The Secret That Made Spider-Man A Killer - io9 Comments

The Secret That Made Spider-Man A Killer

rotorgirl — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:57:18 PDT

That Voltron picture just made me squeal like a little girl.

The Secret That Made Spider-Man A Killer

Chris Meredith — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:13:38 PDT

OK, it seems I am once again the outside man. I REALLY enjoyed Spider-Man Reign. Everyone points out the cancer thing, which was a very small part of the story, and they all compare it to Darknight Returns. Yes, it's about an older Peter Parker. That is about the only thing that is similar to Frank Millers work if you actually have read the two stories. The world is a totally different place.

How Parker is living his life is the opposite of Wayne. The government is a whole different beast. I would compare it more to Batman Year 100 (which I hated) if I had to compare the universe to a Batman story.

If you are a fan of great art, and interesting characters (J.J. stole the story for me), Reign is worth checking out. Hell, download the cbr and see. Then go buy the book. There is no reason to judge a book by the loudest commenters on the internet when you can just go check it out in store, or "try before you buy" online. And yes, go buy it if you like it. It's a small industry, so every sale counts.

Chris Meredith

The Secret That Made Spider-Man A Killer

Conrad — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:37:27 PDT

Radioactive sperm a. wouldn't be viable, and b. wouldn't be viable. Also, at most it may give her cervical cancer, but most likely he wouldn't have any sperm to ejaculate in the first place.

Conrad

The Secret That Made Spider-Man A Killer

Tiwa — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:15:49 PDT

I just got excited about the news of re-releasing The Killing Joke, but I was immediately brought down when I read that it was getting a color re-do. Why is this necessary? I've been looking at the Doctor Who classics issues that have been coming out, and they have the same treatment. I hope I'm not alone, but it looks horrible! I can't stand the over worked-looking digital color over the old flat toned color.

Plus it's like the people handling the re-issue are picking and choosing what's worthy of salvaging from old comics when putting them out. No one would ever think of re-drawing Bolland's art, but Higgins' work immediately gets obliterated in favor of 'feeling fresh?' Do they think we won't buy something because it looks dated? I remember reading the Killing Joke years ago, and I thought the artwork looked amazing, color and all. I have little to no confidence that they'll do a better job than Higgins, or any color artist before the digital age for that matter.

Tiwa

The Secret That Made Spider-Man A Killer

Defendant — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:49:43 PDT

It's about time there was a re-release of The Killing Joke. Finding an original copy is something I've never been able to do.

Defendant

The Secret That Made Spider-Man A Killer

Plague — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:48:37 PDT

what about the HACK/SLASH omnibus comin' out?
'bout as sci fi as Killing Joke is...

Plague

The Secret That Made Spider-Man A Killer

Rhainor — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:12:39 PDT

"Now, go and wash your mind out to stop thinking about radioactive spider sperm. You know you want to."

Want to? Perhaps, but more importantly, I NEED to. 'Scuse me for a moment...

Rhainor

The Secret That Made Spider-Man A Killer

Rasselas — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:44:32 PDT

I've always loved The Killing Joke, although I know Moore disparages it in retrospect and women hate it for the cavalier abuse of Barbara Gordon. The art is one reason, the real but hostile sympathy between the Bat and the Joker, unfortunately giving rise to dozens of lesser writers' attempts to do the same thing, another.

Rasselas

The Secret That Made Spider-Man A Killer

gods-n-clods — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:34:20 PDT

Killing Joke-- fantastic classic. This was published -how long ago? 15, 17 years back?

gods-n-clods

The Secret That Made Spider-Man A Killer

laughingacademy — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:32:06 PDT

@Mrreader: Ah yes, "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex." I traumatized a good half dozen of my friends in junior high school by reading that aloud on the bus.

laughingacademy

The Secret That Made Spider-Man A Killer

NefariousNewt — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:07:43 PDT

I'm not going to jump right out and buy a new copy of The Killing Joke. I have an original and it suits me just fine. It was perhaps one of the best Batman stories of all time, and the crippling of Barbara Gordon was certainly the kind of shock we hadn't seen much from DC at that point -- of course nowadays I think they overdo it, but go figure.

NefariousNewt

The Secret That Made Spider-Man A Killer

Mrreader — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:33:17 PDT

I don't think I can ever wash my mind out to stop thinking about it. Between Spidey's "hot" spunk and Superman's faster than a speeding bullet super sperm (see Larry Niven's famous essay on this point), those ideas have left me with a Charles Burns-like paranoia about contact with superbeings' bodily secretions.

Mrreader