Mr. Parker Goes To Washington Part One of Three

Most of Peter’s costumes were destroyed while he was “dead” (See The Other: Evolve or Die, and Tony “Iron Man” Stark has created a new costume design for him. The new suit is bulletproof, with gadgets to let him see infrared/ultraviolet, hear the fire/police/emergency radios, glide. Peter takes it out for a “test drive”, but is left wondering why Tony’s going so far to help him.

First things first, let me just say that I hate the new look. The idea behind it is a good one that could’ve been fairly character-driven (though I suspect it’s more driven by the upcoming summer event) — Peter has some real superhero contacts now, and I can certainly see Tony Stark offering this sort of assistance to his fellow heroes, especially with the “price” he ends up putting on it. A bullet-proof costume with a few extra gadgets sounds like a good idea. Still, Marvel hires a lot of creative people. There’s no reason for this thing to look so ugly. The art in the issue is otherwise great, so it’s not something we can just blame on Garney. I’ve heard that Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief, Joe Quesada, was responsible for the new design, and that probably explains the craptacular nature of it.

As for the story, I know there’s a lot of people who hate the big summer “events” that DC and Marvel have periodically, and that Civil War is supposed to be highly political (and given that I’m not aware of any comic writers whose political opinions I agree with), but I’m still sort of looking forward to it. This issue of Amazing Spider-Man serves as part of the lead up to Civil War, and I have to say it’s a fun read.

The problem is that we’re piling more new “powers” on Spider-Man before the new powers he just got two issues ago have really been explored. Other than Peter’s costumes having been destroyed, there’s no real sense that there’s been any aftermath of the events of The Other, which is a bit annoying since it was pretty heavily advertised as being a big turning point for Spider-Man (I never really figured it’d change much, but it’d be nice if they’d at least pretend for a few months before going back to the status quo).

We do get a glimpse of what the core of this storyline is going to be about, and I’ve got to say I’m intrigued, even if I’m a little wary that it’s going to end up preaching a viewpoint that I’ll find unpalatable.

Here!

Now, stop badgering me about the Beauties. They’ll come back when I get off my lazy butt and post them.