Spider-Man 2: The Movie Tpb

"Spider-Man 2: The Official Comic Adaptation" includes not only the same story can get in the comic book version, but also reprints some other Marvel stories that help to put the summer blockbuster in context. Of course the idea of a comic book adaptation of a comic inspired by comic books is a rather odd one, but it is an easy way of recalling your favorite parts of the film without going back to see it (go ahead, you know you want to) or having to wait months and months for "Spider-Man 2" to come out on DVD. The adaptation is by writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, with pencils by Staz Johnson, Rom Lim, & Pat Olliffe, inks by Scott Kolish & Rodney Ramis, and colors by Chris Sotomayor. That seems like a lot of people involved, but then it took four people to come up with the story and screenplay for the movie. The emphasis is more on the dialogue that the action through the story. For example, at the beginning when Spider-Man has to deliver the pizzas, we get one shot of Spidey engaging in web-slinging and more panels devoted to the set up and payoff for Peter Parker losing his delivery job. Time and time again the fight sequences are reduced to barebones and I get the decided feeling that they ran out of space at the end, especially when we get a caption to explain why two panels later Mary Jane shows up in a wedding dress. Peter and MJ sort of look like Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, but Doctor Octopus looks more like the comic book version than Alfred Molina. Also included is a reprint of "The Amazing Spider-Man" #50, which is the original "Spider-Man No More" story by Stan Lee and John Romita (the British version of this trade paperback substitutes the first Doctor Octopus story from "The Amazing Spider-Man" #3 for this one). I am sure everybody that had that comic either in the original or a reprinted version checked out the infamous full-page panel showing Peter Parker walking away from his costume in a trash can in the rain to compare it with the same short in the film seen in the trailer. Then we also have reprints of "Ultimate Spider-Man" #14-15 by wrier Brian Michael Bendis, penciler Mark Bagley, and inker Art Thibert (with Erik Benson). This alternative version of Doc Ock's origin exists in a world where MJ already knows that Peter is Spider-Man. The problem is that these are just the first two issues in an eight issue story arc, so if you need to find out about the rest of the story you need to check out the third volume of "Ultimate Spider-Man" reprints, "Double Trouble." What we have here is more of a promo for the "Ultimate Spider-Man" comic book and trade paperbacks than anything that really provides insights into the background of the characters. If you think about it this would have been of more value in providing background if it had include reprints of #3, #12 and #50 of "The Amazing Spider-Man." But I bet they think that Steve Ditko's artwork on those first two would have been way too old-fashioned for the sens