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The Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide
The Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide, Vol. 1
The world's greatest super hero goes global! Parker Industries is more successful than ever, with new offices in Shanghai, London and San Francisco. Peter Parker is racking up the frequent-flyer miles — with his "bodyguard" Spider-Man in tow! But success breeds enemies, like the astrological Zodiac who have widened their scope to threaten the entire Earth. Pete isn't neglecting New York — but his new HQ is in the former Baxter Building, and the Human Torch is going to have something to say about that! And while Spider-Man has expanded his reach, so have his foes. Someone in Africa is masquerading as a member of the Goblin family, and it's up to everyone's favorite wall-crawler to investigate.
Collects Amazing Spider-Man (2015) #1-5.
Collects Amazing Spider-Man (2015) #1-5.
144 pages, Paperback
First published April 6, 2016
120 people are currently reading
476 people want to read
About the author
Dan Slott
1,996 books451 followersDan Slott is an American comic book writer, the current writer on Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man, and is best known for his work on books such as Arkham Asylum: Living Hell, She-Hulk, Silver Surfer, The Superior Spider-Man, and Ren & Stimpy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 151 reviews
May 1, 2024
The Amazing Spider-Man and his now science business man alter-ego Peter Parker have gone global! Parker Industries has new offices in Shanghai, London and San Francisco. And I just don't like it, it just doesn't work for, even if it makes sense, as it does. The writing and art keeping it working well enough to keep me reading. 6 out of 12, Three Star read.
2017 read
2017 read
November 2, 2016
It’s post-Secret Wars and Peter Parker is now a big shot - of global proportions. Move over, Tony Stark, Parker Industries is now in bed with S.H.I.E.L.D.
Thanks to the initial ground work of Otto Octavius, Peter Parker can now pay his rent and pick up that dozen eggs and milk he promised Aunt May back in Amazing Spider-Man Volume 1 Number 13.
Hey, and now that their book is down and out, let’s kick the Fantastic Four where it hurts.
Now that Parker is a high tech guru, he’s the target of a group called Zodiac – there’s twelve of these freaks and they all dress up as an astrological sign and wreak havoc and stuff.
Your horoscope: Today, you will fall in love, come into some money and read a mediocre Spider-book.
And in the subplots: Someone is slowly putting together a Sinister Six.
Bottom line: The good news: Humberto Ramos is no longer doing the artwork for this series. The bad news: Dan Slott needs a vacation from this title – the book drags a lot and includes the requisite rescue of that old bag of bones, Aunt May. This time in Africa, in the middle of a mission to take down Zodiac. Sure, Parker is brand new spanking rich, but this Spider-Man book feels like a piece of cake that’s missing the frosting.
Thanks to the initial ground work of Otto Octavius, Peter Parker can now pay his rent and pick up that dozen eggs and milk he promised Aunt May back in Amazing Spider-Man Volume 1 Number 13.
Hey, and now that their book is down and out, let’s kick the Fantastic Four where it hurts.
Now that Parker is a high tech guru, he’s the target of a group called Zodiac – there’s twelve of these freaks and they all dress up as an astrological sign and wreak havoc and stuff.
Your horoscope: Today, you will fall in love, come into some money and read a mediocre Spider-book.
And in the subplots: Someone is slowly putting together a Sinister Six.
Bottom line: The good news: Humberto Ramos is no longer doing the artwork for this series. The bad news: Dan Slott needs a vacation from this title – the book drags a lot and includes the requisite rescue of that old bag of bones, Aunt May. This time in Africa, in the middle of a mission to take down Zodiac. Sure, Parker is brand new spanking rich, but this Spider-Man book feels like a piece of cake that’s missing the frosting.
September 8, 2021
Peter's finally a success. I like it. I'm tired of the sad-sack Peter Parker of the last 50 years. He's one of the smartest people in the Marvel universe and I love that Dan Slott has applied Peter's genius. Now Peter is more successful than ever, opening offices around the world and selling equipment to S.H.I.E.L.D. Slott's made the series new and refreshing while still including elements of the past like Spidey's relationship with the Human Torch and the Prowler.
September 9, 2016
I think Dan Slott read Grant Morrison’s Batman Incorporated and decided to tell the same story but with Spider-Man.
The relaunched Amazing Spider-Man sees Peter Parker as the wealthy head of Parker Industries as they expand on a worldwide level. There are doubles posing as Spider-Man to throw people’s suspicions away from Peter, his most immediate being Prowler, as well as Spidey with other members of the Spider-Family like Ultimate Spider-Man, Silk, Spider-Woman and others I’m probably forgetting scattered about. He’s battling an evil global organisation like Leviathan called Zodiac and he’s using a lot more gadgets this time around like the Spider-Mobile and the Spider-Plane. Sounds like Batman Incorporated to me!
Worldwide is a mixed bag. The story is sporadically decent like the cool action opener in Shanghai - by the way this book lives up to the “Worldwide” subtitle as the story jumps between the UK, Africa, China and both coasts of America! - especially with his new array of web-shooters. The Alex Ross covers puts the Amazing in the title, Giuseppe Camuncoli’s art is consistently strong throughout and I was pleased to finally find out what happened to Otto after Superior Spider-Man. And though the Batman Inc. similarities are derivative, it kinda works well for Spidey.
But it’s definitely a largely un-engaging narrative that rambles about a lot. Spidey’s globe-trotting and fighting Zodiac because Zodiac are globe-trotting and causing trouble - great... Zodiac are also just not a very interesting or distinctive threat, coming off like generic Marvel Bad Guy Organisation #547.
Peter buys the Baxter Building leading to an utterly stupid and pointless fight between Spider-Man and the Human Torch that could’ve been avoided with a brief conversation. And Norman Osborn’s up to his tired old tricks, this time in Africa… yeesh.
Despite the relaunch, I get the impression that if I’d been reading the previous Spider-Man books I’d have a better idea of who Zodiac are and what they’re about, so some new readers jumping on here might be a little lost. If not and this is their first appearance then this is just bad writing!
Worldwide is a flawed Spider-Man book but I didn’t hate it. The art’s good and bits and pieces of the story are fun but too much of it is boring and uninspired. It feels like Dan Slott’s running on fumes after eight years of writing Spider-Man and could do with a break from this title. As it is, this one’s an average and definitely not amazing read.
The relaunched Amazing Spider-Man sees Peter Parker as the wealthy head of Parker Industries as they expand on a worldwide level. There are doubles posing as Spider-Man to throw people’s suspicions away from Peter, his most immediate being Prowler, as well as Spidey with other members of the Spider-Family like Ultimate Spider-Man, Silk, Spider-Woman and others I’m probably forgetting scattered about. He’s battling an evil global organisation like Leviathan called Zodiac and he’s using a lot more gadgets this time around like the Spider-Mobile and the Spider-Plane. Sounds like Batman Incorporated to me!
Worldwide is a mixed bag. The story is sporadically decent like the cool action opener in Shanghai - by the way this book lives up to the “Worldwide” subtitle as the story jumps between the UK, Africa, China and both coasts of America! - especially with his new array of web-shooters. The Alex Ross covers puts the Amazing in the title, Giuseppe Camuncoli’s art is consistently strong throughout and I was pleased to finally find out what happened to Otto after Superior Spider-Man. And though the Batman Inc. similarities are derivative, it kinda works well for Spidey.
But it’s definitely a largely un-engaging narrative that rambles about a lot. Spidey’s globe-trotting and fighting Zodiac because Zodiac are globe-trotting and causing trouble - great... Zodiac are also just not a very interesting or distinctive threat, coming off like generic Marvel Bad Guy Organisation #547.
Peter buys the Baxter Building leading to an utterly stupid and pointless fight between Spider-Man and the Human Torch that could’ve been avoided with a brief conversation. And Norman Osborn’s up to his tired old tricks, this time in Africa… yeesh.
Despite the relaunch, I get the impression that if I’d been reading the previous Spider-Man books I’d have a better idea of who Zodiac are and what they’re about, so some new readers jumping on here might be a little lost. If not and this is their first appearance then this is just bad writing!
Worldwide is a flawed Spider-Man book but I didn’t hate it. The art’s good and bits and pieces of the story are fun but too much of it is boring and uninspired. It feels like Dan Slott’s running on fumes after eight years of writing Spider-Man and could do with a break from this title. As it is, this one’s an average and definitely not amazing read.
June 2, 2016
In a short time, and with some help from the body swapped Doctor Octopus, Peter Parker became a Doctor and started his own now international company.
Parker Industries has become an amazing ground breaking company
so much so that it has it's own enemies Zodiac.
It's not clear what they're after, but what is clear is Parker Industries success has caused Spider-Man to go global.
Worldwide Vol. 1 is somewhat odd for me because I hadn't kept up with Peter Parker's exploits. It's hard to believe that even with a headstart thanks to Dr. Octopus that Peter could be such a success. The man couldn't protect his neighborhood, see his Aunt May, have a job, and a girlfriend/wife successfully so it's hard to envision him being able to be a CEO of his own company or any company while being Spider-Man. Regardless Peter is doing his best impression of early Iron Man. He's his own super hero body guard and even has a black friend/employee the Prowler to dress up as Spidey when it's needed.
This vastly different Spider-Man and Peter Parker combo could become more interesting with some better adversaries. Zodiac isn't particularly concerning or interesting. They did wreak havoc, but in a bland fashion. I do appreciate that a bigger threat is being woven into the stories. It's ambiguous what the threat is exactly, but it's clear this new adversary has considerable abilities.
Worldwide Vol. 1 shows Peter Parker as a shining star on the world's stage, I just hope the villains get more interesting.
Parker Industries has become an amazing ground breaking company
so much so that it has it's own enemies Zodiac.
It's not clear what they're after, but what is clear is Parker Industries success has caused Spider-Man to go global.
Worldwide Vol. 1 is somewhat odd for me because I hadn't kept up with Peter Parker's exploits. It's hard to believe that even with a headstart thanks to Dr. Octopus that Peter could be such a success. The man couldn't protect his neighborhood, see his Aunt May, have a job, and a girlfriend/wife successfully so it's hard to envision him being able to be a CEO of his own company or any company while being Spider-Man. Regardless Peter is doing his best impression of early Iron Man. He's his own super hero body guard and even has a black friend/employee the Prowler to dress up as Spidey when it's needed.
This vastly different Spider-Man and Peter Parker combo could become more interesting with some better adversaries. Zodiac isn't particularly concerning or interesting. They did wreak havoc, but in a bland fashion. I do appreciate that a bigger threat is being woven into the stories. It's ambiguous what the threat is exactly, but it's clear this new adversary has considerable abilities.
Worldwide Vol. 1 shows Peter Parker as a shining star on the world's stage, I just hope the villains get more interesting.
August 12, 2016
Peter Parker has gotten his shit together. He owns a big ass business, he has multiple teammates around the world like the Prowler, Miles, Silk, and more. He's not a whiny little brat, he's not a useless genius, no he's actually a smart adult for once.
Except for some slips like his zipper being down.
I figured it out. Dan writes some compelling stories, I usually dig the enemies, and side characters, but I realized he doesn't write a very funny Spider-man. Listen SPider-man is filled with corn, but he's also very funny at times, and Dan to me never writes funny lines for Peter. He writes a serious Spider-man well, a good Peter when he's acting like his age, but not a very funny Spider-man. Like at all. I didn't laugh, WHY AM I NOT LAUGHING!?
It's a decent volume and some cool ideas, but Spider-man comes across dull, and the fights uninspiring. For a start it's not bad, but for some reason I'm not all that excited for future volumes. We shall see! A 2.5/3.
Except for some slips like his zipper being down.
I figured it out. Dan writes some compelling stories, I usually dig the enemies, and side characters, but I realized he doesn't write a very funny Spider-man. Listen SPider-man is filled with corn, but he's also very funny at times, and Dan to me never writes funny lines for Peter. He writes a serious Spider-man well, a good Peter when he's acting like his age, but not a very funny Spider-man. Like at all. I didn't laugh, WHY AM I NOT LAUGHING!?
It's a decent volume and some cool ideas, but Spider-man comes across dull, and the fights uninspiring. For a start it's not bad, but for some reason I'm not all that excited for future volumes. We shall see! A 2.5/3.
June 3, 2016
I really don't know about this. Peter Parker is basically being taken down the Tony Stark path: he's a tech mogul, with his super alter ego posing as his bodyguard. The fact that it's called out in the story specifically doesn't make it any less derivative. And yet, it's a perfectly reasonable path forward for the character. Peter's a legit science genius, and it simply doesn't make sense for him to scrape by on a newspaper photographer's salary forever, not when go the Bill Gates/Steve Jobs route instead. Just as it's perfectly reasonable to expect Peter to be an unusually socially conscious CEO, capping his salary at middle management levels and investing heavily in philanthropic campaigns. And I don't particularly fault any of the execution of that premise. I guess I'm just not entirely convinced, but I'm willing to let this play out. Or maybe this will be the new normal for Peter. Which, again, is perfectly reasonable.
But the stories, ugh. Zodiac is a cringingly awful premise for an organization. The animal costumes alone are so much like something that I would have expected to see in the supervillains support group in The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, and yet I'm not only supposed to take them seriously, but find them threatening. Um, yeah, no, not exactly. And did we really need iteration #9758996 of "minor misunderstanding between heroes gets blown up into a massive, pointless battle with incredible collateral damage"? This time, Johnny Storm immediately flies off the handle entirely because Peter buys the Baxter Building, and gives him absolutely zero opportunity to explain himself before attacking him, causing huge amounts of damage to the building he supposedly cares so much about, and puts several bystanders in jeopardy. I positively loathe this sort of lazy storytelling, and it annoys me to see it so early in a new phase of the book. Slott has better things to do with his time.
I'm going to keep reading this, because of course I am. Slott has earned a certain level of loyalty from me, in that I'll try to stick out a lackluster storyline because I trust his handling of the characters, especially Peter. Let's just see where this goes.
But the stories, ugh. Zodiac is a cringingly awful premise for an organization. The animal costumes alone are so much like something that I would have expected to see in the supervillains support group in The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, and yet I'm not only supposed to take them seriously, but find them threatening. Um, yeah, no, not exactly. And did we really need iteration #9758996 of "minor misunderstanding between heroes gets blown up into a massive, pointless battle with incredible collateral damage"? This time, Johnny Storm immediately flies off the handle entirely because Peter buys the Baxter Building, and gives him absolutely zero opportunity to explain himself before attacking him, causing huge amounts of damage to the building he supposedly cares so much about, and puts several bystanders in jeopardy. I positively loathe this sort of lazy storytelling, and it annoys me to see it so early in a new phase of the book. Slott has better things to do with his time.
I'm going to keep reading this, because of course I am. Slott has earned a certain level of loyalty from me, in that I'll try to stick out a lackluster storyline because I trust his handling of the characters, especially Peter. Let's just see where this goes.
June 13, 2016
So many mixed feelings on this:
Peter's now head of an internationally successful corporation, a far cry from his hard luck days being broke. He's recognized for his brilliance and philanthropy and Spider-Man is at the top of his popularity. On one hand, yes, it's nice to see Peter get what he really deserves (happiness, success, etc.) but now he's just another rich superhero. What made Spider-Man special was his crappy personal life and his dedication to keep going no mater what. His power and responsibility have only increased but he's also nearly always a happy, go-lucky. However, it all may just be part of the story in that we may see Peter's new empire come crashing down in the proverbial Parker luck. Slott hasn't abandoned that completely, but I wonder just how could Spider-Man ever go back to what it was after reaching this pinnacle?
I'm also getting a little bored with Slott's style: still the same fairly fast paced, multi-plot threaded story arcs, that lead continuously into the next. He just changes the pieces slightly but keeps doing the same thing. Rarely is there actually a finite story except for the 'events'. I'm beginning to wish he would move on and let somebody else have a chance. If this volume is any indication, whenever Fantastic Four returns, Slott would be my number one choice. He has the right mix of family, fun and drama that book needs. Who to replace him though?
There's also some story elements which I'm not sure how they came about (I thought I had read everything up to this point.) Peter is supplying tech for SHIELD, Mockingbird is working with him as a liaison for SHIELD for example. I also liked the art by Camuncoli.
As long as Slott's runs are available in my library, I'll keep up to date, but I'm still hoping for a fresh take on Spidey.
Peter's now head of an internationally successful corporation, a far cry from his hard luck days being broke. He's recognized for his brilliance and philanthropy and Spider-Man is at the top of his popularity. On one hand, yes, it's nice to see Peter get what he really deserves (happiness, success, etc.) but now he's just another rich superhero. What made Spider-Man special was his crappy personal life and his dedication to keep going no mater what. His power and responsibility have only increased but he's also nearly always a happy, go-lucky. However, it all may just be part of the story in that we may see Peter's new empire come crashing down in the proverbial Parker luck. Slott hasn't abandoned that completely, but I wonder just how could Spider-Man ever go back to what it was after reaching this pinnacle?
I'm also getting a little bored with Slott's style: still the same fairly fast paced, multi-plot threaded story arcs, that lead continuously into the next. He just changes the pieces slightly but keeps doing the same thing. Rarely is there actually a finite story except for the 'events'. I'm beginning to wish he would move on and let somebody else have a chance. If this volume is any indication, whenever Fantastic Four returns, Slott would be my number one choice. He has the right mix of family, fun and drama that book needs. Who to replace him though?
There's also some story elements which I'm not sure how they came about (I thought I had read everything up to this point.) Peter is supplying tech for SHIELD, Mockingbird is working with him as a liaison for SHIELD for example. I also liked the art by Camuncoli.
As long as Slott's runs are available in my library, I'll keep up to date, but I'm still hoping for a fresh take on Spidey.
July 25, 2021
Peter has finally gained big time and is the CEO of Parker Industries and for that he has been working closely with Shield and Mockingbird and they stop some Zodiac attacks but they have big things planned and Parker has to deal with that and also his new software and all in webware and all but then behind the scenes all his villains are making their own plans from Jackal to Green Goblin and even Doc Ock but then when things come hitting close to him and Aunt may is targeted, Pete has to reprioritize and also a great tussle with Human Torch.
This was such a great volume and just reminds me my first time reading comics and why I loved them and this story also and such a great sequencing of events and the way the plot is laid out is perfect and also some character interactions and motivations and the art is so good plus new elements in Peter's life and all! Just had a great time reading it and knowing whats to come in the future has me excited re-reading it! Highly recommend this!
This was such a great volume and just reminds me my first time reading comics and why I loved them and this story also and such a great sequencing of events and the way the plot is laid out is perfect and also some character interactions and motivations and the art is so good plus new elements in Peter's life and all! Just had a great time reading it and knowing whats to come in the future has me excited re-reading it! Highly recommend this!
May 31, 2018
I really loved this although I feel like some of the plot lines are becoming a little too repetitive.
August 9, 2017
Tech, tech, spidey joke, tech, S.H.I.E.L.D., tech, tech, S.H.I.E.L.D., tech, spidey joke. Wish there were more spidey jokes. Okay writing overall.
June 25, 2016
Peter Parker is now Tony Stark (Lite) with tons of gadgets, money, and a worldwide business phenomenon that is Parker Industries, which might as well be lovechild of Stark Industries and Apple. Spider-man is now Peter Parker's full-time bodyguard. No one in the comic seems to question this.
I admit, I haven't read Secret Wars, so I'm assuming that the status quo changed in that story ... but Spider-man as a rich white dude's bodyguard? And everyone is fine with this? No Queens and Brooklyn natives feeling like he sold out? Nope, everyone's totally fine with it. Like it's normal. Rich white dudes get superhero bodyguards now. Good to know.
With this new status quo comes a slew of lame villains patterned on the Zodiac. I've always enjoyed how Dan Slott leans into the sillier elements of comics, but the Zodiac felt like he really tipped that mix over the edge of reason. I guess we'll see how this pans out over time.
As for the story itself, Slott spends a lot of time teasing the reader and putting a mammoth amount of players on the board, including but not limited to: Doc Ock, Lizard, Rhino, Norman Osborn, a mysterious new mastermind, Black Cat, Silk ... but they do almost nothing. They're simply placed there so Slott can nudge the reader and whisper "Oh, you know it's going to go DOWN! Hang in there, True Believer!" Focus is instead placed on Peter, Sajani, Anna-Marie, Nick Fury, Mockingbird (a lot of her for some reason), S.H.I.E.L.D., Johnny Storm, Hobie Brown, Clash, Max Modell, Harry Osborn/Lyman, Aunt May, J. Jonah and his dad, and more. This is sheer character overload that leads to diminishing returns.
What works are the dynamic visuals - Spidey artists almost always deliver. The book is bright, action-packed, and has at least enough of a sense of fun to carry the story through it's weaker elements.
The writing is what let's this down. A case of too much adding up to too little. Let's hope that with all the characters on the board, Slott starts to use them to tell stories rather than blowing up an already over-sized balloon.
I admit, I haven't read Secret Wars, so I'm assuming that the status quo changed in that story ... but Spider-man as a rich white dude's bodyguard? And everyone is fine with this? No Queens and Brooklyn natives feeling like he sold out? Nope, everyone's totally fine with it. Like it's normal. Rich white dudes get superhero bodyguards now. Good to know.
With this new status quo comes a slew of lame villains patterned on the Zodiac. I've always enjoyed how Dan Slott leans into the sillier elements of comics, but the Zodiac felt like he really tipped that mix over the edge of reason. I guess we'll see how this pans out over time.
As for the story itself, Slott spends a lot of time teasing the reader and putting a mammoth amount of players on the board, including but not limited to: Doc Ock, Lizard, Rhino, Norman Osborn, a mysterious new mastermind, Black Cat, Silk ... but they do almost nothing. They're simply placed there so Slott can nudge the reader and whisper "Oh, you know it's going to go DOWN! Hang in there, True Believer!" Focus is instead placed on Peter, Sajani, Anna-Marie, Nick Fury, Mockingbird (a lot of her for some reason), S.H.I.E.L.D., Johnny Storm, Hobie Brown, Clash, Max Modell, Harry Osborn/Lyman, Aunt May, J. Jonah and his dad, and more. This is sheer character overload that leads to diminishing returns.
What works are the dynamic visuals - Spidey artists almost always deliver. The book is bright, action-packed, and has at least enough of a sense of fun to carry the story through it's weaker elements.
The writing is what let's this down. A case of too much adding up to too little. Let's hope that with all the characters on the board, Slott starts to use them to tell stories rather than blowing up an already over-sized balloon.
December 6, 2020
I got confused on some parts of the comic but it was pretty good.I like his suit in this one.
April 17, 2019
Cool art, good story. Alot of cool Spider-tech.
June 26, 2023
prowler i spiderman wyslejowali totalnie,
a koniec tego tomu był troszke przewidywalny jak sie spojrzało na typka.
kocham komiksy na końcu shshshs
słodkie są
wsumie to takie 3.75⭐ bo trch nie ogarniam co sie dzieje
a koniec tego tomu był troszke przewidywalny jak sie spojrzało na typka.
kocham komiksy na końcu shshshs
słodkie są
wsumie to takie 3.75⭐ bo trch nie ogarniam co sie dzieje
April 8, 2017
I think this volume sees the biggest change in Spider-Man ever, arguably even more so than the Superior Spider-Man story (and that was only ever temporary).
Parker Industries have suddenly become superbly successful and have offices all over the world. Peter Parker is therefore travelling from place to place, his "bodyguard" Spider-Man always in tow. Inevitably there's villains to be dealt with, here in the form of zodiac, an astrological based terrorist organization (yes, really). Plus there's a new goblin threat and the Human Torch is not happy that Parker has taken over the Baxter Building.
The change of status-quo is a big one, taking Spider-Man from a relatively small-time New York superhero to an international one. It also gives Peter Parker a Tony Stark-type feel to him. I'm still not entirely sold on the whole idea but it seems to have worked so far- I like the idea of Spider-Man battling in new places and it's interesting to see both him and Peter Parker working so closely with SHIELD.
What I certainly think doesn't work is Zodiac. Spider-Man has always had a hint of craziness about it but a terrorist society called Zodiac whose members are all named after star signs. What the actual? It's so bizarre.
What this volume does best is give us small reveals. We still know relatively little about the new status-quo and every now and then there's a quick revelation about a villain who still seems to be around. I have the feeling that we might be seeing the return of the Sinister Six in the not too distant future.
This is an introductory volume and it's clear there's a lot to set-up before the new era of Spider-Man really gets going. It seems that Dan Slott has plenty of crazy idea which he's building up to and I'm very excited to see where on Earth (literally) this series will go next.
Parker Industries have suddenly become superbly successful and have offices all over the world. Peter Parker is therefore travelling from place to place, his "bodyguard" Spider-Man always in tow. Inevitably there's villains to be dealt with, here in the form of zodiac, an astrological based terrorist organization (yes, really). Plus there's a new goblin threat and the Human Torch is not happy that Parker has taken over the Baxter Building.
The change of status-quo is a big one, taking Spider-Man from a relatively small-time New York superhero to an international one. It also gives Peter Parker a Tony Stark-type feel to him. I'm still not entirely sold on the whole idea but it seems to have worked so far- I like the idea of Spider-Man battling in new places and it's interesting to see both him and Peter Parker working so closely with SHIELD.
What I certainly think doesn't work is Zodiac. Spider-Man has always had a hint of craziness about it but a terrorist society called Zodiac whose members are all named after star signs. What the actual? It's so bizarre.
What this volume does best is give us small reveals. We still know relatively little about the new status-quo and every now and then there's a quick revelation about a villain who still seems to be around. I have the feeling that we might be seeing the return of the Sinister Six in the not too distant future.
This is an introductory volume and it's clear there's a lot to set-up before the new era of Spider-Man really gets going. It seems that Dan Slott has plenty of crazy idea which he's building up to and I'm very excited to see where on Earth (literally) this series will go next.
Read
July 17, 2016I've made a few comments recently regarding Marvel's faux-accessible, but in fact deeply confusing and off-putting, addiction to Volume 1s. When Nick Spencer's Ant-Man has two in a row, how is someone brought in by the film supposed to know which comes first? Yes, they can search it, but why introduce that unnecessary obstacle?
So anyway, this is Slott's fifth Volume 1 of Spider-Man. Which can only ever be ridiculous despite big status quo changes each time, but he has been there for ages, and rightly so - he's comfortably the best Spidey writer ever. Partly because he was the first to realise that someone with Peter Parker's scientific gifts shouldn't still be kicking his heels as a skint photographer, much less a teacher (seriously, was there ever a worse secret identity job?) - he should be one of the geeks who took over the world in the non-supervillain sense. Well, yes, in our world they largely are supervillains without the cool accoutrements (if Steve Jobs had at least called himself Bad Apple and had a volcano lair, I might have had some respect for the prick), but Peter is now stepping up alongside the Tony Starks of Marvel's Earth, bringing innovative and affordable tech to the masses...and obviously, not everyone likes that. The volume's focus is a twisty international game of cat and mouse with the newly upgraded Zodiac, which is lots of fun. I'm less convinced by the subplot in which someone is rounding up and enlisting Spidey's old villains, simply because it feels the resolution may end up too close to the last story before Slott took full control, The Gauntlet. Still, he's seldom gone wrong thus far, so I'll cautiously trust him for now.
So anyway, this is Slott's fifth Volume 1 of Spider-Man. Which can only ever be ridiculous despite big status quo changes each time, but he has been there for ages, and rightly so - he's comfortably the best Spidey writer ever. Partly because he was the first to realise that someone with Peter Parker's scientific gifts shouldn't still be kicking his heels as a skint photographer, much less a teacher (seriously, was there ever a worse secret identity job?) - he should be one of the geeks who took over the world in the non-supervillain sense. Well, yes, in our world they largely are supervillains without the cool accoutrements (if Steve Jobs had at least called himself Bad Apple and had a volcano lair, I might have had some respect for the prick), but Peter is now stepping up alongside the Tony Starks of Marvel's Earth, bringing innovative and affordable tech to the masses...and obviously, not everyone likes that. The volume's focus is a twisty international game of cat and mouse with the newly upgraded Zodiac, which is lots of fun. I'm less convinced by the subplot in which someone is rounding up and enlisting Spidey's old villains, simply because it feels the resolution may end up too close to the last story before Slott took full control, The Gauntlet. Still, he's seldom gone wrong thus far, so I'll cautiously trust him for now.
November 23, 2016
I couldn't stand this hot shot version of Peter Parker at first. I took a bite of the #1 issue months ago and spat its bitter betrayal right out, deciding to give up on Slott... but here I am again, glued to and strung out over the complexity that is my dear Spider-Man - childhood hero and adulthood muse. Though it does get pretty "out there" in regards to the usual broken down and penniless (relatable) Peter Parker juggling a usually morally-conflicted superhero career, I am actually really really enjoying where it's going even with its S.H.I.E.L.D.-heavy global attitude, which I usually stay away from. Sure, there's very little separation between the man and the vigilante now because money fixes problems apparently, but Slott does a great job with answering the whole "Yeah, Octavius failed as Superior Spider-Man so how would Parker do with the same grandiose outlook?" I'm open-minded now; let's see where it goes.
September 24, 2016
Ever since Big Time, Peter Parker has been coming up in the world, and this is a rather enjoyable extension of that, with Parker now operating a company on the global scene.
As usual, Slott's writing is great, with humor and characterization blending right together. The addition of Mockingbird and SHIELD to the ongoing story are pretty terrific too, with Bobbi getting a particularly nice focus. As for the plot, it almost seems like a macguffin, that's just there to move along the story of the characters. But by the end I was definitely interested in what's going on with Zodiac, and eager to see what comes next.
As usual, Slott's writing is great, with humor and characterization blending right together. The addition of Mockingbird and SHIELD to the ongoing story are pretty terrific too, with Bobbi getting a particularly nice focus. As for the plot, it almost seems like a macguffin, that's just there to move along the story of the characters. But by the end I was definitely interested in what's going on with Zodiac, and eager to see what comes next.
May 6, 2016
I'm very conflicted. It didn't feel like Spider-man, but it also wasn't bad. Maybe I'm just getting old and am ready to sit on a porch and talk about how 'back in my day' and tell everyone about 'the good ol' days'. Change is inevitable, I think this is just going to take me a bit to get used to.
May 24, 2016
Dan Slott returns to fine form after the slightly disappointing ending to SPIDER-VERSE. A very excellent collection of Spider-Man. It's everything I want in a super-hero comic book.
July 28, 2016
Originally posted at The Genre Fiend here.
---
I love Star Trek. My two favourite series are easily The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. They’re quite literally apples and oranges; TNG focuses on slightly cliche monster-of-the-week episodes, while DS9 gets progressively more dramatic and serialised as the seasons go on. I like both styles of storytelling, though I do lean more to the latter for longer-form narratives. In either case, both series relied on strong, nuanced characters which were well-suited to their respective styles; Jean-Luc Picard may not have had Benjamin Sisko’s wartime character journey for seasons at a time, but the standalone nature of TNG was threaded with subtle character development which made Picard a consistently evolving figure for each new episode’s dilemma.
I say this upfront to let you know that I’m not opposed to more standalone, episodic storytelling in our modern age of binge-watch Netflix and the ongoing serialised sagas of Batman and Thor. This is to then contextualise my belief that the poorly-sketched characters and cliche episodic storytelling of Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide just do not work.
Peter Parker has somehow won the lottery – I presume, since there’s not much explanation for how he suddenly became a billionaire – and founded the tech company and worldwide (ha!) philanthropy effort, Parker Industries (acronymed to P.I., because math joke). The newly-minted CEO finds his time split between running a global company, being Spider-Man, directing some other guy to be Spider-Man when the first thing conflicts with the second, and having an increasingly tense relationship with SHIELD. Into the mix comes a new incarnation of the Zodiac, a criminal supergroup whose sole purpose is to spout inane dialogue while hitting every star-sign cliche in the book. Though he risks burning his candle at multiple ends, resulting in a big ball of lumpy wax, Peter must save SHIELD, his company, his aunt and, at one ludicrous point, the British Museum from the Zodiac’s machinations.
To be fair, Worldwide isn’t technically its own thing. It comes as the latest installment of Dan Slott’s behemoth Spider-Man saga, where Spidey dies, is possessed by Doctor Octopus, reclaims his body, meets a bunch of multidimensional versions of himself, then founds a billion-dollar philanthropic company (somewhere in there he also, presumably, visits the bathroom). I’ve never been a big fan of Slott’s work, though I did end up appreciating the superlative “villain protagonist” tale of the Doc Ock-possessed Superior Spider-Man.
Slott doesn’t draw me to his magnum opus the way Grant Morrison did with 7 years of Batman, even though he’s clearly trying to move in the same operatic direction the crazy Scotsman did with the Dark Knight. A big part of the problem is that Slott cannot write characters or dialogue to save his life, relying on trite cliches and inane banter at almost every turn. Sure, as per usual Spider-Man riffs on his team-mates with popular culture references and unbridled (mediocre) snark at every opportunity, but even the sterling characters Slott had a hand in creating – notably Anna Maria Marconi, ensemble darkhorse of Superior Spider-Man who’s relegated to little more than a cameo role here – seem to have lost a dimension or two in the interim. Superior benefited from the richness and depth of its ancillary players, making the story feel more like an ensemble piece than the eponymously-named protagonist’s journey it was marketed as. All such depth, as a continuation of Slott’s work, seems to have been filled in with gravel.
The supporting cast can do little but mouth dialogue which sounds like it was written for a badly-acted telenovela. A series of key scenes where Spidey and Mockingbird team up to save Aunt May and some African villagers is crammed with wall-to-wall verbal detritus which merely shows the former is arrogantly cocky and the latter is stern, as if we didn’t know that already. A punch-up between Spidey and the Human Torch – in the refurbished Baxter Building, no less – reads like it’s shooting for a Joss Whedon Avengers-style lackadaisical quality to highlight the fight’s inherently contrived nature, but is instead a juvenile exercise in pitting two young men against each other with the mindsets of twelve-year-olds. A dance at a wedding between Peter and his business partner flits between romantic allusion, corporate game-planning and insinuated threats in the space of less than a page, with no smooth transition between tones. If there’s any intended irony in Slott’s kindergarten-level dialogue, it remains as elusive as a Dragonite in Pokemon GO.
With such poor characters behind the wheel, the story is beyond the help of even the staunchest automotive technician. In contrast to Superior‘s character-based, Doc Ock-led odyssey into anti-villainy, almost everything that happens in Worldwide is plot-driven with minimal meaningful character involvement. You could very easily swap Spidey for any of his Avengers cohorts – Iron Man would probably work best, a fact the story quickly and repeatedly points out in its opening chapter – and no-one would bat an eye, so formulaic and boilerplate is the plot. Each chapter centers around a problem that needs to be solved – usually the Zodiac doing something naughty – which is swiftly addressed before some vague foreshadowing for future problems at the chapter’s conclusion. There are some intriguing notions of Peter’s philanthropic, corporate and SHIELD responsibilities muddying the waters of his regular modus operandi, and how his long-standing promise to always save Aunt May before all else could also compromise his new responsibilities to go with such great power. The notions the story hints at could’ve made for a far more engaging, subversive take on the Spider-Man status quo.
Sadly, such notions are clearly not intriguing enough for Slott to comprehensively develop them. No, Slott would much rather focus on all of Spidey’s new Batman-inspired hardware; go on and tell me the Spidermobile isn’t just a Tumbler repaint. Or, worse still, he’d prefer to develop a latent plot thread which is both utterly asinine and a complete undercutting of Superior Spider-Man‘s emotional ending. I won’t spoil the latter here, but it’s in the first chapter; I dare you not to imprint your palm upon your forehead when you see it.
As with so many other mediocre books, the one area Worldwide succeeds in is the artwork. Giuseppe Camuncoli is a welcome addition, offering a more reasoned and realistic counterpoint to Humberto Ramos’ more exaggerated, cartoonish style in Superior. The panels can be overloaded with colour at times, and several of the fight scenes – including the aforementioned ludicrous defence of the British Museum – are a bit incomprehensible, but for the most part Camuncoli does solid work. The covers for each chapter are also done by Alex Ross, superhero artist par excellence, so those are welcome additions.
Reading over this review, I realise I’m coming off as overly harsh. Worldwide isn’t a bad book the way One More Day, No More Humans or Great Pacific were bad books. It’d be considered merely “meh” if it weren’t for the surging river of resurgent superlatives that Marvel’s churned out over the last few months. Paired with its compatriots, Worldwide is little more than a bauble, hopefully only a postscript to Slott’s objectively stronger previous work. I understand a writer being passionate enough about a character to stick with their book for as long as you can – this is part of what started to kill the third act of Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern run as it reached its overdue climax – but maybe it’s time for Slott to move to another comic. The logical step after Worldwide is to have Spidey run the Avengers, then the world itself, then the universe. After that, the crossover event Secret Wars: Beat Pete will follow Marvel’s heroes trying to unravel a multiverse firmly controlled by the Parker Empire. Best quit while you’re ahead before we reach the turgid fanfic stage, Mr Slott.
---
I love Star Trek. My two favourite series are easily The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. They’re quite literally apples and oranges; TNG focuses on slightly cliche monster-of-the-week episodes, while DS9 gets progressively more dramatic and serialised as the seasons go on. I like both styles of storytelling, though I do lean more to the latter for longer-form narratives. In either case, both series relied on strong, nuanced characters which were well-suited to their respective styles; Jean-Luc Picard may not have had Benjamin Sisko’s wartime character journey for seasons at a time, but the standalone nature of TNG was threaded with subtle character development which made Picard a consistently evolving figure for each new episode’s dilemma.
I say this upfront to let you know that I’m not opposed to more standalone, episodic storytelling in our modern age of binge-watch Netflix and the ongoing serialised sagas of Batman and Thor. This is to then contextualise my belief that the poorly-sketched characters and cliche episodic storytelling of Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide just do not work.
Peter Parker has somehow won the lottery – I presume, since there’s not much explanation for how he suddenly became a billionaire – and founded the tech company and worldwide (ha!) philanthropy effort, Parker Industries (acronymed to P.I., because math joke). The newly-minted CEO finds his time split between running a global company, being Spider-Man, directing some other guy to be Spider-Man when the first thing conflicts with the second, and having an increasingly tense relationship with SHIELD. Into the mix comes a new incarnation of the Zodiac, a criminal supergroup whose sole purpose is to spout inane dialogue while hitting every star-sign cliche in the book. Though he risks burning his candle at multiple ends, resulting in a big ball of lumpy wax, Peter must save SHIELD, his company, his aunt and, at one ludicrous point, the British Museum from the Zodiac’s machinations.
To be fair, Worldwide isn’t technically its own thing. It comes as the latest installment of Dan Slott’s behemoth Spider-Man saga, where Spidey dies, is possessed by Doctor Octopus, reclaims his body, meets a bunch of multidimensional versions of himself, then founds a billion-dollar philanthropic company (somewhere in there he also, presumably, visits the bathroom). I’ve never been a big fan of Slott’s work, though I did end up appreciating the superlative “villain protagonist” tale of the Doc Ock-possessed Superior Spider-Man.
Slott doesn’t draw me to his magnum opus the way Grant Morrison did with 7 years of Batman, even though he’s clearly trying to move in the same operatic direction the crazy Scotsman did with the Dark Knight. A big part of the problem is that Slott cannot write characters or dialogue to save his life, relying on trite cliches and inane banter at almost every turn. Sure, as per usual Spider-Man riffs on his team-mates with popular culture references and unbridled (mediocre) snark at every opportunity, but even the sterling characters Slott had a hand in creating – notably Anna Maria Marconi, ensemble darkhorse of Superior Spider-Man who’s relegated to little more than a cameo role here – seem to have lost a dimension or two in the interim. Superior benefited from the richness and depth of its ancillary players, making the story feel more like an ensemble piece than the eponymously-named protagonist’s journey it was marketed as. All such depth, as a continuation of Slott’s work, seems to have been filled in with gravel.
The supporting cast can do little but mouth dialogue which sounds like it was written for a badly-acted telenovela. A series of key scenes where Spidey and Mockingbird team up to save Aunt May and some African villagers is crammed with wall-to-wall verbal detritus which merely shows the former is arrogantly cocky and the latter is stern, as if we didn’t know that already. A punch-up between Spidey and the Human Torch – in the refurbished Baxter Building, no less – reads like it’s shooting for a Joss Whedon Avengers-style lackadaisical quality to highlight the fight’s inherently contrived nature, but is instead a juvenile exercise in pitting two young men against each other with the mindsets of twelve-year-olds. A dance at a wedding between Peter and his business partner flits between romantic allusion, corporate game-planning and insinuated threats in the space of less than a page, with no smooth transition between tones. If there’s any intended irony in Slott’s kindergarten-level dialogue, it remains as elusive as a Dragonite in Pokemon GO.
With such poor characters behind the wheel, the story is beyond the help of even the staunchest automotive technician. In contrast to Superior‘s character-based, Doc Ock-led odyssey into anti-villainy, almost everything that happens in Worldwide is plot-driven with minimal meaningful character involvement. You could very easily swap Spidey for any of his Avengers cohorts – Iron Man would probably work best, a fact the story quickly and repeatedly points out in its opening chapter – and no-one would bat an eye, so formulaic and boilerplate is the plot. Each chapter centers around a problem that needs to be solved – usually the Zodiac doing something naughty – which is swiftly addressed before some vague foreshadowing for future problems at the chapter’s conclusion. There are some intriguing notions of Peter’s philanthropic, corporate and SHIELD responsibilities muddying the waters of his regular modus operandi, and how his long-standing promise to always save Aunt May before all else could also compromise his new responsibilities to go with such great power. The notions the story hints at could’ve made for a far more engaging, subversive take on the Spider-Man status quo.
Sadly, such notions are clearly not intriguing enough for Slott to comprehensively develop them. No, Slott would much rather focus on all of Spidey’s new Batman-inspired hardware; go on and tell me the Spidermobile isn’t just a Tumbler repaint. Or, worse still, he’d prefer to develop a latent plot thread which is both utterly asinine and a complete undercutting of Superior Spider-Man‘s emotional ending. I won’t spoil the latter here, but it’s in the first chapter; I dare you not to imprint your palm upon your forehead when you see it.
As with so many other mediocre books, the one area Worldwide succeeds in is the artwork. Giuseppe Camuncoli is a welcome addition, offering a more reasoned and realistic counterpoint to Humberto Ramos’ more exaggerated, cartoonish style in Superior. The panels can be overloaded with colour at times, and several of the fight scenes – including the aforementioned ludicrous defence of the British Museum – are a bit incomprehensible, but for the most part Camuncoli does solid work. The covers for each chapter are also done by Alex Ross, superhero artist par excellence, so those are welcome additions.
Reading over this review, I realise I’m coming off as overly harsh. Worldwide isn’t a bad book the way One More Day, No More Humans or Great Pacific were bad books. It’d be considered merely “meh” if it weren’t for the surging river of resurgent superlatives that Marvel’s churned out over the last few months. Paired with its compatriots, Worldwide is little more than a bauble, hopefully only a postscript to Slott’s objectively stronger previous work. I understand a writer being passionate enough about a character to stick with their book for as long as you can – this is part of what started to kill the third act of Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern run as it reached its overdue climax – but maybe it’s time for Slott to move to another comic. The logical step after Worldwide is to have Spidey run the Avengers, then the world itself, then the universe. After that, the crossover event Secret Wars: Beat Pete will follow Marvel’s heroes trying to unravel a multiverse firmly controlled by the Parker Empire. Best quit while you’re ahead before we reach the turgid fanfic stage, Mr Slott.
November 27, 2017
I fell out with Slott's Spider-man, if memory serves, early, when they brought back the clone stuff. Since then there is a whole Spider-Verse, and like seven auxillary characters, that I have zero clue about. This is my attempt to catch up. If this volume is anything to go by, I've got my work cut out for me.
In this iteration, Peter Parker is running Parker Industries, a global leader in wearable tech. What I don't know is how Parker got here? Is it from Tony Stark? Is it from the "death?" of Reed Richards? Is it a combination of the two? After all, Parker Industries is in the Baxter Building now. Further, Spider-Man is fully on board with Fury, and SHIELD.
For decades, Peter Parker was a teenager, working for Marvel's resident worst boss, J Jonah Jameson, and trying to figure it out. I have no objection to moving Parker's story forward. After all, Bendis was doing that story with Miles Morales, and G. Willow Wilson is doing another version with Ms. Marvel. I'm on board with Parker aging, and even being successful. Being the Google of wearable tech is a bit much, but when super-heroes go wealthy, they almost never go to "well-off", they generally go to the 1% of the 1%.
It's a fine story, and Spidey helping out SHIELD, and SHIELD having his back is fun enough. But I think, so far, I still prefer the street level Spider-Man. If you'll excuse comparison to Marvel's competitor, Spider-Man has become Batman of the Marvel Universe.
Think about it: He's a gajillionaire, running his own empire, who used to fight street crime in "his" city. Spidey has a the Spider power, unlike Batman, but he has all the gadgets at his disposal. There is now a universe of characters to help him, like Batman. And now Spidey is crucial cog in the rest of the global Marvel Universe. Spidey goes to Africa and London in these issues, after all. (There's some fun trivia/research: What issue of Amazing Spider-Man did Spider-Man first leave Manhattan/New York? I wonder if it happened under Lee/Kirby?)
I don't mind the elevation, certainly. But I find there is something less charming about Worldwide Spider-Man. There is really no personal touch to this iteration. Aunt May is running Parker's philanthropic arm, and married to J Jonah Jameson (I think?) Mary Jane Watson is not a factor in these issues. There is no personal side to Peter Parker. Yeah he's running an empire, but the charm of any super-hero story is the balance between private and super-hero. That is missing from these issues.
I wish in all of Marvel's advertising they would do a little work and point me as to what is the story to read BEFORE this. They're eager to sell me collections, great. Make it so I can figure out what came before?
In this iteration, Peter Parker is running Parker Industries, a global leader in wearable tech. What I don't know is how Parker got here? Is it from Tony Stark? Is it from the "death?" of Reed Richards? Is it a combination of the two? After all, Parker Industries is in the Baxter Building now. Further, Spider-Man is fully on board with Fury, and SHIELD.
For decades, Peter Parker was a teenager, working for Marvel's resident worst boss, J Jonah Jameson, and trying to figure it out. I have no objection to moving Parker's story forward. After all, Bendis was doing that story with Miles Morales, and G. Willow Wilson is doing another version with Ms. Marvel. I'm on board with Parker aging, and even being successful. Being the Google of wearable tech is a bit much, but when super-heroes go wealthy, they almost never go to "well-off", they generally go to the 1% of the 1%.
It's a fine story, and Spidey helping out SHIELD, and SHIELD having his back is fun enough. But I think, so far, I still prefer the street level Spider-Man. If you'll excuse comparison to Marvel's competitor, Spider-Man has become Batman of the Marvel Universe.
Think about it: He's a gajillionaire, running his own empire, who used to fight street crime in "his" city. Spidey has a the Spider power, unlike Batman, but he has all the gadgets at his disposal. There is now a universe of characters to help him, like Batman. And now Spidey is crucial cog in the rest of the global Marvel Universe. Spidey goes to Africa and London in these issues, after all. (There's some fun trivia/research: What issue of Amazing Spider-Man did Spider-Man first leave Manhattan/New York? I wonder if it happened under Lee/Kirby?)
I don't mind the elevation, certainly. But I find there is something less charming about Worldwide Spider-Man. There is really no personal touch to this iteration. Aunt May is running Parker's philanthropic arm, and married to J Jonah Jameson (I think?) Mary Jane Watson is not a factor in these issues. There is no personal side to Peter Parker. Yeah he's running an empire, but the charm of any super-hero story is the balance between private and super-hero. That is missing from these issues.
I wish in all of Marvel's advertising they would do a little work and point me as to what is the story to read BEFORE this. They're eager to sell me collections, great. Make it so I can figure out what came before?
January 15, 2018
The first issue of this volume I got chills. It was the Dan Slott I know and love who (I feel) lost his way with the Doc Ock Superior Spider-man a bit. It was fun, it was optimistic, it had a great action sequence, it even had great art. Then...the "conspiracy". Oh for the love of... I am getting so tired of Dan Slott going to that well YET AGAIN. There is something we the readers know that nobody else knows. Doc Ock is in a robot that works in Parker Industries AND Zodiac got exactly what they needed and have a person on the inside. Spider-man wins the battle but lost the war. It frustrates me as a narrative device because our hero wins the episode but is too stupid to see the villain is still playing him for a fool. It would be like at the end of every CSI episode Grissom solved the case but the REAL villain got away scot-free.
Okay, sorry for the rant but this is the reason the fun and very enjoyable writing of Slott has been less enjoyable to me over the years he has written Spider-man. He writes Parker so well and Spider-man so well and gave a sense of hope the character and a great moral foundation that I love. But these conspiracy threads he uses irritate me.
Okay - beyond that, the art was amazing, and there were some great stories in here. Although the one about the Human Torch attacking Spider-man made ZERO sense. The fight destroyed the property and endangered people just because the Human Torch was irritated by Spider-man. Wow. Not very heroic..or legal.
Okay - besides THAT story some good stories and characters in this volume. I guess I'll see how the conspiracy plays but I won't be happy. I do love the idea Parker is in charge of a company and trying to use his tech to make the world a better place.
Okay, sorry for the rant but this is the reason the fun and very enjoyable writing of Slott has been less enjoyable to me over the years he has written Spider-man. He writes Parker so well and Spider-man so well and gave a sense of hope the character and a great moral foundation that I love. But these conspiracy threads he uses irritate me.
Okay - beyond that, the art was amazing, and there were some great stories in here. Although the one about the Human Torch attacking Spider-man made ZERO sense. The fight destroyed the property and endangered people just because the Human Torch was irritated by Spider-man. Wow. Not very heroic..or legal.
Okay - besides THAT story some good stories and characters in this volume. I guess I'll see how the conspiracy plays but I won't be happy. I do love the idea Parker is in charge of a company and trying to use his tech to make the world a better place.
May 2, 2023
K so I'm *really* not a fan of the Stark-ification of Peter, as a global rule — Spider-Man has his own special schtick! Please let him keep his schtick!!! Pointing out the similarities as a meta wink-wink does nothing!!! But pretty much everything else about this volume is great. Love the art, love the QUIPS!!! (Spidey singing 'Ironic' to Torch mid-battle... didn't know I needed it.), love the mechanics of Peter trying to cover his tracks as a public figure even though I wish he wasn't one. Great moments with JJJ ("NYC's homegrown boy, Peter Parker!!! He's like a SON to me!!!"), Anna Maria, and Bobbi, and of course amazing Peter character bits (Of course he'd take Mandarin lessons during driving courses. He multitasks!!!). The Zodiac are silly silly villains but y'know what, I'm here for a little silliness. I'm excited to read this whole arc!
April 21, 2017
21/04/2017
I really enjoyed this, though not as much as I thought I would. That being said I'm sure I'll pick up volume 2 within the next week.
I really enjoyed this, though not as much as I thought I would. That being said I'm sure I'll pick up volume 2 within the next week.
March 27, 2021
DAN SLOTT <3
January 13, 2022
Dawno nie czułam aż takiego pociągu, by zaraz po skończeniu jednej części zacząć czytać kolejną... Tym bardziej taką, której nie mam pod ręką! Wciągnęłam się w tą wersję przygód Parkera i pragnęłam więcej i więcej, mimo że było to poza moim zasięgiem - to chyba mówi więcej niż 3000 (💙😉) pozytywnych słów. Jestem całkowicie pewna, że sięgnę po więcej komiksów z tej serii i to samo mogę polecić każdemu fanowi filmów - może i Wam nowa odsłona Petera przypadnie do gustu?
January 10, 2023
Dubbed the "poor man's Tony Stark" by the press, Peter Parker is now the wealthy CEO of the successful global tech company Parker Enterprises, with Spider-Man serving as his bodyguard. It's a bizarre new status quo that goes against the general concept of who Peter Parker is. I'm interested to see how it will inevitably end disastrously for him.
June 15, 2017
This was alright. I may or may not go back to read the next book. I'm not sure. Certainly there were parts that seemed kind of fun. But at other times it seemed like a bit of a rip off of Bruce Wayne & Tony Stark. I feel like Peter Parker is supposed to be a nerd, but in this he's a cocksure globetrotting businessman who tells people that Spider-Man is his body guard. Why would Spider-Man become someone's body guard? Isn't he a super-hero? Doesn't that make him look like a sell out?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 151 reviews