Showing posts with label Amazing Spider-man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amazing Spider-man. Show all posts

Monday 21 August 2023

Venom and Eminem

Today I present for your consideration an old post I wrote back in 2018ish on Tumblr (when it was relevant) following the release of Sony's first Venom movie. It's a bit of a departure from my usual musings but I'm fairly happy with the analysis younger me produced. My hope is that I can preserve some of my older material here for future me to re-discover. Who knows, maybe someone else will find it interesting? Anyway, enjoy!

 Venom and Eminem

I’ve recently had a few people ask me my opinion on the song ‘Venom’ by Eminem for the soundtrack of the titular film. So here we go:

Despite perhaps not being top-tier in terms of his best work, Eminem’s Venom song does hold more merit than might be thought from your first listen. 


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For those only familiar with his early hits or present day charting singles, Eminem frequently utilizes more than one persona for his various songs: Eminem (the Rap God), Marshall Mathers (the man behind the facade) and Slim Shady (the dark and offensive Evil Twin). 


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Through his early career the artist became mostly associated with his Slim Shady persona, partly because of which songs became hits and which lyrics drew negative media attention and partly because he encouraged it and even enjoyed it. 

Over the years, he’s come out with many songs discussing his meteoric rise to fame, his poor handling of the popularity and the scrutiny of media associated with living in the public eye. His marriage fell apart, he was banned in places and demonstrated against. He was a villain because he gave into his dark impulses and didn’t care who got hurt as a result. Sound familiar?


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Venom started out as a villain who gained popularity exceptionally quickly and was later transitioned into an anti-hero as a result. Often described as an evil counterpart to Spider-Man, the combination of the alien symbiote and former journalist turned obsessive Spidey stalker Eddie Brock, Venom never actually corrupted it’s former host Spider-Man. In fact, until Eddie came along the symbiote was merely a glorified tool, an extension of the hosts will. Under Eddie’s influence Venom suddenly became a fearsome malevolence that hurt and killed those in their way without remorse and justified and rationalized their actions so as to never blame themselves. 


'Ever since I came along
From the day the song called “Hi! My Name Is” dropped
Started thinking my name was fault
'Cause anytime things went wrong
I was the one who they would blame it on
The media made me the equivalent of a modern-day Genghis Khan’

–Guts Over Fear


Further into his career, Em tried to transition himself into a more sympathetic light, with more singles and album tracks focusing on his personal struggles and private life, while still maintaining the harder edge and unapologetic attitude that made him famous. In terms of trajectory, this very much mirrors Venom’s repositioning into an anti-hero in the comics. In more recent times we’ve seen Em address his own status as a villain in the industry including attempts to make amends with such songs as 'Headlights’ and 'Bad Husband’ as well as more vulnerable songs like 'Walk on Water’ and ‘In Your Head’. 


‘Hailie, baby, I didn’t mean to make you eighty/Percent of what I rapped aboutMaybe I shoulda did a better job at separating/Shady and entertaining from real life/But this fame thing is still the hardest thing to explain/It’s the craziest shit I/Ever seen, and back then it was like I ain’t even/Bothered taking into consideration/You one day being older and may hear me say things/I didn’t (A) mean and (B) just ain’t me/’

–In Your Head

There’s almost a one to one comparison between the character of Venom and the artist Marshall Mathers. Eddie blames others or deflects responsibility for his behaviour, as Em often dismissed criticism of his foul and offensive lyrics as just his art - the work of his evil other half, Slim Shady- not intended to be taken seriously. Both became overnight hits, both became more sympathetic overtime and both seemingly flit between the role of villain and anti-hero in their respective mediums and in the eyes of fans.


The song Venom itself makes for a microcosm of themes. The song starts by claiming it’s for those who’ve been given a ’raw deal’ and are feeling angry. This can be read as referring to both Eddie Brock and Marshall himself when they were at low points in life. then we are introduced to a few themes with 'When something’s in your mitochondrial/ 'Cause it latched on to you’ conjuring images of the alien symbiote and 'Knock knock, let the devil in, malevolent/ As I’ve ever been, head spinnin’, this medicine’ using the symbiote as a metaphor for his past drug dependence and bad behaviour. These ideas reoccur throughout the song, with shifting meanings as the song progresses. 'shoulda been dead a long time ago’ can also be read as referring to both Em’s near death experience via overdose before going sober and Eddie Brock’s attempted suicide and/or cancer diagnosis before finding the symbiote.

The chorus makes reference to the erratic behaviour of both Eddie and Marshall with ’ Venom, (I got that) adrenaline momentum/ And I’m not knowin’ when I’m/ Ever gonna slow up and I’m/ Ready to snap any moment I’m/ Thinkin’ it’s time to go get 'em/ (W-w-when they get bit with the-)/ Venom’. There’s also not-so-subtle references here to the adrenaline rush a person feels when using certain drugs, which also describes the way Eddie feels when empowered by the alien symbiote. 

Another commonality, Venom and Eminem are known for using descriptions of over the top violent acts, often for humourous effect. The humour is also juxtaposed against the dark themes of the song or the actions taken. This can be seen to address the power fantasy of both Eddie Brock’s newfound abilities and Marshall’s fame and influence, which inevitably results in them abusing their abilities and status. Tell me that doesn’t remind you of anyone else?


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'Then I wait to face the demons I’m bonded to/ 'Cause they’re chasin’ me but I’m part of you/ So escapin’ me is impossible/ I latch onto you like a—parasite/ And I probably ruined your parents’ life/ And your childhood too/'Cause if I’m the music that y'all grew up on/I’m responsible for you retarded fools/ I’m the super villain Dad and Mom was losin’ their marbles to/ You marvel that? Eddie Brock is you/ And I’m the suit, so call me—/ Venom’


While the symbiote is initially used as a way to talk about the dark side of Marshall’s personality, fame and former drug addiction, by the song’s conclusion he admits that despite his decade of sobriety and efforts to change, the darkness always resided within him. Unlike Eddie Brock, Marshall is taking responsibility for his actions. However, if Em is the symbiote suit, then he’s granting great power, and it’s up to the audience (’Eddie Brock is you’) to use it responsibly.


Or maybe it’s all just a catchy song to sell records?

Monday 24 October 2022

Attack of the 50 Foot Spider-Girl

 

Tis the season for all manner of monsters, so for today’s post we will be taking a look at one monstrous transformation in the MC2: the Attack of the 50 Foot Spider-Girl from Spider-Girl #90. Who knows, maybe we will have some fun with this?

 




As I mentioned and as the cover to Spider-Girl #90 depicts, May ‘Mayday’ Parker transforms into a giant monstrous spider-creature…or so it seems. After an encounter with the villain Misery, May unknowingly finds herself trapped in a nightmare in which she changes into various forms reflecting her subconscious fears. After apparently confronting Misery, Spider-Girl is overpowered and begins to change into a giant humanoid spider creature. She is then attacked by helicopters who shooter her down. Turning back to normal, May soon begins to shrink to miniscule size. Eventually, after a pep talk from the spirit of her namesake great-aunt, May realizes she is still trapped within her nightmare and busts out of Misery’s Grief Machine and stops her with a single punch, for real this time.



 









The cover of Spider-Girl #90 proclaiming ‘Attack of the 50 Foot Spider-Girl’ is a homage to the 1958 science fiction horror movie Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, complete with similar pose. Additionally, the aircraft shooting down a giant hairy monster is a nod to the classic 1933 movie King Kong and may also be influenced by various Godzilla films. Furthermore, monstrous transformations in pop culture are often used as metaphors for a person’s feeling of alienation, self-destructive behaviour, and loss of humanity. 

 



Let’s dive even deeper here, because Mayday’s father Peter has not only sprouted extra limbs before but has also been transformed into a Man-Spider by the Savage Land denizen Brainchild in 1982’s Marvel Fanfare #2 and later underwent a second Man-SpiderSpider-Morphosis’ thanks to the machinations of the Plantman in 1998’s Amazing Spider-Man #437 (the latter of which is also written by Tom Defalco, coincidentally).

 




 

This is a fun little story that looks at some of Mayday’s fears and worries. It is not the last time May would think of herself as a monstrous spider-creature, either. Nor her last encounter with her great-Aunt May for that matter! I look forward to covering more of these ‘transformations’ in a later post someday but for now, that is all I’ve got!

 

Until I mess with the Plantman and get all bug-eyed and hairy, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

Sunday 23 October 2022

Spider-Symmetry: Mary Jane and the Smythe Family

 

Another quick post, this time for my long-neglected Spider-Symmetry series. For today’s entry, I wanted to show a fun little connection between two Spidey comics separated by 20 years and a whole universe.

 


First up in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19 we meet Alistaire Alphonso Smythe, the son of Spencer Smythe. In his first appearance Alistaire is an overweight man who worked for the Kingpin until he is promptly fired. We also learn that Spencer Smythe left Alistaire and his mother, only visiting occasionally, and ignoring Alistaire, in his obsession talking only of destroying Spider-Man. Due to some silly shenanigans, Alistaire captures Mary Jane and her Aunt Anna, mistakenly believing MJ is Spider-Man until his flying saucer-style Spider-Slayer crashes into powerlines. While the cover of this story depicts Mary Jane removing her coat to reveal she is wearing a Spider-Man costume beneath, this unfortunately does not actually occur within the issue itself.

 





Staci Smythe
 makes her first appearance as an unnamed store clerk in the Spider Shoppe when May first discovers the place in Spider-Girl #45. We later learn more about Staci Smythe in Spider-Girl #91 when she is revealed as the costumed villain La FantomeStaci Smythe desired to be a famous fashion designer and attended fashion college. While there she was recruited by Mary Jane Parker to work at the Spider Shoppe upon its opening, allowing her to pay for her education. Recognizing Staci's surname, Mary Jane had hoped to give the young woman a break from the stigma of her family's name, which Staci evidently greatly appreciated.


 

Disguised as La FantomeStaci began making attacks on Daniel Kingsley at his Spider-Women themed fashion show and warehouse office as revenge for his profiting from idea's stolen from the Spider ShoppeStaci also organized a rally in support of the Spider Shoppe which attracted the police, prompting her to don her La Fantome guise once more. However, La Fantome undone when her fellow rally attendee's (including Spider Shoppe secret-owner Mary Jane Parker and Spider-Girl herself, May Parker) joined forces to surround her wearing various spider-costumes allowing Spider-Girl the opportunity to easily apprehend and unmask her. 

 




So, we have both stories, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19 and Spider-Girl #90, featuring Mary Jane in the classic Spider-Man costume and both featuring a Smythe Family member as the antagonist, albeit with the latter issue revealing Staci at least meant well. Plus, this time Mary Jane wore the costume in the issue itself! Heck, going way back to the events of Amazing Spider-Man #25 (and visited by a time-travelling Mayday in Spider-Girl #10-#11), both Spencer Smythe and Mary Jane’s first appearance (albeit an obscured appearance), the resolution of the plot involves a Spider-Man costume being used to thwart the Spider-Slayer too. But maybe that’s a stretch?

 

Until I stop having my brain wrinkled by these fun little touches, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

Wednesday 13 October 2021

Where is Cletus Kasady in the MC2?

 

While I’ve been busy lately, it’s perhaps a good thing I already jumped the gun and detailed Carnage in the MC2 years back when the first Venom movie came out. That said, with Venom: Let There Be Carnage out in cinema (well, in some parts of the world! Not here yet, sadly) I figure I should at least try and put out something to tie-in. One question not specifically addressed in my previous post is the whereabouts of Carnage’s first and most iconic host: Where is Cletus Kasady in the MC2?

 


Cletus Kasady made his very first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #344, cameoing as Eddie Brock’s prison cellmate. When the Venom symbiote busted Eddie out, it left behind it’s offspring which bonded with serial killer Cletus to become the mass-murdering Carnage and the rest is history (Amazing Spider-Man #345, #359-#361). 

 


When a splinter of the Carnage symbiote (specifically Specimen 297 of 300) appeared in the MC2 starting in Amazing Spider-Girl #9, Cletus was nowhere to be seen. To explore why, we should look to the last published appearance of Cletus Kasady prior the MC2’s own publication history, a two-part story in Amazing Spider-Man #430-#431. The story starts out as a fairly standard ‘Carnage on a rampage’ plot until the Silver Surfer shows up and the Carnage symbiote abandons Cletus and bonds with the Surfer (Amazing Spider-Man #430).

 




While at first it seems as though Cletus is merely suffering a kind of withdrawal in the absence of his symbiote ‘other’, when Spider-Man takes Kasady to a hospital it’s discovered that he is suffering from an advanced case of stomach cancer and that the symbiote has been keeping him alive (Amazing Spider-Man #431).

 



By the story’s conclusion, the Surfer allows the Carnage symbiote to re-bond with Kasady…only to leave him encased in an unbreakable shell of ethereal energy ‘for the rest of his life’. Ironically, the Main Marvel Universe never really addresses Cletus’ situation, either how he escaped this seemingly permanent imprisonment nor recovered from his terminal cancer. Instead, the next time we see him he’s just in prison and shortly afterwards has his symbiote eaten by Venom with almost no ill effects. Wasted potential.

 

While we also don’t have an explanation for how the Carnage symbiote escaped the Silver Surfer’s encasement (though perhaps I could present a theory on that someday?) we can assume that Cletus Kasady is probably long dead in the MC2. The interesting thing to note is that both stories here were written by Tom Defalco and both refer to the symbiotes ability to keep a host alive even with a terminal cancer diagnosis, with the Carnage symbiote promising to help save new host Moose Mansfield’s father in exchange for his co-operation (Amazing Spider-Girl #9-#12).

 







Well, hopefully you got something out of this. I know I was pleasantly surprised when I realized the similarities between the two Defalco Carnage stories. I’m also fairly sure Defalco was the first person to associate symbiotes with cancer in anyway.

 

Until I find another tangential connection to the Venom films, I remain

 

frogoat

Sunday 23 August 2020

Betty Brant in the MC2

 

A while back, I was wondering what became of Betty Brant in the MC2. I knew she’d appeared in the time travel adventure seen in Spider-Girl #10 and #11 but as far as I could recall she didn’t appear anywhere in the present day and we knew nothing of her fate. Well, I was wrong.

 

Here’s Betty Brant’s appearances in the aforementioned Spider-Girl #10-11 when Mayday travels back to the events of Amazing Spider-Man #25, which is incidentally my all-time favourite Lee/Ditko story.

 


But where does she appear in the MC2’s present day? As far as the internet is concerned, Betty Brant doesn’t appear again. I’ve consulted both Marvel Fandom and the Marvel Chronology Project to confirm this, and neither lists any further appearances for this version of the character.

 

But here she is, tucked away in a single panel of Darkdevil #1 interviewing mayoral candidate Glynis O’Neil. So, what can we learn from this cameo appearance? Betty continued to work as a journalist and is apparently highly regarded enough to interview prominent New York City politicians. While we don’t know who exactly she works for, the fact we see a tape recorder instead of a microphone suggests Betty continues to work for print media. I wonder if she still works for the Daily Bugle?

 

Until I run out of things to talk about in the wide world of the MC2, I remain

 

frogoat

 

Tuesday 24 March 2020

Evolution of Spider Girl in Video Games (Updated)



It was well overdue. Having uncovered a few more previously unknown video game appearances, I decided to do a little tweaking to my original Evolution of Spider-Girl in Video Games video. Unfortunately, I no longer have the raw video files to completely remake and update it as I wanted to, so I've been forced to use the uploaded video itself as my starting point, with a few (hopefully subtle) edits spliced in.


Here's the video and it's description:






A small updated look at the video game appearances of May 'Mayday' Parker aka the Amazing Spider-Girl. I will likely revisit this again in the future if I can get better footage of some of the games featured. The years noted are the year the character appeared (has far as I've been able to ascertain) and are not necessarily the year the game was initially released.Here is a list of the games appearing in this video:

 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006)

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (2010)

Marvel Super Hero Squad Online (2011)

Marvel: War of Heroes (2012) 

Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Spider-Man Unlimited (2014) 

Marvel Heroes 2015 (2015)

Marvel: Avengers Alliance (2015)


 It's still a Spider-Girl World!


Until I unlock the skills and time necessary to produce as many videos and blog posts as I want, I remain


frogoat

Wednesday 28 January 2015

Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #8 Review

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This is a re-post of my review from Spidey-Dude.com which you can see here.

Story:

Disclaimer: This review was written before the conclusion of the Spider-Verse storyline. Some points raised may later be addressed.

The Inheritor named Daemos attacks the Parker home of Earth-982. Mayday's boyfriend Wes is apparently killed attempting to defend her from being crushed to death by Daemos.


Peter knocks Daemos away from Mayday and tells Mary Jane to save their children. While Peter battles Daemos, Mary Jane tells Mayday to take her baby brother Benjy and flee. Mary Jane rushes to her husband's side as May runs out of the burning family home with her brother. A scream is heard from the house just as Old Man Spider-Man and Spider-UK arrive through a portal.

Mayday begs them to help, but Old Man Spider-Man tells her they can only detect her and Benjy. Daemos emerges from the house dragging the body of Peter. He tells Mayday he will find them no matter where they go. Mayday vows to break every vow to avenge her father and kill Daemos before she disappears into the portal.

Review:

Where to start?

Dan Slott manages to do more to ruin the MC2's Spider-Girl in 8 pages than I ever thought possible. On the other hand, Dan Slott also writes the married Peter and Mary Jane as well as anyone could hope for.

Starting with some positives, I really enjoy seeing Humberto Ramos' depiction of Spider-Girl, brief though it maybe. His kinetic style is perhaps best suited to the action-oriented stuff, but I think he does a fine job showing emotion through the characters faces and body language. I was impressed how much pathos he manged to depict through Mayday's ripped mask with just one eye visible. I did find it difficult to make sense of where everybody was in relation to one another at times and the odd angles chosen sometimes forced me to look twice. I think Victor Olazaba's inks help deepen and distinguish Ramos' pencils, which is usually a good thing. The colors by Edgar Delgado were suitably darker in tone than most Spider-Girl stories and the lighting particularly from the flames worked well to evoke the destructive nature of this story. I'd like to see this art team draw more Spider-Girl someday. The cover to the book by Giuseppe Camuncoli looks amazing too.

But what about the story? The cover's copy reads 'Spider-Girl's Last Stand' and with the accompanying artwork of Mayday looking battered but determined surrounded by destruction, you'd be forgiven for thinking she had agency in her own story. Instead, Mayday starts off pinned by Daemos and already defeated. Wes has more of a heroic moment than Mayday. Then Peter throws himself at Daemos to slow him down so that his family can escape. Then Mary Jane gives Mayday Benjy and steps up to rejoin her husband. Wes, Peter and MJ all take an active role in the story while Mayday spends the entire story reacting.

As a story featuring Spider-Girl there isn't a lot of the tone one would expect. Mayday's character seems lacking. Sure, she monologues and feels responsible for bringing this down on her family and she clearly loves and respects her parents; that much I think was well handled. But the use of 'Mayday Parker' instead of May 'Mayday' Parker is either an error or a clue this isn't really the MC2 character. 'Mayday' is merely a nickname but here Spider-Girl refers to herself this way as though it were her actual name. Even Mary Jane calls her 'Mayday' for goodness sake. There's also the use of 'The Spider-Girl' to describe herself as the definitive Spider-Girl which struck me as odd.

Another quibble of mine was Old Man Spider-Man showing up and simply telling Mayday that it's too late to help because he can't detect any other Spider-Totems. Did Dan Slott forget about the MC2's own Kaine. Or Darkdevil. Or Gerry Drew. Or Jessica Drew. Or Julia Carpenter. Or Mattie Franklin. Or Aranâ. Or Black Tarantula. I know what you might be thinking, perhaps they are already dead? But no, dialogue  from Daemos seems to imply this is his first stop on this world.

There are a multitude of reasons I could rant on about why this story fails, but I think the main reason is simple. This was the first time we'd really seen May in a comic since her series ended four years ago, and the first thing we see is her parents and boyfriend murdered and her family home destroyed. Which leaves us with a very different character leading into the Spider-Verse event. If they wanted to use Spider-Girl, then use her as she has always been portrayed. If they wanted a vengeful and angry character, then why not use a different character? This depiction does a disservice to the fans of the character by making her unrecognizable and does nothing but tear down over a decade of character development and progression.

Worse still, Spider-Girl is no longer viable as a concept with her parents dead.  The whole point of having the daughter of Spider-Man is to show how they interact with one another. Mayday's relationship with her parents is one of the richest sources of drama and development. Spider-Girl was a rare find in comics: a superhero who didn't need a tragic past to drive her. Cutting that out leaves us with  yet another brooding, angst-ridden orphan superhero.

A far more interesting approach to having Spider-Girl in this event would have been to highlight the various strong points of her series: The marriage of Peter and MJ, May's optimism and strength of  character, her ability to see the good in others. There are key moments in Spider-Verse where Mayday's unique perspective could have shone through. Instead she's reduced to spouting rage-filled epithets. It's a true shame.

I think where Dan Slott shows the most promise is with his depiction of the married Peter and Mary Jane and the assertion  that they would never be parted. Which gives a nice piece of tragedy to their deaths, pointless though they may be. I suppose some credit must be given for featuring Wes in the story, though he's really only there to increase the drama by dying. This universe's earth designation is correctly given as 982, which considering the errors in other Spider-Verse stories, is something they got right. Considering what transpires, I don't know if that's a good thing.

Only time will tell if this is all set right at the conclusion of Spider-Verse. On a personal note, my favorite character suffering through the loss of her parents struck me very hard, especially while re-reading the story again. I find it almost cruel and heartless that anyone would write such a story without regard to the consequences going forward. The loss of parent is a life-altering event. I don't feel it was handled with the care and forethought that was needed. I hope there is a plan going forward for Mayday and her family.
All said and told, I really did not enjoy reading this story. A lot of people wanted to see Spider-Girl again, but not like this. Not like this. D-

Until things are set right again, I remain
frogoat