Another title I signed up for, I ended up dropping before the first issue even shipped. If you've got your finger anywhere near the pulse of the world of comic bookery you can probably guess which book that was. In case anyone has been living under a rock, and has somehow avoided spoilers to this point, I guess I should post a SPOILER WARNING for the goings on of Spider-man right now...
So, Marvel just recently ended Amazing Spider-man (again) with issue #700. I haven't been a regular Spidey reader for years, even though I love the character. I just haven't been digging what the creative teams have been doing on the book. But with a new first issue, and a new series entitled Superior Spider-man, I figured why not give it a shot. Then I read issue #700 of ASM, and I found out exactly why NOT to give it a shot. Writer Dan Slott has somehow managed to make the Clone Saga look like a work of Shakespeare, by having a dying Doctor Octopus manage to do a mind-swap with Spidey, and yep, you guessed it, Peter Parker died in Otto's decaying body. Now Doctor Octopus is Spider-man. Only things didn't go exactly as planned or something, and he's gained every one of Peter's memories and experiences, which has lead him away from a life of crime and turn him into a somewhat honorable superhero. Oh, and Peter's psyche is also still in there too somehow, so even though Otto has the lion's share of the brain, Peter's always gonna be there to make sure he doesn't stray from the path of the good guy.
I've read some bad Spider-man runs in my day, I mean some BAD Spider-man runs, but there's absolutely no way, no matter how much I love the character, that I can support a book like this. I know my single vote doesn't mean much, and Spidey fans are as bad as we Batman fans are when it comes to buying the character through thick and thin, but if Marvel thinks this is the kind of Spider-man book that fans want, they're fucking nuts. Don't know why it's so difficult to find somebody to write good Spidey stories, but until someone other than Dan Slott is given a chance, consider my Spider-boycott to continue.
Now, on to something more positive! Although I'm a huge Star Wars fanboy, I've never been one to read the books or comics, the movies, video games, and animated series' have always been enough for me. I might pick up the occasional mini-series based on a character that I dig, like Boba Fett or Maul, but have never really done the ongoings. That has recently changed though, courtesy of a brand new series from Dark Horse from writer Brian Wood. The best thing about the book is that you don't have to read 4 other ongoings to keep up with everything. It's simply titled "Star Wars" and is set directly after the destruction of the first Death Star in Episode IV. If I'm going to read Star Wars stories, this is the time frame in which I'm interested in reading. I don't care much for characters I'm not already familiar with. Give me the classics any day. My interest isn't solely Wars related though, my main excitement for the book comes from writer Brian Wood. His name might not be one that people think of immediately when it comes to comic book writers, but just as with most creators who work for Dark Horse Comics, he's more about quality than rock star status. He also tends to focus on one or two things at a time, and not constantly jump from one book to another for an arc or two *cough*Marvelwriters*cough*. As of right now, he's currently working on this one obviously, but also The Massive which I mentioned in an older Fresh Ink post. I'm also looking forward to checking out Mara from Image, the first issue is out but I haven't gotten around to reading yet.
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