Shortpacked! by David Willis
Toys are serious business.
Convention appearances:
Calgary Expo Calgary, AB: April 26-28
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Multiplex
Sorcery 101
Templar, AZ
The Transformers Wiki
Hail to the Slash
80 page GIANT
Axe Cop
The Book of Biff
Butt-Taco
Comics Curmudgeon
College Roomies from Hell!!!
Diesel Sweeties
Dinosaur Comics
Dr. McNinja
Dresden Codak
Fans!
Fleen
Gastrophobia
Girl Genius
Girls with Slingshots
Goats
Hark, a vagrant
Hijinks Ensue
Intrepid Girlbot
Legend of Bill
Medium Large
Not Invented Here
Octopus Pie
Overcompensating
Penny Arcade
PhDcomics
Power Nap
Questionable Content
Real Life
Rob and Elliot
Bad Machinery
Schlock Mercenary
Sheldon
So Far Apart
Something Positive
Two Lumps
Wapsi Square
Wonderella
Wondermark
Frumph.NET
Sorcery 101
Templar, AZ
The Transformers Wiki
Hail to the Slash
80 page GIANT
Axe Cop
The Book of Biff
Butt-Taco
Comics Curmudgeon
College Roomies from Hell!!!
Diesel Sweeties
Dinosaur Comics
Dr. McNinja
Dresden Codak
Fans!
Fleen
Gastrophobia
Girl Genius
Girls with Slingshots
Goats
Hark, a vagrant
Hijinks Ensue
Intrepid Girlbot
Legend of Bill
Medium Large
Not Invented Here
Octopus Pie
Overcompensating
Penny Arcade
PhDcomics
Power Nap
Questionable Content
Real Life
Rob and Elliot
Bad Machinery
Schlock Mercenary
Sheldon
So Far Apart
Something Positive
Two Lumps
Wapsi Square
Wonderella
Wondermark
Frumph.NET
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©2005-2013 David Willis | Powered by WordPress with ComicPress | Subscribe: RSS | Back to Top ↑
Jacob is not a happy chappy!
Yep Jacobs having a bad day by the way plasma isn’t that Marcie for your gravatar.
Yes she is, she has shown up in Willis’s other webcomic Dumbing of Age, but so far, her role in it is still pretty small.
He needs cupcakes.
And less unfortunate implications involving him.
(I didn’t add the TVTropes link cos I’m feeling generous today.)
I dont want pitty, which link? (I love TvTropes, but I swear I can leave it when i want… not now)
I can’t decide if Amber’s being nice or cruel. She is still offering him his job, but she left him alone with Ethan.
She could’ve left him alone with…well, actually, pretty much any of his former coworkers other than Leslie would have been worse.
Come to think of it, maybe the job offer was the mean part there.
“OH YAY A DEPICTION OF A BLACK MAN.”
Nobody knows how to talk to Jacob =(
They could ask him about Power Rangers.
(I’m actually supposed to ask Willis for a quote on doing a promo strip for Morphicon but I’m fobbing what duty off to Linkara because David likes Linkara.)
Awkward.
Wonder if Jacob will come back to the store.
Dear God, it’s the Obama election all over again.
Your gravatar is perfect for this.
Also, yes, ugh.
NEEDS MOAR FACEPALM
So, Spider-Man’s BLACK now, right? So he must be JUST LIKE YOU! Isn’t that awesome that you finally have someone TO RELATE TO?
Oh he is soooo OVERJOYED by this news *sigh*
They should have killed the mainstream version of Spider-Man instead of the Ultimate version. Since One More Day, I’ve loathed regular Spidey.
Yes, I do have a problem with his replacement being a black latino, because he is replacing the Spider-Man I cared for. And I am a latino with black ancestors.
No, don’t kill Spidey. Just kill Joe Quesadilla, then they can make it be good again.
I stopped reading Amazing Spiderman just before One More Day ocurred (the last issue of Back in Black), and yet 4 years into the future and Peter Parker is still unmarried, despite very vocal critics demanding Spider-Man to be married to Mary Jane again. They did listen and the status quo returned to the Newspaper strips, and that’s because Quesada is not in charge of the strips. ¨F#$% Quesada, really.
The problem there being that the newspaper Spidey sucks.
Well, yes, but at least there’s one universe out there now where they’re married.
Also: *facepalm* Ethan, you coulda just asked how he’s been, man. Methinks we need to send that guy back to school to learn how to talk to people again. XD
Yeah, I can thank the Comics Curmudgeon for pointing out how ineffective of a crime fighter Spidey is in the newspaper strips…
Victor, I don’t have a beef with you or anything, but your opinion is dumb. You state that you have hated Spider-Man ever since One More Day… and also that you have not actually READ Spider-Man since OMD. That’s some real convincing feelings about a character you haven’t followed for YEARS now.
Here’s the thing, OMD was stupid and Joe Q should be kidney punched for forcing it. But there’s been some REALLY good Spidey since then. Gauntlet did wonders for some of the villains that have gotten so old. JJJ’s dad is (cough) a cool character. JJJ as mayor is an interesting wrinkle. Aunt May was brought closer to the excellent standard of Ultimate Aunt May. And now with Big Time, we have a more successful Spidey using his gift for science for the first time since he worked with Iron Man pre-Civil War. And this is his own thing, not beholden to old tin head. Wanting Spidey dead when you really just hate one storyline forced on the writers by the EoC is small minded and vindictive. You’re worse than JJJ himself!
Well, when OMD was coming down the pipe the thing I heard most from Spidey fans was “If you don’t like this, vote with your wallet. Don’t buy the comics if you don’t like the direction.”
I haven’t bought a single Spider-Man comic since the final issue of Friendly Neighborhood, and I’ll continue to not buy any Spider-Man comics until the current status quo changes. I picked up one issue to flip through it, and it had Spidey in bed with Black Cat. Yay, that’s what I want from my hero: not a monogamous, happy marriage but casual sex with a near stranger.
You got a point, but as Xander said, they are not going to change anything if the comic sells. And yeah, the Gauntlet was very good, except for the Rhino, poor guy. Big Time hasn’t arrived yet, but when it does, I’ll be sure to skim it and NOT buy it. See, I was born in 1992 and Spider-Man has been married all my life and it was nice for Spider-Man to have some happiness considering all the bad stuff that happens to him. His ending in Marvel vs Street Fighter is a little sad in retrospect.
They can’t know you’re not buying it for the reason of OMD though. That happened YEARS ago, so (if they somehow spared you a thought) they probably think you hate Dan Slott or something. The more logical progression would be to buy any storylines that you like, avoid the ones you don’t, and keep up an intermittent line of communication to whatever part of Marvel accepts correspondence with the message that you want Peter and MJ back together. What you’re doing right now is refusing to pay good Spider-Man writers/artists for their work (which you are apparently partaking of) because of an editorial decision they weren’t involved in and have no ability to change.
I hate OMD, but I also like different romantic options for Spidey at times. I like Ultimate Spidey with Kitty Pride, Spectacular (cartoon) Spidey with various girls, Amazing (movie) Spidey with Gwen, and so on. I don’t love the new girlfriend they’ve cooked up for him in the main storyline, but I’m willing to see if that leads to any interesting stories. Refusing to view any version of the character I didn’t grow up with leads to d-bag DC editorial syndrome, where only white guys from the 60s get to do anything. “You like Wally? Too bad, I grew up with Barry, so that’s what it’s going to be.”
You know what…You’re right. I also hate that new girlfriend, but your argument is pretty valid. Now I just need to send some hate mail to Marvel.
you just ruined quesadillas for me. and that’s what i brought for lunch!
So, THIS is what happens when two people try to pull each other’s heads out of their respective asses. I always wondered.
Oh, Jacob. Why are you so awesome?
*headscratch*
So I just wiki’d this… And I really have to wonder… Why?
Why not just make a new character? I mean, fine, change is all well and good, but from the tone of everything I’ve read, they’re just doing it cuz they wanna make him “ethnic,” in the light of Obama being elected. Not because it was a natural evolution of the story, just as a PR thing.
Is it really so hard to make new characters?
Oh, here we go again.
Man, he even tied it to Obama.
Wondering if I should just delete this comment thread before it explodes… Preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty sure the world has covered it already.
I didn’t tie shit to Obama, Willis. The articles I was reading while doing research did.
Well see, it looks like it is a natural evolution, with the new character just happening to be ethnic. And that’s cool. That’s how to do diversity.
Now, if it WERE, “We need a percentage of dem colored people. So we’ll have BLAK RAPPER as the new Spider-Man,” then we’d have reason to complain. I don’t think this is something silly like that.
Well, it IS the same company which likes to kill/ disgrace/ replace Captain America whenever aRepublican is in office.
It’s also from an artist whose father is from Mexico and a writer who has two adopted African children.
Sometimes I think certain people believe diversity is something made up for television just to piss off white people.
OH man that line is rich but so true. It does feel that any sence of non pandering diversity in comics, cartoons, ect still gets complants of “their just pandering to minorities” from some people. Hah Just can’t win.
I mean really in about 10-20 years half the American population will be non Caucasian, and people are still complaing about diversity in entertainment as “forced” and or “pandering” to minorites.
I also heard one other cause for making the new Ultimate Spider-man Black Latino was due to the Actor from Comunity wanting to play Peter Parker in the new Spiderman Reboot, and that also helped influence things.
If you think about it Spider-man is a story of a Middle to Lower Middle class kid whos smater then most people around him, and has a strong sense of responsiblity, crudy life, and lots of bills to pay and yet goes out day after day helping people dispite it ruining his life at everyturn. That could be any kid of any background.
Heck they had a Spider-man of India a few years back.
heh heh.
Don’t get me wrong, I for one have NO problem with a nonwhite Spider-Man. Hell, the story is set in Manhattan, which is clearly one of the most ethnicly diverse places in the world. It really does make sense within the story, and that’s what matters.
Makes corporate sense, to, if you’re trying to attract new readers in an increasingly ethnicized nation.
However, my original point still stands, they DO do some things for puerile political reasons (ASM 583), and that fact creats a reason to look at Marvel with a jaundiced eye, despite the fact that it seems undeserved in this particular case.
I started several different inflammatory replies to this, and then realized that it isn’t worth it.
I think it would be cool to see a black Spiderman. Or a female Batman (really big on that one, wonder if anyone will step up and do it some day). Or an Asian anybody. Provided it’s written, a different spin on one of my favorite characters is welcome. If you don’t like it, then there’s no law saying you have to read it/watch it. But these type of white man entitlement arguments just make me yawn.
It’s funny when you think about how the whole point of Ultimate Spiderman was to present old Spiderman ideas in a new, fresh context.
In DC right now we have Black Bat(Female Asian Batman), Nightrunner(Black Muslim Batman), Batwing (Black Batman w/jetpack), and Batwoman(Female Lesbian Batman). Batwing and Batwoman even have their own books starting this month. I love all those characters, highly recommend trying them out, even if the actual Batman Inc books are terrible.
Sure, sure, other characters donning similar costumes to my favorites could be interesting, too. But to be honest I’ve only ever really cared about Batman and Spiderman as far as American comics go. So I’d really like to see a female be THE Batman, not just a female be part of the legion of bat-based superheros. I want a Beatrice Wayne, with her faithful companion Alfred and her sidekick Robin. I think a character like that could be absolutely fascinating, if they wrote it well.
Umm wouldn’t any character combination be interesting “if they wrote it well”?
They kinda did that in an Elseworlds, IIRC.
As a long-term fan of spider-man (actually, he’s pretty much the only superhero I’ve continually liked since childhood) I’d have to say my first reaction to this news was “A black Spidey. Huh, that would be pretty cool actually.”
Does it make anyone feel better that I thought Jetstream was referring to Jacob? I was soo confused until someone said he ment spiderman…
i wouldn’t normally link to another webcomic here, but:
http://www.letsbefriendsagain.com/2011/08/03/hes-red-and-blue/
In fairness, at least Ethan knows he likes spider-man. So it’s…less inappropriate?
What is going on with all this comments? I just don’t like One More Day, that’s it, but this… Yeah, delete this thread, it’s the most reasonable thing to do.
Be honest, you just brought Jacob back for that punchline. This wasn’t a story at all!
I’m just being sarcastic please don’t be mad at me Mr. Willis…
Truth be told, I came up with this punchline once Jacob started showing up again and people immediately started demanding we know what Jacob thought about black Spider-Man, as if he doesn’t have more pressing issues at the moment.
For some reason, I like Amber best when she is upset.
People keep calling me racist for being annoyed by this.
I grew up with peter parker as spider-man and with MJ as his lover. Same reason I hated one more day… that and the fact that it was terribly written
i am black and i completely agree with you. peter parker is my all time fav character just cause they are bring in a black guy doesnt me i am ok with them killing him off
Yeah, it’s really sad that you can’t read any more new adventures of Peter Parker as Spider-Man…
Yes, but comics need to change. Characters need to die, retire, or move on, and other characters need to step up to replace them. It’s one of the reasons I’ve preferred DC to Marvel. Barry Allen dies, Wally West struggles to fill his shoes. Barbara Gordon is crippled, so she trains Cass Cain and Steph Brown to be better heroes. Robin becomes Nightwing, letting Batman move on to the next suicidal youngster in pixieboots.
And then DC undid all of that. Don’t fret, I’m sure you’ll have your Spiderman back soon enough.
at least give him some time to convince you that you shouldn’t like him. i love peter parker and it is a bummer that he is dead in the ultimate universe. but i won’t hate miles morales until i read stories where he tarnishes the spider-man name. and i definitely wouldn’t hate him before giving him a fair chance.
when i think of green lantern, i think of hal jordan. when i think of robin, i think of dick grayson. but i will never say talk trash about kyle rayner or tim drake. i think they are just as iconic in those roles and in some instances even better.
Isn’t Pete still around in the “main” Marvel universe?
Yes, which is precisely what makes all of the stupid whining inherently pointless. Even if some people can’t cope with the idea of a non-white character behind a Spider-Man mask (the horror!), Peter Parker is still Spider-Man in *the* Marvel Universe. It’s a petty complaint, and it doesn’t reveal anything good about the complainers.
Wait Spiderman is black?!?!?! Why have i not herd of this until right now?!?!?!
;-p
“Main” Marvel Spider-Man is dead to me >_>
I remember Stan Lee, the guy who co-created Spiderman, saying Spiderman’s mask was brilliant BECAUSE people in the Marvel universe couldn’t tell what race he was. He could be white, black, anything. People could project almost any identity on him.
Food for thought if nothing else.
Yes, I thought so as well. I believe Spider-man to be the most well-known and iconic superhero whose skin is completely covered by his costume.
first off great comic, i kind of wonder if this kind of thing happened back when the spidey 2099 book came out, does anybody else remember that he was latino? eh lot’s of hupla over a guy who’s face is hidden most of the time. and just in case noone here hs been reading, dan slott’s spidey has been great, i started with big time, and the writing’s the best it’s been in years. keep up the good work mr. willis!
I don’t think this happened when the 2099 books came out, because ultimately the majority of the comic buyers in the world just didn’t give a crap about the 2099 universe anyways. X-men 2099, Spidey 2099, Ravage 2099, these have been cancelled for like over 14 years now.
XD Ah… See that fits so well… That’s the same thing that happened with first black state senator/president/etc… Although this is ALOT bigger for the nerdy types like us :3
So THAT’S why Jacob has been a hermit this entire time. That sex addict thing is just a cover for his desire to strangle every single person who keeps asking him about Spider Man being black now.
/sarcasm
The first thought I had upon reading the punchline was ‘Who’s been bringing it up? The girls who he Joes? The pizza guy? The counterjockey at KFC maybe?’
Could be all of the above, of course that would make for some pretty awkward conversations after sex.
You would think this was the first time Spiderman was black. It’s not. The first issues of Amazing Spiderman I read back in the 60′s featured the Prowler, a black character wearing the Spiderman outfit to help Peter Park protect his secret identity.
I wasn’t happy with Brand New Day but even I have to admit there have been some pretty good stories and character growth since it happened. Oh and this change to the Ultimate U Spidey has nothing to do with the 616 Spidey anyway. The whole point of the Ultimate U was that they weren’t bound by decades of conventions and continuity. Once the Ultimate U reached 10 years of age they were bound by their own continuity and conventions so a change does seem warranted as long as they have some good stories to tell.
Danny O’Neill did the same thing with Iron Man back in the 80′s.
Can we please see a strip where Amber reacts to Mike’s cruelty to innocent people? I’m reminded of the strip where Mike punches out Jason from Multiplex for no reason, and I’m curious as to how Amber responds. Does she try to stop him, admonish him or maybe just accept it?
Sorry if there’s already been a strip like that, other than the “I’m marrying the devil” one a few weeks ago. I just wonder how she feels about his outright violence towards someone she doesn’t despise (e.g. Faz)
The Shortpacked! version of Multiplex’s Jason is actually a serial killer.
Just the Shortpacked! version?
Just gonna say that Ultimateverse brought us Samuel L Jackson Nick Fury, who is the best thing to ever happen to anything SHEILD related ever. So if they wanna give Spidey a race-lift I am not gonna gnash my teeth about it.
Ultimateverse also brought us Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver incest and the Hulk attempting to rape the Wasp. Not a fan, personally.
Oh, the Ultimateverse sucks, I am not claiming otherwise. But Maximoffcest had nothing to do with race changes.
White People: OMG THE ETHNICITY! WE MUST TELL THE ETHNIC PEOPLE ABOUT THE ETHNICITY! THAT WON’T ANNOY THEM AT ALL!
Seriously.
You don’t see people asking the transgender community about Chaz Bono on Dancing With the Stars, so why ask black people about a black Spider-Man?
…was that logic too reaching? Yes? Sorry. V.V
I’m not sure I fully understand this whole black Spiderman, thing. So, Ultimate Spiderman was killed off, and now Spiderman is black, but is this new guy some kid who already existed in this universe and just took up the mantle of Spiderman, or is this black Spiderman still Peter Parker but a black version?
Ultimate Spidey died in battle. Now there’s a guy called Miles who is going to be Spider-Man for that universe. His connection (if any) to Peter is unknown so far.
What the…?
TO THE GREAT AND POWERFUL GOOGLE!
*quick search later*
Oh, man… half black, half hispanic, in the Ultimates universe. Meh. I was never drawn to the Ultimates universe, and Linkara’s review of Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum made me swear off ever going to them.
To be fair, people who actually LIKE the Ultimates universe think those’re terrible.
But Ultimate Spidey is mostly self-contained, and Bendis, for all his faults, does know how to write a good Spidey.
The Ultimate universe generally blows. Ultimate Spidey has been the one exception.
Eh, opinions about the ultimates universe are pretty divided. I personally like most of the stuff before ultimates 3 (which only makes my loathing for that piece of crap even greater)
I feel mildly disappointed that I missed the shitstorm of that ‘C’ guy, but I suppose it’s for the best.
Now you should introduce a latino character just to ask that person what they think about Spider-Man being Latino…
Or just have Robin answer…
whatever did happen to conquest!?
She apparently owns all the independent toy stores on the south side.
i remember that but we never see her anymore i miss her
In other, non-Spider-Man related topics, I’m very happy with how Amber is dealing with Jacob’s exceptionally rude comments. How full of yourself do you have to be to tell someone that who they love is ‘wrong’?
“You deserve better” is just a way of saying “I don’t approve of your choices.”
Spider-man is black, now? When did that happen!?!?
This is why Jacob is wrong.
This is why Jacob is wrong.
http://www.shortpacked.com/2005/comic/book-2-pulls-the-drama-tag/01-addicted/iloveyoumaggie/