing.

At least Maria Lopez isn't there. She's one step about super-villain in my book.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Metapost: A Bit of a Break

Day in, day out, it's the same thing. Watching Spider-Man do non-heroic things while his wife does things infinitely more heroic than him. Then there's the antagonists. When it's not a lackluster guy in a suit (who is never, ever the Kingpin) it's a super-villain who totally fails to live up to expectations. Except maybe the Shocker, because that guy is sort of low on the villain totem pole anyway. In any case, I need to get away from this monotony for a bit. Therefore, I'll be taking a bit of a break from this blog. Which is not to say that it will totally stop updating or go on hiatus or whatever. I have someone lined up to take over from tomorrow's post for a few weeks.

Hope you don't like the new guy too much.

-Mike Podgorski

Role Reversal Reversed

Mary Jane has seemingly saved Peter, but who will save Mary Jane? Will Peter do a quick-change and make short work of the Persuader? Will Peter get so caught up in keeping his dual identity a secret that he allows the Persuader to take Mary Jane (who will probably be unconscious by this point) and therefore allow Spider-Man to take down Simon Krandis and the Persuader while saving her? Or will a number of infinitely more interesting things happen? Only time will tell! (I'm banking on the second option, myself.)

TIL: The Persuader's face in panel one. It's like someone just told him he had a secret chimp hanging onto his neck or something.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Role Reversal

There's just something about seeing a superhero, even one in his secret identity, get saved by his non-powered wife. Spider-Man is going to have to a lot of heroics over the next couple of weeks to get over this.

TIL: I think the board has vanished.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Keepin' Up the Wall

11/22:Thus Peter goes from embracing his heroic responsibilities to being whiny and paranoid about his wife forgetting about him. This, ladies and gentlemen, is our amazing Spider-Man.

TIL: I'd like to think that plank in panel two is keeping that wall up.

11/23:
That is pretty much the worst outfit for a rising starlet to wear to a talk show appearance. It can't be a big talk show, though, since Peter was seemingly able to waltz right in without any trouble.

TIL: The fact that we were spared a week of Peter trying to get into the studio.

11/24:
Our hero finally meets the Persuader! Only time will tell what becomes of this mythic meeting.

TIL: Holy crap, Mary Jane and Peter have matching shirts. Slightly different colors, but the same style.

11/25:

If Mary Jane was smart, she would use this opportunity to get the heck out of there. Or maybe hit the Persuader over the head with... that board keeping that's keeping the wall up. That could be risky, however, but perhaps preferable to seeing her husband get beaten up?

TIL: The fact that that board is back... that's the last thing I expected.

11/26:
Right now you could kick him in his unmentionables. Unless the Persuader's a eunuch or wearing a cup, that would take him out and keep your secret identity safe. Granted, it's not the classiest thing to do, but in this situation it may be a decent solution.

TIL: That board... it's still there. What's with the background continuity?

POLL: Other Stuff I Do

Last week (er, two weeks ago) I asked if you thought the Persuader was more than a man or an overblown hoodlum. Here's the results:

More than a Man: 3
Overblown Hoodlum: 10

Let's hope he leaves soon. This week's poll has nothing to do with Spider-Man, but rather asks if you're reading (or have ever read) my web-comic. The answer is probably no!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The Brilliance of Simon Krandis

Simon Krandis proves he is perhaps the most brilliant criminal mind this side of Wilson Fisk. Not only has he hired a brutal thug in order to obtain a third-rate newspaper, but now he is sending this man to set up a date. This man, who was no doubt a wanted criminal before he started blowing up trucks and whatnot.

However, Simon Krandis didn't count on one thing - the Persuader draws the line at "lonely hearts stuff" and will no doubt spill the beans on Krandis's operation as soon as it's convenient. Oh Simon, you lost the loyalty of your thug in pursuit of a married woman. Thus begins the downfall of Simon Krandis.

TIL: The fact that the Persuader is actually upset with this plot.

Also, "Snuffy Smith" makes its second appearance on this Blog:It's a pretty minor cameo. However, it also bugs me. Look at that comic... the front cover should be facing away from us. And it's not one of those flip books, because then the cover would be upside down.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Backlog Unloaded

Sorry for not posting. I was moving, and boy howdy, was it ever a terrible experience which still isn't over. Anyhow, here's the backlog:

11/16:
I was totally wrong about this being worth seeing.

TIL: Panel one is pretty neat, though it looks more like an apartment than a stately home.

11/17:
It would be funny if the cops solved the case before Spider-Man, and at the rate Spider-Man is working, it's not out of the question.

TIL: Jonah in panel one.

11/18:
Peter's jacket looks terrible. He should stick with the brown one.

TIL: The final panel, I guess.

11/19:
How on Earth did Simon Krandis get to the position he is today if he develops crushes on rising starlets? Oh, wait, he has a thug. Nice to know they both think with their muscles.

TIL: Imagining what questions Mary Jane was asked to warrant that response.

11/20:
"Put my plan to buy the Daily Bugle on hold, I'm in love!"

This is a terrible plot point.

TIL: Mary Jane looks vaguely like Magica DeSpell from "DuckTales".

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Yes It Can?

Jameson should really know who's out to ruin him, considering how he was so worried about the Bugle he crossed an entire country to defend it. I'm also looking forward to seeing how the Persuader scares away Jameson's advertisers. It should worth seeing.

TIL: The pressman in panel one looks like the Puppet Master (a Fantastic Four villain).

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Can Jonah's Life Get Any Worse?

From this, I'm guessing last Friday's comic had the Persuader entering the Daily Bugle building not to assault Jameson, but to sabotage the printing presses. How a man that large and tactless could get to the printing presses and sabotage them without alerting any sort of authorities is beyond me. As for the subsequent appearing across the street from Spider-Man and the King of the Newspaper Jockeys, I'm guessing there was a back door to the room the printing presses were in that the Persuader sneaked out of. I kind of wish we saw him doing that. Also, it's notable that this is pretty much the only logical thing the Persuader had done in pursuit of his goal.

Wait, trucks? More than one was blown up? When did this happen? (EDIT: It happened on November 3rd, it would seem...)

TIL: Jonah's facial expressions. Jonah Jameson is not only the King of All Media, but King of Melodrama as well.

LATE ADDITION:
Peter Parker (high school-era) and Aunt May made an appearance in today's "Bizarro":Thanks to the person who pointed this out to me, whose name I'm withholding because the email said the message was confidential.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Man With a Plan

It's nice to see Spider-Man actually thinking things through. Getting the Persuader to rat on Krandis is a bit iffy, but I'm sure Spider-Man could "persuade" him to do it. I'm also fairly certain Stan Lee will use that exact same pun before this storyline is done.

TIL: Not so much liked, but in panel three... it looks like Spider-Man is producing some webbing the way real spiders do. Dear god.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Well, Here's a Post

I really have nothing to say about today's strip, which is a shame. I am a bit amazed that the King of the Newspaper Jockey's stand is seemingly kept safe at night by a simple sheet. Hopefully there's locks and stuff on it as well. Hey, you think I should give the King of the Newspaper Jockeys his own tag?

TIL: The Persuader's somewhat consistent coloring.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Doin' Things Differently Today

I'm doing something a bit different with today's post, because I feel it merits it. Namely, addressing the lack of chronological continuity.

First off, here's the strip for Friday the 9th:
I'm glad to see that, even within the comic, people realize that the Persuader's tactics are less persuading and more common thuggery. I also like Robbie's labeling of the Persuader as "hoodlum." Remember that, at this point, the Persuader is entering the Daily Bugle building. In any case, onto the strip for Saturday the 10th:
It looks like we'll never know why Spider-Man decided to go to the Daily Bugle building, but there he is. Supposedly, the Persuader is just now entering the elevator to get to Jameson's office. For some reason, the Daily Bugle has really shoddy security despite the fact that weirdos in masks with super-powers are constantly barging in demanding things of Jameson, not to mention Jameson's hatred of Spider-Man.

All right, we've established that the Persuader is in the Daily Bugle building and Spider-Man is sort of hanging around and waiting for some reason, on the Daily Bugle building.

I'll ignore the fact that the Persuader thinks he could do anything to Spider-Man. Then again, Spider-Man does have some odd weakness against large men in suits. I'll also allow for Spider-Man visiting our friend, King of the Newspaper Jockeys. He's a super-hero, and he was no doubt investigating things on behalf of his employer. Instead, I'll focus on the final panel. That's the one with the Persuader in it.

The Persuader, who was just entering the Daily Bugle building mere moments ago (comic time). There's no logical reason to why he's there, other than to think threats at Spider-Man. In a physical sense, the Persuader can't be there because web-slinging is faster than walking, and even if the King of the Newspaper Jockeys was only a block or two away, the Persuader would still had to have run pretty fast (super-humanly fast, in fact) to see even part of Spider-Man's spiel. In a narrative sense, the Persuader would have been in the Bugle's elevator by the time Spider-Man even left. The Persuader wouldn't even know Spider-Man had left. What the heck?

So, what we have here is either sloppy storytelling or subtle hints that the Persuader is more than a man. Perhaps he wields some sort of precognition akin to Spider-Man's spider-sense (which, come to think of it, would be giving off minor twinges right now) that allowed him to know that Spider-Man was leaving the Daily Bugle building. If so, then we'll have to assume that the Persuader either has Olympic-level sprinting abilities (maybe he's some sort of Captain America-esque super-soldier?) or has some sort of travel-based super-power like teleportation, flight, or super-speed. If we allow for that, than the Persuader's threat against Spider-Man is perhaps a little more serious than previously thought.

Then again, maybe the Persuader has a Venom-type symbiote which would cover pretty much everything at this point.

POLL: Is the Persuader More Than A Man? (Also other stuff)

Last week's poll, in which I asked a silly question about Bil Keane, ended earlier than expected because of its silliness. The question itself was whether Mister Keane was too keen, or not keen enough? When the polls closed, it was voted 7-1 that he was not keen enough. We'll be trying to get him grindstone so he can sharpen his wits and carve more whimsical woodcuts.

This week's poll, which actually has to do with the Spider-Man comic strip, asks whether the Persuader is somehow more than a man, or just an overblown hoodlum. Voting ends next Sunday.

In the Other Stuff category, I invite you to take a look at my other stuff which doesn't update half as often as this Blog which is regrettable.

The first thing would be of interest to you, maybe, is the currently rudderless Personal Journal of the Land Captain. It's basically fan-fiction about a character who showed up in this comic strip once and had a heap of characterization dropped on him by me.

The second thing is probably the project that nearest and dearest to me, a web comic called Green Circle. It updates somewhat frequently, though not as much as I'd like. Hopefully, I'll be able to get it back on schedule by the end of the year.

The final thing is yet another blog called Third Attempt. I have no idea what that one's going to be about, as there's only one post up there right now.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Basically a Continuation of Yesterday's Post

Further proof that a better name for the Persuader would be "Extortionist" or "Blackmailer".

TIL: I still think the newspaper guy is nifty.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Subtlety, Thy Name is (Not) Persuader

Now this is just silly, yanking some guy out of his stall in front of everyone. The Persuader's going to get thrown in jail before the week is up if he keeps doing stuff like this. Also, this is how the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "persuade":
to move by argument, entreaty, or expostulation to a belief, position, or course of action

The Persuader is doing none of that. Instead, he's just being a mindless thug doing something that's more like extortion than persuading. Unless his name is supposed to be some sort of ironic, though I doubt he has the mental capabilities to be so clever.

TIL: The newspaper salesman is neat.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Googling Simon Krandis

Just to prove I could be just like Peter, I put on my detecting pajamas and Googled Simon Krandis. Since this is the real world, my results were a bit different from Peter's. Here's the current top results:Here's a closer look:
I'm not sure whether or not I should feel proud of this.

Jumpy Mary Jane, Lazy Peter

First off, I have to warn you that I think I'm going mildly insane. So, if the posts become a bit rambly and incoherent, that's why. Now onward to the weak insights, as advertised:

11/05:Peter should put on a shirt and Mary Jane should learn how to make pancakes. Those things on that plate look like no pancake I have ever seen. Also: Mary Jane is awfully jumpy today, bouncing from side to side like a rabbit or something.

TIL: Peter's stupid look in panel three.

11/06:Peter is sitting in his pajamas on the computer Googling people, therefore making him the laziest detective ever. Yet this proves to an effective method. Perhaps tomorrow's strip will feature Peter looking at Krandis' Wikipedia entry and performing some "edits" which will ruin the shady businessman's biography.

TIL: Peter's use of the term "more money than Midas". Famed figures in mythology and history should be used as benchmarks more often in today's world. I know the phrases exist, it's just that people don't use them anymore.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Featuring the Enforcers

11/03: So the only reason today's strip exists is to inform Spider-Man of things we already knew, and inform us that Spider-Man has been informed of things we already knew, while I am informing you that Spider-Man has been informed of things that we already knew about.

TIL: The fact that everyone in the Spider-Verse seems to have an HDTV now.

11/04:

Now it's sounding like Krandis and the Persuader wnat to kill Jonah. Not to mention that the Persuader has a Kingpin-esque build. You know, Stan Lee, I know you probably didn't want to use the eighties Persuader, but I could think of a group of ne'er-do-wells that YOU CREATED who would have been perfect for this storyline:
FANCY DAN!

OX!

MONTANA!
THE ENFORCERS!

For those of you who don't know, the Enforcers are a group of thugs-for-hire whose three members are knowledgeable about all forms of hand-to-hand combat (Fancy Dan, who is also quite tiny), ridiculously strong (Ox), and... able to use a lasso effectively (Montana). There's also contortionist Snake Marston and boxer Hammer Harrison, who came much later. In any case, Simon Krandis could have hired the Enforcers to do pretty much what he's paying the Persuader to do, and it would be much better because he Enforcers are terrific. Unless the Persuader, who is promised to strike again at some point this week, proves to be a better character than he seems.

TIL: The fact that a single delivery truck is making such an uproar. It's not like anyone even died.

Friday, November 02, 2007

The Persuader Enters

Well, it's the Persuader. And look at that, he's a muscled thug in a sport coat. At least it's a green sport coat, which seems to be a good color for Spider-Foes. He also has really bad hair, which also seems to be a requirement for being a Spider-Foe. In any case, I'm already hoping this installment of "Spider-Man Versus Evil Men With Suits" ends quickly so we can get to another installment of "Spider-Man Has Lackluster Encounter With Supervillain". In-between, we'll have to put up with "Peter Parker Lives His Life" though. The only plus to that one is that it has a better chance of featuring Cheesecake Mary Jane.

TIL: It looks like the Persuader cut off two of his fingers.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Simon Krandis: NOT the Kingpin

Well, it turns out (to no one's surprise but my everlasting chagrin) that Simon Krandis is not the Kingpin. He looks vaguely familiar, sort of like Jerry Van Dyke circa ten years ago. So we have a time-displaced evil Jerry Van Dyke running around trying to buy the Daily Bugle. Meanwhile, the Persuader has yet to make an appearance and it's almost Sunday again. If you promise us the Persuader, Stan Lee, then you had darn well better give us the Persuader.

TIL: The escalating amount of background detail in each panel. Also, Jameson's face in panel two.