In this episode we review Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 4 #4. We also tackle news topics. Those include
*Actor Tom Holland talks about landing the role of Spider-Man
*Reaction to the Captain America:Civil War trailer
*Spider-Man and the Kingpin created the ankle bracelets in the 1970s?
*A recent article discussed how creators like Dan Slott should interact with fans.
*Who’s up for some Spider-Man and Iron Man Vodka?
[powerpress]
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If you missed some of the other shows here are the links.
Podcast # 403-Spider-History December 1973
Podcast # 402-Spider-Gift Exchange
Podcast #401-Friday Night Rhino Fight
Podcast #400- 2015 Spider-Jeopardy
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Well, being that I am one of those internet comic book critics, I did buck convention and gave Amazing Spider-Man #4 a 2 out of 5 on (which is a D) at Whatever A Spider Can, so not all is lost. 😉 http://whateveraspidercan.com/2015/12/10/stillanerd-reviews-amazing-spider-man-2015-4/
BTW, Comics Beat isn’t the only one pointing out the under-performing sales on the “All-New, All-Different” comics. Brian Hibbs’ latest Tilting at Windmills column on CBR also talked about this. And yeah, I was going to say it’s kind of odd to say the least that there’s an Iron Man brand of vodka until you read that quote.
Anyways, sorry I couldn’t stick around for the review/news section gang, but great job as always!
I hate to be a “In my day …” kind of guy but … oh who am I kidding, I love it.
In the Stern and DeFalco issues of ASM, there were lots of supporting characters, and most of them had their own subplots, and most of those subplots were interesting.
Are there *any* subplots for the supporting characters in ASM? Hell, are there any supporting characters? And I don’t mean Fury, Mockingbird and other heroes, I mean Spidey’s actual supporting cast – Aunt May, MJ, Flash, Harry, Jonah, Robbie, etc. Aunt May has appeared in 2 (?) issues, and Harry stopped by at the end of #3, but I can’t think of anything either of them did that makes me think “Oh, they’ve got their own plot going, I wonder what’s going to happen in that subplot next issue.” There’s nothing.
You know what’s missing from all these Slott stories are normal human relationships. For all the jabbering that Quesada, Brevoort, et al, did about the need to restore the soap-opera, the series has no normal human relationships with feeling. Spider-Verse was a frantic rush around a kaleidoscopic multiverse, running away from murdering space vampires. What happened to Peter Parker going to the local store to buy a loaf of bread, and talk to some old fella in the check-out line? Where’s the local hang-out where he and his friends (Peter actually used to have friends, remember?) drank coffees and shot the breeze? Where’s Peter helping paint his aunt’s porch? Peter attending someone’s birthday party?
The reason we don’t care about this series is because there is no one left in it to care about. Set aside the chronic problems with the lazy plots full of holes. The series does not depict normal, everyday human relationships anymore. Ashley on the podcast is right, there will always be a market for flashing lights and bright colors, and **that’s all ASM is.** That’s what is selling it now. But a lot of us grew up with a Peter Parker who was a young guy who could live in your city and did all the same mundane things you did. He wasn’t from Asgard, he was from Queens. The whole magazine has deteriorated into a print version of a video game.