There is a lot of red on these eighty pages. For $16.95 in Australia, there are much better ways to spend your comic book allowance.
The idea was to share my comics experience. [We will get to paper vs digital later].
Rather than just talk a bit about why I prefer paper over digital issues, I end up thinking about the time I spent yesterday and today reading Amazing Spider-Man #800.
This is the end of Dan Slott's writing run on ASM since he started way back at #1 where we had bloody Spidermobiles and additional gadgetry. This issue saw me faced with eighty pages of "blurgh". Look, I mean there were a few moments where I was like, "Oh yeah! Great twist." But by and large, the carnage-infused Red Goblin villain sucked. I'll keep it brief. It sucked because I felt that very little happened. It felt like a giant boss-battle that changed scenes.
I'm deliberately keeping this spoiler-free so as to allow those who are excited by this monumental issue (it is 800, after all) to read my thoughts without hearing about all the details.
I am glad that creators like Slott are reimagining Spidey's villainous landscape.
Without inventiveness and a push for creativity, things get dull fast. I mean, if you're looking for the same old stuff, back issues exist, you know. And I am well aware of it. I love back issues and I love re-reading stories because often there is so much that I've forgotten. Or because I just want to re-experience those same moments or emotions. People watch reruns on TV, and so too, we should expect people to re-read their favourite comics.
Get rid of those 1 star-comics. You'll need room for your back issue collection of Kill or Be Killed.
It's a timely reminder that we are approaching issue #20 of KobK. That's right. There are twenty issues that you deserve to flick through at your leisure at your favourite coffee shop, your dining room table or sitting snug in your most comfortable lounge. Knowing this is the end scares the hell out of me. It wrenches my gut into a fray of intestinal acrobatics and makes me wish I could convince Ed Brubaker and his team of wizards to keep going.
We all need to move on.
Lamenting won't change anything. Besides, if they had of kept Fatale or Criminals going indefinitely, we wouldn't have had the pleasure of meeting Dylan and that fucking demon.
Back to Amazing Spider-Man #800.
So, who loves this book?
I thought I'd do my own research.
I jumped onto YouTube looking for videos. The comments section didn't disappoint.
Let's consider some of the comments for a moment;
"..never been the biggest Dan Slott fan but this is a modern classic."
"..one of the better story arcs."
"..left me speechless. I adored this issue."
"Wow! The art, the story, the battles."
I knew I was going to be the Grinch. But let's just be honest with ourselves.
It's the eight hundredth issue. The hype in the comicsphere surrounding this book was unmistakable.
Look, I'm sitting in bed here, sighing as I write, wishing I felt a different way. You all know I grew up on Spidey. I adored Spidey. I even picked up shitty issues of Marvel Adventures because Spidey was on the cover. It was a trashy cover, too and I should have known better. Alas, I still have all of those books in my study - twenty one years later.
Nostalgia plays a massive role and it's one of the reasons I frequently digitally access Spidey stories to give them more of my love. I take the time to check them out, but in the end, I often don't buy hard copies.
I have spent hours reading Spidey only to wish for something new that works for me. I mean, we've had spidermobiles, Miles Morales as Spider-Man, Iron Spider, clones and symbiotes. Spider-Man is constantly changing, but nothing seems to be sticking (for me). Clearly, everyone else is liking what they did in this issue. Those comments say a lot.
What else could it have been aside from the never ending boss-battle?
Too many characters and not enough fleshing out of their (superficial) motives.
An unimaginative villain. Merging two exisiting characters seemed lazy to me.
Artwork that didn't appeal to me ( I'd love for Sean Philips to have a go at a Spidey cover). I hated the way Red Goblin looked. What made it worse was that his ugly, sharp-featured face was splashed throughout the book.
You'll hate me. I get it. But if you're going to have an opinion, at least be honest, right?
Paper vs Screen. Is this the REAL reason why I hated this issue?
I've found in the past that after reading a comic online and rereading it's hardcopy counterpart, I had so much more fun re-reading it. It's the same content! What happened to allow me so much more enjoyment when I've got it in front of me?
I will try to put things together in a way that makes sense but if you're unfamiliar with ASMR, this may be lost on you.
This morning, before I headed off to school (yes, I am aware it's Sunday in Australia) to continue working on assessment data, I spent about twenty five minutes at the local DC fast charger to top up the car. I brought along some comics to turn through.
I find the process of comic book reading as therapeutic as a gentle whisper in my ear or having my mum scratch my back when I was eight years old. Holding the book's weight in my hands, the smell of the print, the texture and gloss of the pages, the light reflecting off the page and of course and the ability to see the entire two pages of panelled artwork ahead of me all contribute in varying degrees to the comic reading experience.
The art of turning the page.
The most sensory-stimulating facet of comic book reading is the process of turning a page. Consider how the thumb gently flicks up a corner, clasped between thumb and forefinger, the page pressed and rubbed (squeakily) to ensure just one page has been turned, then at last that tingly sound of a high-grade, glossy, coloured page turning over. Can scrolling down an LCD screen provide all that?
Book in hand, allow yourself to gaze.
Presented in front of you, the spread pages invite your eyes to make a pass or two across the art-filled panels. When you reach the staples, you have an indication of how far you've come and indeed, how far you've got left. You can see the puncture wounds of those otherwise pristine pages like snake bites across the neck of an incapacitated animal. Far from dying, the images flow from panel to panel with vital fluidity.
Don't be fooled. Digital copies are sensory experience rip-offs of a true book in hand.
Sure you can save a few bucks, but would you prefer to jump out of a plane at 12 000 feet or hover over a fan surrounded by a net?
Are you a passionate page-turner or looking to digitally-divide?
Find Amazing Spider-Man #800 on Comixology.
If you send me a hardcopy, I promise to read it. Again.
All the best,
Nick.
All content is original and belongs to @nickmorphew. [3 June 2018]
Disclosure: This article was not a paid promotion and was not self-upvoted. Nor were there any affiliate links.
I’m still looking for an artist to cover my work on my fantasy saga, Adventures in Elowyn Glade.