Spider-Man

Okay, now recently, the 600th issue of Amazing Spider-Man came out, and I bought it. This isn't a review, but a post in tribute of that.

Many of you may be wondering why I bothered to buy the 600th issue, if recent issues were any indication of its quality. This is because, no matter what, I will continue to like Spider-Man. See, Spider-Man, at his core, is something that can't be tarnished. It's the story of a boy, who fell headfirst into some powers, made a mistake, paid for it, and now he just tries to do good whenever he can. With the loss of his uncle, the closest thing to a father he's ever had, he learned an important rule: With great power, there must also come great responsibility. By now it's been drilled into my head so many times by all the adaptations, but it's what first motivated him to fight for good. He may not always know exactly what's going on, or make the smartest decisions, but he never gives up, can never be taken down for long. If he's outsmarted, he just derives a new way to win. If he's beaten down, he just uses his head.

I've been watching and reading Spider-Man since I was little. The first thing about him is his super powers. The thing that makes him special. But along with that is something different, his intelligence. Even though most problems could be solved, in a way, with brute force, he was smart enough to find other ways. I always noticed he got bullied by people like Flash Thompson, but he never really fought back, never used what he had to get his ultimate revenge. Sometimes, to conceal his identity, he would take a hit or two, and just keep going about his business.

The most important thing is that no matter what, Spider-Man didn't give in. He never became darker and edgier, never started killing his villains, just kept cracking jokes. This is exemplified in this Marvel/DC webisode, when the Joker tries to do just that.

"Maybe I don't know when I've been beaten. But maybe that's why you can't beat me. You tried to make me think all my loved ones were killed in order to make me some darker version of myself. Well guess what, my mother is dead, my father is dead, my uncle was shot, even my girlfriend was murdered! [...] The point is, I have lost everything I ever cared about and I'm still here with all the morals I started with. Now you're looking for some magic button to push to change me. Well you give it all you got, because I'm either just too strong or too stupid to lose hope! "

Spider-Man frequently sacrifices his normal life to save people, and he doesn't care if the paper hates him, if he has an impostor, or if it seems like the odds are completely against him. He is an archetypal hero. He's more than just a comic book character, he's an ideal. He has the same problems as the rest of us, but does all he can to do what's right, no matter what's taken away from him. Batman wears a costume to scare criminals. Spider-Man does it to protect his family, of which he's already lost so much. Captain America fights for his country. Spider-Man fights for good, and for the memory of Uncle Ben.

So there, that's why I will continue to read Spider-Man, because at his core, he's incorruptible. Anyway, that's my fanboy ramblings for today. If you got through it, that is. Anyway, Place Vendome review is up next, when I get up ambition to write it.