Longtime readers of Best Shots know I absolutely adore the work of criminally underrated artist David LaFuente. But now that I’ve seen his cover for Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16, I have even more respect for the man. Check this out:
Spider-Man, pining in a park with all the loving couples. But what’s that to his far right? Your eyes aren’t deceiving you — that’s a happy homosexual couple, moving in for a kiss. Is this a first for Marvel Comics, putting a gay kiss on a cover? For the Big Two in general? Am I wrong? I’m sure it’ll cause some hubbub among some readers, but I gotta say, just looking at the way the world works these days, it feels a little overdue. Either which way, good for LaFuente for drawing it, and good for Marvel for printing it! Rama readers, let’s start discussing this book!
July 28th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
As a gay man, I wish this were true….but that’s very clearly a man and a woman. Some girls have short hair, you know.
July 28th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
I AM AN IDIOT
Okay, I see it now. YAY
July 28th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
That’s a really cute (and beautiful!) cover. Good on Marvel and LaFuente.
But that bubble looks like it’s heading right for Spider-Man’s crotch!
I’ve never read a Spider-Man comic. Is this a good series to start with? That’s the eternal problem with superhero comics, isn’t it? Not knowing where to start! For the record, I like fun (and a little sentimental) superhero stories, not gritty, violent ones. (It’s just my preference, though, not a decree on What Superhero Comics Should Be.)
July 28th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
almost wish this stuff wasn’t pointed out, in a case of paradox/oxymoron, I think these instances belong in comics, but the debates and firestorm that often accompany them do not.
July 28th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Ms. de Guzman:
I read Ultimate Spider-Man in the beginning and for the most part it was a fun, light-hearted and, yes, sentimental book. But I have not read it in years.
However, I can give my opinion of Marvel Adventures Spider-Man by Paul Tobin and Matteo Lolli. Smart, fantastic, accessible, fun stuff that, despite being branded as a “kid” comic, is truly for everyone.
Plus, it has the benefit of a story usually being completed in one, maybe two issues. Ultimate Spider-Man follows Brian Michael Bendis’s usual multi-part (some would say drawn out) stories. Try it out, along with Marvel Adventures Super Heroes, also written by Paul Tobin. You won’t be disappointed.
July 28th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
JENNIFER: Part of my job as an entertainment journalist and comic historian is suggesting what to read for newbies and novices. If you’re totally new to Spider-Man and want a simple story that gives you a good idea of his identity, his popular supporting cast, and the things that drive him, I would suggest perhaps SPIDER-MAN: BLUE which should be available in most stores and via Amazon. If you’d like to ask further questions about Spider-Man or want to clarify what his nature is in the comics as opposed to the movies, feel free to e-mail: KistlerAlan@gmail.com
And good on Marvel for having this cover.
July 28th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Groundbreaking, I guess, but PAD got there first with Shatterstar and Longshot. Albeit not kissing on the cover.
Never mind that. Does this mean Peter breaks up with Gwen? Poor kid.
July 28th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Man not that i have anything aganst gays like i want them to die or anything but im disgusted to see that on this cover, on the cover of Ultimate Spider-Man, because this leads me to think that bendis will start writing stories about homosexuality in the Ultimate Spider-Verse. I hope he doesnt make Spider-Man gay or anything, i mean he has gone out with three women which have been more or less resulting in pretty bad moments.
Im saying this because ive never been a big fan of Ultimate X-Men and witnessed they had Colssus and Northstar get together. I mostly read Ultimate X-Men for the Spider-Man and Mary Jane cameos.
I read earlier in the new run that Mary Jane didnt want to go out with a student years older than her, i cant believe Bendis is willing do deny that with Mary Jane, or for her to even have sex with Peter Parker who at one time was his girlfriend, when she even proposed to engage in it at the time. They wont give us a straight moment to really be praised in a teenager but they ll give us a partially gay cover? What the hell are Marvel, Lafunte, and Bendis thinking.
July 28th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
I think it’s cool that David Lafunte drew a realistic (with the exception of Spider-man) image of a New York park, however I’m hesitant to praise Marvel. Let’s wait and see issue #15 published first, because I have a feeling this will be photoshopped to make one of the guys look like a husky woman.
July 28th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Marvel is so gay.
July 28th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Is that a guy? If you hadn’t said anything, I would consider it a short haired woman, especially how she is dressed. Is there some confirmation that it’s a guy?
It will be interesting what happens with this if any kind of hoopla starts.
July 28th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
@Nick, Look a little more to the right and then guys with the two beards and you will see it.
July 29th, 2010 at 5:26 am
The PC crowd will never admit that something can be gay and crap, but that’s a crap cover.
July 29th, 2010 at 7:14 am
I was expecting Chuck Dixon’s message board to be freaking out over this, but they’re too busy freaking out over the Arizona law being struck down, I guess.
July 29th, 2010 at 11:00 am
Thanks, Matt and Alan. I realized after Alan’s comic that I was mistaken: I have read Spider-Man Blue, which I enjoyed. I’ll check out Marvel Adventures. I don’t mind reading “kids’” comics — my friends Landry Walker and Eric Jones did a kids’ Supergirl miniseries that I love.
(For the record, I’m not new to comics — I’ve read them since I was a teenager, have worked in the industry for nearly a decade, and write about the comics industry for Publishers Weekly. I’ve just never gotten much into DC and Marvel. And I have to admit, fans like “A fellow fan named Eric” turn up often enough on message boards to make me wary of superhero comics, if they are the readers that the genre caters to. Of course, he’s complaining about the series, which probably means I’m more likely to like it.)
July 29th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Ms. de Guzman, I am definitely aware of and enjoy your writing for Publisher’s Weekly. I also enjoyed the Supergirl series by Walker and Jones. I read it with my daughter and maybe liked it even more than she did.
And please ignore “A fellow fan named Eric”. I do not believe that he is indicative of the majority of mainstream comics readers or readers of any sort, for that matter.
August 2nd, 2010 at 7:27 am
Great to see gays being on covers but I don’t think its a very nice cover. There are some weird elements to it. The girl blowing bubbles in the front has a large dent in the front of her head, the A-team style hair cut, the detail on characters in the distance being more defined than those closer (the gay couple are far more detailed than the couple right in front of them). Weird cover.
‘A fellow fan named eric’… you sir are an idiot.
August 12th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Eric, you don’t “hate” gays, but you’re disgusted by this cover? I don’t get it. You dont’ want them to be lined up and shot, you just find them repulsive? That obviously makes you a much better person. Also, the gay couple is barely in the picture, they hardly take up any space, how in the hell would that imply that Bendis is on some agenda to turn peter into a queer? What is your logic? God forbid there should any goddamn diversity in comics. As covers go, its not the best, but whatever.