My internet's totally down as I write this one; so I'll have to come back to get this link for the cover: from 2016, Spidey #4, "Doomsday Off!" Written by Robbie Thompson, art by Andre Lima Arajuo, color art by Rachelle Rosenberg.
Marvel's done a few of these continuity-light, all-ages Spider-Man titles over the years, usually set in his early days as a hero; and this may be the latest. I did think it was a little awkward for him to refer to himself as "Spidey" to work the title logo into the opening, but that may be the only part that didn't work for me. Frustrated by bad press and school bullies, Peter opts to take a day off and hit the museum--I believe it's the Guggenheim. So of course Dr. Doom is stealing a painting there; or at least a Doombot in civilan clothes.
After stopping the "hipster" Doombot, Spidey catches news footage of other heroes fighting Doombots, and a suspicious power outage in New Jersey. At the power plant, Spidey finds Dr. Doom, who condescends to him before siccing his robots on him, and Spidey is blasted through an apartment building, in a pretty sweet two-page cross-section spread.
Landing in a park, Spidey meets a young fan, Owen; who helps out with a kind word, a jelly sandwich, and a replacement mask. Spidey realizes Doom is using the power plant to broadcast power to his Doombots, and smashes Doom's set-up. (On the news, we immediately see a reporter give credit to Captain America as the Doombots go down.) As the last one goes down--Doom having never actually been there--Spidey realizes they were all a blind, and Doom really had intended to steal the painting. Which he did, as we see Doom talking to his Doombots in Latveria, making him even lonelier than Spidey.
Not a bad comic! This wasn't a straight update of a classic Spider-Man story, but close; it wasn't as deliberately retro as the consistently great Untold Tales of Spider-Man; or as specifically all-ages as the underrated gem Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man. I don't think it ran as long as either of those, possibly because there's another "back-to-basics" "meat-and-potatoes" Spidey book coming; Chip Zdarsky and Adam Kubert's Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man. That one's supposed to be set in current continuity yet closer to the movies, or some such.
Maybe it's just me, but stealing a painting, as point of motivation for a villain of the caliber and resources of a Dr. Doom just sounds dumb, lazy, and really just stupid. Look at all Doom's set out to do and conquer over his long career. Something as simple as stealing a painting just seems so beneath him, unless it was a painting of his own or connected to his family. Plus he has access to a time machine. The whole thing is just redonkulous. Unless it was a crazed Doombot, like the ones that tried to kill the Punisher back during Acts of Vengeance. That's more believable.
ReplyDelete