Sunday 8 January 2023

Spider-Man's Spider-Armor

 

Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse just released its first trailer and with it we got a glimpse of the very tangentially related original Spider-Armor which also happens to have a little connection to the MC2.

 


Let us take in some context, shall we? In Web of Spider-Man #100, Peter Parker finds himself outnumbered fighting the rank and file of the New Enforcers. Later at the Empire State University Science Department, Peter decides to kill two birds with one stone: making a new batch of web-fluid and in the process give himself an edge against the New Enforcers. This edge comes in the form of the ‘bigger, better, badder—and bulkier—Spider of Steel,’ in reality an experimental new ‘hard-web agent’ that forms a ‘pseudo-metallic composition’ which Peter wears as suit of armor over his regular costume.

 




Sadly, the Spider-Armor does not last long (only about 8 pages, in fact) against the ranks of the New Enforcers in addition to the Blood Rose, an imposter ‘Richard Fisk’ and Gauntlet After being weakened, ripped apart, eaten away, electrocuted, blasted by a grenade, melted into slag then flash-frozen, the Spider-Armor was shattered to pieces as Spider-Man came out swinging. Gone but not forgotten.






 


As an aside, the new web-polymer’s resilience also gives Peter’s web-fluid ‘far more bounce’ making his web-balls ricochet. I am not sure but this may be the first instance of Spider-Man using this particular web-spinning technique. Someone please let me know!  

 

While the Spider-Armor has yet to make a return in the mainstream comics, it would go on to become one of the most well-known variant costumes for Spider-Man in other media. The first instance of this was the 1994/1995 Spider-Man video game (sometimes colloquially known as the Spider-Man: The Animated Series game).

 



Speaking of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, the Spider-Armor makes its animation debut in the series final arc with Spider Wars “Chapter I: I Really, Really Hate Clones” which was first broadcast in 1998. That John Semper Jr really was ahead of the times, wasn’t he?

 


Finally, let us see how all this has any bearing on the MC2? Well, we know for sure these events transpired in the past of the MC2’s Peter Parker thanks to an unlikely source; Spider-Man Family Vol. 1 #1. Therein we have a story (seemingly) set during the mostly unexplored point in time after Baby May is rescued and returned to Peter and Mary Jane Parker by Kaine but before Peter loses his leg in his final battle with Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin. Lured into a trap by the villain Jack O’ Lantern aka Maguire BeckSpider-Man meets and teams-up with Araña and her *sidekick* Miguel as they battle a museum room full of Spider-Man robot’s designed to resemble various costumes and points in Peter’s career. Among these we see a robot that appears to be clad in the original Spider-Armor which should reaffirm for anyone who may doubt the Main Marvel Universe and the MC2 share a common history (up to a point).





Much like with the case of Six-Arm Spider-Man, there is the lingering question of how Jack O’ Lantern came to know of the Spider-Armor given its single brief appearance. Perhaps the network of super villains shared accounts of the battle?

 

The Spider-Armor has become quite an iconic mainstay in other mediums even if it never quite took hold in the comics. Still, there seems to be continued interest for this metallic monstrosity all the same. Big thanks to arias-98105 for research help on this post.

 

Until I am forced to whip up a new Spider-Man design for a centenary issue, I remain

 

frogoat

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