Comic Pants Podcast #23
We here at Comic Pants hear there’s a movie about Spider-Man or something coming out soon, so now’s as good a time as any to talk about the webslinger. Panteon members Randy Lander, D3 (Dave Martindale), Dan Grendell, Dave Farabee, and Nick Budd, newly recovered from his recent assault by Girls Gone Wild, discuss a number of aspects of Spidey’s career, comics and otherwise. This is the first in a new podcasting experiment for us, as we split our long podcasts in two and give you half each week instead of the entire thing biweekly. This week’s Spidey talk covers each Panteon member’s take on the character, as well as favorite stories and more, with our standard inability to really stay on topic.
Let us know what you think of this new format in the comments. This is just a trial, and we are very curious to hear your thoughts. Like it? Hate it? Prefer one long show? Let us know, so we can figure out how we want to do our podcasts in the long run.
As always, commentary is welcomed and encouraged. Let us know what you thought of the podcast, and if you have suggestions for future podcast topics, leave us a comment or write in to the show! Listeners who write in could win cool comics with each broadcast! Please drop us a line at comicpantsfeedback@gmail.com to give us some questions or comments for the next show.
Use the podcast feed buttons on the sidebar to subscribe, listen via the flash player below, or directly download the MP3 here:
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I haven’t heard the whole podcaste yet but I’d prefer to here from you guys weekly that biweekly. And 50min podcasts are cool because (i.m.o.) it’s easier to hear all the way through without interruptions. (:
29 Apr 2007 at 11:07 am
QuoteMuch as I like the idea of getting weekly podcasts, I think I prefer having the whole thing at once rather than breaking it up.
As for Spidey, I have to agree that he is my favorite single character (X-Men is my favorite comic franchise but there isn’t an individual character there I like as much as Spidey. Does that make sense?), but I can’t read any of his books these days aside from Ultimate. Eventually I just decided that I’d rather step back from the character until he resembled the version i know and love again. As far as favorite stories go, I like that you guys mentioned Paul Jenkins’ run (his single issue stories definitely were way better) and the Hobgoblin arc. No love for the Osborns though? I’m a sucker for all things goblin (hob or green), so pretty much all of the pre-resurrection Green Goblin stories rank among my favorite Spider-man material. Looking forward to hearing your takes on the movies. In my opinion they capture the character better than the comics have for quite a while now.
29 Apr 2007 at 11:12 am
QuoteGreg, David, you have each voted differently. The only tie-breaker available to us is…
GLADIATORIAL COMBAT! GO!
Okay, maybe not.
I liked the original Green Goblin, but honestly, I felt like his story pretty much ended with Gwen Stacy. And bringing Harry, one of Peter’s truest friends, into the mix muddied the waters for me. I never liked Harry as the goblin, and would have much preferred that the Goblin stay buried until Hobby came along in the ’80s. It certainly would have made Hobgoblin even more impressive if no one had taken up the mantle after Gwen Stacy’s death.
29 Apr 2007 at 11:34 am
QuoteYou certainly have a point Randy, but the one thing the Green Goblin had that Hobgoblin didn’t (whether it was Norman or Harry behind the mask) was that he was the only villain who knew who Spider-man was (aside from Venom). It was always just so cool that you knew he could snap at any moment and start terrorizing Peter Parker. Aaaaannnddddd now that’s all out the window (grumble grumble).
29 Apr 2007 at 11:45 am
QuoteI have to say that I think I prefer the biweekly full podcasts. Of course, naturally, what I really want are weekly, full podcasts…
But anyway, good podcast again. As always.
29 Apr 2007 at 1:27 pm
QuoteGreat Podcast. Put in some great insights. I have always really like spiderman but he is not my favorite super hero(Batman is mine). He has at times waver in and out of my top ten but never has been within my top 5 heros. And my main problem with him is that everyone says that you can some him up in one sentence. With great power comes great responsiblity. WEll ya nice line but isn’t that true for any super hero. Don’t they all do it cause they believe they have a responsiblity. Also in response to someone saying in the podcast that he has had the best stories….I don’t find that totally true. He might be a second but I would say a distant second. Batman seems to have the best stories. I mean does spiderman have even one comice that can be mentioned in the same breath as the dark knight returns or batman year one(does any superhero for that matter). I think you guys should do a podcast on all comic icon(Superman, Batman, Wonder WOman, SPiderman, X-men,Captain america) and talk about their most defenitive run. and analyze them in a sense to see if they are truly defenitive.
29 Apr 2007 at 3:28 pm
QuoteI don’t think we could possibly cover all of that ground in a single podcast unless it ran 25-30 hours. However, doing a podcast on a handful of the most definitive superhero stories and what makes them “definitive” sounds like a very doable topic. We’ll just have to see how the rest of the Panteon feels about it.
I agree that Spider-Man doesn’t necessarily have the best stories in the biz, but he does have one of the best concepts. I also agree that the great power great responsibility hook doesn’t really separate the character from other comic heroes these days, but a big part of the reason for that is that Spider-Man made the idea such an iconic superhero concept.
29 Apr 2007 at 11:28 pm
QuotePut me down as preferring the weekly split podcasts, more fun to get one every week and much easier to find the time to listen in the shorter format.
As a kid, Spider-man and Captain America were by far my most constantly favorite heroes, still are despite what’s been done to them lately, my very first fav was Hal Jorden Green Lantern, as JLA was the first comic I read, but Marvel soon replaced DC in my heart.
Other then the classic Lee stuff, I have to agree about Stern being a defining run for me; I was late high school early college years during that run. He really seemed to get the character and his villains better than most who have written him over the years. I read a few of them again a couple of years ago and thought they held up very well.
One of my favorites Spider-Man stories was in the Stern run, which Dave touched on, Ned Leeds is tracking down Nose Norton, for some dirt on the Brand Corporation, but Cobra who’s been pulling heists on his own after his ill fated partnership with Mr. Hyde, mistakes what they are up to and thinking that Nose is ratting on him and tries to kill him, Leeds jumps to the rescue, and it turn needs rescuing from Spider-Man at the end of the book, Hyde shows up out for vengeance on Cobra, and the next issue Spidey spends the issue trying to keep Cobra alive while keeping Hyde angry enough to keep making mistakes. Not sure why this story stuck with me, nothing out of the ordinary happened but it had a nice build up, good characterization and just classic Spidey goodness.
30 Apr 2007 at 8:21 am
QuoteI just started the podcast. I prefer weekly, shorter chunks.
30 Apr 2007 at 9:17 am
QuoteI’m definitely in favour of weekly, shorter podcasts too. I’ve always been a big Spidey fan (he’s never been my favourite though) yet don’t have a lot of Spider-Man comics. The Clone saga was in full swing when I really started getting into comics in a big way so that’s probably the main reason.
One of my favourite (and first) Spider-Man stories was a two part story featuring the Hulk where an alien goo attached itself to Hulk’s neck causing him to go mad (it was super smart Hulk era) in New York and Spider-Man had to take him on despite suffering with a major flu. In the end Spidey only won because his flu infected the alien goo and killed it. Have no idea when it appeared cause it was reprinted in a hardcover annual over here in Ireland that just reprinted random stories. Think it was drawn by Michael Golden though. Had my first exposure to Claremont/Byrne’s X-Men through those annuals too.
I’m a big fan of Spider-Man: Blue and really liked the Millar/Dodson Marvel Knights Spider-Man too. Haven’t read Kraven’s Last Hunt yet but just bought it today on the strength of the podcast (thanks guys!). Looking forward to it. In the middle of Volume 6 of the Spider-Man Essentials and loving it.
30 Apr 2007 at 11:52 am
QuoteGlen: that was Marvel Fanfare #47, co-plotted, drawn, and colored by Golden and co-plotted and scripted by longtime Hulk and Spidey writer Bill Mantlo. The funny part was, the story was six years out of date, because it took place during the later portions of Mantlo’s Hulk run around 1983-1984, and was finally finished in late 1989.
A word about the Civil War unmasking: I don’t think Peter looked so much stupid as it just didn’t make sense in the context of Civil War- but when it comes to JMS and Civil War, he was working at cross purposes with the rest of the line. First off, there’s nothing in the extremely nebulous definitions of the SHRA that says Spider-Man has to reveal his identity PUBLICLY, just to the government. I read the first issue of the CW crossover, and Iron Man’s rationale for Peter unmasking doesn’t make much sense- uh, people will be suspicious that he’s hanging around Iron man so much? Peter’s a photojournalist! They could toss off an embedded excuse and be done with it.
30 Apr 2007 at 1:06 pm
QuoteThanks Dan!
30 Apr 2007 at 2:32 pm
QuotePut me down as another weekly fan - it means that I can listen to the whole thing in my lunchbreak at work.
Also put me down as another fan of Spidey that doesn’t actually buy many of his comics. Take a look back at what the major Spider-Man event was when I started buying comics and you might get a sense of why - “Maximum Carnage”. Thanks, but no thanks.
Still, the love from “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends” carried me through and every now and then I find something that I can really get into - the early run on Spidey 2099, a lot of Spider-Man’s Tangled Web and, latterly, Ultimate Spider-Man (although that seems to be running out of steam a bit).
The Spider-Man that I like is the one whose personal life is a bit of a trainwreck and who gets the opportunity to forget his mundane problems by, slightly paradoxically, taking on much bigger problems. This allows him to cut free and crack wise, always half a step ahead verbally if not physically.
30 Apr 2007 at 4:14 pm
QuoteOh, and I forgot to mention the first 3 issue of Spider-Man and the Black Cat. Excellent, though it did go a bit off the rails after that.
30 Apr 2007 at 4:20 pm
QuoteLooks like I’m in the minority, but I prefer the biweekly/whole podcasts. It felt strange to stop the “conversation” midstream.
I actually didn’t get into the Spider-man comic books until around the time McFarlane started drawing Amazing, but I had a friend who lent me a bunch of the older stuff. Of course I had also watched the Amazing Friends cartoon and the older one with the catchy theme song: “Spider-man! Spider-man! Does whatever a spider can. Is he strong? Listen, kids. He’s got radioactive jizz.” I might be misremembering some of the lyrics.
As for favorite stories, Kraven’s Last Hunt blew me away (well, not like Kraven was.) I also enjoyed the Death of Jean DeWolff from Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #’s 107-110 and “The Kid Who Collected Spider-man” managed to pierce even my stoney cold heart.
Although I don’t currently get any Spider-man books except for the occassional trade of Ultimate, I still have a fondness for the character concept. I think Spiderman is really the ultimate nerd wish fulfillment. Who didn’t want to go from the kid who was picked on in school to an uber-cool superhero? Plus he got to marry a hot model to boot.
30 Apr 2007 at 5:29 pm
Quoteweekley hours is a lot better, i think.
as for spidey - yeah they shot themselves in the foot when they shot aunt may in the breast. quesada goes on about peter’s marriage aging him, but killing aunt may ages him even more doesn’t it? plus the unmasking was uncalled for and rweally ruins a lot about spider-man, and i think what deep down we all know, and what sucks the most, is that they ARE going to find a way to reverse the whole rthing somewhere down the line because the stories you can tell with an unmasked spidey are not 40 years worth…
personally i’m looking forwarsd to when j scott campbell gets to do his thing on spidey this year
01 May 2007 at 4:35 am
QuoteGreat podcast! I am a newbie to comics myself, so I appreciated how you guys covered both classic Spider-Man stories and more recent work, as well as suggesting things (like “Astro City”) that are similar in tone and feel, and that, I presume, I might like and can now seek out.
I would cast my vote for weekly podcasts, but either way I will be sure to keep listening.
01 May 2007 at 2:07 pm
QuoteWeekly podcast are fine by me so long as there is a natural breakpoint as there was this week. If the topic is going long just go long and take the next week oof as a reward!
Just looked for Dan Slott’s Spidey/Human Torch mini on Amazon and they list it as currently unavailable. Boo! I’ll have to check my local shop for the issues.
02 May 2007 at 6:05 am
QuoteYeah, it’s a damn crime. Best work of his career so far and it’s in digest form and unavailable even that way. Makes me want to cry.
02 May 2007 at 10:24 pm
QuoteIf I could, I’d ask for a 2 hour long podcast each week! It can be just about anything comic book related, from video games, movies, to toys. I don’t care, I can’t get enough of these podcasts. Keep up the good work guys.
06 May 2007 at 2:43 am
QuoteI like the new format. As much as I enjoy the podcasts, it was always a bit difficult to sit at computer for 90+ minutes.
07 May 2007 at 7:14 am
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