When the unintended hiatus started, things were moving at a snail's pace. Jonah had a reward out for Spider-Man's identity, Maria Lopez was crushing on Spider-Man, and Peter Parker had put the identity into semi-retirement. Also, he was being whiny because his wife is launching a film career. However, I was still reading and saving the comics every day (I had time enough to do that) and watched as the Parkers watched Jonah rant and rave. Then, suddenly, I didn't even have time to do that. I came back, expecting the strip to have moved forward ever so slightly. Well... you'll see what happens when we get there. For now, it's catch-up time!
07/27/2007:
Peter looks honestly crestfallen that he is not considered one of his wife's "people". In fact, he looks sort of glum throughout the strip. The sign on Maria's van brings me happiness, however, because it looks as if it's used for Maria's show and a watch shop.
TIL: The sign, of course.
07/28:
The curse of remarking on a daily strip like this is that sometimes there's absolutely nothing to remark upon. I realize they're trying to set up a "will he or won't he" thing concerning Peter and his Spider-Man identity, but we all know he'll jump back into right when a super-villain or some other madman raises their ugly head.
TIL: Peter's casual remark that Maria Lopez has turned into a stalker.
07/29:
This would have been a prime time for the Land Captain to return, if he was recognized by Stan Lee and whatnot. On another note, it took me a minute to put the second police officer's line and the "NEXT" box together. Also, Peter looks really stupid today.
TIL: The
punk in the last panel warms my heart.
07/30:
The first panel makes it sound like Peter and Mary Jane are on Tatooine (from Star Wars). The second panel makes it sound like Peter is a polygamist. The third panel doesn't make it sound like Peter and Mary Jane are anything but Peter and Mary Jane. I'll leave it up to you to decide if any of these are a good thing.
TIL: The way the Stan Lee/Larry Lieber thing is floating above panel two and casting a shadow in the gutter.
07/31:
I don't know why Peter is acting so smug, as that's pretty much exactly why he's lying low for a few days.
TIL: Mary Jane's look of pure horror in panel three.
08/01:
I thought this one was actually kind of funny. Which isn't a bad thing, and much better than the monotony every other day, but I would rather have some fast-paced Spider-Action than Peter mocking Jonah Jameson.
TIL: Peter's mockery of Jameson.
08/02:
Here, Spider-Man expresses a little known ability: Jameson Jealousy-Sense. A part of his spider-sense, it allows him to know when Jameson is about to prove that he's jealous due to someone's crush on Spider-Man. It is a very obscure power, and this is probably only the second time it's been used ever. The first time was in the mid-eighties.
TIL: Peter's mischievous look in panel three.
Here we are, a week into things, and all that Spider-Man has done is not fight crime and make fun of his boss. Will our fortunes look up? DOUBTFUL. We now continue.
08/03:
We all know Jameson does have a crush on Maria Lopez, but Mary Jane could have just dismissed Peter as crazy and jealous of Jonah. You know, for the sake of argument.
TIL: The magic floating television set.
08/04:
Actually, if it was a square, Spider-Man would have to love Jonah. It'd actually be a weird diagram or something, like this:
Land Captain is there because everyone loves Land Captain, in some way or another.
TIL: It looks like Jonah is trying to smash his way out of the television in panel one.
08/05:
...
Holy crap, it's the Shocker.
Wait, why is he wearing armor?
TIL: The whole strip is actually sort of pleasing today, actually.
08/06:
First off, some stuff about the Shocker. He's basically a small-time thug who has become fairly infamous because of how lame he is. The man wears something that looks like a quilt and his power lies not in shocks but in vibrations. Luckily, someone realized that they should not use the name "Vibrator". What's more important is that he has no delusions of grandeur, so if this whole scheme of his consists of anything more than robbing banks I'll be fairly disappointed with his characterization. However, I'll also be pleased that the Shocker is running around doing stuff, as I like him, and am glad to see he lost the armor.
Second, when did the whole "Going to Death Valley!" thing pop up? I need a plot-change sense so these things can't come at me out of left field.
TIL: It's the Shocker
!
08/07:
This is what I want to see more of: Peter Parker being randomly reminded of villains he's fought, along with pictures. Maybe Sandman will show up and we'll have him and Shocker running around! I doubt it.
TIL: Sandman looks so cheery.
08/08:
Oh ho ho, hilarity. They want to remain incognito, but Mary Jane's fame makes that impossible! Where's the Shocker?
TIL: The check-in guy's outfit.
08/09:
They're wearing long sleeves and pants in Death Valley? Death Valley, which is characteristically very hot? The donkey sees the foolishness of that.
TIL: Donkeys!
Also, "Barney Google" or "Snuffy Smith" or whatever it is mentioned Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus on
7/30:
Well, now we're up to date. Hopefully this state of affairs will continue for a while.
All we need to do now is see what Jonah has to say about this, and we're done with this storyline. Which means there should be an actual super-villain coming up pretty soon, thank god. Hopefully it'll also mean that Spider-Man won't be spouting off Hitchhiker-like platitudes. He's supposed to a quipster, after all, not a philosopher.
Just not that impressed with it. Your mileage may vary.
Huh. So the Persuader wasn't dead yet. He could have spoken up and maybe someone could have done something for him. If not save his life, then at least get him a pillow or something. Spider-Man just had to get the last word in, though.
Won't little Jeffy be surprised when he learns that Spider-Man makes deals with the devil?
I pretty much hate these Monday comics. Usually, they just reiterate Sunday, and that's what we're getting here. Except now Peter's at home, and he chose to wait until he got the paper to complain to Mary Jane about Jameson's theories. Ah, but we learn that Mary Jane is off to the theater! Will Peter's innocent "break a leg" comment be prophetic? Most likely not.
Maybe next time he'll think twice before trading his happy marriage to the devil in exchange for his dying aunt.
Well, it looks like I'll be doing this blog for a bit longer. Not only is Spider-Man's spider-sense being incredibly obvious here (unless it's Mary Jane contacting him), but Spider-Man himself is being sort of scary. He's really looking forward to fighting the Persuader, I guess. Jimmy Godero and guard #2 look frightened, as well. Let's hope Spider-Man doesn't warm up on them.
Our first Spider-Cameo of the new year. Let me fill in the third panel: "Lookit here, Spider-Man's making a deal with the devil!"
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.
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.
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.
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'm considering this a "Spdier-Man in other comic strips" thing, because it's just so gosh-darned wonderful.
I can't think of WHY they would take that panel out...
Peter looks honestly crestfallen that he is not considered one of his wife's "people". In fact, he looks sort of glum throughout the strip. The sign on Maria's van brings me happiness, however, because it looks as if it's used for Maria's show and a watch shop.
The curse of remarking on a daily strip like this is that sometimes there's absolutely nothing to remark upon. I realize they're trying to set up a "will he or won't he" thing concerning Peter and his Spider-Man identity, but we all know he'll jump back into right when a super-villain or some other madman raises their ugly head.
This would have been a prime time for the Land Captain to return, if he was recognized by Stan Lee and whatnot. On another note, it took me a minute to put the second police officer's line and the "NEXT" box together. Also, Peter looks really stupid today.
The first panel makes it sound like Peter and Mary Jane are on Tatooine (from Star Wars). The second panel makes it sound like Peter is a polygamist. The third panel doesn't make it sound like Peter and Mary Jane are anything but Peter and Mary Jane. I'll leave it up to you to decide if any of these are a good thing.
I don't know why Peter is acting so smug, as that's pretty much exactly why he's lying low for a few days.
I thought this one was actually kind of funny. Which isn't a bad thing, and much better than the monotony every other day, but I would rather have some fast-paced Spider-Action than Peter mocking Jonah Jameson.
Here, Spider-Man expresses a little known ability: Jameson Jealousy-Sense. A part of his spider-sense, it allows him to know when Jameson is about to prove that he's jealous due to someone's crush on Spider-Man. It is a very obscure power, and this is probably only the second time it's been used ever. The first time was in the mid-eighties.
We all know Jameson does have a crush on Maria Lopez, but Mary Jane could have just dismissed Peter as crazy and jealous of Jonah. You know, for the sake of argument.
Actually, if it was a square, Spider-Man would have to love Jonah. It'd actually be a weird diagram or something, like this:
Land Captain is there because everyone loves Land Captain, in some way or another.
...
First off, some stuff about the Shocker. He's basically a small-time thug who has become fairly infamous because of how lame he is. The man wears something that looks like a quilt and his power lies not in shocks but in vibrations. Luckily, someone realized that they should not use the name "Vibrator". What's more important is that he has no delusions of grandeur, so if this whole scheme of his consists of anything more than robbing banks I'll be fairly disappointed with his characterization. However, I'll also be pleased that the Shocker is running around doing stuff, as I like him, and am glad to see he lost the armor.
This is what I want to see more of: Peter Parker being randomly reminded of villains he's fought, along with pictures. Maybe Sandman will show up and we'll have him and Shocker running around! I doubt it.
Oh ho ho, hilarity. They want to remain incognito, but Mary Jane's fame makes that impossible! Where's the Shocker?
They're wearing long sleeves and pants in Death Valley? Death Valley, which is characteristically very hot? The donkey sees the foolishness of that.
Well, now we're up to date. Hopefully this state of affairs will continue for a while.
Would people in Hawaii really be able to see Maria's show? I realize the guy is probably just exaggerating, but I'm honestly curious as to how far Maria's show reaches. Is it a city-wide, maybe region-wide deal? I doubt we will ever see the answer to such a question. There's also the possibility that, given the syntax of the statement, people will be changing the channel from Maria's show to Hawaii, meaning a program about Hawaii or perhaps the state itself. Which would make things a bit more interesting, but is not something we should hold out hope for.
That is the oddest position I've ever seen Spider-Man in, and it looks like maybe he was drawn upside-down.
Peter Parker has officially stopped caring about his secret identity, unless the cab driver is very stupid or very blind. Also, he's slowly turning into David Hasslehoff.
I like how Maria Lopez is shamefully exploiting someone who just went through a terrible ordeal. Sure, Dara Dorset is going to reap most of the rewards, but it's still pretty crummy of Maria.
