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Aug 12, 2004 As a ten year old boy, I used to wait for the return of my father from work, with particular expectation once a month. That was when he'd bring home the latest copy of 'The Amazing Spider-Man'. I think I had all the early copies from number 3 onwards-- the issue, I believe, when 'Dr. Octopus was introduced to the comic reading world. Issue by issue, a fascinating and unusual world was lovingly created by Stan Lee and the action artist Steve Ditko. Spider-Man was different. He wasn't a square adult like Suparman or Batman. He was one of us...a young man, struggling in the new post Beatles world of the sixties and seventies. And what a lot of teen problems he had! I lived through so much with Peter Parker: his guilt for the death of Uncle Ben, his early flirtations with Betty Grant, his infatuation with Mary Jane Watson and his long relationship with the doomed and now forgotten Gwen Stacey. Those first thirty or forty issues were where it all happened. Lee and Ditko set it all up for the others to embellish on. I can still remember the almost tangible excitement I felt on receiving issue 14 from my father's hand. Superimposed on a yellow background was a fiendish looking green figure: the debut of Spider-Man's most compelling enemy, Norman Osborne, 'The Green Goblin.' Other great villains from the same period were 'The Lizard' (a kind of Jekyll and Hyde scientist with only one arm), 'Kraven the Hunter', 'Electro', 'Sandman' and the odious 'Vulture'. The mysterious 'Enforcer' occupied much of Peter's time and energy in those early issues and he was a far more interesting enemy than his later descendant, 'The Kingpin' of crime. The narrative and artistic level of those early Stan Lee/Steve Ditko issues really set Spider- Man ahead of the pack and that's where he stayed for a long time-- until he was almost completely deconstructed and destroyed by a long run of mediocre and uninspired writers and artists. He even got to marry Mary Jane Watson, so taking most of the sexual tension and ambiguity out of his private life. Given this background, it is good to see that the makers of the two new Spider-Man films decided to go back to arachnid basics. This Peter Parker is definitely the disturbed and pressured young man of Lee and Ditko. Toby Maguire is a good choice as Peter and Kirsten Dunst, though not seeming very appropriate in the first film, succeeded in growing into the role of Mary Jane in Spider-Man 2. It was also a good idea to use Spideys two most evil and menacing villains in these films: Dr Octopus and the Green Goblin. Secondary characters are also well drawn and the whole concept is essentially a throw back to the nineteen-sixties--though it is sensibly given a modern veneer. The two films exhibit the same patient attention to detail that characterized the original work of Lee and Ditko. The personal story is strongly compelling and links to the super hero action in a way that was so original for its time. The special effects are incredibly slick and these films could not have been made with the same veracity just a few short years ago. It is only a minor point to note that some of the web-slinging scenes, around New York's skyline, still looks a little obviously computer generated. 'Spider-Man 2' was better than the first film and I hope this improvement will also apply to the inevitable, 'Spider-Man 3.' Toby Maguire says that the third film will be his last in the red and blue costume and that is probably a good decision (if he sticks to it). A Spider-Man 4, 5, 6, 7, etc. would almost certainly begin to emulate the comic book itself and tail right off in terms of authenticity and depth. ------------ About the author Jon Aristides: Read, 'The Black Scarab of Amun-Ra'. Visit www.jon-aristides.com Email: aristidesjon2001@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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