Spider-Man: Blue By Jeph Loeb

Sam Quixote

Jeph Loeb – the man who made having no ideas into a decades-long career in comics – brings his bafflingly successful approach to Batman over to Spider-Man. His approach? Tell stories that have already been told! With Batman, it was the fall of Harvey Dent in The Long Halloween, and Robin becoming his sidekick in Dark Victory; with Spider-Man Blue, it’s tangentially about the death of Gwen Stacy – but crucially, Gwen doesn’t die in this book. She’s also barely in the book. So wait… what the hell is this about?! Absolutely nothing.

The setup is: Peter’s feeling lonely on Valentine’s Day and decides to talk to the long-deceased Gwen via a tape recorder about the good ol’ days (even though MJ, his wife, is elsewhere in the house). That’s it. There’s no story. There’s really no point either. There’s a half-assed story about some shadowy villain hunting Spider-Man but it’s little more than a reason for Loeb to shoehorn in some boring superhero fights between the, ahem, “romance” (plus the “mastermind” villain reveal is totally arbitrary and idiotic).

Peter fights the Rhino, the Vulture, and the Lizard (this is another Loeb staple: throw the hero’s rogues gallery at him in stages for no reason). He meets MJ. He moves into his first flat with Harry. Gwen’s in the background some of the time. Flash joins the military. Peter and Gwen hook up. That’s it.

That’s it?! Yeah. Because Loeb doesn’t know how to tell stories, he just throws characters together aimlessly and hopes that somehow a plot will emerge – and, what a surprise, it doesn’t. No, Spider-Man Blue is just a cheap excuse to shamelessly wallow in sentiment. Spider-Man’s “blue”, get it? ...

So that must mean this book really pushes the Peter/Gwen angle hard so the reader gets a strong sense of why Peter feels so pained about her absence? Nope! Gwen is barely in this book even though she is the reason for its existence; she and Peter are rarely alone and never share any meaningful moments. Their first meeting, their relationship, her death – it’s all missing. If anything, this book’s about Peter and MJ’s early days - there are actually more scenes between Peter and MJ than there are Peter and Gwen!

What is the point of having a book where Peter moons over Gwen’s death if we get no sense of their relationship? None. Because Loeb already knows the reader knows Gwen was important to Peter going into the book, he doesn’t bother doing any work here to portray why even though that’s the most important thing – the only thing really – he needed to write about.

The only idea we get as readers that Peter and Gwen were important to one another is the scene at the end when they smooch for the first time. If all you knew going into this book was that Peter and Gwen were once in love but now she’s dead, you leave the book knowing exactly the same as you did going in. No more, no less – that’s how lazily written this book is!

What Loeb gives us instead is a few glimpses of Peter staring at Gwen going “wow” before MJ shows up and he says “wow” to her (seriously, that’s an actual scene!). Because even though the book supposedly reveals how and why Peter and Gwen fell in love, based on what we see, they “fell” for one another because they’re both attractive young people and their entire “romance” is purely superficial and based on looks. Doomed, star-crossed lovers? Nah, just a pair of horny, good-looking young people! How “tragic” that they don’t get to bone each other anymore!

It’s not even a fun read – it’s the most generic, bland Spider-Man book you could ever come across. The superhero fights are dull and meaningless, the soap opera is played out, beat for beat, the same way that it has for the last 50+ years. It’s a totally irrelevant, horribly overlong Spider-Man book that offers nothing insightful or substantial to the reader.

I kinda liked Tim Sale’s art which is drawn in homage to early Spider-Man comics by Steve Ditko and John Romita. It’s the only plus about the book, but it’s not enough to make reading this worthwhile.

Spider-Man Blue blows!

Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈

Re-read.

This is still the best of the color series.

What makes this story work so well is Peter Parker's narrative. We have the context of Gwen Stacy's death and this retells part of that iconic story but this would be an average book without Peter Parker's voice. He is funny, charismatic and typically full of charm. So, when you combine that with the weight of his grief over Gwen Stacy and the wistful tone of his good memories of her, it makes for a very compelling story.

Everyone knows how Gwen Stacy died and that Peter later ends up with MJ. Even without that context, this book leaves you with enough to gather that she dies and Peter was heartbroken. The way Loeb chose to tell this story, with Peter recording a message for her on Valentine's Day, was so effective because it allowed for clever ways to convey how he struggles to tell this story.

The book starts with Peter stumbling over his words as he tries to begin his story. Loeb tells us that it's been years but Peter still leaves flowers for her on Valentines Day every year and that he still remembers little things about her, even now. Peter intends to tell the story of how they almost didn't fall in love and we get into the plot outside of his relationship with Gwen.

This starts with Green Goblin attacking Spider-Man, finding out his secret identity and then losing his memory. In efforts to keep an eye on Norman Osborn, Peter drops by the hospital often and eventually befriends Harry Osborn. Peter sees Gwen for the first time when she comes with Flash to see Harry at the hospital. Sale's art really, really works for this book here. The first close up shot of Gwen is perfect. From here, Peter endeavors to get Gwen's attention and when it appears as though he may succeed, MJ shows up.

A huge part of this book is MJ and Gwen pursuing Peter at the same time. It does a pretty good job at conveying that, while he's flattered because hello, MJ is gorgeous, he never intended to choose her over Gwen. It does an even better job at emphasizing what MJ and Gwen see in Peter, as well. If these relationships aren't believable, then this book wouldn't work.

This book has a time line that's incredibly easy to follow but on a second read, I noticed the lead up to Green Goblin's attack in the conclusion of Gwen's story a lot more! There are several points throughout where Peter talks about "If I'd stopped Osborn then" or "If he'd died during this attack", then Gwen would still be alive. Of course, Peter isn't the Punisher of Black Widow and he would never be okay with something like that, but he thinks about it. It's an added layer to his grief because you know it's a hard thing for him to think about.

Several times throughout retelling this story, Peter struggles to continue. The click of the tape recorder was a clever way to convey that this is difficult for Peter to get through. The art and the colors in this book work extremely well when we get to see Peter recording the message. It's a dark blue, he's hunched over in the shadows and everything about this scene works for the story. MJ comes across Peter as he's leaving this message and however we expect her to react, she asks that Peter say "Hi" to Gwen for her. It's a simple way to say that Gwen's impact is acknowledged by people outside of Peter.

The only times we get darker books like this for Peter Parker are books that deal with the death of an important person in his life. Loeb explains the reasoning behind the title in the last lines of the book.

Daniel

Spider-Man Blue was one of the many collaborations between Jeph Leob and Tim Sale. This time around on the so-called "Color Series" from Marvel which focuses on a past loss for one of the companie's iconic heroes.

It's kind of hard to tell when the story takes place, but my assumption is a couple of years after the death of Gwen Stacy with Peter recording his early memories of her on a micro recorder.
Therefore, it's mostly set in the past, which gives us another layer on their relationship back then. In addition to that, Leob's writing style pretty much blends beautifully in that era along with Sale's artwork.
It's pretty neat to see Spidey back in that era fighting his classic villains along the way.

The end result is a subtle yet sweet love letter to the 60's era and to the long-gone Gwen Stacy.

It gets 4 stars out of 5

Jim Ef

8.0/10
Definitely glad i gave this another go after many years.

Spider-Man: Blue is a beautifully written and full of emotions story about loss. Its about remembering all the moments you shared with someone and imaging the ones that never came. But its also about accepting and moving on while you take them with you in your heart and thoughts.
Tim Sale's art compliments great Loeb's writing

Brandon

Spider-Man: Blue is a sort of flashback/retelling of how Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey originally met and fell in love. With MJ thrown into the mix and Peter moving into the city with Harry Osbourne, the plot mirrors parts of Sam Raimi's 2002 Spider-Man film.

The story is narrated by Peter as he records the story into an old tape recorder that was previously owned by his Uncle Ben. He remembers these early years when he took to the streets of New York, stopping some of the strongest and devious super-villains around.

I was a huge fan of what Sale and Loeb did with what is probably my favorite graphic novel,
Batman: The Long Halloween. I really liked the two follow ups (
Batman: Dark Victory and
Batman: Haunted Knight) and more or less appreciated their run with Hush. I've only read a few Spidey graphic novels and was looking forward to exploring what they did with another superhero, especially one so different from Batman.

The problem I had was not with Sale's exceptional art - which he delivered on yet again - but with the overall story. While it was cool seeing a few of the villains that Loeb used here, the backdrop of Peter pining over Gwen really did nothing for me. Especially since Loeb gave Gwen any real reason for Peter to fall in love with her other than being gorgeous. I suppose I was just bored and found my focus constantly drifting away.

Also, I found the ending kind of creepy. In fact, the whole idea seemed sort of strange, really. I will say that I certainly enjoyed that they didn't . That seemed a little refreshing and gave the book a different feel that I didn't quite expect.

I guess after reading such great work from their run on Batman, I expected a lot. I'm still going to seek out their take on
Daredevil Legends, Vol. 1: Yellow and Wolverine, hopefully there a lot more satisfying.

Britton

"It's about remembering someone who was so important to me I was going to spend the rest of my life with her. I didn't know that meant she would only get to spend the rest of her life with me."

In 1973, Gerry Conway and Gil Kane would make comic book history with their arc
The Night That Gwen Stacy Died where they killed off Peter Parker's love interest Gwen Stacy, who was Peter's love interest before Mary Jane Watson entered into the scene. It is known as the event that ended the so called Silver Age of comics and put comics into the more hard edged, 'gritty' Bronze Age. Character deaths are often viewed as contrived ways to torture the heroes, but Jeph Loeb took one of the most famous comic deaths of all time and turned it into a touching meditation on grief, loss, and moving on from said loss.

Grief tends to be a complicated thing, even as it heals over time there's always that sense of lingering, like a terminal disease. Jeph Loeb knows grief very well, considering that he'd been through it with the loss of his son, Sam to bone cancer in 2005, though interestingly enough Loeb wrote this before Sam's passing. As someone who has lost someone close to them unexpectedly, I often spent time reading books that dealt with grief during the first few months after it happened, and there were several books that resonated with me during this time.
Pet Sematary showed me to not let grief control my life and allow myself to implode during this difficult period, A Grief Observed showed me to feel grief, rather than to avoid it and fear it, and Spider Man: Blue showed me that it's ok to still miss that person who was in your life at that point, and to miss the effect that they had on you while they were here.

I've always gravitated towards the more 'grounded' characters of superhero comics: Batman, Daredevil, The Punisher, John Constantine, and Spider Man. Many people forget that the genius of Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and Jack Kirby was their bringing a relatability and humanity to their heroes, making their heroes more human than super. They were people who had their own motivations, inner conflicts, and desires as any of us do. Why Spider Man remains so popular is because, despite his extraordinary abilities, he's just a person, like us. Some more cynical folks might say that it's an escapist power fantasy, but I find that those who say that miss the point of Spider Man, along with the other superheroes that Lee, Ditko, and Kirby created, as they were intended to be more realistic depictions of people with superhuman abilities, rather than the aspirational, almost god-like figures of DC Comics (not to say there's anything wrong with them).

Loeb writes with empathy, creating a careful balance between the grief that Peter feels on the day of Gwen's death and the warmth that Peter felt from falling in love with Gwen for the first time. Such a careful balance creates a contrasting sense of heart warmth and heart break. There are many moments layered throughout the story that showcases this careful balance, and I won't dare spoil them for you all here. It's moments like these that prove just how great of a writer Jeph Loeb can be.

While I often pay more attention to the writing, I must note that Tim Sale once again proves himself to be one of the most inventive comic artists working today. He managed to take Steve Ditko's style, refined it, and then managed to morph it into his own style. The art is idiosyncratic and pulpy, not unlike Ditko's original art work, and is focused on facial and bodily expressions, allowing those to flesh out the story rather than endless prose. But the real winner of the series is colorist Matt Hollingsworth, who once again shows to be one of the best colorists working in the comics industry today, alongside Dave Stewart. Much of his coloring defines the tone of the series, that of a melancholic, tragic feel.

In the end, Loeb, Sale, and Hollingsworth create a heartfelt tale of love and loss, turning an iconic moment in American comic book history into a personal and deeply felt tragedy, showing that the love that we once had will never be lost and that the pain from losing such a love will never fully fade away.

Roxanne

If you want your emotions trampled on it's always a good bet to pick up a Loeb & Sale trade because they're the best, the story and the artwork always work so well together. I'm not the biggest Peter Parker fan, i rarely pick up anything to do with him, (plus Miles is the best spider-man so y'know jog on Parker.) So i did just pick this up purely because it's done by Loeb & Sale and again i was not disappointed, i'm emotionally ruined now so thanks.
It is quite short though and i do think Loeb has a habit of building and building this story and then it just ends abruptly just when you think all hell is about to break lose but nah son they ain't about that. Definitely worth picking up, especially for spider-man fans, i'm still not that bothered about Parker but it was a nice try.

Scott

Spider-Man: Blue felt a little like a love letter of sorts to long-time fans of the friendly neighborhood web-slinger. In another sense it really IS a love letter - Peter Parker pours out his feelings regarding long-lost first love Gwen Stacy in first-person narration throughout the six-part story.

The artwork is fantastic, resembling and/or capturing the spirit of the mid-60's style from the original 'Amazing' series, and a major line-up of original villains take turns making appearances.

Lastly, the plot engine is focused more on Parker's personal life (though there are sufficient super-heroics), instead of a generic crime story, which make his memories and mourning more effective.

Rory Wilding

For better or worse, history can define a person and how certain moments in life can shape your actions and will forever carry you in the future. That in a nutshell, can perfectly describe Peter Parker, a kid who got bitten by a radioactive spider, which gives powers that he initially uses for profit, only for that selfish act brings the death of Uncle Ben. Without that tragedy, Peter wouldn't become Spider-Man and as much as he will try and do good, there will always be consequences in living that double life.

Published in 2002, Spider-Man: Blue is part of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's series of comics that chronicle particular Marvel Comics characters in their formative years, including Daredevil and Hulk. It is Valentine's Day, and Peter feels "blue" over one of his true loves, Gwen Stacy, who died a while ago, so he recounts into a tape recorder about how Gwen and he fell in love.

Recounting the events from The Amazing Spider-Man #40–48 and #63, one can perceive that the creators are doing a love-letter to the John Romita Sr. run, as evidenced in Tim Sale's illustrations evoking Romita's approach of all his characters are incredibly handsome, whilst Spidey himself is all muscle and not the skinny figure from his inception. Personally, I've always preferred the ugly and claustrophobic surroundings from co-creator Steve Ditko, but Sale plays a nice tribute to one of the quintessential Spider-Man artists.

Despite the interesting premise of Peter looks back at his romance with Gwen and how that informs his present marriage with Mary Jane, due to literally retreading old ground and really giving us nothing new, it perfectly sums up that Jeph Loeb has no original ideas. It also doesn't help that he can't write women as there is no clear distinction between MJ and Gwen, apart from hair colour, as they're both wearing fashionable clothing and falling for Peter pretty quickly. Prior to getting her own series as Spider-Gwen, one can argue that Gwen's only signature traits are being Peter's first love and dying, but if you look at comics such as Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, you can give Gwen more to do, even if she remains in the grave.

Despite some decent character moments such as the brief arc for former bully Flash Thompson, the villains themselves just pop up with the connective tissue of some other villain pulling the strings in order to find a weakness towards the wall-crawler. There is no peril when Spidey takes on these characters and when it's revealed who the big baddie is, you just shake your head in frustration.

Ending on an emotional note, the rest of the book will make you feel "blue" as despite some decent art by Tim Sale, Jeph Loeb never finds a fresh angle into looking back into a key moment in Spidey's history.

Jacobi

Up until last night I would not have considered myself an active fan on Tim Sale's art. I recognized that his work was definitely quality, but he was never a "favorite" artist of mine. Just a guy who's work was pleasing when he drew something I wanted to read.

Holy hell did that just change when I read Spider-man Blue for the first time. I was blown away. I don't think I've seen sexier women in comics than the way Sale drew MJ and Gwen. I hate to belittle another artist to bolster another, but Ed Benes is a good example of how you can try and draw "sexy" and completely miss the mark. Benes' cheesecake is obvious and egregious. Ass shots and poses that would make a contortionist proud are all well and good (in its place), but sexy it is not. What Sale did in Blue though was to get across what it is to find a woman so completely captivating that you can't help but not look away. And this might be starting to sound creepy, but I just want to give Sale so much credit for getting that across because it made sense considering what the story was about. If someone else drew this you might not have got why it was that Peter was so instantly smitten by both Gwen and MJ. Through his art, Sale put the reader right in Peter's shoes.

On top of that, Sale draws an INCREDIBLE Spider-man and rogues gallery. Every time there was an introduction of a Spidey bad guy, I was just pleased as punch at Sale's rendition of these tried and true characters. Sale also does great Spidey action because his art is so full of motion. My jaw was figuratively falling on the floor every time I turned the page.

But more than the action, it was the moments when the gang were together that Sale's art really shown through for me. For lack of a better term, Sale is good at infusing the gang with emotion and having the characters "act" is a way that draws you in the story. The story didn't feel staged or rigid, but the panels of the gang felt like a natural gathering of real friends. It might seem silly (and a bit toolish) to say it, but I didn't feel like I was reading a comic, but instead was peaking into these characters lives.

I think the reason Sale was so great on this book (and why Marcos Martin is doing something similar on Amazing currently) is that they put there unique spins on the John Romita style. I'm no Romita aficionado, but it's kind of hard to not be familiar with his style. I could see that in this book without Sale being a slave to it. It was just a really great reading experience.

I've read and really enjoyed Superman For All Seasons and The Long Halloween, but Spider-man: Blue (while not as good a story on it's own, but still a pretty good one) really showed me another side to one of my new favorite artists.

Nı§hca

"It's about remembering someone so important to me I was going to spend the rest of my life with her."

What peter parker didn't know was that meant Gwen Stacy would only get to spend the rest of her life with him. This is the story of how they fell in love. Or, more appropriately, how they almost didn't fall in love.

With this book I've finished Marvel's Color series by Loeb and Scale. I never thought I would read any marvel book ever because I'm hardcore DC guy but this color series almost forced me to pick these books and has made me a fan of Spiderman, Hulk and Daredevil. Tim Scale's artwork hits me on whole another level and because of this series, he is my favorite artist right now. A brilliant spiderman book with mindblowing artwork and beautiful writing that every Spiderman fan should read once.

Chris Gordon

Spider-Man: Blue is not a typical superhero graphic novel; it is something much more human. This is not that typical collection of action sequences and shallow story arcs that you can find in a lot of comic books. In Spider-Man: Blue, we see a much more vulnerable side of our titular crime-fighter, a side that nearly all of us can relate to. In a rare moment of reflection, we delve deep into the pain and loss that Spider-Man carries with him day-in and day-out, and we get an intimate look at how the loss of his first love, Gwen Stacy, affected his entire life thereafter.

Spider-Man: Blue goes back in time to recount the days when Gwen Stacy was still alive, still the apple of Peter's eye. Yet, it does not retread old comic storylines in their entirety, but rather shows bits and pieces of several major moments in Spider-Man's life right before he tragically lost Gwen Stacy. This graphic novel does a great job at giving the reader new perspectives on old scenarios, focusing heavily on Peter's more personal thoughts on Gwen and Mary Jane Watson during his earlier days as a web-slinger. This could have easily been messed up by reprinting old panels from decades-old comics and mixing them all together with new additions to tell this story, which would have cheapened the experience. Thankfully, each moment of Spider-Man: Blue is a new retelling of the old stories that most Spidey fans know fondly, adding in substantive details that the older comics failed to touch upon so long ago. These additions make the characters feel more three-dimensional and real, and ultimately adds another layer of depth to the Spider-Man mythos.

The tone of this graphic novel was appropriately melancholy throughout, though not without its sprinkling of Spider-Man's world famous witticisms. The manner in which Peter reminisces about Gwen was heartbreakingly intimate, allowing him to reveal details about these past events that otherwise may not have ever appeared in a speech or thought bubble. The only time things might get a little muddled is when the Spider-Man moments pop up, and by that I mean those pesky parts where there is action and crime-fighting (how dare they put such things in a comic!). Though some of my favorite Spidey comics are composed almost entirely of these kinds of action oriented moments (see Maximum Carnage), I highly preferred the parts that focused on Peter and his interactions with his friends and love interests over the fist flailing moments that I can get anywhere else. After all, the point of this graphic novel was to elaborate more on the relationship he had with Gwen and Mary Jane, not to bring up his fights with the Rhino and Vulture. I know these fights were relevant to the stories being told, but I feel they would have been better relegated to a single page or two, just to get it out of the way without breaking the flow of the narrative. Besides these few moments interrupting the true story at hand, I found Spider-Man: Blue to be well written and executed quite nicely for a superhero love story.

One complaint I had with this graphic novel was its inconsistent artwork. I know it may be blasphemous to criticize the highly revered Tim Sale and his work, but I felt it was lacking in some places. One moment, you would see a beautifully illustrated Gwen Stacy or Mary Jane Watson. In the next, you will see obvious flaws in their features. These incongruities were not solely relegated to Gwen and MJ, for I also found Harry Osborn to look awful most times. The only consistent standout was Spider-Man in costume, and even then he was nothing special to gawk at. The artwork should have excelled in this graphic novel because of how emotional and intimate its story was, so to have less-than stellar artwork breaking that immersion and connection to the story was a real let down for me. I personally think this work would have greatly benefited from a more traditional style of artwork for the characters, allowing readers to focus more on the substance of the story and less on that hideous nose they threw on Harry Osborn, among other artistic flaws. Sale can be great (look at Batman: The Long Halloween) but he was not at his best this time around. A pity.

Overall, I was really impressed by Spider-Man: Blue. Nowadays, it seems that far too many graphic novels and comic book story arcs place their time and attention on these massive events in which I could not possibly have any interest. Sure, a story about the end of the universe can be cool once in a while, but all the time? I get sick of that real quick (that's why I abandoned most superhero movies coming out as of late). How am I supposed to find anything relatable in these massive event comics when they barely touch upon anyhting based in reality? That is why I breathed a sigh of relief when I sat down and read Spider-Man: Blue. This graphic novel does not try to be a groundbreaker by any means, nor does it try to redefine the characters or established norms of the Spider-Man universe. Instead, this graphic novel just tells a story about a guy looking back at the days before he lost his first true love. Simple. Effective. Touching. No need for the epic battle sequences and time-bending, canon-altering consequences for which Marvel seems to have an affinity these days. As far as I am concerned, Spider-Man: Blue is far more effective at telling an engaging story than those aforementioned massive works because this story lacks the grandiose additions that would otherwise tarnish and distract from a perfectly good story about the more human side of our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. You can keep you Infinity Gauntlet, I'm much more content with Peter's tape recorder to Gwen Stacy.

I highly recommend reading this one if you want a break from the chaotic messes and confusing catastrophes plaguing modern comics today. I would also recommend reading it for Valentine's Day due to its touching subject matter and the fact that part of it takes place on Valentine's Day.

Aaron

I happened to read this one at the perfect time, just after
The Night Gwen Stacy Died, and then
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 4. By the end of that volume, Peter and Gwen start to become friends and I believe it ends only a few issues before Mary Jane Watson appears. This book shows how Peter, MJ, and Gwen met and interacted during the period up until Pete and Gwen finally got together, punctuated with Pete's collisions with the Green Goblin, the old and new Vultures, the Rhino, the Lizard, and .

Much like other Loeb/Sale collaborations I've read (
Superman: For All Seasons,
Batman: The Long Halloween,
Batman: Dark Victory), I found this to be an excellent distillation of a, if not the, prime period in Spider-Man's fictional life. Sale's art is classic and dramatic without being cluttered; in some ways he improves upon the original character designs by compressing fifty years of history and capturing their nostalgic essences. Told in flashback after Pete's marriage to Mary Jane, it comes across as tender, mournful, and bittersweet, though admittedly the story probably would lose most of its impact on a reader who hadn't just read about the death of one of its two female leads. Gwen is mysterious and aloof while MJ is in Pete's face, confounding and exciting him; Loeb's depictions of the girls makes it clear why a college kid who gets regular adrenaline rushes from swinging around NYC and punching out supervillains would take an interest in each of them. I caught a review that found it distasteful that Peter would be "cheating on his wife with a memory", but it's clear that the three of them were always friends and MJ was also profoundly changed by Gwen's death. In the end, MJ understands Peter's desire to capture his memories and joins him. Remembering a lost love and friend the way they do here hardly seems to be a bad thing.

Jim Ef

Very good storytelling but 3 stars cause its nothing new. Peter Parker records the story about how he met Gwen and how he is still missing her

Read with Sandee ・❥・

RATING: 3.5 STARS

To be honest, I don't read much of Spiderman, so I can't really compare this to any other Spiderman stuff. Spiderman: Blue was highly recommended by a friend who I share some comic book faves with so I decided to give this a go.

I liked this. I just wasn't completely blown away by it. However, there is one thing about this that caught me off guard - the emotions. And if you know me, I love reading about stuff that has a lot of heart in it, and this one definitely has it.

In Spiderman: Blue, you see this side of Peter that I haven't seen yet. You see his vulnerability and his weakness. Sure, you do get his spunky and funny side of him too, but the way his emotions were exposed on this was one thing that I really likes.

One of my qualms about this was how I didn't get to know Gwen Stacey as much as I would have liked. Yes, this has Gwen and MJ in it, but mostly it's supposed to have focused on Gwen, her being the main love interest here. Unfortunately, that wasn't how it felt like to me.

Tim Sale's art impeccable as always.

Sumit Singla

I've never been a great fan of Spiderman, because I find his personal life to be a little too sappy. The movie franchise has made him even worse as far as I'm concerned because Tobey Maguire just doesn't fit into my mental picture of Spiderman at all.

However, Tim Sale's art in this one is really, really good! The story isn't great. The overall premise is that Spidey is narrating the tale of his love for Gwen Stacy and her untimely death into an old tape recorder. Not a great thing to do, considering his current wife, MJ is asleep downstairs.

There are far too many villains who appear, get beaten up, and disappear. The fight situations are a little underwhelming, therefore. And the other issue is that Gwen Stacy doesn't actually die in the book. She's dead, but the how/why isn't explained.

However, read it for Sale's lovely art, if nothing else. Perhaps 3 stars is a bit harsh, but then one surely expects better and more coherent storytelling from someone of Jeph Loeb's class.

Diz

In this book, Peter Parker is making a recording for the dead Gwen Stacy for Valentine's Day in which he recounts how he fell in love with Gwen and the difficulties that he had in choosing between Gwen and MJ. The recording is very sad and you can feel how much Peter regrets not spending more time with Gwen. It's a very introspective take on Spider-man and the conclusion is very heart-warming. I also really liked the art. Tim Sales use of solid colors and silhouettes is really stylish and dramatic.

✦✧Ahinorа✧✦

#34
☆☆☆☆☆☆
Любимият ми брой от поредицата до сега!!!💙

Lobo

Jesus F Christ, to była jazda.

Jakim cudem kreska może łączyć świetne, dynamiczne sceny walki i najbrzydsze, nieproporcjonalne ujęcia postaci, jakie dotąd miałam nieprzyjemność oglądać? Tu się to udało. Harry Osbourn i Kraven wyglądają jak karykatury.

Podoba mi się założenie - Peter nagrywa taśmy, w których zwraca się do zmarłej Gwen Stacy, opowiadając o tym, jak się poznali i zakochali, żeby poradzić sobie z żałobą.

Podobają mi się interakcje między postaciami, szczególnie między Gwen i MJ. Szczerze mówiąc, mam wrażenie, że Flash dostaje tu większy rozwój charakterologiczny niż główny bohater. Jedyne, co wyniosłam z tego komiksu to przekonanie, że MJ i Gwen mają niesamowitą chemię i więcej poczytałabym o nich niż o Spider-Manie.

Nie podoba mi się, że fabuła koncentruje się wokół walk Spider-Mana z praktycznym każdym z jego klasycznych przeciwników. Wiem, że ważnym elementem jest pokazanie, jak MJ i Gwen reagują na podwójne życie Petera i jego nieustające zniknięcia i dziwne zachowanie, ale szczerze, trochę mi tego zabrakło. Jestem wielką fanką sugestii, że żadna z nich nie kupowała tych wymówek i obie wiedziały, że coś jest na rzeczy. Ale nie udało się dobrze wyegzekwować ich reakcji na Petera i jego zachowanie, bo chociaż to miał być temat, wydaje się tylko wątkiem pobocznym. Co jest głównym wątkiem? Użalanie się Petera nad sobą.

Im więcej komiksów o Spider-Manie czytam, tym większe mam wrażenie, że Peter Parker jest paskudnym gnojkiem, który dorabia sobie martyrologię.

Najbardziej wkurzają mnie dwie rzeczy:

1) Relacje Petera z Gwen i MJ są jednostronne. Nie rozumiem, czemu one są nim zainteresowane, nawet jeśli podejrzewają, że jest Spider-Manem, co jest tylko delikatnie sugerowane, bo Peter nie daje nic od siebie. Zero. Nada. To worek bez dna, który można zapychać dobrymi gestami i pracą emocjonalną i nic z tego nie mieć.

2) Peter próbuje nadać śmierci Gwen znaczenie. I stwierdza, że sensem śmierci Gwen jest to, że MJ uświadomiła sobie własną śmiertelność i dojrzała do prawdziwego związku. To jest okropne, obrzydliwe, obmierzłe, okrutne instrumentalne podejście, które tylko dowodzi, że Peter gówno wie o własnej żonie.

Generalnie lektura tych sześciu zeszytów to dzika jazda z kiepskim zakończeniem. Ma dobre motywy, ale całość jest... Uhm. Widać, że facet to pisał, to raz. Widać też, że nie miał pojęcia, co pisze. Więc na koniec tylko się wkurzyłam.

Subham

This is probably one of the greatest stories ever told for Spidey. Its about Peter writing a letter to his first love Gwen and recalling when he first fell in love with her. It starts off with the usual encounter between him and Green Goblin and then he has to fight Rhino, Vulture and Lizard all the meanwhile trying to navigate between the loves of his life Gwen and MJ and the awkward interaction there and his friends Harry and Flash and about them growing up and realizing their responsibilities and the face off with Kraven and Peter and Gwen's first moment and then the Stuff with MJ in the end.

This story just showcases why Spider-man is the best and how integral Gwen was in his life, she made him want to be better and MJ realized that life is short and her love with Peter is eternal and this just hints at the mortality of life and how it is fleeting and short and you have to seize the moments and live it and also manages to get into the heart of these characters and is such a great tribute and the art and the blue hues are too good and compliment it so well.

Chris

I really liked Tim Sale's artwork. I like that he evokes the style of the original Spider-Man run in the 1960s. His art has always had an otherworldy feel to it, but the 60s aesthetic really shines here.

And that's good because it makes up for some of the shoddier character work. Almost all of the characters feel more like caricatures than fully fleshed out people. Harry Osborne is kind of a shy and nervous guy, Flash is a mindless bully, Peter as Spider-Man is not funny in the slightest. And Mary Jane and Gwen... well they're hot right? What else do they need?

Okay, so that's a little harsh, and if it's all part of the swingin' '60s aesthetic then maybe it's deliberate... it would just be nice if they were a little more fleshed out as characters rather than pinups.

I like the concept of this story, Peter still dealing with his grief over losing Gwen by recording a message to her, recalling how they first met. It's nice, I just wish the dialogue lived up to the art and the concept.

Rylan

Wow this book was really sad, definitely the hardest I’ve cried to a comic since Tom King’s Vision. From the first few pages you know that this is gonna be emotional. The story is narrated by Peter on Valentine’s Day recording tapes to his dead lover Gwen Stacy. The story flashes back to Peter’s early days as Spider-Man and shows how he fell in love with both Gwen and Mary Jane. The story is emotional and I think it really captures the essence of Spider-Man. Sale is on art so the book looks gorgeous, I wish we got to see him draw more of Spider-Man’s villains because the ones we see in this book look amazing.

Sud666

I am a huge Jeph Loeb fan. I loved his Batman work. His Marvel stuff doesn't seem to be of the same quality.

Spider-Man is feeling blue. On the anniversary of Gwen Stacy's death, he decides to record a message to her spirit. This comic is that message, which details how Peter Parker met Gwen Stacy and MJ. Along the way he fights the Green Goblin, the Rhino , the Vulture (two of them) and Kraven the Hunter.
While the Spiderman stuff was pretty good, it's the Peter Parker-Gwen Stacy-MJ troika where it is rather weak. I just didn't care and while it does shed some light on the different interactions that led to their love-it just didn't do it for me.

The artwork is not terrible but it is not as good as Tim Sales Batman titles. Thus an underwhelming story and decent art make for a 2 star Spiderman story. Other may like it, but it was not for me.

Anthony

I'm a Spider-man fan who prefers John Romita Sr over Steve Ditko. That's one of the reasons why I really like what Loeb and Sale do with Spider-man: Blue, because it's based on the first 9 issues that Romita Sr drew and for me it's a great interpretation of some classic stories while also adding in their own things.

The story is told through the point of view of Peter himself, who is narrating his time with Gwen and early days with MJ into a tape recorder. The whole book is an out of continuity flashback of sorts. Basically, it's really lovely.

I've read online that some people don't get what the deal is with Gwen, since the majority of readers these days grew up with Spider-man dating/married to MJ or with the post One More Day divorce situation. But I've always had a liking for Gwen Stacy. I like the romantic tragedy behind her story. That this was Peter's true love, but she was taken away from him. I think Loeb and Sale do a really good job of capturing what Peter felt and still feels for Gwen, whilst still giving MJ the service she deserves (since she turned out to be his 'true love' after all).

Tim Sale's artwork is fantastic. He goes for the slightly broader Spider-man, which is very Romita-esque, and his Peter also has that slight Romita handsomeness to him. But there are some Ditko elements in there, most notably in his Green Goblin. I think he also steps up to the task of drawing Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson, which isn't an easy feat when you're interpreting a Romita Senior story.

Peter Derk

I'm starting to see what people don't like about Jeph Loeb.

When I read his Batman, it works, but that's probably because I haven't read a whole lot of Batman.

Spider-Man? Well, to say I've read a metric fuckshitload of Spider-Man would be the most offensive way I could put it without getting into racial territory.

And when you've read a lot, Loeb kind of rehashes a lot of stuff. Like he's boiling down Spider-Man's encounters with the Green Goblin into about two pages, but it doesn't offer a whole lot of newness.

Also, I think he DID capture the way these characters talked in their early years. But I don't know if that's a good thing. It was good and necessary at the time, but now it feels very dated, and not so much in a cute way. Imagine if Mad Men characters spoke like characters from Gunsmoke.

So maybe Jeph Loeb is great when it comes to characters you don't know all that well. Or intimately. Almost too intimately.

Gabriel Llagostera

No soy muy fan del personaje y menos de Jeph Loeb, aunque sus mejores historias están cuando colabora con Tim Sale, así que aprovechando la colección Salvat, le entré a este tomo. La historia es intimista y se centra en los recuerdos de Peter desde que conoce a Gwen Stacy hasta que empieza a salir con ella. Me sorprendió que no fuera hasta su muerte, pero ahora me doy cuenta de lo inteligente de la decisión, así es posible potenciar su vínculo en vida, y las cosas que lo hicieron tan especial.

Loeb acierta en el tono y en las grabaciones que le dan unidad a una serie de anécdotas más o menos interesantes. El dibujo de Sale gana en intensidad con su trazo fino y con los primeros planos de los personajes.

Comic ideal para aquellos que quieren leer algo fresco, interesante y humano. No hay que saber mucho de los personajes, más allá de lo obvio y justo.

Chris Greensmith

"Will you do me a favor, Peter? Say “hello” for me and— …Tell Gwen I miss her too."

John

Quite simply the best Spider-Man story I've read. Again, this is not a surprise seeing as though this yet another Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale collaboration.
It follows a similar formula as "Daredevil: Yellow" in that the protagonist (in this case Peter Parker/Spider-Man) is recording a series of messages to his dearly departed love interest (in this case Gwen Stacy). It should be noted that Spider-Man's entire collection of notable characters (including his rogues gallery) make appearances.
If you're only every going to read one Spider-Man story, "Spider-Man: Blue" should at the top of your list. Absolutely perfect, 5 Stars!

Boris

Учебник по писане на истории. Много добре написан разказ за това как един супергерой се справя със скръбта. Многопластова и дълбоко смислена.

Hamid Babayev

Do I love this piece of..something?
Its hard to explain.
Yeah, I know. The Writer tried to write something about love and to describe how difficult was that being into two different lifes.
But all of those villians make no sence. Storyline was just bad. Bad, bad and very bad. About MJ.. fuck's sake.. was she always so pity? So chip? I dont think so..

Title	:	Spider-Man: Blue
Author	:	Jeph Loeb
Rating	:
ISBN	:	0785110712
ISBN-10	:	9780785110712
Language	:	English
Format Type	:	Paperback
Number of Pages	:	168
Publication	:	First published April 1, 2003

Spider-Man: Blue by Jeph Loeb

Spider-Man: Blue Reviews

Spider-Man: Blue Reviews

Releated on Spider-Man: Blue