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Web-Spinning Heroics

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Sample file Web-Spinning Heroics Critical Essays on the History and Meaning of Spider-Man

Edited by ROBERT MOSES PEASLEE and ROBERT G. WEINER Foreword by Tom DeFalco Afterword by Gary Jackson

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McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Jefferson, North Carolina, and London ALSO OF INTEREST In the Peanut Gallery with Mystery Science Theater 3000: Essays on Film, Fandom, Technology and the Culture of Riffing (2011; edited by Robert G. Weiner and Shelley E. Barba) Graphic Novels and Comics in Libraries and Archives: Essays on Readers, Research, History and Cataloging (2010; edited by Robert G. Weiner) and the Struggle of the : Critical Essays (2009; edited by Robert G. Weiner) Marvel Graphic Novels and Related Publications: An Annotated Guide to Comics, Prose Novels, Children’s Books, Articles, Criticism and Reference Works, 1965–2005 (2008; Robert G. Weiner)

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Web-spinning heroics : critical essays on the history and meaning of Spider-Man / edited by Robert Moses Peaslee and Robert G. Weiner ; foreword by Tom DeFalco ; afterword by Gary Jackson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.

SampleISBN 978-0-7864-4627-8 file softcover : acid free paper

1. Spider-Man (Fictitious character) 2. Comic books, strips, etc.—Moral and ethical aspects. I. Peaslee, Robert Moses, 1973– II. Weiner, Robert G., 1966– PN6728.S6W425 2012 741.5'973—dc23 2012014322

BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

© 2012 Robert Moses Peaslee and Robert G. Weiner. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover illustration ©2012 Digital Vision

Manufactured in the United States of America

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640 www.mcfarlandpub.com Acknowledgments

The editors would like to thank Tom DeFalco and Gary Jackson for their support of the project and their generous contributions to it.

Robert Moses Peaslee:

This volume is dedicated to all the mentors who have guided me as a student and a scholar, and who have in the process refrained from steering me too rigidly way from the diversionary projects that have, in time, become my fields of study: Donna Berghorn, Patrick Anderson, Ann Page Stecker, Joe Kelly, Janice Peck, Polly McLean, Andrew Calabrese, Paul Gordon, Liz Skewes, Ann Hardy, Tim Oakes, Lynn Clark, Stewart Hoover, and Shu-Ling Berggreen. I would especially honor the memory of Dr. Donald Coonley, who first introduced me to critical media studies and, in effect, opened my eyes. Thanks to Brian Hamilton and Jacob Copple, whose generous and skilled assistance during the editing process was invaluable to bringing the project together more or less on time. Many friends and family members have stoked my interest in the topic of superheroes and their attendant milieu: among them I would mention TJ Davis, Jon Zimnick, the late Kirk Zimnick, Curtis Coats, and, of course, Rob Weiner. Rob, you are a scholarship machine, an encyclopedia, an expert, and a trueSample inspiration. Thankfile you for your overwhelming gen- erosity in all things, but especially in bringing me into this important project.

Robert G. Weiner:

This book is dedicated to the memory of my father Dr. Leonard Weiner, who always supported my scholarship and never once made light of my various projects (even as a forty- something studying comics and film). Thanks and love to Marilyn Weiner and Larry and Vicki. Thanks to Elizabeth Figa, Cynthia J. Miller, The Southwestern Popular Culture Asso- ciation (Ken Dvorak, Sally Sanchez, Lynnea Chapman King, Kelli Shapiro), John Cline, Flint Marko, KD, Jessica Drew, , Tom Gonzales, Sara Dulin, Joe Ferrer, John Oyerbides, Ms. Conni Kitten, Dan Watkins, Dr. Sam Dragga, Marina Oliver, Shelley E. Barba, Kaley Daniel, Mr. Ryan Litsey, Lynn Whitfield, David Marshall, Fredonia Paschal and Dr. . Thanks to Dean Dyal, Dr. Joan Ormrod, Dr. David Huxley, and the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. All my love to Rachel (you are my Sunday Morning Sunshine).

v vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to the staff of the Texas Tech Libraries and in particular the staff of Document Delivery! Thanks to my supervisor Laura Heinz for good advice always and to my colleagues in the Research, Outreach and Instruction department (Ryan Cassidy, Kimberly Vardeman, Arlene Paschall, Jon Hufford, Tom Rohrig, Minerva Alaniz, Brian Quinn, Jack Becker, Donell Callender, Sandy River, Innocent Awesome, Carrye and Jake Syma, Sheila Hoover, Ms. Cyn- thia Henry, Susan Hidalgo, ER, and Mr. Samuel Dyal). Thanks to my magical critters for always putting a smile on my face! I would like to give tribute to the memory of Sunshine, Remy, and Captain, who are missed. An honest dedication to those Spidey scribes who influenced me: Tom DeFalco, J.M. DeMatteis, , John Romita, Sr., Alex Ross, , , , , , , , and . And thanks to all the writers and artists who have ever worked on a Spider-Man comic. Finally, I would like to thank my friend, colleague, teacher, and co-editor Dr. Robert Moses Peaslee. Thanks for believing in this project, your eye for detail, and for so much hard work. You are truly a “gentleman and a scholar.” It is an honor to work with you.

Sample file Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ...... v Foreword: My Pal Pete TOM DEFALCO ...... 1 Elegy for GARY JACKSON ...... 3 Introduction ROBERT G. WEINER and ROBERT MOSES PEASLEE ...... 4

I. Historical, Cultural and Pedagogical Angles Donald Glover for Spider-Man PHILLIP LAMARR CUNNINGHAM ...... 22 Have Great Power, Greatly Irresponsible: Intergenerational Conflict in 1960s Amazing Spider-Man PETER LEE ...... 29 “Continually in the Making”: Spider-Man’s MARTIN FLANAGAN . . . . .Sample ...... file...... 40 Hegemonic Implications of Science in Popular Media: Science Narratives and Representations of Physics in the Spider-Man Film Trilogy LISA HOLDERMAN ...... 53 Teaching Peter Parker’s Ghosts of Milton: Anxiety of Influence, the Trace, and Platonic Knowing in Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 1 JAMES BUCKY CARTER ...... 63

II. Considering Specific Graphic Novels Weaving Webs and True Lies: Revisiting Kraven’s Last Hunt Through the Lens of Dreams DAVID WALTON ...... 70 The Hermeneutics of Spider-Man: What Is Peter Parker Doing in Elizabethan England? CHRISTINA C. ANGEL ...... 74

vii viii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Strategies of Narration in and Tim Sale’s Spider-Man: Blue DEREK PARKER ROYAL ...... 81

III. The J. Jonah Jameson Problem Spider-Man: MENACE!!! Stan Lee, Censorship and the 100-Issue Revolution AARON DRUCKER ...... 90 J. Jonah Jameson—Hero or Villain? Spider-Man’s Nemesis Hard to Pigeonhole ANDREW A. SMITH ...... 101 Spider-Management: A Critical Examination of the Business World of Spider-Man MATTHEW MCGOWAN and JEREMY SHORT ...... 113

IV. Spider-Man and Other Sequential Art Characters Anti-Heroes: Spider-Man and the CORD A. SCOTT ...... 120 The : Anti-Villains in an Anti-Heroic Narrative RICK HUDSON ...... 128 Spider-Man and , Disordered Minds: Friendship Through Difference PHILLIP BEVIN ...... 134

V. Trauma Textual and Extra-Textual The Loss of the Father: TraumaSample Theory and file the Birth of Spider-Man FORREST C. HELVIE ...... 146 Artificial Mourning: The Spider-Man Trilogy and September 11th TAMA LEAVER ...... 154

VI. Issues of Gender in the Spider-verse Three Stories, Three Movies and the Romances of Mary Jane and Spider-Man ROBERT G. WEINER ...... 166 Women’s Pleasures Watching Spider-Man’s Journeys EMILY D. EDWARDS ...... 177 The Incorrigible Aunt May ORA C. MCWILLIAMS ...... 187 Spidey Meets Freud: Central Psychoanalytic Motifs in Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 ROBERT MOSES PEASLEE ...... 195 Table of Contents ix

VII. Under-Examined Spider-Texts Reinterpreting Myths in Spider-Man: The Animated Series DAVID RAY CARTER ...... 210 Finding the Milieu of the Spider-Man Music LPs MARK MCDERMOTT ...... 222 Games Are Not Convergence: Spider-Man 3, Game Design and the Lost Promise of Digital Production and Convergence CASEY O’DONNELL ...... 234

Afterword GARY JACKSON ...... 249 About the Contributors ...... 251 Index ...... 255

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Sample file Foreword: My Pal Pete

TOM DEFALCO

Peter Parker, better known to the rest of the world as the amazing Spider-Man, holds a very special place in my heart. I first encountered him when I chanced upon a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15. The year was 1962 and I bought all my comic books off the spinner rack at my local soda shop. (No, I didn’t live in Riverdale, but Pop Tate-style soda shops were where you bought your candy bars, comics, magazines, malteds, vanilla egg creams, root beer floats, lime rickeys, hamburgers and even school supplies back in the day.) I spied the cover to AF #15 on the rack and couldn’t resist a chance to read the introduction of Spider-Man. Why not? I was already a loyal Marvel fan, having begun on the day I purchased #3 and #4 and every succeeding issue. Needless to say, like many a fan, I immediately identified with Pete. He wasn’t a geek or a loser. He just liked to read, had attracting girls, and wasn’t the most popular kid in school. He was the first comic book character who shared a lot of the same problems I did. ( lived in a mansion, was surrounded by Betty and Veronica, and was, well, SUPERBOY!) In many ways, I would have ended up a lot like Pete if the radioactive spider had bitten me. (I say a lot like Pete, but the truth is he was always much smarter and braver than me. I doubt I would have survived the Chameleon in Amazing Spider-Man #1 and certainly would have gotten knocked off by the in #2.) Sample file I later learned that Stan Lee always intended Spider-Man to be the first realistic teenage superhero. Stan wanted Pete to be a real teenager with real problems. No sooner did Pete gain his powers than he tried to make money off them. (How many of us would have done the same?) With fame and fortune, Pete got a little arrogant. That’s why he let a burglar run past him—a mistake that later returned to haunt him and teach him a most valuable lesson about personal responsibility. Knowing Stan the way I do, I can see how he put a lot of himself into Pete’s character. (I can also see a lot of Stan in Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson.) The origin of Spider-Man is a simple little morality play, a basic plot that Stan had used in many of his mystery/fantasy titles. The protagonist allows his ego to get the better of him and later pays for it at of the story. What makes Spider-Man so special is the theme of personal responsibility that runs throughout the entire series. Before Spider-Man, most comic books focused on some gim- mick—a magic word, a special talent or power. Spider-Man may have been the first that cen- tered on an idea. Yes, Spider-Man has special abilities and gimmicks, but his stories are usually more than simple slugfests. The good ones discuss various aspects of responsibility. We often

1 2 FOREWORD

find Pete torn between his responsibilities, forced to decide between what he wants to do and what he should do. He’s constantly juggling his duties to his beloved aunt, his girlfriend, his job, his studies, and his life as Spider-Man. His choices always have consequences. It’s like real life. Our responsibilities may differ, but we’ve all got them. That’s why we still identify with Pete. He’s just like us.

Tom DeFalco • May 2012

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Tom DeFalco is a former editor-in-chief of with over thirty books in print. He has written comic books, graphic novels, short stories, prose novels and books including Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide, Comic Creators on Fantastic Four, and Comic Creators on Spider-Man. He is known for writing stories featuring Spider-Man and Spider-Girl. Elegy for Gwen Stacy

GARY JACKSON

Spider-Man appeared … I knew he would save her. That was what they did. They saved innocents.—Phil Sheldon from #4

I can’t stop dying. I still get thank-you letters The first time was 1973— from people who claim fell off the Brooklyn Bridge, if it wasn’t for me, killed by my lover they would have closed as he tried to catch me this world off, abandoned it with his webs. like so many highway gas stations. It was an accident, But it’s not me. he didn’t understand terminal I didn’t restore their faith velocity, sudden stops, whiplash. in the funny books. It’s my dying. It wasn’t the Always my dying. who killed me, or the falling, but my hero. Some people never forget the way you laugh Sample file or the way your body burns as you walk away. People never forgot the way I died. They told their friends, re-read those issues until the staples fell out and fingerprints dulled the covers. I died a lot in 1987. Peter got married that same year.

Gary Jackson, “Elegy for Gwen Stacy” from Missing You, Metropolis. Copyright © 2010 by Gary Jackson. Reprinted with the permission of The Permissions Company, Inc. on behalf of Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota, www.graywolfpress.org.

3 Introduction

ROBERT G. WEINER and ROBERT MOSES PEASLEE

In his 50 year career, Spider-Man has become the unquestioned flagship character of Marvel Comics and, next to Batman and , the best known superhero across the globe. With movies, toys, books, video games, clothing, children’s products, websites, animated television programs, a (beleaguered) Broadway musical, fan films, and of course, comic books, Spider-Man has permeated the popular culture landscape in a way that few superheroes have. One could say that Spider-Man has also finally made a mark in the world of academia: the august Modern Language Association announced its hosting of a special session, “The Material History of Spider-Man: A 50th Anniversary Observance,” at its 2012 meeting. This illustrates the importance of sequential art as a legitimate object of cultural and historical study. Spi- der-Man is now “part of our collective consciousness … (and) probably would be recognized anywhere in the world regardless of differences in race, language, creed or any other grouping, and whether or not the individuals had read a story, seen a movie, watched a television program or played a video game related to him” (Weiner, 2009: 458). At the time of this writing, Online Computer Library Center’s WorldCat, a world catalog of materials, books, articles, videos, music, and websites often used as a tool by librarians and academics, lists the phrase “Spider-Man” as occurring 5,018 times; with “Spider-Man” and “comic” occurring together on 2,220 occasions. “Spider-Man (Fictitious character)—Comic books, strips, etc.” occurs 1,176 timesSample and encompasses file books, serials, internet, visual, sound and even one lone archival record for the Stan Lee papers. Spider-Man as a subject heading resulted in 2,173 items and even included a musical score, Peter Parker: für Klavier sol. There are 74 listings for Spider-Man and computer games. In addition to graphic novels, children’s books, Internet web sites, prose novels, and film books, Spider-Man is the topic of a wide variety of popular secondary literature. Several of those sources are worth mentioning here, including Steve Saffel’s (2007) Spider-Man The Icon: The Life and Times of a Pop Culture Phenomenon, which looks at Spider-Man as the represen- tative superhero of our times. The character has received the “how to” treatment in The Spi- der-Man Handbook: The Ultimate Training Manual (2006) by Seth Grahame-Smith. This guide gives readers what they need to know about how to function like Spider-Man. Tom DeFalco published his definitive collection of Spider-Man-related artist/writer interviews, Comic Creators on Spider-Man (2004), as well as Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide (2007). Marvel Comics even got into the act of Spider-Man support literature by publishing The Amazing Spider-Man: The Official Index to the (Sjoerdsma, 2010) and The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man (Couper-Smartt, 2006). Longtime Spi- der-Man scribe Gerry Conway published a collection of essays called Webslinger: Unauthorized

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