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Welcome to
the dark, mysterious lab of DocGenesplice. I am of course, the Doc.
My job here will be to find a topic,
and dissect it like a small, unwilling science experiment. (Not that I would
ever dissect a person..heheheheheh)
Mostly, I will try and relate my
topics to Kevin Smith and View Askew type topics, though I may occasionally
drift off to damn near anything, as I am not always lucid. I am after all a
mad scientist, and lucidity is NOT in the job description.(which was my
defense at the trial)
So lets get to it. I have an
experiment in the works and need to get back to it before the authorities
arrive. (nobody understands a true visionary.. Its always "No, you cannot
decapitate 37 people and switch the heads around!" No one sees my genius.
But I digress)
Todays topic is part one of two. We
are going to Explore the Spider-Man comic book in order to get a glimpse of
what to expect when Kevin takes over the writing chores on "Amazing
Spider-Man".
The Spider Man family of titles has
always been one of Comics finest. From the beginning, it was as much about
Spideys alter ego as it was about his adventures. That is common now, but in
the 60's this was groundbreaking stuff.
Peter Parker has always been a
character we could relate to. He didn't always get the girl, in fact he
almost never did. He did well in school but was a social outcast.
Stan Lee and steve Ditko treated the Spider-man book as much a soap opera as
a comic. Each issue we wondered not only if he would defeat the bad guy, but
if he would make enough money to pay the bills, or if Gwen stacy would look
his way.
this was what gave the book heart,
and it would become the template for most comics coming out after it.
In the early days Pete was as likely
to lose a fight with a villian as win. One particicular battle, Spidey was
soundly beat. He considerd calling it quits until THe Human Torch appeared
at his school and gave a speech to the student body that inspired pete to go
back and win the fight.
It was things like that that set
Spidey aside as something special. Despite his joking and playing around,
the character was basically a scared kid.
Villian wise, Spider-man fought the
maniacal crazies and mad doctors(though I never fought the guy) Standing
above the rest of course was The Green Goblin.
The Goblin broke type by finding out
Spider-mans secret identity early on. He also revealed who he was...Petes
best friends dad! This made their battle VERY personal, but that was only
the start of what would be the most personal series of battles in comics
history.
Norman Osborne did not mess around. He targeted Petes girlfriend Gwen took
her to the top of the George Washington bridge. (a scene sort of imitated in
the terrific Spider-Man movie) The two foes fought and the Goblin, hellbent
on victory, tossed Gwen off the bridge. She plummeted to the water below.
Peter acted quick. He spun a web and caught her leg.
He pulled her up and took time to see
how she was.
Her neck had snapped when he pulled
her up. His true love was dead. He was partially to blame. The Goblin of
course made sure Spidey knew that. Goblin drew first blood, but Peter swore
that the Goblin was done.
The battle continued. Spidey had the
upper hand and had all but won. The Goblin had one last gambit. He called
his Glider to him, attempting to impale Pete from behind. At the last second
The old Spider Sense kicked in and Pete jumped out of tye way. The Goblin
was not so lucky. He was impaled on his own glider, dead. He would remain
dead for many years. Or so we thought.........................but thats next
weeks column. For now, Norman was toast.
This was a twist. a longtime
character was killed. Pete dealt with it and a young lady named Mary Jane
helped him through the tough times.
Just as peter was adjusting to life
without Gwen, Pete answered his door to
see........................................GWEN!
We were blown away! What the hell was going on? It turned out that a teacher
of Pete and Gwens from high school, proffessor Miles Warren, was obsessed
with Gwen. He took skin samples of some of his students. He was a genius who
perfected cloning years bfore Dolly the sheep. But in true Mad Scientist
fashion, he was nuts. He became the Jackal, and went after Spidey using his
secret weapon........................SPIDEY! A clone actually, which would
eventually result in the most controversial Spidey story ever. But thats
next weeks column too.
For now, Spidey fought himself and he
won..We think. You see, Pete was knocked out in the battle. One Spidey was
killed. But Pete had to ask himself...Am I the clone? Am I real?
He was tested by a GOOD(giving a bad
name to us evil scientists) scientist. The results were given to him. He did
a dumb thing and realized that he did not need results to know who he was.
He was Spider-Man. Period. He tossed the results unread.
Harry, Petes best friend and
roommate, was unnerved by his dads death, which he blamed on Spider-Man. He
started seeking therapy. This would normally be a good move, but this is
Marvel Comics, so the headshrink was a looney. He learned of the Goblins
legacy and became the second Green Goblin. Spidey made quick work of him and
that was that. At least until Harry himself went looney and became the 3rd
GG.
This was Petes dilemma. Most of his
foes were people he knew. The Lizard was Curt Connor, a good guy who
happened to turn into a lizard. Man-Wolf was J Jonah Jameson s son, who
found an asteroid that turned him into a wolf. It was not an easy path, and
a few times he gave up. He would always go back to the costume though
because he would always remember the lesson that made him who he was "With
Great Power Comes Great Responsilbility"
Next week I will tell you how Norman
Osbourne survived his Impaling, why Pete should have looked at those test
results, and we will see what happens someone else becomes Spider-Man...sorta....
Until then, always remember that if
you live in the Marvel universe, Radioactivity is your FRIEND.....
This is DocGenesplice wishing you a
good week, and reminding you that Mad scientists who torture and experiment
on unwilling innocents are people too.
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