Reviewer: Paul Sebert
Yes it’s another one of those anthology titles. Let’s do these one-by-one.
Story Title: Old Enemies Never Die!
Writer: Tom DeFalco
Pencils: Ron Lim
Inker: Norm Rapmund
Colors: Avalon Studios
Letters: Dave Sharp
Editor: Molly Lazer
The first story in this anthology is an all new and surprisingly inventive little story which jumps back and forth between the modern day Marvel Universe and the M2 Alternate future timeline. When a curiously familiar anthropomorphic cartoon DVD shows up at May Parker’s school, a retired Peter Parker recounts a team-up with Araña which of course ties into May’s new set of problems.
Anyway the bulk of the story deals with quite possibly the goofiest super villain plot ever. Honest I thought evil schemes this wacky were banned during the Bronze Age. Anyway we’ve got a goofy villain with a convoluted history, a Saturday morning cartoon, and dozens of Spider-Man duplicates. Really Robert Rodriguez could co-opt this plot for the next Spy-Kids movie. DeFalcos’s clearly in Superfriends territory, but with the light hearted tone of the script I don’t mind.
Ron Lim’s pencils are very sharp in this issue, and Norm Rapmund’s inks maintain a very nice clean art style. My one complaint about this story, aside from the logistics of the far fetched villainy is the brevity of the story. I would drop one of the later reprints to add some more pages to the fight and cartoon sequences.
Story Title: “Tangled Web” from Spider Woman #20,
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pictures: Frank Springer
Inks: Mike Esposito
Editor: Jim Shooter
I love Drew in New Avengers, but looking at this story I’m beginning to get an inkling of why the character didn’t quite catch on in the 70s. It’s bad enough the gist of the plot revolves around the heroine committing larceny, but are we really supposed to believe Drew never heard of Spidey before? Oh and the two pages explaining Drew’s origin story gave me a headache. (It involves Uranium, The High Evolutionary, an anthropomorphic cow woman, a Hyrdra brainwashing, and no less than three shadowy figures.) Honestly the only way the origin could possibly be any worse would be if she was a time traveling clone.
Note if you can’t fit your character’s origin story in one or two paragraphs it’s too complicated.
Anyway Jessica Drew gets ripped off by her employer, steals some money as retribution, and goes back to return it only to bump into Spider-Man. Much angst-ing ensues.
Oh and Spidey calls Spiderwoman “doll” at one point? Were guys still using that word back in the 70s?
Oh and really I can’t get over the fact that they waited 20 issues before having Spider-Woman meet Spidey. It just makes no sense.
Story Title: Peter Porker: The Spectacular Spider-Ham in “If He Should Punch Me” from Marvel Tails #1
Writer: Tom DeFalco
Penciler: Mark Armstrong
Inker: Joe Albelo
Colorist: Steve Mellor
Lettering: Parker/Morelli
Editor: Larry Hammer.
The Web-Porker teams up with Captain Americat to investigate a Scooby Doo-esc villain who’s sabotaging a video arcade, while Doctor Bruce Bunny gets turning into a lumbering Hulk Bunny. A few rather funny sight gags. There’s a particularly cute homage to Amazing Spider-Man #33. Personally my favorite bit was the scene of a group of angry protestors waving signs saying “No Fascist Games” and the like. Perhaps things haven’t changed that much since 1983.
A funny little flashback to the days when there actually was a mainstream market for funny animal books.
Story Title: Spider-Man 2099 #1
Writer Peter David
Penciler: Rick Leonardi
Inker: Al Williamson
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colorist: Steve Buccellato
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Think of it as Marvel’s predecessor to Batman Beyond. This introductory issue introduced Migeul O’Hara, a troubled hero who upon getting drugged by his evil employer goes about a radical experiment to try and cure himself. When things go explosively wrong in his lab, Miguel is transformed into a darker, more troubled web-slinger.
Here’s a title that really needs an update. The art and story in Miguel O’Hara’s origin are still pretty good, but some aspects of the book are pretty laughable today. I can’t help but snicker at the “futuristic” clothes worn by some of the characters along with the Jetsons style flying cars. The color schemes are a little jarring too.
Story Title: Petey in “The Devil and Mrs. Parker”
by Fred Hembeck
A pretty cute little gag strip in which a very young Peter Parker runs into a young Daredevil. The first of Hembeck’s “Petey” strips I’ve read but it’s pretty amusing. Not sure where these were printed, but I’d enjoy tracking the rest of these down.
Story Title: “To Serve and Protect?!” From Untold Tales of Spider-Man #1
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Penciler: Pat Ollife
Inker: Al Vey
Colors: Steve Mattsson
Lettering: Richard Starkings
Editor: Tom Breevort
Busiek and Ollife’s retro-licious Untold Tales of Spider-Man remains my favorite Spidey title, despite sadly being out of print for years now. This debut issue introduces a brand new villain by the name of The Shorcher (Who’s now a major player in Secret Wars) while elaborating on Spidey’s relationship with Captain Stacy. Pat Olliffe art is a rather nice Ditko homage, although the inking is a little too dark and murky for my taste.
There are a few very nice faux-silver age touches, such as The Scorcher’s goofy fire-proof suited henchmen, and a mention of Peter’s then potentially budding romance with Betty Brant. A truly underrated spin-off that’s long-overdue for a trade paperback collection.
