Spiderman: Reign

July 27th, 2008 by

I have been meaning to talk about about this one for a while.  I picked it up at a $5 trades table at Wizard World.  I recognized it a s something I had been intrigued by when it first came out, but not enough to buy. I did not quite remember what is was about.  Looking it over I surmised that it was the Dark Wallcrawler Returns.  After reading it, I was not wrong.  It has an awful lot in common with Frank Miller’s classic Batman tale.  It takes place in a dark possible future where an aged and haunted Spiderman returns from a long absence.  It even features a spunky young girl leading an army of children.  The scratchy art, and color pallet is similar as well.  However all that does is for me is to underscore some fundamental differences between the characters.  Even a scarred and suicidal  Peter parker is saner than Batman.  Because in the suit or out Peter is always Peter.  Where as Batman is always Batman.  Not that I believe Bruce Wayne no longer exists inside the Bat, he just is deeply buried.  Peter is just under the mask, and he is always aware of how crazy his dual identity can be.  Perspective is not Batman’s strong suit.  This story is not as original as the Dark Knight Returns was, but is still a well told Spiderman story.  And certainly worth the five bucks.

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2 Responses to “Spiderman: Reign”

  1. florence Says:

    I read this comic when Susie lent it to me, and I really found myself sucked into this universe. I completely agree with Susie’s observation about the differences between Peter and Bruce. Perhaps because of those differences I find myself caring much more about old, desperate, Peter Parker’s plight in this imagined future. He is stripped of those he cared about in a truly tragic way. They were always central to his universe, the fighting and the bad guys were an obligation on the side. Left with just the fighting and the bad guys, he seems to yearn to be broken completely, so that he can finally be free of the responsibility he was raised to honor.

  2. riool ontstoppen Says:

    riool ontstoppen…

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