Posted in: Comics, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Spider-Man, Superman | Tagged: action comics 1, amazing fantasy 15, dan slott, Fleischer, Marcos Martin, spider-man noir, Spider-Man/Superman

Is Dan Slott & Marcos Martin's Spider-Man/Superman Crossover The Best?

Is Dan Slott and Marcos Martin's Golden Age Superman/Spider-Man Noir the best Marvel/DC crossover ever? In just five pages? It may just be.

The All-New All-Spectacular Spider-Man/Superman is out today, and my favourite story is the Dan Slott and Marcos Martin strip. And I think it may be the best cross-company crossover to date. And in just five pages. To say why is going to involve spoilers, and even limited examples, given it's just five pages long, means spoilers, So I would suggest you read it first, and see if you picked up what I did, and what you picked up that I missed. It is so dense, so clever, and so beautiful I am guaranteed to have missed some. Add thoughts to the comics… but you might also want to read Amazing Fantasy #15, Action Comics #1, and Amazing Spider-Man #10, and watch all the Fleischer cartoons first. No pressure.

Done all that? Good. Dan Slott talked about this story, saying that he asked,"'Can I do the Spider-Man '67 cartoon meets Filmation Superman '66 cartoon? Or Spider-Man '67 meets the Alex Toth-designed SuperFriends Superman?' And Marvel was like, 'Are you insane? Do you know the approvals we'd have to get for that? No.' 'Can I do 70's TV Live Action Nicholas Hammond Spider-Man meets Superman: The Movie Christopher Reeve Superman?' And Marvel was like, 'You think that would be EASIER to get through? You KNOW how this works. What is wrong with you?!'…  so we went with era-specific: Spider-Man Noir in the 1930s, Golden Age Superman's 1938. I'm like, boom….Every page was a joy. Hearing the Fleischer music while reading the pages, those classic cartoons with the big band scores and the dynamic animation. Oh, I had so much fun with Spider-Man Noir and 1938 Superman. Oh, I had so much fun." And so did I. And so, today, we have the Spider-Man Noir running across the walls of Metropolis rather than its rooftops, in the Will Eisner embedded-title fashion. And Marcos Martin, along with Muntsa Vicente on colours, and Joe Caramagna on letters, all on stellar form here.

So an innocent man is to be executed at midnight, courtesy of Metropolis's death penalty. For being the Big Man, The Kingpin of Crime of Metropolis. So the Spider, the Spider-Man Noir, is enacting justice and vengeance, even if he cannot prevent the sentence. And the Kingpin, well, we all know who he looks like. A big man, bald, well dressed…

Yes, maybe not the Kingpin you were thinking of. But this is The Big Man. Because this is not just the thirties being represented here… remember Amazing Spider-Man #10 by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee?

And even as The Spider employs the ultimate justice… There is someone faster. And who can burst through walls.

A trademark move for the Golden Age Superman, especially in those Fleischer cartoons Dan Slott loves so much. Hell, we all do.

And pitting the Golden Age Superman against the Spider of Spider-Man Noir.

As well as giving us a Spider-Man take on the classic and literally  trademarked chain-bursting image from the back of Superman #1 from 1939, too.

No, seriously, they patented it and everything. From the United States Patent Office in 1941… here, have a deep dive.

But we also get an Amazing Fantasy #15 reference from Spider-Man's first appearance as Superman races, jumping over tall buildings, to reach the Governor…

That's the bunny. Even as Lex Luthor's face is right from Action Comics #1. So that's the first cover for both characters combined into one homage.

And also referencing Action Comics #1, in which Superman is on a mission to save someone from the electric chair, and who is due to die at midnight, unless he can reach the Governor with the evidence…

And just as J Jonah Jameson is cleared of being the Big Man in Amazing Spider-Man #10…

So he is in All-New All-Spectacular Spider-Man/Superman as well!

And looking just like those Fleischer cartoons as well…

And okay, there are some other lovely stories in this crossover alone, and the last one. But too many have been heart-to-heart meetings with Superman and Spider-Man, emotional bonding moments, looking at the characters' differences and similarities, inspiring one another, blah blah blah blah blah.

Just stop it, Jeph Loeb. Dan Slott and Marcos Martin just dive straight to the core of the history of comic books, even with characters different from the familiar ones today, and manage to give a story that spans the decades, the publishers, the history of American superhero comics, as well as their place in the wider pulp fiction history of America. It is everything. Enjoy…

• MARVEL/DC: SPIDER-MAN/SUPERMAN #1
  Written by BRAD MELTZER, GEOFF JOHNS, DAN SLOTT, LOUISE SIMONSON, BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, JASON AARON, JOE KELLY, STEPHANIE PHILLIPS & JEPH LOEB Art by PEPE LARRAZ, GARY FRANK, MARCOS MARTIN, TODD NAUCK, SARA PICHELLI, RUSSELL DAUTERMAN, HUMBERTO RAMOS, PHIL NOTO & JIM CHEUNG
  THWIP, THWIP AND AWAY! Fifty years ago, DC's Man of Steel met Marvel's friendly neighborhood wall-crawler, and the world of comics has never been the same! In celebration of that historic milestone, thrill to ALL-NEW tales of SPIDER-MAN and SUPERMAN and their friends and foes! Brad Meltzer and Pepe Larraz pit Spider-Man and Superman against LEX LUTHOR and NORMAN OSBORN as their greatest villains exploit some of their greatest weaknesses! In the shadow-laden 1930s, SPIDER-MAN NOIR encounters the original Golden Age SUPERMAN as told by Slott/Martin! A crisis ensues as Johns/Frank bring the Super- and Spider-families against each together at the summons of MYSTERIO…but is their true foe an ally out of control?! SYMBIOTE hordes invade METROPOLIS as a new War of the Realms ignites in Aaron/Dauterman's epic. Co-creator of STEEL Louise Simonson hammers out the tale of John Henry Irons' clash with the HOBGOBLIN, as drawn by Todd Nauck! Kelly/Ramos take us on a campus crossover between GWEN STACY and LANA LANG! MILES MORALES (SPIDER-MAN) teams with Superman, as Bendis and Pichelli re-team! All this, and more than a few super-surprises you'll be talking about for the next Fifty years! Featuring Brad Meltzer, Geoff Johns, Dan Slott, Louise Simonson, Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Joe Kelly, Jeph Loeb, Stephanie Philips, Pepe Larraz, Gary Frank, Marcos Martin, Todd Nauck, Sara Pichelli, Russell Dauterman, Humberto Ramos, Jim Cheung, and Phil Noto! On Sale 4/22

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