Welcome to the five hundred and twenty-fourth in a series of examinations of comic book legends and whether they are true or false. Click here for an archive of the first five hundred (I actually haven't been able to update it in a while). This week, what comic book writer is responsible for Spider-Man having mechanical web shooters in the most recent Spider-Man films? Did Man of Steel #1 originally have a damaged space shuttle in it soon after the Challenger explosion? Finally, how did Spider-Man REALLY stop the unstoppable Juggernaut?
Let's begin!
NOTE: The column is on three pages, a page for each legend. There's a little "next" button on the top of the page and the bottom of the page to take you to the next page (and you can navigate between each page by just clicking on the little 1, 2 and 3 on the top and the bottom, as well).
COMIC LEGEND: Brian Michael Bendis is responsible for Spider-Man having mechanical webshooters in the recent Spider-Man films.
STATUS: I'm Going With True
One of Brian Michael Bendis' most acclaimed early works was Fortune and Glory, the fascinating tale of him trying to get his earlier work, Goldfish (which is a really great comic, if you ever get a chance to read it. Its sorta-sequel, Jinx, is even better), made into a movie. Marvel recently put out a color edition and it really does a wonderful job skewering the whole Hollywood process...
Recently, Bendis finally saw one of his works adapted with the Powers TV series...
Anyhow, I bring up Bendis' forays into the world of Hollywood because reader Dennis L. wrote in to ask if it was true that Bendis was responsible for Spider-Man's webshooters being mechanical in the recent Amazing Spider-Man film series.
The answer appears to be true.
As I'm sure you are all aware by now, when Sam Raimi adapted Spider-Man into a series of films early in the 21st Century, he decided to have Spider-Man's webs in the film be part of Spider-Man's powers...
Well, in the recent Marc Webb Amazing Spider-Man series, the webs were back to mechanical web shooters...
So how does this tie in to Brian Michael Bendis?
He explained to Ethan Alter of Yahoo Movies early this year...
Alter: With Turn off the Dark and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Spidey has had a rough time of late in other mediums outside of comics. Have you been solicited for advice about the character’s big-screen future?
Bendis: Yeah, I’ve gone in before. They’ve asked me in to be the deciding vote on some stuff, which is an odd experience as well. [Before Amazing Spider-Man], they sat me down in Amy Pascal’s office with this big roomful of producers and writers and directors, and she looked at me and said “Organic webshooters or mechanical webshooters?” I said “mechanical,” and half the table said, “Goddamn it!” They were mad because I was clearly the deciding vote, even though I didn’t know that. So when I see the mechanical webshooters, I feel a little happiness. I feel like I did something good in the world.
I'm willing to trust Bendis on this, so I'm going with a true here.
Thanks for the question, Dennis! And thanks to Bendis and Ethan Alter for the really interesting piece of information!
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Check out some entertainment and sports legends from this week at Legends Revealed:
How did "Let it Go" save Elsa from being the villain of Disney's Frozen?
Is Sarah Michelle Gellar seriously banned from McDonald's for life?
Was Dumbledore originally going to be straight in the Harry Potter films?
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On the next page, did Man of Steel #1 originally have a damaged space shuttle in it right after the Challenger explosion?
COMIC LEGEND: John Byrne had to re-draw a damaged space shuttle in Man of Steel #1 after the Challenger explosion.
STATUS: True
A number of years ago, I featured a Comic Legend about how John Byrne's comics seemed to have a number of eerie coincidence with real life events (like a comic about an earthquake in Japan coming out right before an earthquake in Japan). Obviously they are simply coincidences, but one of those coincidences could have led to a particularly awkward beginning for one of Byrne's projects.
In the first issue of Byrne's Superman relaunch in 1986, Man of Steel, Superman makes his first appearance on the national scene when he rescues Lois Lane while she is a passenger in an experimental space-plane...
This, of course, was another one of those eerie coincidences, coming so soon after the Challenger space shuttle explosion....
However, it could have been a lot creepier, as originally, Superman does, in fact, rescue a space shuttle (not the Challenger, just a generic space shuttle, but still!). The issue had been completed by the time of the disaster, but Byrne went back and re-drew the shuttle as the far more futuristic looking space-plane, to make it look as different from the Challenger as possible.
My buddy over at JohnByrneDraws has a piece of the original art before the change...
Fascinating.
Thanks to JohnByrneDraws for the original art!
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Check out my latest Movie Legends Revealed at Spinoff Online: Did Back to the Future always end with "To Be Continued..."?
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Speaking of things people remember incorrectly, how did Spider-Man defeat the Juggernaut in their classic battle in Amazing Spider-Man #230?
COMIC LEGEND: Spider-Man defeated the Juggernaut by luring him into a pit of wet cement.
STATUS: False
I very rarely do legends that just involve people misremembering old comic book stories, because pretty much, if you pick a story, you're bound to find SOMEone who remembers it incorrectly. However, on certain rare occasions, I'll be shocked by just HOW prevalant a particular misconception is about a story, and that is the case with Spider-Man's famous battle against the Juggernaut in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #229-230 (by Roger Stern, John Romita Jr. and Jim Mooney).
The battle is a classic, as Spider-Man shows off just how dedicated he is to stopping the Juggernaut without ever crossing over into making the Juggernaut look stupid by having Spider-Man defeat him easily, like he did with the X-Men in Secret Wars.
However, just HOW Spider-Man defeats him seems to be remembered a certain way that isn't what ACTUALLY happened. Here is just a sampling of recaps of the story from various websites...
By this time Spider-Man was frustated enough to lure Juggernaut into a trap and the villain ends up sinking into setting concrete without a trace.
Finally, Spider-Man lures Juggernaut into a pit of wet cement
A frustrated Spider-Man eventually lures the Juggernaut into setting concrete
After being beaten and battered Spider-Man manages to lure the Juggernaut into a construction site and causes him to sink into 30 feet of wet cement
Out classed in strength Spider-Man uses something that the Juggernaut cannot compete with him; his brains. Spider-Man lures Juggernaut to a construction site and tricks him into wet cement, thus stopping the Juggernaut for now…
But here's the actual story...
See? Spider-Man categorically does NOT lure him into the cement. It's just a happy accident (although I love how Stern and JRjr set up the cement mixer earlier in the story). His plan at the time was just to blind him (to slow him down) and then just hopefully somehow get the helmet off (by the way, "laser welding" the helmet on doesn't strike me as a foolproof way of keeping Spider-Man from still getting it off - Spidey's pretty strong, right?). He doesn't plan the cement thing at all.
I personally forgot about this myself before recently re-reading it and just shocking myself.
Okay, that's it for this week!
Thanks to the Grand Comic Book Database for this week's covers! And thanks to Brandon Hanvey for the Comic Book Legends Revealed logo!
Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is cronb01@aol.com.
As you likely know by now, at the end of April, my book finally came out!
Here is the cover by artist Mickey Duzyj. I think he did a very nice job (click to enlarge)...
If you'd like to order it, you can use the following code if you'd like to send me a bit of a referral fee...
Was Superman a Spy?: And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed
See you next week!