Issue 17: The 8 Deaths of Spiderman
…but really only 5.
It has been way too long since I wrote for Key To Me Comics. My only explanation is I’ve been heavily into my wood working projects and comic book collection organizing. That doesn’t mean I haven’t had time to read; in fact I’ve been reading a lot.
What I have been avoiding has been reading the runs I’ve been putting together. I usually grab for my indy books first and leave the Marvel and DC stuff for “when I have more time”. Well dammit, I’m making more time!
This article will begin a series of issue and story arc reviews. Some will be current, but others will be pulled from the depths of my collection. I hope you all will find them helpful as you make your purchasing and reading decisions!
The 8 Deaths of Spiderman
The final story arc of Amazing Spiderman Volume 6 (#61-70) was a wild ride to say the least. Peter Parker finds himself chosen by the Sorcerer Supreme to fight through a gauntlet of demigods. I don’t think this is a spoiler (see the title of the arc), but to finish each fight he essentially must die.
The art in these issues is fantastic. The stylistic choices of the layout were well done modern versions of the classic Marvel panels we keep coming back for. This arc also featured numerous variant covers for each issue. Issue 65D is particularly notable as it is probably the best of the Rivals variants.
One of the highlights and lowlights of the arc would be issues 65.Deaths and 68.Deaths. These were supplemental issues with additional story that I felt really enhanced the impact of the situation and allowed the secondary character’s development to be fleshed out. I did feel that the numbering scheme combined with the quantity of variants made it hard to know if I had all the issues in the arc.
On to the narrative! The fights and the over arching reason they must be undertaken are not the compelling part of the story. What kept me reading was the psychology journey of our hero as he deals with death. Not just his own death, but the general concept of what it means when someone dies. Peter’s most powerful enemy is the existential crisis of loss and being lost. By issue 65.Deaths he is in thick of this battle. Then we have the turn.
Issue 66 begins a confounding series of events that goes to the last panel of issue 70. Help arrives in the knick of time from one of the super hero teams. A significant link exists between one team member and the big bad of the series, but is never explained in a meaningful way (every issue is someone’s first!). The team is ultimately ineffective since they were not chosen for this fight. They merely provide a buffer while Peter Parker is taking the time to confront his purpose in life. Concurrently, the MacGuffin that keeps Spidey from remaining dead gets nullified. This would have served well to raise the stakes, but fell flat. In comics, as in Jurassic Park, “Life finds a way.”; especially if you are the hero of the book.
My opinion is that this story starts off very strong and continues this way through the midway point. Once our hero falters so does momentum of the story. I am not an ASM expert, but I didn’t understand why Peter Parker’s support system of friends and family seemed to go out their way to have no empathy for what he was dealing with. Even those who know his secret identity and the trials he faces in both halves of his life were indifferent to his plight. All except Black Cat that is. The plot seemed to be pushing Peter through his crisis to have some meaningful change to his character, but instead this ended up falling into the frequently used “vigilante finds comfort with the femme fatale” bucket. One minor point of contention is that, to spite setting up Spiderman’s 8 deaths and a perfect mechanic for his resurrection, he doesn’t hit the 8 deaths mark. I realize this might be nit picking, but when the deaths become less of a focal point the narrative starts to wander from its focus as well. The resurrection mechanic is based in magic and Spidey learns quite a bit of other magic to survive these trials. It seems rather disrespectful to the years of study that Doctor Strange and those like him in the Marvel universe commit to in mastering their craft when Spiderman gains significant control of such power over the course of a few days.
I found the story mostly satisfying. There are characters who undergo changes for better or for worse. Unfortunately, I always root for this to be the titular hero and this time it wasn’t. Hopefully you’ve had the chance to experience this story too. Let me know how it made you feel and if there were connections I missed that would have enhanced my understanding of events.