Spiderman: Blue Review

Spiderman: Blue Review

That rhymed ^^

           
The colors continue in courageous stories written focusing on the colors of crayons. 

            Gwen Stacey is a beloved character within the mainstream comicbookers everywhere.  There’s still a great deal of people claiming that she was Spider-man’s only true love, and coming from soap-opera-man (Spiderman) that means a great deal.  Gwen’s death was huge in the comic book universe, and has repercussions in Marvel continuity today.  So it’s only fitting that on this Valentines Day Spiderman is looking back on his funny valentine. 

Came out- 2003

Created by: Jeph Loeb

Penciled by: Tim Sale

Spoilers below- Don’t want spoilers? Scroll to ‘The Good, The Bad’:

            This story arc starts off regularly, its night and spidey is swinging through the city.  The captions indicate that he is tape-recording himself, reminiscing about Gwen Stacey his past lover.  In a touching moment, right from the get go, it shows a very touching moment when Spiderman throws a rose off of the Brooklyn Bridge, where Gwen died.

            Next we see a flashback to the olden days of Spiderman.  Spider-Man is tied to a chair, unmasked and the Green Goblin is hovering over him in an abandoned warehouse.  One thing leads to another, and Peter is back to cracking bad jokes, and fighting the Green Goblin.  Well the building ends up catching on fire, and in the ruckus Spiderman saves the Green Goblin who he finds out is Norman Osborn dum dum dum!  Norman doesn’t know that he’s the Green Goblin, and Spiderman tells the public that the Goblin is dead, once and for all.  At the hospital where Norman is staying, Peter meets his friend Harry, the son of Norman. Peter tries to comfort him, telling him about having to grow up without a dad. Some of Harry’s friends arrive, one of them being Gwen, and that day Peter turned into a figurative puddle.  I know it’s an older time, but being turned into a puddle is a bad expression… Puddles are boring, and I should stop dwelling on this!

            Spiderman is reading in the paper about the “Death of the Green Goblin”, and takes a mental note of how bad it was for Gobby, but worse for Spiderman.  Cutaway back into Peter’s life, and we see him becoming closer to Harry, and Gwen, but while he’s interested in Gwen he wonders how she could be interested in him?  Cutaway to a holding cell when Rhino is kept sedated using gas. A mysterious silloute knocks out the guards and stops the flow of tranquilizer gas, letting the Rhino loose.  Spider-Man battles the Rhino, meanwhile thinking about his money problems.  Apperently money doesn’t grow on trees, or rhinos.  With the help of Curt Conners (sigh more alliteration), Spidey creates a webbing that would decompose the Rhino’s armor.  With that he takes down a now naked Rhino in the street. 

            Back to the life of Peter Parker, we see he is about to go out, and his mind is with Gwen and how she made the day with a little comment earlier on. Aunt May stops him, telling him how nice it is that he got dressed up, all just to meet Mary Jane Watson.  Finally, we see Mary Jane and hear the magic words "Face it, tiger, you just hit the jackpot!"

Well they go out, but we don’t see much of Peter, the scene is a getting to know Mary Jane (MJ).  Then they see an item on television about the Lizard being at Penn station, MJ insists they leave the place. The rest of the gang is left behind, stunned. Who is that girl? How come she knows a guy Peter?  At Penn Station, there is a police line. Mary Jane distracts the officer and Peter slips through.  In the subway Spidey fights the Lizard, and with the help of our mysterious silluote guy I mentioned earlier, he escapes.  Later when Peter ditches MJ to get the pictures to the Bugle, she didn’t mind “where she goes the party goes”. 

            Peter’s new BFF Harry invites him to be his roomie at his apartment, and he agrees with Aunt-May’s blessing.  Cut to a prison. Some old, bald guy seems to have a heart attack when having dinner. It's the Vulture. One of his fellow inmates named Blackie kinda forces the Vulture to tell him where a spare costume is hidden.  What are cellmates for?  Blackie is helped by a shadowy figure, which keeps popping up, and he escapes from prison.  Over at Harry's appartment, a party is going on like Donkey Kong.  Everyone at the party is waiting for Peter, but he's not there; as Spider-Man, he is doing his web thing across town (whata jerk).  Well the new guy in the Vulture costume cuts his web and a battle insues.  The final panel shows him lying in the snow on a rooftop, not moving. 

            Harry greets his new roommate when opening the door with “You look like hell”. Lying out on a rooftop, during a snowstorm isn't exactly healthy ya know. So when Harry shows Peter his new room, he immediately crashes on the bed and falls asleep.  Soon both MJ and Gwen want to nurse him back to health…  Lucky fellow.  He sees Vulture outside, and he tells the girls to leave because he needs rest, what a dumbie.  Soon he finds two Vultures fighting outside, and gets caught in the mix.  He has to save his bully Flash, and in a big moment Flash decides to join the Army and do something with his life.  Back to the fight we see Spiderman take them both out like the boss that he is.

            So the tension builds up to one final point, who is Peter going to choose MJ or Gwen?  Who is the mysterious figure?  Where are the Scooby Snacks?!?  I won’t spoil anymore, but I’ll give you a hint… the first one is simple, and the second one is easy if you read enough Detective Novels, and know Spiderman villains.  Anyways I will cut to the end where MJ finds Peter recording himself for the now deceased Gwen Stacey, and his love for Mary Jane in a very touching last scene.  Mary Jane then asks a favor, please, say hello to Gwen and tell her I miss her too. Peter does so, as he finishes his sixth and last tape. This tale about why sometimes, around this time of year, he feels blue.  Now you know why the title named that!

The Good:

Tim Sale does it again; he brings back art reminiscent of the ol’ Stan Lee days.  This is a great love story that makes you feel sad at the end when you’re reminded that Gwen’s dead.  It also has some major points that old time fans love falling back on (like Flash joining the Army).  For the soap opera Spiderman is, it’s understandable how a story like Blue would have more of a lasting affect then Yellow, or Grey.  The emotion is in the forefront, and Jeph’s writing falls right into Spiderman’s alley.

The Bad:

Like in Yellow, Spiderman-Blue’s action scenes were rushed, and didn’t help with the story well.  Unlike in Yellow, they do serve a purpose with the whole mysterious figure.  There are continuity differences (I can tell because I’m a big fan), but nothing life changing.

RATING:

ART:  Great Artwork, Tim Sale does it again.  The retro style is different from Yellow’s, and the coloring is superb.  The art complements the story well in a way that’s not dull or over the top, and as a visual medium that’s all you can ask for.  - 10

STORY:  They learned their mistake from Yellow, the whole mysterious figure bringing the battles together brought in the overall plot Yellow was missing.  The emotions and uneasiness we see in Peter is just good writing.  The only reason it’s not 10 is because the battle scenes are rushed and the small continuity changes. -9

DIALOGUE:  The dialogue was done well, knowing the characters so long I believed the words Jeph put in their mouths.  I couldn’t asked for it any better- 10

Entertaining:  It’s super entertaining, that is all- 9

PICK UP AGAIN WORTHY:  Probably in the future, looking back on the old storys that Stan Lee wrote is always enjoyable.  This just adds more depth to that- 8

OVERALL RATING:

9.2

By: Scott