h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Spider-Man - Comic Book Hero - A2548857
Author: Pan Galactic Hoopy Frood - U168592

A long awaited addition to Comics and Animation section of the Guide I think. Tried to be as succint as possible, some input and ideas more than welcome.
PGHF

Sometimes, when I see a title on a subject I'm interested in, I begin to worry. 'Please be good. Please be good' I say to myself.

This is great!

I've not checked it for typos, but it all flows together nicely and seems to cover a lot of ground.

One suggestion I'd make - and it's purely stylistic, so feel free to ignore it - is to move the 'History' section up to become the first header after the introduction. That way, we get an idea of how he came about before we meet him.

Very happy with this one. Well done!

Thanks! I've tidied it up a little and I thought about moving the History section up, but it would mean tweaking more of the text about I think, so I'll leave it as is

Nice to get good feedback and happy I didn't make a bodged effort. It's taken me long enough to sort it all out, I just hope it's not too long and boring!!

once again
PGHF

Much as it goes against the grain to agree with Jimster, I have to say that this is a great article. I loved it!

Possibly the only thing I might suggest is that perhaps you don't really need the long lists of comics and films? The really interested fan can find them from your links and the more casual reader might be put off - but that's just a matter of personal taste I suppose.

Anyway, you've obviously put a lot of work into this and it has resulted in a cracking entry. Well done.

W

Nice entry!

There were one thing (winkeye) I picked up though.

When you describe the Fanastic Four you give Ben Grimm the name of Man Mountian. I always thought he was The Thing. Not a very descriptive name, I grant you, but I'm sure that's what it is.


Geggs

Oh. Thanks for everything! Am a little shocked, I thought this entry needed a lot of work! As per suggestions I've refined the lists down a little and I fixed up Ben Grimm's name! (thanks for picking me up on that btw). Hope it reads better now. Just thought, it may be over 2000 words and I read a bit about Contributions that get accepted (as I hope this one will be!) often get split if they are over the 2000 word count. Can anyone clarify that for me?

PGHF

Some entries MAY get split if there's a perceived need for it, but yours looks very comfortable in length. There are a lot longer entries out there.

W

There's a very naughty joke somewhere in there, but I'll leave it be. for the info.
PGHF

Good entry

sprout

~Very comprehensive.

I'm really glad to see you tackling this subject! You may gather from my comments that I'm a long *very-long* time fan.

I hate to be perceived as a nay-sayer, because this is just such a great entry; but there are a couple of things that still need to be addressed.

In your introduction to Peter, you write 'He dreams of being a superhero,...' In fact, he had no such dreams. Nothing was ever said in the original Golden-Age comics that such thoughts occurred to him. He wanted only to succeed with his natural gifts (intelligence and scientific curiousity) to make his aunt and uncle proud, and to pay them back for all their support after the deaths of his parents.

I know that the now-popular movie focuses on the DNA and genetics angle, but you began writing of the GA of comics where this does not apply. The public exhibition he went to see was on radiation, not biology.
(perhaps you'd be better off focusing on one or the other, or you're bound to get into real timeline troubles.)

It wasn't the next day (in the GA of comics). On the way home, he had to leap out of the way of a car and found himself sticking to a wall 20 feet above the ground.

He did want to test his powers, no problem. But, he also wanted the prize money for his beloved uncle and aunt.
[sidenote: Crusher Hogan is no relation to Hulk Hogan, even though Hulk was another Marvel character. You didn't say anything about this; I just find it coincidental.]

The rest just goes way off from the GA. I think you can fix most everything by just deleting any mention of the comic book timeline. For instance, Peter never had help developing his web, and didn't meet the good doctor until he tackled him as 'The Lizard'.

Even so, you'll want to note:

'He is also able to leap great distances, run at incredible speeds and perform acrobatic and gymnastic manoeuvres unequalled by any other superhero.'
Not nearly true, even in the Marvel Universe. He has equals and betters in each category. Certainly characters like Quicksilver are faster, Daredevil is as gymnastic, etc.

If you want to include classics villians, you shouldn't neglect Kraven the Hunter, Electro, Sandman, or 'The Vulture', at a start.


Now, perhaps you can help me? Where did this stuff come from?
'With slight differences to the solution and the way that Spider-Man shoots his webs a number of different styles could be made, including freeze-webs, shock-webs and even acid-webs.'
Have I been away that long?

Ah. yes i did say golden age didn't I? But I meant not in comic timeline sense, but more as a reference to the beginnings of comic book heroes in popular culture. Perhaps I need to clear that up. I've tried to generlaise the histories of Spider-Man into one group as a whole, as they all tend to be different. A lot of the information is a mix of the original Stan Lee/Steve Kirby stories, but some has come from the new Ultimate Spider-Man storylines and the angles that McFarlane and Romita pushed in. In particular the reference to Parker dreaming of being a superhero. In both the Ultimate Spider-Man and Sensational Spider-Man stories there is reference to Peter as a young boy wanting to make his Aunt and Uncle proud of him, and his Uncle Ben's old collections of comics kept him enthralled.

As for all of Spidey's villains, I wanted to add entries on the rest of the Sinsiter Six, but it was becoming too much. I thought if I concentrated on main friends and enemies, it was enough of a taster. I like to think Guide Entries are just introductions for people. You want to find out a little about something, look in the Guide. Want to know more...try all the links or try experiencing for yourself what the Researcher is talking about. Hence my reason for keeping things a little short. I also wanted to keep the number of friends and enemies listed almost equal. I could also add Black Cat, Silver Sable, DareDevil and the Punisher to list of friends, but again..is it too much? Does anyone else have a view on this? Should I add more to the list or leave it as is?

As for different webbing, Spidey changed the fluid to defeat the Rhino, the Lizard and other enemies on various occasions.

Definately taking note of the contradictory issues in the text though, I'll fix it up!!
PGHF

Hi again HF

Thanks for taking the time to work on our comments. I had totally forgotten Spidey's use of the 'acid' webbing that was used to defeat Rhino (I said it was a long time ago!). I have a vague memory that he used a similar 'custom formula' against Electro at one point.

Yes, the history is long and convoluted. I would suggest perhaps a series of pieces, each focusing on a different set of backgrounds and stories, friends and enemies. That way you needn't include villians like Molten Man in all of them, and the movie entry would be much more manageable.

Just a total friends list could get pretty long, and some of them would appear on the opponent list as well. You'd have to include most all the Avengers as friends (the call 'Avengers Assemble!' has been blamed for the last three major Californian earthquakes, you know?), the Hulk and Fantastic Four would appear on both lists.

You'd even have to include Superman, of course.

Good Luck. Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

I think I'll keep the lists as they are. Like I said, I didn't want to create an entry that was a complete comprehensive history of Spider-Man, just a bit of a taster for anyone who might be interested. There's 40 odd years of history to fit into a Guide Entry!! I didn't want people to have to swathe through reems of text to get the giste of Spider-Man, and the fun behind him! Thinking about that, I need to add how cheeky the web-head can be!!
Any other ideas and opinions are more than valued though!

PGHF

Have added more to the Entry and generally tidied up. *dusted off the cobwebs...*
PGHF


P.S - Next hero to add may be the Punisher or Catwoman, seeing as the movies will be released soon...anyone have a preference?

It's about time someone wrote this!

Told ya it was in the pipes Cap'n Sparra Hope it meets with approval...working on the Punisher now
PGHF

I've been meaning to check this out for a while now. Yes, very good, cool layout and interesting literary style. A few incredibly minor points:

1: In the first section, there are quite a lot of exclamation marks. Are you sure they are all necessary?

2: Apostorphes:

Parker assisting Connors --> Parker assisting Connors'
Connors only saving grace --> Connors' only saving grace

3: I'm pretty sure one of Venom's most dangerous powers is his ability to avoid Spidey's spider sense. If that is the case, you should probably include it, as I believe that he is the only one.

I wouldn't consider the Fantastic Four Spider-Man's friends...


The villains need entries themselves... especially carnage!

Have tidied up the rough edges per all suggestions...

PGHF