Remember a few weeks ago when Marvel asked “Who is Alpha?” Well, Fox News revealed the news last night on who Alpha is, so take the jump and find out.
Meet Alpha, a 15-year-old teenager named Andy Macguire who becomes the Spidey’s protégé in Marvel’s upcoming “Amazing Spider-Man No. 692.” The issue, which will be released in August, celebrates Spider-Man’s 50th anniversary while introducing Alpha/Andy to the world in a story that pays homage to the Webslinger’s 1962 origin.
Here’s the full story. Essentialy, Spidey is getting his own Robin. Methinks this is the news Dan Slott has been talking about as of late that is likely to anger fans, and I can understand why he saw it that way. For now, I say have faith in Slott, he hasn’t steered Spidey wrong yet. The things that bother me so far are half comic issues and half otherwise. The former is the character’s name, Alpha, it’s kind of boring and unidentifiable. The latter half is how Marvel announced this, through Fox News more than a month ahead of time. We’ve got SDCC in about two weeks, that is where this should have been revealed, to the fans.
16 Comments
Agreed about the announcement timing & the name, especially the latter. Nothing about “Alpha” seems to connect him in any way to Spidey (though you could say the same for Robin) or says anything about his powers/motif. Still, can’t judge it till we see it.
Prediction: He’ll be a villain in a year.
Prediction: After awhile, a new head writer/editor/CCO will come in and decide to nullify it in the most contrived way possible.
People tend to forget that other writers had great runs only to have some “genius” change it back.
correct
OR he’s killed off, sending happy-go-lucky Peter Parker into a dark rage like we’ve never seen before again.
Jason Todd, anyone? Jason was a blonde originally.
Generic name, generic costume? I’m concerned.
Of course, I don’t read Spider-Man regularly, either, so…
Alpha the Known
Why should we care?
Like Mr. Peterson, I am not a regular Spider-Man reader, but aside from the hype machine, why should I care about the introduction of this character?
I am not saying I will not check it out, but then again I may wait to see if it is worth the buzz.
He will be the new Venon…
As a regular reader of Spider-Man the idea of him having a sidekick…
…is stupid.
That is all.
The real issue, isn’t that Spider-Man is getting a sidekick, but that Marvel found an “out” to the whole Amazing Spider-Man movie issue. There was talk (rumor, innuendos, murmurings in dark alleys) that Spider-Man was going to bite it, and a new younger Peter Parker would reappear (or reboot) the Spider-Man franchise to get the Andrew Garfield fans interested in a young Spider-Man as opposed to the older late 30s Spider-Man. While the character seems generic and bland, it is just the thing Marvel needs to de-age Spider-Man without deaging Spider-Man…
De-age? If your comic hero has been around so long that he’s no longer credible (i.e., a high school student for 25 years, or hanging around the Bat Cave for 50+ years) why not have him pass his powers and/or talents and training to a younger man and retire? What’s so hard about that? You don’t even have to push the series into the future ala Batman Beyond to do. You don’t even have to look very far for motivation. Parker marries MJ. They have a kid. He retires to raise his family, passing costume on to whoever else happens to have spider powers. Economy wipes out Wayne Industries. Bruce hangs up his cape to concentrate to saving the family business. Passes cape an cowl on to Dick, Jason, Barbara Gordon or whoever. New Batman. New stories to tell. No need to reboot the universe or de-age the character. It’s called… um… storytelling. Marvel and DC should try it some time.
Knowing Marvel, they will have him be gay, so they can get additional press for making a gay Spider-Man!
Stephen, I’ve been reading Slott’s run on ASM and never took Peter to be in his “late 30s.” I know he’s a scientist and all but I figured he, his love interests, etc, were mid-20s.
Spiderman’s sidekick? Spiderkick? Okay.
Unlike my more vocal fellow fans, I try to keep myself from seeing all change as bad. It’s why I’ve still retained a slender of optimism for the New 52, even after so long. Why can’t Spiderman have a student? Why must he always be alone? The guy could use someone younger to help prevent him from becoming more mopey than he already is.
Frankly, only the name disappoints me. Alpha? Really? That’s so very generic. Why not at least be more cryptic or obscure? Like Aleph? That’s basically the same thing, but Hebrew instead of Greek. Besides, won’t he be confused with Alpha Flight? Not feeling the name here.
I’m actually pretty excited about this and the new stories it could open up for Spidey. Hopefully I’ll fall in love with the new character, too, but it’s my love for Peter Parker that makes me optimistic. Spidey is one of the veterans, and I don’t think the idea of a sidekick is stupid. Might actually give the title (and character) some much-needed focus.