Marvel to Retell Spider-Man's Life Story in 'Real Time'

[lordultimus]

Source: cbr.com





Chip Zdarsky and Mark Bagley are putting a unique spin on Peter Parker's history in an all-new six-issue limited series, Spider-Man: Life Story.

“I guess I’m just not done with Spidey!" Zdarsky, who recently concluded a run on Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, said in a statement. "This is an idea I’ve had since I first started working for Marvel, something that explores the characters and the Marvel universe on a deeper level, where time changes both the characters and the world. Being able to span decades with one of the most iconic Spider-Man artists ever, Mark Bagley, is surreal. He’s creating fresh takes on classic characters and moments in really dynamic ways.”

According to Marvel, the purpose of the miniseries is to ask, "what if Spider-Man had aged at the same rate as our world?" It's described as "a tale encompassing the entire history of Spider-Man from beginning to end, set against the key events of each decade! As the series kicks off in March, the year is 1966, and Peter Parker must determine where his power and responsibility truly lies as the nation becomes embroiled in the Vietnam War."

Spider-Man: Life Story #1, written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Mark Bagley, goes on sale in March from Marvel Comics.

Comments

[thanekos]

Implicitly including the entire Marvel universe in this progression.

I eagerly await a running thread of the Avengers roster aging out and changing over time, and Thor still remaining the same.

(It's been done, both straight and as a gag.)

[sholio]

Man, doing that with the entire universe would actually be REALLY cool! I wish they'd do a whole 'verse for it with multiple titles, a la Ultimates.

[roxas832]

I'm curious if they would address how Sue Storm's anti communism actually helped lead the team into space.

[roxas832]

Superman and Batman: Generations is a great story so I'm looking forward to this and Mark Bagley on a Spider-Man title again.

[katefan]

Agreed! I loved generations, with Byrne not only looking at how the heroes would change over time but also looking at the different comic eras. My impression was he was less than impressed by the x-treme(!) nineties and it showed in the way he portrayed the heroes in those chapters.

If this series is a commercial success I imagine we could see other properties getting the same treatment.

[silverhammerman]

This sounds exciting. I love Zdarsky when he's balancing comedy and drama and I love what he's done with Spider-Man. Really curious how this will play in terms of working the various continuities and whatnot into a non-floating timeline.

I'm curious where this will go in the later years, it seems easy enough to follow this up through the 80s or so, but by the time it gets to the 90's Peter Parker will be in his fifties and that'll certainly change the narrative. Seems like Miles Morales would be a natural endpoint for this, but I'm also curious how stuff like Ben Reilly or the Other will be handled.

[zachbeacon]

Glad Zdarsky is back. He was one of the best Spidey writers in recent years.

[super_fly]

When I saw the words real-time I thought it meant there'd be entire issues where Peter waits for his laundry to finish washing.

[tcampbell1000]

"But... he's just going to be a baby in the first issue! And not even the interesting kind of baby who's learned to crawl and say a word or two! And then we're going to have like at least 180 issues before the comic stops being about Uncle Ben and bullying and starts...

"...Oh! Oh."

[cainofdreaming]

Yeah, I was going to say that are they really going to print new comics daily, or are Peter's stories to become really disjointed?

[astrakhan42]

That cover is taking us one step closer to an official version of James Stokoe's Spider 'Nam.

[cainofdreaming]

I want a What If version with Spider-Ham in Spider 'Nam, or at least a variant cover.

[walkingthroughforest]

Well, sign me the fuck up.

[zylly]

Karl Kessel did a really good Fantastic Four annual with this same premise, and, of course, Byrne did a great job with the concept in Superman/Batman: Generations.

Real time progression stories are always fun.

[starwolf_oakley]

Peter Parker in Vietnam. Huh.

The odd part is that Marvel has used "fighting in Vietnam drove this character crazy" before. It isn't quite a cliche. The Punisher and Nuke are the most obvious characters.

[kore]

Peter Parker must determine where his power and responsibility truly lies as the nation becomes embroiled in the Vietnam War

Uhhh. Is he going to fight in Nam?