I Watch: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

And I really didn’t like a lot of it.

First, just to get it out of the way: I didn’t appreciate the deathism of Gwen Stacy’s speech. Death gives meaning to our lives? The shortness of our lives is what makes them precious? Fuggin’ Stockholm Syndrome. No. Just no.

I also did not approve of how even though Peter Parker’s friends were no younger than he was (and were perhaps demonstrably more capable of making smart decisions), he decided that he knew better than them and had the right to decide their lives for them. Gwen Stacy, you don’t get to make cost/benefit analyses and decide if a situation is too risky for you. Harry Osbourne, you don’t get to do that either, even though you’re going to die.

Salt City Strangers [#1, #2]: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

A review for Salt City Strangers (#1 and #2). Credits at the end. 

Nutshell: The comic is about the latest incarnation of a team of superheroes defending Salt Lake City and, indeed, the whole world (because of Magic Stuff involving the transcontinental railroad that is actually kind of interesting). The series promises to deal with matters of faith (the Strangers range from Mormon-in-name-only to hardcore-believer) but has only barely begun to dip its toes in the water. Only time will tell if it can grow legs and live up to its potential.