The story begins in Dr. Octopus' underwater hideout (which, by the way, if you are super-villain is pretty cool). Apparently, the two had battled and now Spider-Man is pinned down by a massive hunk of machinery as water slowly rises below him. Thankfully, Doc Ock is no where to be found but Spider-Man is still left in a desperate plight. Using sheer willpower (well, and super strength) Spider-Man lifts the machinery off. Totally exhausted and injured, he nearly drowns, fight off dozens of henchman and barely make it back to hospital in time to save Aunt May's life all in 20 pages.
Maybe Spider-Man is what made me think it's normal to talk to yourself. This goes on for five pages. Looking back, it's a little overkill with the floating heads...but I still love it.
To my nine or ten-year old mind - the story inspired me. The willpower exhibited - the "never say die" approach appealed to my adolescent dreams of manhood. I read this one over and over again. I love the art in this comic too - it was Ditko at his best.
Recently, I was re-reading some comics and re-organizing them and came across this comic. It seemed like a good idea to attempt to re-create. I am not great at drawing life-size heroes, but a hero surrounded by machinery and water....I could try. I think it turned out alright.
The Final Chapter - 2011
Detail
You'll notice I drew Spidey looking at the viewer, while the original has Spider-Man looking down, about to give up. I didn't do this on purpose, but my rendering almost looks as if, this is the next moment after he determines, "I'm doing this."
No comments:
Post a Comment