Amazing Spiderman #682 preview

[sherkahn]

ComicbookResources.com has the preview as Spidey takes his fight against the Sinister Six to new levels.




In the battle to save the planet, it's ...
... the Amazing Spider-man vs. Al Gore.


Wonder what Colbert will make of this?

Comments

[darkknightjrk]

...This is quite possibly the best thing ever.

[freezer]

Marvel U Civilians: Still more suicidally stupid than meth-addicted lemmings.

[long_silence]

Isn't there some sort of compromise?

Beat up Doc Ock and the Sinister Six, but then have Richards, Stark, Pym and all those other guys study his tech and end Global Warming?

You don't have to punch Al Gore in the face.

[dahlia_moon]

I am sorry but I still can't get used to this new costume. What was wrong with his old one?

But yay for Spider-Man and Thor, the BFFs!

[shadowpsykie]

when did he get it?

[greenmask]

Is that.. a different Spider-Man?

[sherkahn]

My guess is that this costume will have a lot of the features the previous ones did, as well as specific countermeasures to handle Electro, Sandman, Rhino, Mysterio...

[sherkahn]

Last issue, the end of #681

[long_silence]

Parker in a new Spider Armor

I wonder if he'll ride the Spider Glider

[drexer]

So...

Cliamte-change denialists have already infiltrated the ranks at Marvel? Because despite anything else that might come into the story, that's the message it seems to be trying to spread.

[darkknightjrk]

Well, from what we know, Ock doesn't have the tech to end it--he just has the tech to make it worse, and he's lying about that to take over.

And yes, you do have to punch Al Gore in the face. Just on general principle.

[ian_karkull]

That's kind of dumb. If you can get the Avengers together to punch politicians in the face, you can get them together to put Otto under close surveillance to ensure that his machine actually accomplishes what it's supposed. Even if he spent an unreasonable amount of his life trying to kill Spidey, the opportunity is simply too good to pass up.
Nevermind the fact that if he actually does repair the ozone lair, he would have won. Spider-Man would have to life the rest of his life with the entire world celebrating his greatest foe as mankind's hero, building statues in his honor and probably blaming Peter for being responsible for Otto's death. That's a much better victory and legacy than yet another mustache-twirling doomsday threat.
So while the concept of the story doesn't seem too bad, the execution is puzzling and kind of makes Marvel look bad by insinuating climate-change denial (even if that's not the intention, it sure reads like it).

Complex real world issues vastly overstep the possibilities of what can realistically be accomplished in mainstream super-hero franchise comics, which is exactly why you keep "realism" out of them. You'd think Marvel would've learned that by now. The story breaks apart under the weight of it's on premise and all that's left is ridiculously simplistic nonsense where Al Gore gets punched in the face, "for Justice".

Still, that shocked reaction shot of Angie is absolutely priceless. Now there's something I thought I'd never see.

[darkknightjrk]

I don't think it's so much denial but rather not giving in to terrorist demands, no matter how tempting, and that politicians are overall major douches.

[ian_karkull]

But he's not demanding anything. He's offering to solve a huge problem. Spider-Man and the reader simply assume that he's up to no good because he's a super-villain and this is comics.
Regardless of how the story plays out, having the villain exploit international concern about a real world issue for his own gains and then having the hero publicly assault a figure considered to be synonymous with said issue simply looks bad, no matter how you slice it.
It reads like open disregard, if not outright contempt for the issue at hand, even if that isn't the intention.

[darkknightjrk]

Well, it isn't just Spider-Man and the readers--much like how the citizens of the Marvel Universe should have realized Norman Osborne wasn't going to protect the world like he promised because he's an insane sadist super-villain, they should feel the same way with Ock. In fact, this makes more sense, since it seems to me that the regular citizens are agreeing with Ock out of fear, and you could argue that political figures like "Gore" are exploiting the situation for their own gains just as much as Ock is.

[ian_karkull]

No, why would they? Doc Ock isn't the kind of villain that operates on a global scale or threatens the world -or anyone besides Pete, really- regularly and large-scale murder and destruction have never been his style. I doubt few people outside New York even really know who he is.
Besides, he's proven that his plan would work and he's a crippled man at death's door, there's absolutely no reason for everyone to go along with his plan out of fear.
And while I'm sure Al Gore enjoys the publicity as much as any public figure would, at least he's taking up a worthy cause hardly anyone in the United States seems all that comitted to, I'm sorry to say.
Stylizing anyone to be the posterboy/patron saint of an issue is ultimately the wrong way to go about it and slightly obnoxious, but it's hardly super-villain level explotation if it benefits everyone in the long term.

[janegray]

So a 25-year-old guy with super strength punched an old man in the face after realizing that he can't refute the old man's argument.

...Am I missing something here?

[lencannon]

I don't want to talk about what this means for the comic book. I don't want to talk about the context. I don't want to hear about the costume.

I just want to sit back and luxuriate that, for no good reason, Spider-man, PETER PARKER, just waltzed into the UN and punched Al Gore in the face.

That, my friends, is what comic books is all about.

[lencannon]

Also, I have to say, you really buried the lead on this post. Spider-man punches Nobel Prize Winning Vice President would pretty much be the best s_d post title.

[skemono]

So Spider-Man has now tried to stop Dr. Octopus from curing AIDS and putting an end to global warming.

Jameson is right! Spider-Man is a menace!

[biod]

You know I'm torn between "incredibly stupid" and "kind of awesome"

[glprime]

Yup. On the one hand, Gore ain't exactly the punching bag so many critics want to portray him as. On the other, telling MU residents to STFU and not trust super-villains is kinda hilarious. That and Thor telling the G8 delegates to allow his friend to speak :)

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

"You don't have to punch Al Gore in the face."

I understand the words, but in a sense together they just don't make sense.

[big_daddy_d]

Though I supported Al Gore when he was running for President....this is one of the single greatest/funniest things I've ever seen in comics. What would make that perfect? If Spidey yelled "I AM A MAN!!" before punching him.

[angelophile]

That's not Al Gore, it's Chameleon, right?