#general comicposting

[mrwatermelaun]

I've realized that one of the main reasons a lot of Spider-Man adaptations end up falling flat is that they insist on centering him around a high school setting like in Ultimate Spider-Man, but entirely divorce Peter from the "youth angry at the predatorial structure of society" that made that setting an appealing place to center him around in the 1st place.

Even in main 616, the thing that made his 28 issues in high school (only 3 years irl!) interesting was the fact that he was the bullied geek who grew a spine and bited back.

Peter's anger is a very important part of his character, especially when he's young and so has less control of it, and adaptations who turn him into a stereotypical goody two-shoes miss the point and are very reductive.

[mrwatermelaun]

I've seen a lot of people over the years arguing about Peter Parker's ideal job. The 3 contenders that usually get brough up are:

Daily Bugle photographer - Its what he did for decades and it keeps his extensive Bugle supporting cast present constantly in his stories.

High school science teacher for Midtown High - Helping his neighborhood, gets to do science which is what he loves while helping vulnerable kids like he was.

Scientist at Horizon Labs - Fully focuses on Peter's love for science and using that to help the world as Peter Parker.

These 3 are good choices, and are all jobs he's had in the comics. However, I wanna highlight a few options that I (and other people I've seen in the internet comic space) believe are even better. In no specific order:

University professor at ESU (either a Chemical Engineering or Biophysics course probably) - Similar to the high school science teacher idea, it meshes his love of science with his drive to help people struggling like he was, but in THIS case it's 5 billion times easier for Peter to have time for Spider-Man or ditch a class if he has to. Send a message to all students that he's sick or has an emergency or whatever, easy sleazy.

Science teacher at the Future Foundation - Similar to above, but he gets to teach younger kids, he's tied directly to his Fantastic 4 family, and he has to make 0 excuses to go Spider-Manning. They all know who he is, so if he's late to a class or has to dip because of an emergency he's fully covered.

Science editor for the Daily Bugle - This is a job he had for some time in the comics in 2017 (in the "Fall of Parker" arc that followed the demise of Parker Industries) and its great. Meshes his love of science with the Bugle setting and cast of characters and hell, if you take into account the several people at the Bugle that know he's Spider-Man (Jonah, Betty, Robbie has been HEAVILY implied to know for decades), he's also good on the excuse front.

All are perfect options to the point that, in my AMAZING! Marvel AU, Peter does all 3 at the same time (in this case it works because he's retired as Spider-Man, he teaches 1 class at ESU + research lab, and the science section in the Daily Bugle is weekly and not daily. It's still not easy to juggle, but it works as a way to bring Peter's "I want to help people all the time at the expense of my own well-being" into the Peter Parker civilian context).

[mrwatermelaun]

In my opinion, Spider-Man is an infinitely more compelling character if you play into the tragedy that is a 15 year old boy adopting "with great power there must also come great responsibility" as his absolute moral obligation for the rest of his life, and all of the self-destruction and emotional pain that comes with that.

The fact that Peter genuinely, truly believes its his direct fault that the most important person in his life got killed, to the point where he sacrifices every part of his personal life and happiness over and over and over again. Doing something NOW alleviates the bottomness pit of guilt that eats at him, a balancing of the scale that will never be satisfied because the ONLY way for it to be satisfied is to accept that it wasn't his fault, because how could he have known? How could he have predicted what would happen?

And so you get a guy that puts the entire weight of the world on his shoulders, that feels personally responsible for every bad thing that happens around him. That, in his own mind, might as well have pulled the trigger himself when Ben died. A guy who saves everyone at his own expense to make up for the one person he can never save. A haunting mistake whose pain he will take to his grave.

And more stories should play into the fact that, genuinely, realistically speaking, that is a horrible mental health rabbit hole and an extremely hurtful coping mechanism for his guilt, that nonetheless makes him one of the most selfless and dedicated heroes out there.

A beautiful, beautiful tragedy.

[mrwatermelaun]

Look at this fucker all dripped out over his driving suit, he's so stupid I love him. Big ass fucking wine glass. He has no business looking so suave

[mrwatermelaun]

That Absolute Batman meme where it's like "Bruce please for the love of god you can stop being Batman bro" when he faces a new horrific villain, but its 1610 Ultimate Peter Parker whenever some new life-altering bullshit happens in his life that week.

[mrwatermelaun]

“The hero saves people because he's a good person” is basic and plain.

"The hero saves people to make up for his crushing guilt over a death that will haunt him for the rest of his life, and it will never be enough" is horrifying. It's tragic. It happened to Peter Parker.

[mrwatermelaun]

Avoid being a LARPer and never let ANYONE convince you of the popular misconception that Peter Parker/Spider-Man gets quiet when he's angry. That man will fucking scream at the top of his lungs and make it everyone else's problem.

[mrwatermelaun]

Hot take: A Spider-Man suit without the underarm webs is like an angel without its wings. Signed: a web-pits lover.