Tag: Spider-Man

Superhero Evolutions: Spider-Man, part two

On By Charlie BrooksIn ComicsLeave a comment

I maintain that Spider-Man’s deal with Mephisto was one of the biggest missteps in comic book history. It’s one thing to have a hero make a mistake, but to make a bargain with a stand-in for the actual devil is a pretty terrible idea for someone who is supposed to be an everyman hero.

But that damage was done in 2007, and it’s been almost two decades since then. So let’s see where our friendly neighborhood wall crawler has gone in the years following that disastrous deal.

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Superhero Evolutions: Spider-Man, part one

On By Charlie BrooksIn ComicsLeave a comment

And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last that in this world, with great power there must also come — great responsibility!

Spider-Man used to be one of my favorite comic book characters. Now he’s not. Those who followed the character circa 2007-2008 can probably guess why. If you can’t, we’ll be getting to that soon enough.

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Crowning Deaths of Awesome Sadness

On By Charlie BrooksIn ComicsLeave a comment

Comic book deaths are a punchline these days. Despite the fact that a comic book death currently translates into little more than a cheap sales gimmick, there have still been some really good ones over the years. Even if they didn’t stick, they were chilling, touching, or otherwise hugely influential. What follows is my totally biased opinion of the best deaths comics has had to offer.

Before I get into the actual deaths, it’s worth noting what I’m not counting. Death by origin story, such as Bruce Wayne’s parents or Uncle Ben, does not count here. A poignant death has to take a character the reader has known for a while and send them off in a way that has lasting emotional impact.

With one exception, I’ve also left off deaths not from the Marvel or DC Universes. That’s partly personal preference, since I read comics from the big two the most. The other part of it is that the Marvel and DC stable of characters are cultural icons recognizable almost worldwide. As such, when one of those iconic characters dies, it has an impact not only on the comic book universe but on society as a whole. The one exception to this rule comes from an ending scene in Y: The Last Man. If you haven’t read through this excellent comic yet, go read those graphic novels instead of this list. The list contains a major spoiler that will totally ruin the emotional impact of Y: The Last Man if you haven’t read it.

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Thou Shalt not Kill

On By Charlie BrooksIn ComicsLeave a comment

One of the oldest traditions in superhero comics is that the good guys don’t kill. There are exceptions out there, such as Wolverine, who sometimes the secret death squad X-Force or the Punisher, whose body count is somewhere in the thousands. But in general, superheroes haven’t killed since the Silver Age or even before. But the question is, why? Certainly some villains (*cough*Joker*cough*) deserve their necks snapped. Why is it that these guys who dress up in pajamas and pursue vigilante justice don’t do what sometimes needs to be done?

In an attempt to answer that question, or at least look at how the code against killing developed, here’s a look at some of the more iconic superheroes and why they don’t kill.

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