Spider Man

High school senior Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) lives in Forest Hills, a quiet neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, with his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) and Aunt May (Rosemary Harris). He secretly loves Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), a warm-hearted girl next door, but he is too shy to approach her. His friend Harry Osborn…

Peter Parker is an unhappy man: after two years of fighting crime as Spider-Man, his life has begun to fall apart. The girl he loves is engaged to someone else, his grades are slipping, he cannot keep any of his jobs, and on top of it, the newspaper Daily Bugle is attacking him viciously, claiming that Spider-Man is a criminal. He reaches the breaking point and gives up the crime fighter's life, once and for all. But after a failed fusion experiment, eccentric and obsessive scientist Dr. Otto Octavius is transformed into super villain Doctor Octopus, Doc Ock for short, having four long tentacles as extra hands. Peter guesses it might just be time for Spider-Man to return, but would he act upon it?

Among those writers who have had their go with the ongoing Amazing Spider-Man storyline (Joe Kelly, Mark Waid and Fred Van Lente), Dan Slott's work with the story arc on Mysterio is the weakest. The previous three before him have revived and re-invigorated the status quo, including Spidey's Rogue's Gallery to place the title among Marvel's very best, and such was the quality of their work that Slott's turn seems average in comparison. Moreover, Slott's turn came immediately after Joe Kelly's superlative issue #617 and understandably his deficiencies were magnified. If issue #618 was weak, it seemed issue #619 made such downturn even steeper and threatened to undo all the efforts of the previous writers in elevating the flagship series of Marvel's most recognizable character. Only Marcos Martin's Steve Ditko-ish art keeps it in place. Slott may have heard all the complaints because issue #620, the conclusion of his Mysterio arc is the most enjoyable of his run so far. It definitely arrested the downward spiral, but still is several cuts below the lofty standards set by his predecessors. Let's hope Slott at least manages to keep things on an even keel in the coming issues. Minutemen scans both.

In Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, the worlds of Peter Parker and Spider-Man collide in an original action-packed story. Play as an experienced Peter Parker, fighting big crime and iconic villains in Marvel’s New York. Web-swing through vibrant neighborhoods and defeat villains with epic takedowns.

In Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, the worlds of Peter Parker and Spider-Man collide in an original action-packed story. Play as an experienced Peter Parker, fighting big crime and iconic villains in Marvel’s New York. Web-swing through vibrant neighborhoods and defeat villains with epic takedowns.

Mary Jane Watson returns to Peter Parker's life in , entitled, "Red-headed Stranger: No Place Like Home" from the web-tastic team of Mark Waid and Mario Alberti. If anyone in real life were to experience what Peter Parker is going through in this issue, he'd probably jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. But then, that's why New York City's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man remains so popular. There's also a bonus six-page story by Brian Michael Bendis and Joe Quesada where Peter and his old classmate Jessica Jones reflect on their life together in high school with Peter helping Jessica come to a major decision about her future with the New Avengers.

Our friendly neighborhood together with the certifiably insane Merc-with-the-Mouth! It's a delight to see writer Joe Kelly use his peculiar brand of humor and creativity playing off and ol' webhead against each other "in such a free-wheeling, irreverent and unapologetically manic fashion." I'm neutral with regard to Artist Eric Canete's over-the-top cartoonish contribution, however. This issue serves as prologue to the upcoming Spider-Man story "The Gauntlet" and it's definitely great fun. One little complaint is that the editors seem to be trying too hard to live up to Deadpool's fourth-wall-breaking reputation. Instant suspension of disbelief helps.