SPIDER-MAN: THE OTHER

[All Star Batman]

This thread is dedicated to the 4 month Spider-Man event that will take place in all 3 core titles. It starts this October, don't miss it!


10/12 - Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1 - ($2.99)
By Peter David & Mike Wieringo
Cover by Mike Wieringo
"The Other" Part 1 (Of 12) The start of a 4 month Spider-Man event that crosses over all 3 core Spider-Titles, which promises to forever change the lives of Peter Parker and everyone close to him! Introducing Tracer!


10/19 - Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #19 - ($2.99)
By Peter David & Pat Lee
Cover by Pat Lee
"The Other" Part 2 (Of 12) Mary Jane deals with an obsessed stalker, and Spider-Man slugs it out with Iron Man! Peter David writes all three titles this month.


10/26 - Amazing Spider-Man #525 - ($2.50)
By Peter David & Mike Deodato
Cover by Mike Deodato
"The Other" Part 3 (of 12) Aunt May becomes aware that Peter and Mary Jane are hiding something extremely bad from her, plus the villain Tracer, and the return of a foe that Spider-Man has never defeated!

[All Star Batman]

ACT TWO: EVOLVE OR DIE


11/9 - Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2 - ($2.99)
By Reginald Hudlin & Mike Wieringo
Cover by Mike Wieringo
"The Other: Evolve Or Die" Part 4 (Of 12) Spider-Man faces his biggest threat yet, guest starring Reed Richards, Stephen Strange, and Hank Pym!


11/16 - Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #20 - ($2.99)
By Reginald Hudlin & Pat Lee
Cover by Pat Lee
"The Other: Evolve Or Die" Part 5 (Of 12) Having accepting his fate, Peter Parker decides to put his costume in the closet, and spend some quality time with Mary Jane and Aunt May, but Morlun's got other plans!


11/16 - Amazing Spider-Man #526 - ($2.50)
By Reginald Hudlin & Mike Deodato
Cover by Mike Deodato
"The Other: Evolve Or Die" Part 6 (of 12) Cover to cover action as Spider-Man faces off against Morlun, and there is no Ezekiel to help this time!

[All Star Batman]

ACT THREE:


12/7 - Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3 - ($2.99)
By J. Michael Straczynski & Mike Wieringo
Cover by Mike Wieringo
"The Other: Evolve Or Die" Part 7 (Of 12) Spider-Man is pushed to the brink of death by the hands of Morlun!


12/14 - Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #21 - ($2.99)
By J. Michael Straczynski & Pat Lee
Cover by Pat Lee
"The Other: Evolve Or Die" Part 8 (Of 12) On the edges of death, Spider-Man is about to embark on a journey unlike anything he's ever experienced: Evolve or die!


12/28 - Amazing Spider-Man #527 - ($2.50)
By J. Michael Straczynski & Mike Deodato
Cover by Mike Deodato
"The Other: Evolve Or Die" Part 9 (of 12) The next stage in Spider-Man's life begins here. When the cocoon bursts, what comes out may surprise you!

[All Star Batman]

THE OTHER: ACT ONE


FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN#1
It has been a long time since there has been a title-wide cross-over that promises to leaves a meaningful impact on the Spider-Verse, until now. A brand new title kicks off "The Other: Evolve Or Die", a twelve part series that will continue in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man, and Amazing Spider-Man for the next four months. There has been much speculation about what or who "The Other" is, but lets just focus on this issue at hand. The series will be written by the three main Spider-Man writers for the first three issues, then by veteran fan favorite writer Peter David thereafter. Mr. David begins this issue, as well in this massive "event" with a dream sequence that Peter is having. The dream begins with Peter being rolled into a morgue by a (spoiler) villain of his, then the dream gets a little wacky to say the least. It is quite obvious at this early point in the storyline that Peter is thinking a lot about his own mortality. After a couple of pages devoted to the dream, we get into the action, as a new villain by the name of Tracer robs a bank. Tracer appears to be a high tech villain, and encounters Spider-Man for the first time, shortly after the banks sets off a silent alarm. Tracer fires a couple of bullets at Spidey, but these are not your typical bullets. This special ammunition "locks" onto it's target, and unfortunately for Spider-Man, that target is him. After swinging away from the bullets for some time, Peter remembers a little training session that Peter and Mary Jane had with Steve Rogers (Captain America), and he "focuses his Chi" or energy towards the incoming bullets. At first, it appears that Spider-Man caught the two deadly little missiles in his bare hands, but soon realizes that they have pierced both his shoulder and hand. After receiving some medical help, Peter suits up as Spider-Man once again, intent on finding Tracer. With the help of his own tracer, a spider tracer, Spider-Man appears to have quickly located Tracer in a limousine. Spidey then proceeds to rip the roof off the limo, only to get a nice little surprise, but as the last page shows, its certainly won't be the last surprise he receives in the days to come. Part Two continued in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #19.


MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN#19
The Continued from the debut issue of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1, the twelve part "Spider-Man: The Other" hits part two here. Same writer for the first three parts, and in all three main spider-titles. Peter has been having some bad dreams and visions lately, and has also met a new high-tech villain by the name of Tracer in part one. After a battle with the newest addition to his rogues gallery, Spider-Man had to make a visit to a doctor suggested by Captain America. Two bits of bad news has befallen Peter at the end of the first part: One - After getting his blood checked at the doctor, Peter eventually receives some very disturbing news concerning his health, and 2 - Unknown to him on the last page of the first part, the parasitic hunter by the name of Morlun has returned. This issue focuses mostly on the character of Mary Jane Watson, and begins backstage where she is performing in a play. MJ is having another hard time dealing with the fact that she is married to someone who puts his life on the line so frequently, and it appears to be consuming her this issue. Two themes in this issue while MJ is the "featured" character appear in most of this issue. The first being that she is following Spider-Man and Tracer's battle in the air of New York City, and the second is how she deals with a more than over-zealous fan of hers. The two themes "collide" in a bar, when MJ watches her hubby battle Tracer on a television, and her fan gets a little violent towards her and the bar patrons. After all this mayhem, MJ decides to make her way home, where she and Peter have a long talk that many fans have heard and seen before. As for that bad news on the last couple pages of part one? Well, not much to add here, as Peter reads a letter to his wife that he received from the doctor. The letter falls to the ground from MJ's hand, just as soon as she reads it's message. The two hug, and the readers knows just as much about his "condition" as they did at the end of the last part of this "mega" storyline. While very well written, the story has apparently not advanced one bit with this issue. Continued in Amazing Spider-Man #525.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN#525
We are now a quarter of the way through the mega "event" "Spider-Man: The Other" twelve issue storyline that will run through all three of the main Spider-Titles. Continued from Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #19, where Peter and Mary Jane end up dealing with some drastic medical news that Peter receives from a doctor. Peter David wraps up his three issue stint here, and similar to part two, another character is the main focus here: Aunt May. The issue opens with May having a dream about dealing with losing her mother in the hospital, by taking her off a respirator. The dream quickly turns into a nightmare when May's mother grabs her by the neck after the difficult decision was made. May then wakes up, only to bump into Peter suiting up as Spider-Man, in the halls of Stark Tower. Peter is quite upset, after talking to Mary Jane about his (still unknown) medical condition, and he yells at his Aunt to go back to sleep. After Peter goes out for some Avengers related work, May visits the kitchen, unable to sleep at this point. May begins to talk herself, and then to her late husband Ben, before she receives an unexpected visitor: The recently introduced villain by the name of Tracer. Tracer is pretending to be a reserve member of the Avengers, in order to get close to the very naive May. Strangely, Tracer sits down to the table, and May makes him a sandwich. The two talk for some while, while Spider-Man meets Morlun for the first time since his "death". Morlun does not see Spider-Man as "fit" to battle, and leaves the scene rather abruptly. Back at Stark Tower, Tracer and Aunt May get pretty deep into their conversation, then Spider-Man comes crashing home. Tracer gets the snot beaten out of him by Spider-Man, and he too discovers that Spider-Man is in no condition to fight. As for the reader? Still nothing revealed as to this condition that Peter has through the first three issues of this "event". Obvious padding here, while still a very well written issue. Not much bang for the buck the last two parts. Part Four is continued in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2.

[All Star Batman]

THE OTHER: ACT TWO


FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN#2
It's Reginald Hudlin's turn to write this entire month of main Spider-Titles, after Peter David's stint last month, as "The Other: Evolve Or Die" continues. "The Other" is a twelve issue three-title spanning storyline that promises to leaves a meaningful impact on the Spider-Verse. So far, not much as been revealed as to what or whom the other may be. Peter receives a letter from a doctor who checked his blood, and he learns that his body is "shutting down". Also, the parasitic hunter by the name of Morlun has returned from the "dead", but he discovers that something is amiss with Spider-Man, as does the new villain Tracer. It seems everyone knows what is wrong with Peter so far, except the reader. We do learn more about his condition however, but not the "hows", "wheres", and "whys". Aunt May begins this issue also just learning about Peter's health problems, and she attempts to take the matter into her own hands by asking Tony Stark for help. Some time later, Peter is hooked up to some electronic gizmo's of Reed Richards, and some of the brightest minds in the scientific field make a deduction on his condition. They then decide to seek out someone who is an expert on radiation based mutations: Bruce Banner, better known as the Hulk. After five heroes seek out the Hulk, they have the difficult task of subduing him to transform into his alter ego. The Hulk eventually becomes Banner, with a little help from some tranquilizer gas, and they bring him to the Baxter Building, home of the Fantastic Four. Banner then proceed to look at all the information they have regarding Peter's condition, and he too is perplexed. Spider-Man then makes a visit to Wakanda, home of the Black Panther, and home to some very advanced scientific and medical instruments. Unfortunately for Spider-Man, the Panther also cannot find the source of his illness. While in Wakanda, Spidey and the Panther make a visit to the temple of Anansi, the Spider God. They turn back, after Spider-Man remembers his last visit to a similar temple that took place around Amazing Spider-Man #506-508. Peter arrives home disappointed that none of the experts could diagnose his illness, and he is now looking back on his life as if he has accepted the fact that he is going to die. The issue ends with Spider-Man finding one of his oldest villains in an alleyway "collecting" money from a gambler: Ox. The two begin to tangle for a bit, until Spider-Man begins to think that he is battling Morlun. Daredevil somehow happens to be in the same exact area, and he puts a stop to the beating that Spider-Man is putting on the powerful member of the Enforcers. Spider-Man then takes makes his next visit on his little "tour of superhero's homes" in Doctor Strange's Sanctum. While there, Spider-Man has Strange use the Eye of Agamotto aid him in finding out what may be wrong with him, but in the end, there is no help. Story advances more than in previous issues, but in a very repetitious manner. Part Five continued in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #20.


MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN#20
After reading many a message board and e-mail thought, message, and overall complaint concerning this, the fifth part of the "Spider-Man: The Other" storyline (Continued from Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2), I was quite hesitant in reading/ reviewing it. This twelve part storyline has been quite padded thus far, but still very well written. Not so here, as the issue actually opens up with both the elderly Aunt May, and still-young Mary Jane wearing Iron Man armor, and teaming-up with Spider-Man on a little "trip" to Latveria: Home of Doctor Doom and home of the only known operational time machine known to man (No, I'm not making this up). They use the time machine to go back to a time when Peter was very young, and both of his parents were still alive. All three journey to this period, as I guess just viewing old home family movies were not good enough. After they all come back to the present, they all do battle with an array of Robots, with Aunt May and MJ helping out of course. As Peter is living out his final days, he has a list of "cool things" he has never done. One place he visits is Las Vegas, where he illogically uses his spider-sense to help him win, and then the uncreative throwaway villains known as the Wrecking Crew just pop-up in the same casino. How convenient. Back in New York, the vampirish Morlun is preparing for his inevitable attack on Spider-Man, but that will have to wait for next issue. You see, Peter and Mary Jane are off in one of Tony Stark's space pods viewing the earth from afar. Aunt May (who again looks like a garden gnome this issue) is home crying, possibly because she read this issue. Not good. A shame considering that the same writer continues this storyline with an absolute gem of an issue in Amazing Spider-Man #526.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN#526
So far there has been five issues of this twelve part mega "event" "Spider-Man: The Other" storyline, but with with only one to two issues worth of story advancement. That all changes here with part six, continued from the awful fifth part that took place in Marvel
Knights: Spider-Man #20. Peter is dying, and did some wacky things things in the last part, with the deadly vapiric Morlun preparing to pounce on his prey. Morlun does not waste his time this issue, as it takes only a couple of issues for him to begin his "hunt". Spider-Man's day of reckoning has come (yes, the title!) very quickly on the fourth page, as Morlun leaps at him from atop the Daily Bugle building. The hunter and the prey simultaneously crash through the window of publisher J. Jonah Jameson, and the entire office is suddenly in grave danger. Spider-Man redirects the battle out onto the streets, where one of Spider-Man's greatest battles continues for well over ten pages with brilliantly depicted battle scenes. Just when its looks bleakest for Spider-Man, and Morlun prepares for the final kill, Spider-Man gets a "second wind". Now fighting for his life, Spider-Man gets a burst of energy that he uses against Morlun, inflicting a boatload of hurt on Morlun. After Morlun receives a barrage of punches, kicks, and various other brands of punishment, he just stares at Spider-Man as if a flea fell upon his shoulder. Spider-Man has run out of gas, motivation, "Uncle-Ben memories", and anything else he thought he may have had that may have aided him in what appears to be his final battle. Morlun has a little "snack" before he pummels Spider-Man into the ground. Spider-Man is torn apart and bloodied up, appearing to be dead (or at least very close to it), with the shadow of Morlun looking over his body. What happens with Morlun? Does he feast on the "main course"?, Do the Avengers come to his aid? How does Spidey make it through this whole mess? Those questions will be answered (or at least begin to be answered) in the next part which takes place in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3 written by JMS, when he begins his three issue stint on the Spider-Man titles in a couple weeks or so. Excellent issue with Mr. Hudlin showing that the last part was just an aberration. This storyline looks much more interesting now, but the fact still remains that it has been a very padded one, which could have easily taken place in half the issue used to tell it thus far.

For spoiler, keep scrolling:












MORLUN FREAKING RIPS OUT AND EATS SPIDEY'S EYE!