Webslinger: Unauthorized Essays on Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Smart Pop

by Leah Wilson, Leah Wilson

The tangled web of vengeance, love, and loss woven by Spider-Man comics and films is explored in this collection of insightful essays by acclaimed writers of comics and science fiction and edited by Spider-Man comic writer Gerry Conway.A variety of topics--from the superhero's sarcasm to the science behind radioactive spiders--are discussed in essays on "Turning Rage into A Psychology of Loss," "Love Is Can a Hero Afford Personal Attachments?," and "Self Identity and Costume Design." The popular rival Green Goblin, the bumbling-yet-influential media, and the part New York City itself plays in stories are skillfully explored, as well as the overall philosophy of mild-mannered Peter Parker and Spidey's relationship with the rest of the characters in the Marvel universe.

Genres: Spider Man, Pop Culture, Fiction, Comics, Anthologies

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 8, 2007

About the author

Leah Wilson is Editor-in-Chief of the Smart Pop imprint of Dallas-based publisher BenBella Books. She graduated from Duke University in 2003 with a degree in Culture and Modern Fiction, and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Fall season premiere schedules make her a little giddy.

(Her author blog is the main blog for Smart Pop's website, and she'll be using this Goodreads account in part to do some Smart Pop pre-pub giveaways, and more!)

Reviews

[Jamison Ousley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but dated

What can I say? I buy books on sale and get to them at my own pace, so while there are a number of insights about the Webslinger that I enjoyed contemplating, there are a lot of references to the first two Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies and the then-current Civil War storyline where Spider-Man revealed his secret identity. I would say this needs an update, but there probably already is one, and I'll read it 15 years from now.

[Mel G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the essays were duds, but as a whole the book was great. Recommended!

[The other John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to read more of this stuff in my youth--essays on popular culture, analyzing or speculating on the movies, comics or TV series of the day. But slowly I graduated to essays analyzing or speculating on the real world--religion, history, politics, sociology. Last week, I was over at the Bellevue library. My daughter wanted to borrow a few books that the had on their shelves.* I took the opportunity to raid their graphic novels and grab some brain candy. Amongst the other books on 741 shelves was this tome, a collection of essays on Spider-Man. Reading it gave me a flash of nostalgia. I didn't savor them like I used to do with those old articles on Star Trek or The Legion of Super-Heroes. But then, I think that's more to do with my current tastes than the quality of Webslinger's contents. Some of the essays were entertaining, some were meh. In the end, I was left with a desire to grab some Spider-Man comics off the shelf. The problem is, I'm in the middle of reading all my Avengers issues. So many comics, so little time...
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*as Seattle residents, we can get a library card and borrow books from the King County Library System, but we can't place holds or get them delivered to the branch of our choice.