Amazing Spider-Man: You're Hired! (NYC)

Background

This 12-page tabloid-sized newsprint comic was originally included free with the New York Daily on November 17, 2010, to promote a New York job-staffing service called Workforce 1. The actual story was eight pages. The were two pages of promotion for Workforce 1, plus the front cover. The rear cover features a list of winners for an unrelated competition run by the newspaper.

The story was simultaneously released as a free comic on Marvels web-comics application. Later, the story was republished in a standard comic-book format.

Story 'Your Hired!'

The story opens with Aunt May and Peter riding the NYC subway. Pete’s down in spirits over being jobless. May is trying to pump him up saying what a loss Peter is to Jonah (who fired Peter from his Mayor’s staff in Amazing Spider-man #624). May says why doesn’t Peter reach out to “that nice scientist you worked with at ESU years ago—Dr Canners?” Pete corrects her, its Dr. Connors she’s thinking of (who might be hard to get a hold of due to Conners’ full-time gig as the Lizard).

May says that getting in touch with old friends and colleagues to network is a great way to bolster the job search; Peter grouses that he’s dreading writing his resume and going on interviews (as we know, this is the same guy who claimed to have no knowledge of what Microsoft Word or Excel even are in Web Of Spider-man Vol. 2 #8, so no wonder he’s worried). Peter then gives his seat up to a pregnant woman—preggars balks at taking the seat because Peter’s lucky pen has exploded and got ink everywhere. Peter gets caught up in the rush of commuters leaving the train—he reaches up and gets ink on the suit of Mayor Bloomberg, a self-proclaimed avid NYC subway rider who takes it very well all things considered, and commends Peter on giving up his seat. The Mayor also eavesdropped on the “great advice” Aunt May was giving Pete—and tells him of Workforce, which provides job-finding services to all New Yorkers. Bloomberg invites May and Peter to City Hall to tell them more about Workforce.

On the way, Peter stoops to pick up a $100 bill on the ground, thinking it’s his lucky day. He then realizes that the cash is falling from the sky—The Vulture flies overhead. Pete makes a lame excuse about going to the deli to grab a water, and ducks out to change into costume, knock the Vulture around and leave him webbed up for the police. Back in civilian clothes, Peter rejoins the Mayor, his Aunt, and the Mayor’s guards. Bloomberg picks a Vulture feather off of Peter’s shirt, commenting how he’s never seen a pigeon with that kind of coloring. Pete’s cell phone goes off—it’s Iron Man, calling for all active and reserve Avengers to come to his aid. Another lame excuse is proffered, and Peter goes to change to help out his boy Tony Stark fight a mechanical dinosaur with guns called Electrosaurus.

Presumably using the $100 he found earlier (wasn’t that stolen money?), Peter runs to a Men’s Warehouse after the fight to buy the Mayor a new tie after getting ink on him. Improbably, the Mayor, May, and the bodyguards are still hanging out waiting in front of City Hall. The bodyguards inform the Mayor that Spider-man has been spotted in the area and they should get him inside City Hall. Bloomberg tells Peter that some people give Spidey a bad rap but that he’s just another hard-working New Yorker, and that he’s not in any danger, is he? The Mayor goes off to a meeting, and Peter agrees to look into Workforce.

General Comments

This is a surprisingly light and breezy sort of “PSA” Spidey-story. The only story glitch for current comic fans is that it opens with May and Peter talking about Jonah firing Peter after a long time, but Peter was fired from Mayor Jameson’s staff, and then runs into the real-life Mayor Bloomberg on the subway (I can only conclude that Joephisto must’ve had something to do with this).

Nothing wrong with this story, though — former Spidey editor and writer Warren Simons throws plenty of asides to comic fans (it’s fun to imagine that May’s mispronouncing of Dr. Connors’ name as “Canners” references Shed and “Kahhnners”), and manages to get the point across as to what the Workforce 1 service is (never mind that Peter could never hold down a 9 to 5 job, and would probably not actually look into Workforce), while giving the implication that Bloomberg knows Peter is really Spider-man.

Nauck’s artwork is also great. The print quality in the original newsprint version isn't particularly good, but that's purely a problem with the medium, as the color in the electronic and comic-sized reprint is top-notch.

Overall Rating

I love these types of comics, as they not only extend the brand of Spidey, but promote the industry of comics themselves, proving that they are still a viable medium. The story’s message is clear and to the point, and even though the action is a tad light and just a bit rushed (hence the loss of a web). Still that matters little as the story is the thing and that comes off well.

Footnote

There is also a product placement for Men's Warehouse, so presumably they also contributed to funding.