Marvel's decision to launch a line of super-hero titles aimed specifically at younger readers is a great idea. Unfortunately, Marvel Age: Spider-Man doesn't start off on the strongest foot. No comics fan could possible thank Stan Lee and Steve Ditko enough for giving the world an icon like Spider-Man, but this book spotlights just why Silver Age plotting doesn't work today. The new creators capture the inherent weaknesses in the dated material and little of the strength. Maybe the collected digest format will grab some attention, but in order to hook readers -- even pre-pubescent ones -- the storytelling will have to be slciker than what we get here.
Just weeks after Peter Parker discovers and develops his new powers, he learns that Aunt May is in danger of losing the family home. She can't afford to keep up with the payments with her late husband's salary coming in, so Peter decides to earn some extra cash... as Spider-Man. He sees that The Daily Bugle is ready to pay cash for pictures of Spider-Man as well as of a new costumed figure in New York, a thief known as the Vulture. Later, Peter Parker discovers some unbelievable secrets about the repairman who's supposed to be fixing his teacher's personal computer.
I honestly don't think that redrawing Silver Age Spidey stories in a manga-like style is going to be the key to bringing new readers into comics, but there's no denying that the Udon Studios guys bring youth and energy to these characters. Brooks's work in the Vulture story looks a cross between Alvin Lee's agent X manga and Joe Quesada's distinct, intense style. And Meyers's work on the Tinkerer tale reminded me of Tim (Batman: Gotham Adventures, The Copybook tales) Levins's and Steve (Mek, Pounded) Rolston's cartoony, light and irreverent styles.
Youngers readers probably will get a kick out of the action-oriented opening story. Plotting is at a minimum here, with an emphasis placed on fight scenes between the title character and his avian adversary. What I don't like about it is the hero's use of plot devices to solve his problems rather than his wits.
I remember reading the original, Silver Age version of the Tinkerer story when I was a kid. It didn't make any sense then, and it doesn't make any sense now. Why an inventor/possible alien spy would want to plant a listening/hacking device in a science teacher's computer is never explained. Bringing a 21st century element such as a PC into the mix doesn't eradicate the awkward, 1960s plotting.
