All Things Spidey #2

Well, UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN has finished its run with issue #25. It died as it lived: full of fun, because it harkened back to a day when comics were simple; yet dancing along the edge of a precipice, because it was playing with the history and continuity of Spider-Man. However, all in all, it was a good comic and a pleasurable addition to the Marvel Universe. I am sad to see it go, yet I also breathe a sigh of relief that it finished its run without destroying the timeline of Spider-Man.

Reading issue #25, which was titled "Bad Men on Campus" and involved Spidey's battling the Crime-Master and the original Green Goblin (Norman Osborn), caused a mixture of emotions in me. I was thrilled to see good clean artwork coupled with a exciting story that squeezed all it could out of the supporting cast in the early Spider-books. I was also amused by the many forshadowings of things to come for Spider-Man. All the while though, I was concerned that the story was going to violate Spidey's timeline in some way. Many times during its run the book has messed up history in little ways (as did a recent Amazing Spider-Man flashback annual; such is the danger of numerous flashback stories) but this story was able to dance along the edge without falling over.

The clean artwork was above and beyond any you can find in the comic shop or newsstand today. When I say the issue has clean artwork, I am talking about how the visuals make the reader fell that he is looking at something that exists in a normal spatial-temporal universe. The characters all seem to be standing on a flat surface and have some normal perspective to one another. At the same time, we have a real sense of where the characters are during the action and the fight sequences. This may seem like ridiculous praise, but take a look at some of the fresh new artists in comics today and try to figure out what is going on during the panels with action in them. Also, tell me if you at all feel that the new artists today represent some type of real universe, or if instead you're always aware that you are reading a comic book.

The story was also as traditional as the artwork, because it was able to use the supporting cast. Spider-Man is a hero who always needs a strong villain and supporting cast because, to tell you the truth, when left alone or just with his wife Mary Jane, Peter Parker can be a bit of a boring complainer. Along with the Green Goblin and the Crime-Master, this story was able to use Aunt May, high school teacher Mr. Warren, Anna Watson, Flash Thompson, Liz Allen, Professor Miles Warren, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn and J. Jonah Jameson all in one story!

The book was also able to find the time to have some fun with its forshadowing of things to come. In a story about the Green Goblin, references are made to Kingslet Ltd. (Roderick Kingsley later finds Norman's equipment and becomes the original Hobgoblin). Harry Osborn tells Liz how great it is that she can get a special tour of the campus because she knows an Osborn (Harry's father Norman as the Green Goblin will later be responsible for Gwen's death in the classic Amazing #121-#122). Peter meets Professor Miles Warren for the first time (Professor Warren will later become the Jackal). Professor Warren also sees Gwen Stacy for the first time (his obsession with her will lead to him becoming the Jackal).

These are fun but dangerous references. For example, Anna Watson tells Aunt May that her niece Mary Jane is going for a modeling audition. Wouldn't May have told that to Peter in one of the many times she was trying to set the two of them up? Peter probably should have known before he later met Mary Jane that she was a beautiful potential model and not the ugly duckling with the "great personality" he always thought of in the old stories. These are little things, but they are important to preserve continuity, and I'm sure there are others.

In the end though, I think that UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN should have never existed, because these are the kind of stories that should be taking place in the regular titles. There should not have to be an "untold tales" type of book to capture back the old spirit. That spirit should still be alive! Top notch-writers like Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern should be writing AMAZING and SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN. Also, how long is it going to be before Marvel has Ron Frenz, in my opinion the best penciler in the business, working on a Spider title again?

UNTOLD TALES just makes me think that its great stories are nothing more than a part of Spider-Man's past, and that this comic was of too high a quality to ultimately just be relegated to being a bunch of footnotes in the history of Spider-Man. Spider-Man desperately needs some good action stories with well developed characters, witty dialogue and clean artwork. These qualities should not be a nostaglic part of Spidey's past, because they are the reasons that people like me became interested in Spider-Man comics in the first place.