Spider-Oracle Petitions (01-Sep-2001)
The wise one answers all your Spider-Questions.
From Brian
I remember a book that I could not find. There was a hard cover book called "Webs" by Peter Parker. It was supposed to be based on the photo book that Peter Parker had authored in the comic and has went on the road to promote. Do you have any information on this book?
There are two 'books' which bear the name 'Webs' - although neither is hard-cover. The first is a gaming accessory produced by TSR as a companion to their Marvel super-hero role-playing game. It comes in a box, labelled WEBS: The Spider-Man Dossier. It contains a grandmaster logs, foldout maps of the Daily Bugle, city street, character standups, and a poster. Not really a book though!
Secondly, there was a soft-cover sticker book, about 32 pages or so. This is probably what you were thinking of. I'm sorry, but I don't know where you can find one, my collection doesn't have one yet.
From Will Harrison
Whoever wrote in to the Oracle last month (see Spider-Oracle Petitions 01-Aug-2001) saying that She-Venom turned up in the "Trial of Venom" UNICEF giveaway is misinformed. That book - which was written by Peter David and actually pretty good - did not feature Eddie's ex in the least. The first "She-Venom" appearance came in the Venom mini-series "Sinner Takes All," which featured the new Sin-Eater and was also actually pretty good (but for She-Venom, anyway.) In that series, Ann is badly wounded and Eddie has to let the symbiote bond with her to heal her. She snaps for a minute and butchers some thugs, but Eddie manages to recall the symbiote.
The second (and final) appearance of "She-Venom" came in the very next mini-series, "Along Came a Spider," which guest-starred the late, lamented Ben Reilly as Spider-Man. That is the scene your letter-writer refers to, where the symbiote travels from Eddie to his wife via phone line. This time she keeps the symbiote for a lot longer, and only gives it up when Eddie's lying near death for one reason or another. This series was actually pretty stupid.
Doubt anyone really cares, but I wanted to set the record straight.
Well, that puts the record straight. Of course, it still means that she had the symbiote, and should have been on the list. Wow, what a can of worms this one opened up.
From Bilica
I just noticed something: How can the police confiscate Doc Ock's tentacles in ASM #115? They're irreversibly bonded to his body! If it was that easy to take them off, why the emotional trauma that made him go bad? And if it's that easy to remove them, couldn't Spidey just yank them off and toss them into a conveniently-located blast furnace or something and end his reign of terror forever? And I won't even begin to try and figure out how Doc Ock was able to effectively control them when they were in a police warehouse miles away.
Doc Ock was traumatized by the arms being grafted to his body but, at some point, the authorities do figure out how to remove them. The problem is, Doc still has mental control over them up to a certain distance. In ASM #88, the arms are separated from Doc and he uses his control over them to summon them. So, at the time of ASM #115, Doc's arms ARE removable. But, as Doc explains in ASM #157, the nuclear explosion on Aunt May's island in ASM #131, regrafts the arms to his body... this time (for now anyway) permanently.
So, the answer is that "irreversibly" doesn't mean what it used to mean. Remember that there are some pretty hi-tech prison facilities in the Marvel Universe, like "The Vault". They have access to some pretty neat toys. Grafted means hard to remove, but not impossible.
From Monkey Pride
Hey, I was wondering about the career of H. Makie. What has he been doing since he left Spider-Man? Is he still working on comics? If so, which ones?
Howard Mackie? Rumors is that he's the "X" guy writing "Brotherhood." Certainly if I were him, I'd be using a pseudonym!
From Ethan
I was informed that the Spider man theme song to the ninties animated series is done by Aerosmith. Is this true? If not, who did the song?
The theme song to the 90's Spidey cartoon wasn't done by the entire band Aerosmith, but rather just by Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry.
From Sam
i was wondering if you could answer some question for me?
- do you know where i can see some piocs of phil urich from spider-girl?
- did toybiz ever release a green goblin 4 or srarlet spider action figure?
- is the red&blue spider-man in the mark of kaine arc spidercide?
- Sure. Try issues of SPIDER-GIRL. The latest issues (38 and 39) feature alot of him.
- GG4 - No. Scarlet Spider - Yes.
- Spidercide is in the "Mark of Kaine". I don't know if that's the "red&blue spider-man" you're referring to, though.
From Mike
You mention in the CARRION bio that he was "DESTROYED" but in the bio itself you never explained his fate. I haven't read comics in a while and want to know what became of CARRION since he was one of my favs.
Correct, the bio doesn't give the details, because that is covered in the review of the stories in which he appears. If you head back to Carrion Profile and look down at the bottom, you'll see links to the story reviews, which will tell you everything you want to know!
From Chibkk
Hey, I got two more question I kept on pondering about.
- Why is carnage stronger than venom (carnage looks a lot weaker and skinny)?
- Why is spider-man's durability level higher than venom?
Well, you assume a great deal:
- If Carnage is stronger than Venom, then it's most likely because it's a manic strength. Lots of adrenaline. Most likely he's not really stronger, just a lot more crazy and ruthless.
- Who said Spidey was more durable? But I can think of a few reasons. Mentally, Spider-Man has had a lot more experience, and is probably much tougher. Also, with Brock and the Symbiote being separate entitites, it only takes one of them to tire and weaken.
But both answers are just speculation, as in fact are the questions!
From The Editor
Heya Oracle, are there any recent additions to the list of Who knows Spidey's Identity?
Sure, here's an updated list with The Stalker, The Thousand, and Ezekiel - all currently dead.