the plot:
Peter Parker is snowed in and stuffed up. His classes at Midtown High have been cancelled and the roads are conjested with ice and frost, but curiously Aunt May insists that Peter come to her house to shovel her walk...This would have anything to do with Amazing Spider-Man #35, could it?
Anyway, Spidey decides to make the rounds through New York, despite his ailment, and he runs into the Vulture, fresh from a bank robbery. After a brief fight, the Vulture gets away and tells Spidey to meet him at the site of their very first battle for a rematch. Unfortunatly, Spidey gets it wrong and ends up waiting for the Vulture at the wrong spot. Eventually Vulture catches up and pulls a gun on Spidey, who's only saved by his good buddy, the high-flying Human Torch. The Vulture's wings and apparatus get torched, and he plummets to the ground, while Spidey and the Torch debate over who should save the old guy. And finally, after all is said and done, Peter finally gets to Aunt May's who ends up socking him with a snowball anyway.
the review:
I liked this issue, though I'm sure I wouldn't have, say if it had come out a year earlier. It's light, high on humor, and it's pretty simple when it gets right down to it (read my synopsis if you don't believe me). But after the last few months, this is right what we needed, not only in the real world sense, but also as far as the Spidey titles go. I don't know about you, but I'd begun to get antsy about wanting to see a few things in the Spidey books. #1) In continuity stories (though I did enjoy #35 very much.) #2) Classic villains. And while the Vulture shows up and is handled very well, there's little to distinguish it from any other point in Spidey's career. The one saving grace is the phone conversation with Aunt May which seems to stem directly out of Amazing Spider-Man #35, and it makes all the difference.
With no disrespect to the hard working Spidey creators, but I'd really begun to grow restless with the whole multi-part Morlun story, and the more emotional single issue stories over in Peter Parker. And by doing an issue that appears to actually impact continuity by, God forbid, adressing it, and featuring a classic Spider-Man foe I'm pleased as punch.
Mark Buckingham is gang-busters here folks. This is great work and though I don't really like his seemingly retro style that he seems to be adopting of late (like Spidey's suit starting to look like it did back in 1976, and Aunt May's original hair style), he does draw a great Vulture. Though, and I realize I'm in the minority here, I would have prefered to have old Adrian Toomes return in the suit that John Byrne gave him (the one good thing to come out of Chapter One), the classic suits looks pretty good.
Paul Jenkins is doing some fun stuff here, and I eagerly await to see what new take he has on more classic Spidey foes. Like maybe, the Shocker...?
Peter Parker: Spider-Man #37 gets a decent ***1/2 out of *****
the plot:
Peter Parker is snowed in and stuffed up. His classes at Midtown High have been cancelled and the roads are conjested with ice and frost, but curiously Aunt May insists that Peter come to her house to shovel her walk...This would have anything to do with