Back in Black Amazing Spider Man 539

Amazing Spider Man Issue 539

Okay, Aunt May has just been shot by a sniper who was trying to kill Peter Parker. Pete goes nuts and goes outside the motel and throws a car towards the killer's building. And Peter brings the dying Aunt May to the hospital. But she's lost too much blood and may die.

He goes back to the area of the sniper's position and finds a part of a rifle scope and goes looking for the criminals who would know of such information. He crashes a gun smugglers warehouse. The gunrunners start shooting. Peter, without his Spider Man costume on, starts taking out the gunrunners one-by-one. No rules, no punches held, he goes all out. In one panel you just see Peter's fist and blood spurting out near his fist. Everyone is taken out except for one guy. Peter asks this jabronni where has he seen the rifle scope before and who and where can Peter find him. The jabronni gives him the run around. Peter snaps his hand, it breaks like dried wood. The guy answers and gives him th einformation.

Meanwhile in a prison cell, Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime receives messages that although Spider Man was not killed, one of the other two targets was hit. And here you can see how dangerous The Kingpin still is. As he is behind bars in jail, you can obviously see the man is still powerful and in control of things outside.

Peter finds his old black costume. He puts it on, basically saying he will go find who did this. And then he will kill him. The black costume is back, basically according to the comics, it symbolizes how Peter Parker feels and how he will conduct business form now on. It was like reading a Batman comic book for its darkness in character and atmosphere. No happy or witty retort from Peter. But let's see the obvious, it's Back in Black because Spider Man 3 the movie is coming out and this is part of Marvel's marketing for the movie.

Balance between the ridiculous and the sublime

This is the cover to issue # 4 of Heroes for Hire, published by Marvel Comics. From the big event Civil War (heroes for or against the Heroes Registration Act) comes a team of second tier characters in the Marvel Universe. This is basically a rather very successful update of Marvel's melding of old school blaxploitation film and old school kung fu film archetypes of the 1970s. Plus visual artist Billy Tucci just draws awesome bad-girl women. These are not your girl next door type of girls mind you. These are ass-licking beat the crap out of you, put the man down bad ass girls. The cover by artist Billy Tucci features The Black Cat, Misty, Coleen, and the new femal Tarantula. Oh not in the picture are the guy members Shang Chi and Orca.

This is now up to issue number 6. And Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man, the billionaire superhero leader of the Pro Heroes Registration side of the Civil War, has just financed a new headquarters for the Heroes for Hire group. This is complete with state of the art defenseive mechanisms.

The best part about this book is the slapstick comedy just comes out of nowhere in this action adventure comics featuring kick ass girl power...with Humbug, Shang Chi and Orca. Black Cat, Misty, Colleen, and Tarantula aren't your girl next door type of girls.

This was the 1st issue cover that came out during the summer of 2006 when the all new Atom was introduced in the DC Universe. Dr. Ryan Choi replaced the existing superhero, The Atom. It is the first actual Asian character to have a spotlight comic book of his own in the general mainstream media here in the U.S.A. I am still amazed that minorities are making strides in the mainstream media, particularly Asians.

Unfortunately, there are still racism even when it comes to comic books. I was in a comic book store to purchase this and the white owner of the store commented on why DC had to cater to colored people. The racist owner of the comic book store further said that he was happy having Ray Pamler as the Atom, and that he did not need to be chinese. He views this politically correct stand by DC to be a load of crap. Let me just say that the man was in his 70s and a white Jewish American owner of a comic book store.

Oh well. That's a minor problem. As for me, I am okay with the series so far. I liked the progression that Ryan Choi has taken to becoming a super hero. I find his trials and tribulations to be comical. And the writing has been handled quite impressively by Gail Simone, who is the regular scribe for the Birds of Prey series. The all new Atom series has a lot of amusing scenes within each issue. My favorite is when the physics professors get together in the basement for poker and have their chit chat. The dialogue among them is very funny and amusing.

Amazing Spider Girl: This is the way to write a Spider Comic Book

I have purchased the original Spider Girl from issues 50 to 100, with a n exception of 1 or 2 issues. I did not bother to purchase 1 - 49. This is because it was relaunched into a new series called Amazing Spider Girl. And I have issues 0 to 6 right now.

The picture on the left is the cover to Amazing Spider Girl issue number 0, and the one on the left is issue # 1. I find the one on the left to be one of the best covers in any comic books I have ever seen. We have Spider Girl here holding her dad, Spider Man, perhaps saving him from danger or something. It's very hilarious.

In an alternate universe Peter Parker and Mary Jane's baby girl did not die. She lived. And in this universe she is May Parker, the daughter of Spider Man. This is how I remember Peter Parker and Spider Man when I was a kid. He was a teenager with teenaged problems. He was a super hero, and with problems as well.

The same goes for May Parker, except as Spider Girl. And she has to contend with what her dad had to contend with. May or as she is often called Mayday has different motiviations, and a completely different approach to crime-fighting than her dad.

Amazing Spider-Girl feels as fresh as a summer breeze after a particularly cold and drab winter. The comic book is presented in a first person point of view. This is makes the book a more friendlier perspective. You get to see Mayday's tirals and tribulations. And it doesn't matter if you are in the USA or in the Philippines or wherever, you will encounter similar troubles as a teenager. So a lot of teenagers can empathize with this book.

Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, long time scribes to the Amazing Spider Man years back knows this character from heart. Just like the Amazing Spider Man, Mayday has a great array of supporting cast that defines Spider Girl and her universe. She has a baby brother. She has her mom, Mary Jane. She has a reitred super hero for a dad in peter Parker. She has a whole bunch of friends in school. And she has an array of super villains to make her super hero life very interesting.

The best part of this series is that you have a young super heroine in Mayday who still feels the thrill of being a superhero. In the regular Marvel Universe, Spider Man is getting too bleak. Spider Girl brings that classic feel of teenaged angst and problems, thrill of being a new super hero, and light hearted though at times darkened moods. May's wit with her interaction with the villains reminds me of a young Spider Man.

In Issue 0 basically it is telling you the world that Spider Girl lives in, like who her supporting characters are and a rogue gallery of colorful villains.

In issue 1 you basically have Mayday, who promised her parents that she'd stay out of danger and hang up her superhero costume. May gets a new hairdo and it is shorter. She looks more mature after high school. And she is happy. No angst, just enjoying her teenaged life.

In issue 2, you have the villain The Hobgoblin. He has gotten his array of weapons from the original Green Goblin's stash. Frenz and DeFalco portrays him as a man who wants to be thought of as having class. Simultaneously he characterizes Hobgoblin as a ruthless, methodical madman reminiscent of a murderer as attested by his dialogue, "...I want you to target the shelter's teenage volunteers. Attack them one at a time until you flush her out." He wants Spider Girl.

His henchmen carries out his orders, but the looks on their face showed like them having a problem carrying out the sanctioned orders, as if it was wrong. And these are the bad guys.

The Hobgoblin is a technical genius as well.

Now back to Mayday Parker, I like her interactions with her mom, Mary Jane. It's like a real mother-daughter heart-to-heart talk. At the same time it can also be antagonistic, but respectful. Characterization at its fullest.

The battle sequence is superb. And it includes that special brand of spider wit that compliments the comedy sequences in her school.

Books on the Buy List and Why

Green Lantern: Rebirth Graphic Novel comprising of issues 1 to 6 of the limited series. The hardbook graphic novel also showcased Ethan Van Sciver's sketches. The new on going regular series issues 1 to 17. I immediately bought issues 1 to 9 last year along with the GL Rebirth graphic hardbound novel. There have been different artists doing the visuals. My favorite is still Ethan Van Sciver, but the recent artist, Ivan Ries is beginning to grow on me. I will describe art in another post. That way I can go on to more details. But the main part I love about Green Lantern is...GEOFF JOHNS. This writer just has IT. At the same time he shows respect to the character and its history. At the same time, he keeps adding to the Green Latnern mythology. The main theme is redemption. We all make mistakes, and we all want a second chance. Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of sector 2814 has made a catastrophic mistake, and is given a second chance in life by Geoff Johns.


Batman / Superman: I bought this when I saw on the ad that Ethan Van Sciver was going to handle the visuals on this book last year. At the same time, Jeph Loeb was leaving DC and signing on with Marvel. The writer that will replace him was Mark Verheiden, who was a writer for the show, Smallville. At the same time, he wrote the Superman book for a little over 2 years. He is more of an introspective type of writer. Of course, a book with the two main DC Icons, Superman and Batman, it should be more action-oriented and with epic plot lines. I am sure we won't have that with Verheiden. But I am sold on the idea that Etahn Van Sciver is the main visaul artist on this book. Basically, I am purchasing these books for the visual art combined with the two main icons as the starring role here. I started buying the back issues immediately last year. My first issue of this was number 27, with an Infinite Crisis tie-in story. The cover featured Power Girl and The Huntress.


Manhunter: I love Mark Andreyko's writing on this book. DC tried to cancel this book three times due to low sales. But this is a critically acclaimed book. We have a respectable female hero who is a lawyer who is works for the law in her private life, and in her superhero life is a superhero who is willing to kill above the law. She is a well-rounded character. A divorced mom. And a kick-ass type of character. I'll write more on this. I love this book not for the visual, as I find the visual art team here as average or below. However, the writing is superb and greatly done. I am a Mark Andreyko fan as of last year. I love the story lines and how the character grows.

I'll add more on what books I purchase or purchased. I will also write some reviews on some of the books I've read as well.

June 2006 / Comic Reading & Collecting ... Reborn

I officially started reading comic books again back in the first week of June 2006. There was some down time for me in the office after punching out from the time clock. Since there was no bus until 5:00AM to get home, I had at least a few hours of reading time.

I logged in the internet to see what's a good book to read. I kept coming across Green Lantern Rebirth for some reason. I read up some reviews and articles on it since the end of 2005. I could not believe Hal Jordan was killed off back in the early 1990s. I have been out of touch of comic books lore for close to 16 years, with an intermission for the summer of 1995 or 1996, with the glossy comic book looks of the Marvel Comics.

I called a local comic book store in the area. I was surprised that there were not that many anymore. I went there and decided to purchase one.

I was surprised at the quality of the comic books. Both the written story and the visual art. It was simply light years ahead of what I recalled when I used to read them back in junior high school. My jaw dropped when I read the Green Lantern Rebirth hardcover book, reprinting the 6-issues of the limited series. I was also surprised at the standard price of each new comic book for sale. $ 2.99 for a single issue. It is pretty steep, but the overall quality is simply amazing, with the glossy paper, slick art, and story geared towards an adult audience and not children.

I have definitely been out of touch.

I have since purchased about a thousand comic books and graphic novels since then. But this Green Lantern Rebirth started it all last year for me once again.



I will use this blog as a place where I can write a review about a comic book or graphic novel I have read. I will discuss any aspects I feel I should that comes off the top of my head. I can have a commentary about anything as well. I am enjoying this new found hobby once again. If you want to have a hobby, it may as well be something you enjoy a whole lot.