Spider-Man and Jonah Jameson: Best Friends Forever?

Why exactly are Jameson and Spider-Man hanging out together? The two are never on the best of terms to begin with, and while I know that Spider-Man just saved Jonah's life, it doesn't seem like the two could get along well enough to stand around spouting exposition or talking about hugs from the Hulk. How much do you want to bet that Mary Jane managed to snap some pictures of the... well, of the Vulture trying to ram Spider-Man off a helicopter, followed by Spider-Man, Jonah, and the Vulture falling slowly towards their doom.

TIL: The Vulture being led away to a police car. It just strikes me as rather absurd, for some reason.

Confusion Ensues

The third panel here fills me with mirth because of so many ways you can interpret it. Well, two ways that I see, at least. The first way is that there's no Hulk... wait. Spider-Man has fought the Hulk before, in this strip. Never mind, then, this whole post is now ruined because of my on-again/off-again memory. I guess it just means that no one, anywhere, has any idea where Spider-Man was going with the Hulk comment.

TIL: Panel three, of course, and Spider-Man's frank admission that even he had no idea what he was talking about.

Conclusions

Spider-Man has now saved Jonah Jameson and subdued the Vulture, who decided to take a nap on the pavement. Soon, we'll be "entertained" by some criminals in suits. I am just so excited about that.

TIL: Spider-Man telling Jameson that saving lives is his job. I think that's a nice bit.

Spider-Man Stops Taking the Vulture's Nonsense

And so it would seem Spider-Man just turned around and did not punch the Vulture in the face, but back-handed him. Back-handed him because, if he had punched him, the force would have splattered him upon a wall.

I am at a loss for words, because that is pretty magnificent.

TIL: Today's whole strip was pretty spiffy.

Unsportsmanlike Behavior

The Vulture really is just a costumed thug, isn't he? Any other villain would probably decide, "Hey, Spider-Man saved me. I'll still escape while he goes off to rescue Jameson, but I won't try to beat him up." If I was Spider-Man, I would just turn around and punch the Vulture in the face. Also, where's the Spider-Sense?

TIL: The random bit of people and scenery in panel three. Weird.

All the Strips Fall into Line

I've made my apologies, now let's do some comicky stuff. Ten days worth of it! With the return of Thing I Liked!

08/04:You know, wouldn't Jameson's arm be yanked out of its socket? He's an old newspaper guy, after all, his joints aren't what they used to be.

TIL: Jameson's pleading in panel two.

08/05:I'm not a man who knows a lot about helicopters, but I do know a bit about Spider-Man, and the man probably weighs under two hundred pounds. Would an extra person of that size have any visible effect on a helicopter?

TIL: Speed lines in panel two. You can't go wrong with speed-lines.

08/06:Flying man with hostage versus helicopter: I think we all know who the winner in that confrontation would be.

It would be us.

TIL: Once again, Jameson's pleading in panel two.

08/07:
Huh... my local paper started carrying the strip a bit ago, so I've read each of these the day they came out. I must say, though, that when you read them all together like this it does a pretty nifty job with suspense. Perhaps this week is just a fluke, though, as I doubt anything could make the Pestilent Parker bit be interesting.

Still have to wonder why the Vulture is using chemicals instead of his supposedly razor-sharp wings.

TIL: The alternating point of view is pretty keen.

08/08:The Vulture does something many villains never do: learn.

TIL: Tiny Jameson in panel one. I know it's perspective, but it's still rather silly to see.

08/09:
That is one cruddy anti-gravity device if you can clog it just with webbing. At the high altitude the Vulture operates at, you would think that frost would sort of build up a bit, and he'd compensate for this somehow. This would also take care of the thin veneer of webbing Spider-Man is putting on there.

TIL: Panel two is funny, I think.

08/10:I like how this makes Spider-Man out to be the world's biggest jerk. "Oh, so I can only save one of you? Nah, not choosing. See you later!"

TIL: Jameson in the final panel.

08/11:Now, Spider-Man is being a bit less of a jerk by only letting the super-criminal die. While I could argue that we both know he won't, I remember when the Scorpion was in the strip and Spider-Man sort of let him drown. Will we have a repeat of passive homicide?

TIL: Jameson continues to be a highlight of this falling adventure.

08/12:
Jameson shouldn't be so surprised: Spider-Man has saved him hundreds of times before.

TIL: Jameson clinging to the top of that building. Magnificent.

08/13:
Huh. Sort of underwhelming, really.

TIL: Speed lines, and the fact that the Vulture looks like he's clawing at the air.

Spider-Man Makes How Many?

Spider-Man makes three? Who are they counting? You have the Vulture, Jonah, Maria Lopez, and her pilot, and then Spider-Man which makes five. Also, I think the NEXT box is lying and no one is going to die in the sky.

On a side note, I'm moving today, but I've been assured that I'll be able to Internet again pretty promptly, so I shouldn't miss an update.

Yikes...

Oh jeez. We all know what happens when Spider-Man web-lines a helicopter. (See here if you don't.) He's going to smash the helicopter into the Vulture, isn't he? This may be something to see.

Deus Ex Machina Sense

Spider-Man's spider-sense is slowly becoming a deus ex machina sense, rather than something to warn him of impending danger. In any case, it's Friday, putting my Spider-prediction of him going off as Spider-Man on Tuesday off by a few days. Whether or not Spider-Man is early or late is a mystery, as I neglected to put down which Tuesday. Next time I'll remember.

Fast Recovery

Yes, we know Peter hit his head. He seems to have recovered quickly compared to most previous incidents (including the bit during the Dara Dorset storyline, where he spent a week being woozy). The image of the Vulture carrying off Jonah Jameson is pretty funny, though. I like that.

The More Things Change...

Jameson being carried off by the Vulture, high above the streets of New York, with the unstated promise that the Vulture plans to drop Jameson to the pavement at any moment: Fun, new, and somewhat exciting.

Peter Parker being hit in the head by debris: Same old nonsense.

Honestly, we all knew that Peter was going to get hit in the head at some point during this storyline. Ah, and chances are Maria Lopez is going to save Jameson with her news 'copter.

Huh...

...well, I wasn't expecting that. Touche, Stan Lee. Touche.

Also, in the third panel, it looks like Peter is about to snap Mary Jane's neck.

Resolution Forthcoming

This is getting pretty monotonous, but that little blurb in panel two sort of promises some sort of resolution to the whole thing pretty soon. Unfortunately, tomorrow will probably have Maria Lopez boarding her helicopter, for the folks who don't get Sunday Spider-Man. Perhaps by Tuesday Peter will be off going to be Spider-Man.

Helicopters

Mostly recap, with a zany picture of Jonah being flung into the air. Ah, and we find out that Maria Lopez is taking a helicopter to check things out. In case you missed that, she is basically going into what is going to be ground zero for a super-fight (a lame one, but still a super-fight) where one of the combatants doesn't really care about collateral damage. Spider-Man has significantly more luck with helicopters than he does with any sort of villain, though. (See here for proof of that) I'm also a bit disappointed that the solid gold file cabinet has turned gray. Still confused about why there's a file cabinet there.

Also, I was reading some old Spider-Man comics (from the Evolutionary War crossover thing they did in the annuals twenty years ago) and found this little bit of fun:I would like to see an in-universe version of the Spider-Man comic strip. It'd no doubt be the most bizarre thing ever seen, if it was anything like that in-universe version of the Spider-Man comic book they did a while back. I could also rant about how they should continue to restrict massive crossovers like the Evolutionary War to annuals instead of inflicting them about the main books, but this is a blog about the Spider-Man comic strip. Not for rants on the comic books.

Too Soon to Tell

It's still too soon to tell how long Peter is going to spend trying to get a better shot. However, it's pretty odd that Jameson wouldn't let Peter, who is a somewhat professional freelance photographer, go do his job. The very job that Jameson brought him to the Chrysler building to do. Also, what's with the solid gold file cabinet in the second panel? In fact, what's with Jameson's pose? What an odd second panel.

Non-Excitement

I don't care who's saying something in the second panel, but none of them should be excited about the freaking Vulture. One is Spider-Man, for god's sake, and the other two regularly interact with Spider-Man and his rogues. Besides, they knew the Vulture was coming. In any case, Peter will most likely cut out to "get a better shot" pretty soon, and then he'll fight Spider-Man.

If we're bizarro-lucky, we'll get two weeks of Peter attempting to get out of there so he can fight the Vulture. I'm hoping this is not the case.

Terrible Punning

I'd like to think that the Vulture is saying "That's it!" in regards to Maria's terrible pun.

I have no idea what the heck a man who can fly would want from a local airfield. Unless it's some sort of gun. It's probably some sort of gun, isn't it?

Challenge of the Clowns

I like the last two panels. The Vulture's pose in the center bottom panel is priceless. The final panel pretty much promises that this is the last part of the storyline, as well, which is a double-edged sword. Peter will be free of his flu, but we'll have to put up with some random no-name gangster once the Vulture is back in prison.

I thought the NEXT box said "The Challenge of the Clowns" at first. It does not, though some may argue that my misread is accurate.

Update on Peter

Just in case you were wondering where Peter was, there he is. Still stuck in bed, with the flu. Watching television. Amazing Spider-Man: The Most Exciting Comic Strip EVER.

Man With Wings!

A man with wings can't not look stupid. That's one thing. Swim, maybe? Not sure about that one. Carry more than one measly bag of money, apparently. Well, folks, anything else a man with wings can't do?