Astonishing Flashbacks: The Death of Jean DeWolff, by Tim

Way back in the first volume of AstonSpid, Peter David's arc 'The Death of Jean DeWolff' (originally run in Spectacular Spider-Man in the mid 80's) was featured in issues 26-29. I only started collecting AstonSpid at around issue 120, and so I was only just really getting in to Spider-Man in general. As such, I first came at this story 'blind'; I had read very little before it and was unaware of the story's reputation as one of the best arcs going.

Well, it turns out that Death of Jean DeWolff is... one of the best arcs going. Seriously, unlike The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man, this story genuinely deserves the praise given to it. Hit the jump to see what I mean.



First thing's first; the synopsis. A mysterious gunman named Sin-Eater begins a series of attacks, killing police Captain Jean DeWolff and other representatives of justice and order, including a friend of Matt Murdock (Daredevil). Spidey secures the co-operation of the detective in charge of the case, and starts to track down Sin-Eater. Meanwhile, one of Aunt May's friends is brutally mugged, and Peter is disgusted by Murdock's legal defense of the attackers. When a good friend of Murdock's gets killed, he begins his own investigation.

One of the things that really stands out about this arc is the tone it sets and maintains throughout. Here's an example; the first three pages of comic. Go on, click this and read it.

Reading those pages four years ago, I had no knowledge of who Jean DeWolff was or what she was like; I had never heard of her. Despite this, there's something about the way Peter David has this dying woman narrate her life, as it flashes before her eyes, that is arrestingly powerful. The tragic optimism, in DeWolff's last thoughts, stands out in particular. This dark tone is not cliched or over bearing, but rather engrossing.

The arc evolves into a meditation on justice, morality, anger and retribution. The conflict between Spider-Man and Daredevil is juxtaposed with the internal conflicts of each hero. Spidey has difficulty detaching himself from the case because of his grief for DeWolff's death, while Daredevil wrestles with his need to preserve his secret identity, which interferes with helping people.

Added to this is the Sin-Eater, a masked man with a shotgun who is on a mission to kill those that he perceives as having abused their power. Despite his fairly goofy outfit, he's actually an unusually realistic villain; rather than a giggling super-powered goon holding New York to ransom, he's just an insane serial killer, who shoots and runs. This villain could, without any major changes, exist in our world; and that makes him genuinly chilling.

This is an excellent arc and a very good story, with hardly a panel out of place. It's also readily available, having been collected as a trade. If you're a spidey fan who hasn't read it, seriously do, because rarely is Spider-Man done this well.

Astonishing Flashbacks: The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man, by Tim

Although I have only been reviewing the title for a few issues, I have about 80 Astonishing Spider-Mans in a big box in my room. This collection holds many of my personal favorite Spider-Tales, and some of the most lauded stories ever written and drawn about the web-slinger. As such, I am trying out an idea for a new, irregular column featuring notably famous, good or awful strips from my old comics - Astonishing Flashbacks.

The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man is one of the most popular and best loved tales in the entire Spider-Man/Peter Parker franchise of comics. I was aware of it's existence before I read it, and when I saw that it would be in AstonSpid #23 back in Feb-Mar of '08, I was reasonably excited. Well, hit the jump to see what I thought back then, and still think now.

This is a human interest story that relies on readers associating with the boy who is finally meeting his idol, Spider-Man. I can relate very easily to the kid above; a geek called Tim (and hates being called Timmy) who loves Star Wars and Spider-Man sums me up quite well as a nine-year-old. No problems there, and the art by Ron Frenz is serviceable at the least, though a little of it's time.

So why don't I enjoy this story? It's not badly written, and uses a clever framing device; but it's just not interesting. Peter explains his origin and powers to Tim, and beats himself up yet again for being indirectly responsible for the death of Uncle Ben; this is painted by numbers, boring dwelling on a story that has been told hundreds of times. The story gains some vitality when Peter takes off his mask and lets Tim see his face, and this is almost a touching moment, but it is ruined by the revelation that Tim is dying of leukemia. This just makes Peter seem callous and calculating, which adds to the artificial feel of the whole strip. And yes, cancer is awful, but introducing a nice young child over the course of 11 pages then suddenly giving them terminal cancer as a surprise ending isn't compassionate writing; it's puerile hackwork.

This story is not awful, but it's also nowhere near good, let alone one of the greatest Spidey stories around. It's a fairly boring story with an ill-conceived ending that was only ever intended as filler for a Thunderball arc that ran short; and the fact that story that is so sentimental without earning it is lauded as one of the greats is a bit of a shame; there are so many better stories out there. I still encourage you to read it if you haven't before; and if you have read it, look over it again with these criticisms in mind. After that, if you disagree, just nail my nadgers to the bedpost in the comment section; that's what it's for!