Giant-Size Spider-Man (2014) (Story 2)

Background

Joe Caramanga retells and reworks Spider-Man's early days in these all-ages, modern versions of the first Amazing Spider-Man stories.

Story 'The Vulture'

Part One: Spider-Man is hangs on to a speeding car by a webline! He is determined not to let the crooks go, even though he's skidding all over the road! He eventually yanks them off course and they crash into a building! As he accepts praise from the gathering crowd, he realises that he has skidded a whole in his trousers!

At The Daily Bugle, J Jonah Jameson wants photos of Spider-Man to sell more newspapers!

At the Marshall Corporation, the elderly and ridiculed Adrian Toomes is fired from his job as an engineer. He tries to reason with his boss, bringing up his Vulture harness, but to no avail. He is left to realise that he is done with people walking all over him!

Peter Parker runs from Flash Thompson and his bullying buddies! He arrives home to find an eviction notice on Aunt May's apartment. Angrily, Peter confronts Aunt May when he thinks she is selling Uncle Ben's camera, but calms down when she explains that she has found an old bankbook with money in the account.

Part Two: Aunt May and Peter visit the bank but they tell them that the money is frozen in Ben's name. Suddenly Toomes, dressed as The Vulture, crashes through the window of the bank and demands to be led to the vault! Peter sneaks away, giving an excuse that he's taking some photos, and returns momentarily as Spider-Man! He webs on to him which causes Vulture to fly away in a panic! They tussle mid-air until Spider-Man webs up his eyes which causes him to crash into the side of a building! Once Spider-Man delivers Vulture to the police, he is handed a flier which provides him with a great opportunity...

A little later, Peter visits JJJ and hands sells him some photos of Spider-Man. Peter now has a job and money coming in... but his problems are only just beginning...!

General Comments

Joe Caramagna continues his re-imagining of Spider-Man's early days with his first altercation with the Vulture with the same success as Part One.

There is an attempt to convey Peter's anger at his Uncle's death but his outburst at Aunt May is oversold and comes across as unrecognisable versions of themselves.

Vulture is tweaked to have this reliance upon mechanism and not technology. This works well amidst the present day and adds a dimension the original did not have.

I like that fact that these stories continue on from one another and it seems that Caramagna is pushing Spider-Man as a sub-plot behind the life of Peter Parker. There is a sense that Peter feels forced to be Spider-Man... until there's a well-timed and uncomplicated realisation that he can make money out of himself.

As previously, I like some of the art but not all of it and I'd rather have the same person pencilling such a short story.

Overall Rating

Not much hero/villain interaction but a fairly good modernization of Vulture's motivation and anger.