Inspired by Reay... and stuff

Okay, this one is going to cover a couple of things, primarily: Spiderman: The Other so far, and Doc Samson. There will be some spoilers, spread liberally throughout, particularly in the first part, regarding Spider-Man: The Other.

The Other is a huge Spider-Man story arc. It's twelve issues, and at the time of this writing, Spiderman has been killed and brought back. As mentioned in the comments of my previous entry by my good friend Reay, it would seem that thsi should be a major event - Spider-Man died! Of course, unlike when Superman pulled the same trick, Spidey was shown to be recovering in the same issue. He wasn't out of action for a ling time in our work, or in the Marvel Universe. Which may have been a mistake.

You'd be hard pressed to find a life in the Marvel Super Hero community that hasn't been touched by Spidey. An issue or two where the effects were shown on the rest of the MU would have been interesting. We haven't seen much about his friendship with the Human Torch of late, but this would have been a good time to bring it back. His own rich supporting cast of Heroes should have had some really emotional reactions to it. But instead, we see Mary Jane and Aunt May's reactions, and some reaction (mostly business-like) from his fellow New Avengers, and that is it. Hell, we got better demonstration of the respect he commands from fellow heroes when he flipped out in House of M and Cage and Logan had strong reactions to it. One of the most selfless heroes in the history of Marvel, one who has triumphed over some of the most incredible odds, and we don't get to see how Daredevil, who has crossed over with him so many times, or any of his villains really feel about his passing?

A common complaint these days about comics (and that has been made about the early part of The Other) is that they are too decompressed. But yet, Reay, in his comment to my last entry pointed out that the death and return were too compressed. The fact is, the pacing of this series has been very uneven. Issues of dense exposition, followed by issues where everything is hurried through. This looks like it might truly be a significant chapter in Spidey's life, but the writing, pacing and art are so uneven, it is hard to follow even in seperate books. I can only imagine how jarring this is going to seem in trade paperback form.

And now, on to Doc Samson.

I touched on it briefly in my entry a couple of days ago, but I thought it deserved a little more attention. I've always loved the idea of the Psychiatrist/sometime scientist who got Gamma-irradiated and has super strength. He truly sees force as a secondary way of dealing with things.

Interestingly, his origin comes from having intentionally irradiated himself with energies drained from the Hulk. He now posseses considerable strength, but none of the Hulk's lack of self-control. He has been a long-time friend and foe of the Hulk, trying to cure him, and trying to stop his more murderous rampages. He has evolved over time, into one of the most rational of figures in the Marvel Universe, and nearly unflappable. He has consulted for various super teams, and provided support to heroes in need.

One of my favorite expressions of his way of looking at things was in Hulk #316. He had succeded in separating the Hulk from Bruce Banner. The Hulk had not a stitch of humanity left in him, and was rampaging through New Mexico. Four Avengers arrived to stop him: Iron Man (back in his Red-and-Silver armor days) , Wonder Man, Hercules and Namor. Now, besides Thor, these are probably the heaviest hitters the Avengers have. And they fought Hulk to a near stand-still in a great fight scene. This was a true clash of titans. Blows that could send each other hurtling miles from the battle site, Throwing everything but the proverbial kitchen sink at each other.

Until Doc Samson intervened. The good doctor pointed out the destruction caused by their battle. And he was right - they had pretty much destroyed an entire town in trying to stop the Hulk, without either side accomplishing much. So, they agreed to let Samson continue to try and "treat" the Hulk. It was a John Byrne story, but while many involved in the comics industry, either hard core fans or creators, do not like Mr. Byrne, he has still told some great stories. This was one of them. I cannot do it justice. But it cemented my enjoyment of Samson, as the hero with common sense, wisdom and restraint to go with his intelligence and power.

And now, he has his own limited series, where he again shows that wisdom and intellect are imporant adjuncts to his not-inconsiderable strength. The first issue was quite enjoyable. Hopefully the rest follow suit.