Comic Review: Spider-Man: Life Story #1

Spider-Man: Life Story #1

Marvel Comics

Writer: Chip Zdarsky

Artist: Mark Bagley

Marvel has been going all-out for their 80th birthday with loads of new one-shots and mini-series. The most interesting one is, by far, Spider-Man: Life Story. Fan-favorite writer Chip Zdarsky and veteran artist Mark Bagley bring us a look at some of the most important moments in Spidey’s storied history, but approach it from a different angle. The main premise is this – what if the heroes aged in real time? When Gwen Stacey dies, she will be in their mid-twenties. Once Kraven goes on his Last Hunt, Peter will be in his late thirties.  When the clones start popping around, he will be in his forties. And when… well, you get the idea. This dash of realism gives every defining moment in Peter’s life a splash of gravitas you rarely see in Big-Two comics.

This first chapter (of six) covers the sixties – 1966 and 1967, to be more precise. The first page puts Peter, who was 15 when he debuted in 1962, at the tender age of 19 years. The difference in Peter’s character is obvious from the get-go – the weight on his shoulders is obviously getting to him. He has been juggling school work, regular work, spider work and being a normal teenager for four years. That’s a lot of problems for a teenager. On top of it, he has to take care of his beloved Aunt May, whose health has been waning. This fact hits hard as you realize that Aunt May, Peter’s pillar of support since day one, won’t be around for a huge chunk of Peter’s life.

But it’s not “just” these personal problems that are affecting Peter. Being the sixties, the Vietnam War casts a huge shadow over everything. 

Those coming in expecting spectacle and witty remarks won’t find much of those here. Sure, the book isn’t devoid of them – after all, Peter goes against the Green Goblin – but it’s not the main focus of the book. The emotional response Peter has to all of his woes is the meat of the story. And Zdarsky does this well.

As mentioned at the start of this text, Mark Bagley is on drawing duties. He’s a veteran in the industry, with tons of books in his portfolio. He even had a five-year run on Spider-Man in the nineties. Naturally, you’d be inclined to expect some good work, and Bagley delivers. He puts a decent amount of detail to his backgrounds, and the characters convey emotions nicely. Frank D’Armata’s colder colors also help set up the mood of the book – the sense of unease and insecurity the Vietnam War installed in American society is easily noticeable.

However, I do have a problem with the artwork. You’d never be able to tell it’s set in the sixties just by looking at the book. If it weren’t pointed out by the lettering and the dialogue (and the subtitle on the cover), you’d be inclined to think that it’s set in the modern day. I mean, you might notice something is wrong because everyone has a turtleneck, but that’s it. Not a dealbreaker, but definitely a missed opportunity.

Some might say the book is just a rehash of classic Spider-Man stories, and they wouldn’t be wrong. However, the added twist, the change in perspective, is reason enough to justify its existence and to make you wish Marvel decided to do a similar thing for some of its other characters. I, for one, would love to see an Avengers story told from Thor’s point of view.