Spider-Man: Life Story #1 Review

Writer: Chip Zdarsky

Artist: Mark Bagley

Rating: 6 of 8

Spider-Man: Life Story #1 Review

Spider-Man has always been an intriguing character. On one hand, he's got all these powers, like enhanced strength, agility and is able to stick to walls. But at the end of the day, he's still just a man. He worries about his Aunt, tries his best to pay the rent, to do right by his friends, or girlfriend. 

All of these things really add to the web slinger emotionally and make him a character you can really invest in. But after so many years, you might want to add something unique to pull readers in, especially when so many probably have a great deal of familiarity with the character.

Life Story definitely has this going for it, though maybe not as much as I'd like. Peter may have lived through the 60s, 70s and onward, but he didn't age as if he had. This is how it is for most Marvel or DC characters, but here, Peter's set to age as the decades go on, with real life issues like the Cold War and the Vietnam War impacting both his life and that of those around them.

In this issue, Peter's friend, former high school bully Flash Thompson, is heading off to fight in the Vietnam War, which makes him wonder if he should be doing the same, especially with his abilities. Seeing Iron Man fighting there only increases his doubts. The question of whether Captain America will go is raised, which brings up some very interesting discussion between him and Spidey later on.

There's a very welcome chat between Peter and Flash, on how even now, he still struggles to get Thompson as his high school bully out of his mind. Zdarsky offers up some very interesting alternatives to how things might've gone with Gwen Stacy, or Norman Osborn, scenarios I'm surprised haven't been explored before. 

The issue ends on a very exciting, cheer worthy ending, as the Vietnam War takes a very dark turn. When it comes to the artist, I'm used to seeing him drawing a younger Peter with shorter hair, as in Ultimate Spider-Man, so I was curious to see how he'd draw another universe's Peter, who has a fairly different look.

Ultimately, he did a pretty good job, with Peter's hair reminding me of how John Romita SR had done it. Overall, the issue was good, though I was hoping it'd do more with the premise and stand out a bit more from some other Spider-Man I've read, though I liked how differently certain parts of his life went.

It was very refreshing seeing something as real as the Vietnam War affect Peter, something we don't often see.  Osborn was as threatening as ever, the ending really exciting and Bagley's art as satisfying as it's always been. This could be worth checking out for web-slinger fans looking for a different spin on the wall crawler.