From: fzhedric@hamlet.ucdavis.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics
Subject: Re: Spider-Man
Date: 15 Apr 92 22:31:20 GMT
Followup-To: rec.arts.comics
Organization: Biochemistry&Biophysics, UC Davis

In article <1992Apr15.153449.2082@athena.mit.edu> bike@athena.mit.edu (Michael Y Fan) writes:
>In article <1992Apr13.203003.4866@wheaton.wheaton.edu> mcrobe@wheaton.edu (Bryan McRoberts) writes:
>>	Spider-Man is the most believable of the comicbook heroes; he
>>actually has feelings and struggles with himself.  He is very underestimated
>>in his power; in the Secret Wars he took on the X-Men single handed!  He
>>isn't overly powerful (like many of the new 'heroes' seem to be) and yet
>>he's no one to be trifled with.  In my book, spider-man is number one
>>(with wolverine coming in second) - I don't know why no one has mentioned
>>him before!  He's so overlooked...
>
>Absolutely right!!!  I have posted before that I'm a big Spidey fan.  I'm
>glad someone else has posted the same.  I think his personality adds to his
>attractiveness as a character.  Not many characters crack jokes during a fight
>the way Spidey does!
>						Mike Fan

	Actually there are few characters in Marvel that I would think of as 
believable.  Amongst them are the supporting characters like Micro and
some of the major characters like Frank Miller's rendition of Daredevil.
Regrettably I cannot add Spiderman to this list.  For one he is supposed
to be a Biochemistry graduate student yet I have yet to read
about him doing anything remotely associated with biochemistry.  He
seems to have changed his major over the years to a astro physics,
since it seems like he's always involved in one satellite or another.  
But if I had a graduate student like him in my lab he would be looking
for another line of work.  
	Second he has a photography job and I don't know too many people that
are married, are a graduate student, have a job, and can go out at all
hours of the night to chase down criminals.  But he could have an additional
power which isn't mentioned:  the ability to survive without sleep.
	I do agree that his powers are usually not overplayed, which I
consider a good thing.  
	A good example of this is the latest duel between 
spiderman and the punisher where the punisher clips spiderman in the air
with a bullet.
	But the thing that bothers me about Spiderman is the fact
that after all these years, which I estimate to be around 6 relative SM
years (he's a graduate student so he is around 23 years old and he first
got his powers in high school(?) so he should have been around 17) he
hasn't become jaded or a bit callous.  He still seems to have that same
boyscoutish attitude.  If someone like Frank Miller were to write a SM
title I'm sure this attitude would change and a whole new more interesting
SM would appear.
	Any thoughts?   Flames welcome.  But please keep it on the topic.

					Thanks,
					Mike Oda
					fzhedric@hamlet.ucdavis.edu

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          DISCLAIMER NOTICE		 |  Mike Oda
My boss doesn't known what I am doing... |  Biochem Grad. Student
So please don't tell him.		 |  fzhedric@hamlet.ucdavis.edu
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Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics