One thing I have noticed over the past few years is the occurrence of positive black figures in media and television. Many black casted shows have started to appear on TV stations, such as TBS and BET. I am not saying Obama is the sole reason why this return to black people in popular culture has begun but I am happy about it and it definitely reminds me of the days in the mid to late 90’s. This change has also been seen in many other forms of entertainment, especially comic books.
Now I have not picked up a comic book since I was a younger or have been much of a fan of spider-man at all and never really got into the comic books when I was younger. I thought the recent movies were pretty good, minus the 3rd one with Topher Grace as Venom, but I have always been an X-men and Batman fan. However when I heard that the Spider-Man in the Ultimate comics series was killed and being replaced with a new character, I wanted to check it out.
If anyone followed Marvel comics back in the day, they know that Spider-man is one of the most popular and least killed off characters in the series. Marvel has a tendency to kill off fan favorites then find some loophole to bring them back or replace them with a carbon copy. With this death of spider-man, the same principle still applies but instead they decided to completely make the character over with some new powers, new back-story, and new costume. However never have I seen Marvel replace one of their most iconic heroes with a person of color. Out of all the super heroes that Marvel has in their roster, only Storm, Black Panther, and Luke Cage are the most widely known and popular black heroes. This new Spider is a good hearted but shy high school student named Miles Morales (interesting alliteration), who was bit by a radioactive genetically engineered spider that snuck into his uncle’s bag during a heist.
Although the story seems kind of contrived and too coincidental, the Brian Michael Bendis written plot has been moving on in a steady and interesting pace complimented by great drawing from Sara Pichelli. With this 4th issue, the reader gets the chance to see what took place shortly before Peter Parker (spider-man) died and the aftermath. Morales with the help of his friend, has come to the realization and acceptance that in fact has similar powers as spider-man and you get to see what later drives him to become the new web-slinger. I am going to see more where this journey of discovery takes the hero and what new villains are going to make their debut.
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