One Perfect Moment: Jonah and Joan (Spider-Man's Tangled Web 20)

[skalja]

Spider-Man's Tangled Web was a short-lived series from the early 2000s starring Spidey's supporting cast and the various people who fall into his orbit (hence the title). As an anthology series, it was a bit hit-or-miss, but there were some real gems in its 22 issues. Of particular note are #4, Severance Package by Greg Rucka and Eduardo Risso; Darwyn Cooke and Jay Bone's two issues (11 and 21); 13, Double Shots by Ron Zimmerman and Sean Phillips; and the issue I'm featuring here: 20, Behind the Mustache by Zeb Wells and Dean Haspiel. Not only is it a great story for a great supporting character, it's one of my favorite single Spider-Man issues.



After his second heart attack, Jonah needs to get anger management therapy or the Daily Bugle's health insurance company will sever their contract. His first session gets off to a rocky start, but eventually Jonah starts talking about his relationship with his abusive father (since retconned to stepfather by BND) and his high school sweetheart and eventual wife, Joan. I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've ever seen Joan, since she died years before Peter became Spider-Man.









There are a lot of fantastic moments in this issue and I wish I could post all of it; if you liked these scenes, definitely track down the entire story.

Comments

[kingrockwell]

Yesssss, I loved Tangled Web! Might even be my favorite Spidey title.
I'm still missing half the trades, but I've got this one in floppy. It's too good not to own!

[skalja]

Which is your favorite story?

[kingrockwell]

Ohhh, at a push I'd have to say it's this one, but it's not an easy choice.

I can second all the stories you mentioned earlier, and would also add Kaare Andrew's "Ray of Light from #10 (the art's iffy at spots, but the rent envelope was adorable if nothing else), #22's "The System" by Brian Patrick Walsh and Alberto Dose, and Peter Milligan and Dungan Fegredo's "Flowers For Rhino" in #'s 5 & 6.

It's funny to think this series actually introduced me to a lot of creators who went on to become favorites of mine, like Rucka, Milligan, Cooke and Paul Pope. I really need to track down vols' 1 and 3 one of these days.

[skalja]

Oooh, I really need to track down and reread Ray of Light and The System! Flowers for Rhino I didn't like so much because it was a fairly straight rehash of Flowers for Algernon.

[ormardu.blogspot.com]

Interesting back story for JJJ - didn't know a lot of this stuff.

[skalja]

This issue did a great job of tying together a lot of the bits and pieces we know about Jonah, I think.

[ficticons]

I love just about all of that first page ("Do people talk when they dance?" "No." "Let's go" :D), the way Jonah loosens up on the dance floor, and the way he sits on the couch at home, seeminlgy nonchalantly blowing those cigar-smoke rings at his dad.

Very interesting stuff. Thanks for posting it!

[skalja]

Glad you liked it. :D

[arilou_skiff]

Jonah has always been one of my favourite Marvel characters.

He's just so delightfully... Complex.

[skalja]

He's so petty and venal and yet it's hard not to love the guy.

[twigcollins]

Wow, this is really pretty great. Not simplistic or obvious the way a lot of these types of things go. It reminds me a little bit of the therapy Aunt May goes through in the Ultimate Spider-Man issues when she's trying to explain why she keeps Gwen around.

Very cool.

[skalja]

That's another fantastic issue.

[thatnickguy]

Is this in trade? I know some TW was traded, but not sure if they got this far. I would love to read it.

[kingrockwell]

I'm not sure if they're still in print, but the whole series was collected in four trades. This issue's in volume 4.

[jlroberson]

This is Dean, isn't it?

[skalja]

You mean the art? Yes, it's Dean Haspiel.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Wow, Jonah was always a bit of a hatchet-faced character, wasn't he? (For that matter, he's got some old-looking classmates - I took that nerdy guy for a teacher at first.)
I like the detail of the beatnik guy spiking the punch.

[skalja]

I think that's just Haspiel's style - he doesn't really gloss over physical flaws like a lot of comic artists do, but emphasizes them to give the face personality - but I like that young Jonah looks as cranky and belligerent as old Jonah.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, yeah, but he doesn't look appreciably YOUNGER, except for his build and hair color, which is kinda weird. Your features change over the years - you may have the same basic features at sixty-five that you had at eighteen, but no one can honestly say that your face as a whole hasn't changed - for one thing your nose will likely be bigger. Going by that logic, modern-day Jonah ought to have a schnoz like a toucan's, but he doesn't.