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A review by nathaniel_1206
Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide, Vol. 1 by Dan Slott
3.0
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?