Page 48 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #3

It seems ironic, but Web of Fire per- were also losing profits, and Marvel whole clone situation by saying, "This
fectly describes Spider-Man's grip in would fall into bankruptcy hearings with is starting to sound like a bad comic
the video gaming world. In the mid- their stocks falling to the level of penny book plot!" There wasn't a Spidey fan
90’s, Web of Fire would also perfectly stocks. To make matters worse, Mar- around who wasn't laughing and ap-
describe Spidey's world altogether. vel's top controlling party and Marvel's plauding when he said that.
shareholders would argue in court His movie situation would clear up
Trial & Trying Times over how to keep the legendary com- too with Sony pictures winning the
For most of the mid 90’s, Spider- pany afloat. rights to a big screen adaptation of Spi-
Man's world would seem upside down. On top of that, Spidey was in a der-Man (the battle over TV rights are
Even for Spider-Man, who's used to court battle of his own. Vari- still in the courts between Sony and
seeing things from an upside down per- ous Hollywood movie stu- Viacom). The Spidey movie is ex-
spective, this would pose a problem. dios would lay claim to the pected to have a budget of over two
His popularity in comic book sales Wall Crawler's unwritten (and hundred million dollars and feature an
plummeted when yet to be produced) movie A list actor (names rumored to play
Spidey fans unofficially feature. Poor Spider-Man Spider-Man are Titanic's Leonardo Di-
boycotted his series. would have to wait for his Caprio and The Mask's Jim Carrey).
The culprit this time Hollywood star while other During this time, Marvel Comics
wouldn't be Venom, Carnage, costumed heroes like the would emerge from bankruptcy and
or any other super-villain but Caped Crusader would go on to acquire toy manufacturer, Toy Biz In-
Spidey's own corporate offices: break box office records. corporated. The stock recovered and
Marvel Comics. for the first time in years, it looks as if
You’ve heard about having too Face Front True Believer! Spidey won't be going bankrupt but
much of a good thing? Marvel de- Most comic books usually have instead may end up stronger than ever.
cided that there’s never too much of a happy ending. The hero would get So, what about that great Spider-
a good thing and multiplied our the girl while saving the day and eve- Man video game? Activision, along
favorite Wall Crawler by two. ryone lives happily ever after. By the with Neversoft, is currently working on
The clone saga would revive late 90’s, Spider- the first 3-D
the villain known as The Jackal Man seemed Spidey game
(Professor Miles Warren) to tell destined to have for the Nin-
a complex story. The Jackal once cre- his day in the tendo 64 and
ated a clone of Peter Parker (a clone sun. Sony Play-
Spider-Man would seemingly have de- For over four Station. The
feated years ago), which would some- seasons (1994- promo
how end up being the REAL Peter 97), Fox kids screenshots
Parker in a saga full of confusing plots would feature at last year's
and equally confusing explanations. In the first success- E3 (covered
the end, the clone (being passed as the ful adaptation of in the pre-
real Peter Parker) would call himself Spider-Man for miere issue of
Ben Reilly (a combination of Uncle the small screen. Classic
Ben's first name and Aunt May's Like the video Gamer Maga-
maiden name), bleach his hair blond, games, the tele- zine) look
and don a new costume with a new vision show amazing and
name: The Scarlet Spider. In a matter would borrow its the game
of weeks, Spidey fans would abandon stories from the promises to
the new Spider-Man series in disgust comic books and be the Spider-
and the comic book industry would en- do so with amaz- Man game
ter a great depression ing success. everyone has
To be fair, the comic book industry Spider-Man been waiting
was already heading for a depression. would be the for.
Gimmicks like hologram covers, multi- same hero his Perhaps
ple covers, and high prices would open fans know and the real rea-
the eyes of comic book readers to the love: razor sharp son for the
evils of corporate greed. The combina- wit, use of wise- lack of a great
tion of comic book prices soaring past cracks during Spider-Man
two dollars, and the multiple titles a battles, and videogame
reader had to purchase to follow the tackling his can be found
story each month would end up greatly "everyday" prob- by looking at
draining Spidey fans' pockets. Some lems as Peter Parker. The show would Spidey himself. His complexity seems
comic book readers would end up hav- feature only minor script changes, too much for the great game systems
ing to choose between buying Spidey which every TV show has to make for a of yesterday, and it's only with today's
titles or paying bills. television cross-over to be successful, game systems that there's finally a
While Spider-Man's fans may not and Spidey's rock theme would be writ- technology that can support all the
have directly caused the crash, the ten and performed by Aerosmith's Joe characteristics and nuances that's de-
sheer number of Spidey fans dropping Perry. The show would constantly manded from our hero.
support for the comics was certainly a place number one in the ratings for As Stan Lee would say, "Hang on to
contributing factor. most of its run. your seat True Believer!"
At the same time, Marvel's other In the series finale episode, entitled,
holdings were in trouble. The com- "Spider Wars: Farewell Spider-Man,"
pany's division of sports trading cards Spider-Man would poke fun at the

Classic Gamer Magazine Spring 2000 48