Peter Parker– CHIMP-style….
To round out the week, I decided to draw the response/answer to the last post with J. Jonah J-APE-eson– and so today’s post is of Peter Parker– drawn as a chimp. I always liked the fact that as Jonah’s freelance photographer, Peter had to put up with a fair amount of abuse and derision from his boss. He could get a bit of payback, though, by showing up in Jonah’s office from time to time as SPIDER-MAN and web his mouth shut, or web him to the wall, or hang him out a window. Jonah’s character is a good man at heart– but he gets what he deserves when SPIDER-MAN gives Peter a little bit of revenge. That was one of the things that was so very appealing about Peter Parker (and SPIDER-MAN) early on– that even though, in his costumed identity, Peter had all this power and could do almost anything, he still had a ‘normal’ life that required working, paying bills and generally trying to get by– and he had a lot of trouble in that normal life. He was always broke, worried about his Aunt May’s health and financial situation– and like most young men, he had romantic troubles. Peter Parker was an everyman– and fans could identify with his struggles. It’s what made him so appealing to readers– that this guy had so many of the same problems that they did. And yet, he was also secretly one of the coolest super-heroes in the biz, which served to feed the power fantasies that kids all go through growing up. Unfortunately, I feel as though the character’s lost a lot of that appeal over the years… he’s married to a super model, he’s living in a posh high-rise tower and he’s got no money troubles. He’s kind of lost his core appeal….
But he’s still, even with all that, one of the greatest comic book characters of all time.
This week, Marvel released the solicitations for their books shipping in August– so for those of you who might not have seen it yet, here’s the cover image for FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #11.
Have a great weekend, folks.
This is Entry 229.
Mike