The Nickelback of Spider-Man Stories
It's Spider-Man's 50th birthday this year, and accordingly, Marvel is celebrating in style. Ends of the Earth, Spider-Men, The upcoming film, and now this graphic novel. While a few might be coincidental, it's still a pretty awesome year to be a Spidey fan, something you'd know if you've been following EOTE. If your familiar with the idea behind the Season One line, then you know that this is a retelling of Spider-Man's origin story, though brought into the modern world. However, the 'modern' aspect is kept almost non-existent in this GN. Apart from a reference to Twitter and a slightly more updated fashion, the book remains for the most part an identical retread of the origin we've all become familiar with.
To be honest, I was expecting better from this book. From Bunn, a new angle to tell the story from, with great humour and gusto. Edwards, however, did not disappoint, offering his usual clean and kinetic bag. Despite the artist's efforts, the book remains slow, dull and uninspired. If you want a more entertaining and modern retelling, watch Raimi's Spider-Man. If you want the equivalent in comics, read either Ultimate Peter Parker's or Mile Morales' origin tales. This book fails to lend any insight or new perspective to the same story published 50 years ago. It gives no reason to draw the story out, making it feel exceedingly long. This might have been ok, if Bunn had injected a sense of life into the proceedings-but he doesn't. Peter is either mopey or acting like an ass, preparing us for the inevitable fall, just going through the motions. Not even so much as a smile in recognition of some clever banter. I felt really let down, especially knowing the talent Bunn has, and I had thought that Spider-Man would have been a perfect fit. Unfortunately, this is not so. While X-Men Season One offered us an original and clever new/old story, Spider-Man Season One offers nothing of the sort. It is the exact opposite of what this line of books is striving to be: a boring rehash of a story that was better left to the single issue it came from.
Overall, let down was a strong feeling I had after reading the book. Considering the strength of the talent attached, and the quality presentation of the preceeding story, I opened this book with high hopes that ultimately, were unrewarded and left me wanting. I'd advise taking the money you were using for this book, and spend it on a trade of Ultimate Spider-Man, or Ends of the Earth or something. Any Spider-Man is a safe bet over this hugely mediocre creation.
