Hello Crawlspace, thank you for this opportunity. I will shortly be the on-going reviewer for both Non-Stop Spider-Man and Spider’s Shadow, but with those books at least a month away I thought I’d introduce myself and draw your attention to a different story.
Depth of Field:
For those not in the know, Marvel will shortly be publishing Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow by Spider-Man Life Story writer Chip Zdarsky. The story has been pitched as “What if Peter Parker became Venom?” An interesting premise and from the preview this looks as though it will be rooted in Spider-Man history, in a similar way to Peter David’s Symbiote Spider-Man.
While not officially titled as such, this is the rebranding of another Marvel series (soon to be resurrected on Disney+), What If…*
The What If… series took classic Marvel stories and asked; what would happen if Gwen Stacy had lived, or if Spider-Man had joined the Fantastic Four. You get the idea. In issue #4 of volume two Marvel also asked the question “What if The Alien Costume had Possessed Spider-Man?” Now, I’m not here to criticise Marvel or Zdarsky for retreading old ground, what I want to do was give some context. When Danny Fingeroth and Mark Bagley crafted this story in 1989, the lore surrounding Symbiotes and Venom was very different to what we know now. There was no Knull, no corrupting influence, not even a Lethal Protector. Fingeroth told his story with only a handful of others to go on. I think it’s exciting that Zdarksky will be able to retell this story and expands on it, given he has so much more material to review.
Focal Points:
Let me summaries the story for you. Spider-Man returns from the Secret Wars with a new suit. He and Black Cat become concerned there may be more to it so Spider-Man seeks help from Doc Connors and Reed Richards. As before Mr. Fantastic realises the suit is alive, and tries to remove it. He is too late and the suit permanently grafts itself to Peter. The suit claims Peter is no more and escapes. Members of the Marvel universe (circa 1989) try to find Peter, but hope is lost when the Symbiote calls Felicia to tell her Peter is gone.
The Avengers though are easily distracted and their attention moves to a rampaging Hulk. Dr Strange is able to defeat the Hulk, but they are suddenly attacked by the Symbiote. In an ironic twist of fate the Symbiote abandons Peter and merges with the Hulk. The new Symbi-Hulk escapes, leaving an aged-Peter Parker behind. Slowly dying in his weakened state Peter is able visit Aunt May for a final goodbye. Upon his death Reed discovers that Peter has invented a machine that will allow him to defeat the Symbiote. While that is not the end of the story, that is where Peter’s involvement ends. Ultimately Reed, with the help of Black Bolt and Black Cat, is able to defeat the Symbiote (now attached to Thor). The series ends with a sad new status quo for Felicia who in an attempt to stop the Symbiote made a deal with the Kingpin.
As I mentioned I don’t wish to belittle Marvel for revisiting this concept. Fingeroth’s story, while very entertaining, is rooted in the era. The Avengers are a reflection of who was in the team at the time and the lore around Venom was not establish. Knowing what we know now through years of story telling and retcons Zdarksk
y has the opportunity to refocus this What If… and give us a new take. Though I would encourage those who haven’t read What If… #4 to seek it out and have a look. While not an essential Peter Parker/Spider-Man story, it is an interesting look at the Marvel universe and how it would respond to a body-jumping alien threat. As far as Spider’s Shadow goes, we’ve seen from his previous work on Life Story how Zdarsky is able to weave classic Spider-Man into his work to tell something new and original, and I’m hopefully Spider’s Shadow will give us an entertaining and contemporary look at the What If… concept.
*Negative Exposure:
Strange that Spider’s Shadow isn’t officially branded What If…They know about the Disney+ show, right? The Disney Synergy Squad will not be amused.
Zoom In:
What do you all think? Is anyone looking forward to a new Zdarksky Spider-Man project? Has anyone read this What If…Let me know in the comments.
Snapshot! will return when Non-Stop Spider-Man (finally) starts, due out March 7th pre-order now!
– Adam
(Alias AdamBParker)
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@ hornacek
I personally find the Peter in Symbiote Spider-Man to be written more aggressive then I am used to, but that could be me reading into it.
I’d say that since the retcon of symbiotes being from Klyntar in GOTG there have been a number of events and stories that show the symbiotes can alter their hosts. Stories such as Venomized, Poison X and even King in Black.
In the current Venom series we see that to get what they want the symbiote will go as far to alter the hosts memories to get the required response. I think this is certainly something Zdarksky could explore to show how Peter could become Venom.
“There was no Knull, no corrupting influence”
Have they retconned that the Venom symbiote has a corrupting influence? Because this was never there in any comic before the 90s show, which created the whole idea that the symbiote turned its host evil, and every (?) adaptation of Venom since then has used this as part of the symbiote’s powers. I don’t read any symbiote story that isn’t a Spidey story, but I’m sure I’ve read issues since the 90s cartoon (and SM3) where the symbiote does not make its host evil.
And as Donovan once said on the podcast to Brad, “It didn’t turn Peter evil. It just took him out on patrol at night. It used him like a prison roommate.”
@Evan
Thank you for the kind words. Can’t wait to get started properly. The photography theme will continue
@Franz29
My summary did take a hopefully stance, though I will admit this was after some soul searching. Ultimately my enjoyment of Life Story won out, and I decided to give Spider’s Shadow a try.
Welcome Adam, I look forward to reading your reviews.
Have to say though, not really all that excited to read Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow. I don’t get the appeal of the story, it’s already been done. The blurb says Peter will become the new “Lethal Protector” which doesn’t fit with the historical symbiote – it doesn’t turn the host bad, that was a creation of the cartoon and then into SM3.
Oh well, I guess I’ll wait and see what Zdarsky comes up with.
@Adam — Welcome to the Crawlspace! Looking forward to your reviews, and I appreciate your photography theme!