Well, we have a recap of the past few days of strips. This means that there's another day of Maria Lopez, naked in a tub. Jameson's expression in the last panel of the middle row is one which will haunt me for the rest of my days, I fear.
Maria Lopez, despite being a character I loathe, seems to be one of the only people in this strip with any wisdom. Finding out why Spider-Man has seemingly turned to a life of crime? Inconceivable! I also doubt she'll care about the Daily Bugle, Jonah.
Okay, so he's admitting to not taking the photos. That's good. I wonder when something will happen. Soon, I hope.
So this is a supposedly comical epilogue and not the beginning of a new story arc. That is wonderful. Simply wonderful. I would also think that even Jonah would rather be home in bed with the flu that having the flu at the office.
What do you mean, YOUR Spider-Man/Vulture photos? I realize you have to keep up the ruse to fool Robbie Robertson and Jonah Jameson, but you could have the decency to put "my" in quotes or something. Your photos, INDEED.
I'm guessing the reason is not sinister, but rather having to do with Jameson's Maria Lopez fixation. In which case it could be very sinister, but considering that this strip is pretty tame even for a family newspaper, I doubt we have to worry about seeing anything overly disgusting. Like last time... *shudders*
Today is basically a recap of the previous week of strips. What sort of nonsense is that? The bad sort, that's what kind!
Jameson still has a crush on Maria Lopez. That's both sweet and creepy. More creepy, though. Much more creepy. Also, note how Jameson is rocking that ascot. Not since Fred from "Scooby-Doo" or Hank Venture has an ascot been rocked so thoroughly. Good job, Jameson.
Today, we have Jameson being a jerk, Peter being mopey, and Robbie Robertson being concerned about both of those things. So really, there's absolutely nothing worth noting today, as all that stuff happens all the time.
Might we be getting an answer to the mystery first revealed in this set of strips? In all honesty, I'm far more intrigued by this than whatever Spider-Man or the Vulture are up to. Bring on Jameson's story of loss, Stan Lee. I'm ready.
Maria Lopez is pretty much the last thing I expected to see today, or ever again. As you can see, Jameson is also quite surprised.
The headline is a far better slant to what happened concerning Spider-Man's inability to show up. Also, Jameson is still acting how he's supposed to. It's the small things that make the strip better, really.
Spider-Man likes to dream that his enemies are somewhat competent (what's in the mysterious brown satchel? State secrets? Diamonds?) and that he's about ten times more competent than they are, apparently. Also, at this point, Mary Jane should be wearing more... conservative sleepwear. I would want as much clothing as possible between me and the dreaded Spider-Flu.
Robbie's dialog in panel one just seems sort of muddled. It makes sense, yes, but it just doesn't seem natural. What surprises me most about today's strip is that we're well into into the next storyline and they're calling back to a previous one. Some people out there are going to be wondering, "Oh my goodness, what is this Krandis thing they're talking about?" and they'll go into Google and type in Krandis, and you know what pops up? An entry from this blog. Thanks, Mister Lee.
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.
Thanks to the person who pointed this out to me, whose name I'm withholding because the email said the message was confidential.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Oh no! It's halfway through the week and the Persuader still hasn't made an appearance. I think we can safely assume it's his handiwork in panel three, though. That doesn't get him off the hook: I want to see me some Persuader, and I want it sooner, not later.
I didn't post it yesterday because, in all honesty, I forgot that I posted stuff like this. Also, that Spider-Man is more like Venom, with the teeth and all.
I hope the Persuader shows up soon, or we may have to deal with mopey Peter Parker. I pray to God he doesn't spend tomorrow bemoaning Jameson's reaction to the pictures.
