Spidy's Re-Start
Marvel Comics has recently announced that it will "re-launch" it's classic Spider- Man comic book series, due to it's decline during the 1990's. "But the re-vamp means more than just trimming off stray subplots, streamlining the cast, and canceling a few titles." The only current books remaining in the Spider-Man series will be Amazing Spider- Man and Peter Parker, Spider-Man. A new Spider-Man title will also be introduced. It will be called Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man, which will chronicle several of Spider-Man's more interesting stories. Webspinners "will feature stories from throughout Spider-Man's career, much like Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight and Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty do for their respective title characters"
Chris Claremont, who works for Marvel Comics, had this to say about the restart:
If we get a few extra sales from people who want to start a comic at number one, that's what we're gonna do.
Restarting Spider-man has caused several conflicts to arise among the widely popular comic book series' fans. Several fans feel that the restart is good thing. Since Spider-Man first started appearing in the late 1950's, many of the younger comic book collectors never had the chance to see what the original stories were like, including the story of Spider-Man's origin. The stories are going to be given an update; they will be told from "a 1990's perspective" in a thirteen issue maxi-series entitled Spider-Man, Chapter One. Updated drawing, inking, and coloring techniques will be used to make the stories appeal to the newer, younger collectors. They will also get the chance to see some stories they may have never seen.
There is a flip side to the deal, however, that some fans have expressed. Some think that "revamping" the old stories may ruin them. Most Spider-Man fans already know how Peter Parker (Spider-Man's alter-ego) received his powers (he was bitten by a radioactive spider). Die-hard fans think that changing the way his origin is told may change the future of Spider-Man completely. Others are concerned that the newly updated comic's popularity will overshadow the collectiblity of the older comics, diminishing their value.
In my opinion, revamping Spider-Man and starting at number one is a good idea. I agree with the fans who think it will give the younger set a chance to see something new. Also, the idea of starting at number one has worked for Marvel Comics before, "including Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Captain America, and Iron Man" I think if it worked for those characters, all of whom were on the decline with the newer fans, and updated them enough to re-arouse interest in them, then there is no reason it will not work for Spider-Man as well. In addition, these "retellings" of the origins of classic comic book characters have not caused a decline in the value of the originals, in fact, they caused for a higher demand for them.
Information credited to:Yarbrough, Beau. "Spider-Man Titles to Restart with First Issues." The Comic Wire July 1998. Comic Book Resources. Online. 27 July 1998
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