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Dave Scrimgeour and Kevin McCluskey    Writer- Gerry Conway Penciler- Alex Saviuk Inker- Andy Mushynsky Colourist- Bob Sharen Designer- Dawn Geiger Editor- Jim Salicrup Assistant Editor- Glenn Herdling Published March 28th 1989 by Marvel Comics. Synopsis15 years after his parents leave him with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May, Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, and through some miracle of science, gains the proportionate speed and strength of an arachnid. Meanwhile, Mary Jane Watson is born to an ultimately to separate, Madeline and Philip, the latter an emotionally abusive alcoholic. Throughout her adolescence, she carefully curates and crafts a carefree party girl persona, to protect herself from the trauma of her broken home and childhood, much to the frustration of her older sister, and primary caregiver, Gayle. However, on the fateful night that a robber guns down Ben Parker, Mary Jane witnesses Peter don the Spider-Man outfit, an event that changes their lives from parallel to intersecting. Dave It seems like we have been on The Bat for quite a while now, and the more recent stuff has all been set in 1989, yet here we are again, literally jumping back to 1989 with ‘Parallel Lives’ and Spidey. Kev Ha, ha! Right enough. Did we peak in 1989? Dave I suppose it was in the peak era of our comic book reading, wasn't it? I remember this being a big deal for a Spidey story when it came out. Kev Yeah, we were just the right age in 1989 to get swept up in all this. Dave The cover is really memorable, with Pete and MJ, plus Doc Ock in the background. Kev Yeh, this painted cover by Bob Larkin is great, but MJ looks a bit off model for the character on this, in my opinion. What do you think? Dave Is that the original cover, or an up to date version, or at least when it was republished? Kev That's the original cover, yeah. Dave It seems like an older version of MJ A more mature version, not so glam looking, as the one we see throughout the first part. But it’s still a strong, memorable, cover nonetheless. Kev Definitely. Now, was it yourself, or Mike that had this back in the day? Whichever of you two it was, I was so jealous. I loved this back then. This is a proper nostalgic blast from the past for me. This takes me right back to watching the Hammond “movies” on TV, then coming out to essentially just wander around in the dark discussing them. This was at a time when Batman was nuclearly hot because of the Burton movie, but Spidey was still my favourite back then. Not by much, but these comics, Man, I loved them so much. Good times. "It was the best of times." Dave I thought it was you that had it. Could have been Mike then. He would remember. Kev Not me. I never had it back in the day. It must've been Mike then. He was the 'Web Of Spider-Man' guy out of the three of us after all. Dave That's true. I remember us going out at night after they were shown regardless of the weather, back in late October/early November-time to talk about the Spidey films. Yeah, that was peak era Spidey for us, especially after the three movies getting shown on BBC 2 at 6pm. We got really excited for them, even if it was only three weeks that they were shown over. Yeah, Batmania was in full flow, and we were impatiently awaiting the VHS release of that film, which didn’t happen until about April ‘90. By that time we were getting into Turtllemania.  "An only child with a pen and pad, writing a list of things that I could never have." Kev Yeh, I tend to forget that there was a bit of a crossover between the Batmania of '89 and the Turtlemania of '90. The months seemed so much longer then. I remember it being pretty cold, and dark though. Dave The first page, with Pete and MJ swinging throughout the sky, is nice also. It gives us a backstory that we already knew, but it’s necessary to show it for a standalone story. Kev Every comic could be someone's first, right? Ah, that's the back cover on the print version. Dave Interesting. The use of the Spidey mask for Pete’s origin on the second page is basically a recap of Spidey’s origin. The artwork and colouring is really bright and colourful. It’s a great staple of comics in this era. It’s very visually appealing. Kev Yeh, this is an excellent retelling/recreation of the Spidey origin story by Conway and Alex Saviuk. Man, Alex Saviuk’s Spider-Man art is seriously underrated in my book. His ‘Web’ run was fantastic. The Spidey titles were absolutely blessed with top tier artists at that point. Obviously you had McFarlane (who was the darling at the time) on ‘Amazing,’ but with Sal Buscema on ‘Spec,’ and Saviuk on ‘Web,’ it made for a trio of stunning looking books. And each with their own distinct style to boot, particularly before Todd’s take became the model for the character. There was clearly an editorial mandate that Sal and Alex had to lean more towards Todd’s look, to keep it all a bit more cohesive, and maybe boost sales on the other two books as well. Dave Yeah, they each had their own distinct styles did ‘Amazing,’ ‘Spectacular’ and ‘Web Of…’ Remember back in the days, when we were up and out early on a Saturday morning to go hunting for our comic books, and we would sit in either your block, mine, or Mike’s, reading them and swapping them over so we were all up to date? Kev Absolutely. It was great to swap them around. It meant we got to read more than we would have otherwise been able to afford. Those were the days. Man, I miss the simplicity of them. Dave The use of the half and half page for Pete’s face and the Spidey mask, and then MJ’s face is clever. The duality of their tragedies; Pete’s being his parents having to leave him with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, never to see him again, and MJ’s broken home environment, showing how these two are similar, even if the circumstances are different. Kev Yeh, I like how this prologue is constructed. With Peter getting the page on the left, and then MJ, mirroring this, getting the page on the right. It’s a nice structural device. It really sells you on the idea of these two being on some kind of romantic collision course, despite their lives apparently running “parallel” to one another. The Richard and Mary Parker as government agents storyline has never sat well with me though. It takes away from Peter being an everyman, in my opinion.. Dave Was the Government agent stuff in Stan Lee’s and Steve Ditko's origin story? Kev I don't think so. Not originally anyway. I think it was added a little later. I’ve just checked; Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5. So six years into Spidey’s publication. Peter and MJ having that common ground of feeling abandoned is an interesting bonding element to the dynamic of their relationship. And Peter being raised by his older aunt and uncle, who were almost like his grandparents, is something I’ve always thought was beautifully endearing. He was nothing if not loved. Again, it’s something that I think makes him so effective as an everyman character. Whereas it’s not something I can relate to personally, a lot of kids end-up being lovingly raised by their grandparents when their parents aren’t around for whatever reason. Dave Especially in the time where us Gen Xers are regarded as the generation who had to make our own time, with parents who had to work jobs with unsocial hours. So in a sense, we were left to our own devices, which is now considered a bit of a trademark of our generation. Kev It's pretty mad to think that it was just the norm back then, eh? Dave Yeah. At least Pete was in a loving home, whereas MJ was from a turbulent one, shaping the "mask" that she wore. Kev Oh, for sure. MJ’s backstory, is even darker than Peter’s. She’s the result of that broken home, with an abusive, alcoholic father, which makes her “party girl” persona so tragic. I feel that, as a society, we understand the psychology of these types of traumas, and coping/survival mechanisms a lot better now than we did in 1989 when this book came out, and yet, it’s all here on the page by Conway, who was also writing ‘Spec’ and ‘Web’ at the time, incidentally.  "I got to read a couple books, and do some research before I reached my verdict." Dave Yeah. The whole forming of MJ becoming a fun-loving party animal, bordering on a selfish narcissist, is interestingly written, as she is using it as a mental block to avoid dealing with any of the negative emotions that arise by what's going on around her. Kev Definitely. Conway's distilling of 20-odd years of MJ really illustrates just how fascinating a character she is. Dave I like the splash page on 6, ‘The Spider’s Bite.’ It’s bright and colourful and makes good use of the yellow colour in contrast with the darker colours on that page. Kev Absolutely. Saviuk, Mushynsky and Sharen don't half have some cracking splash pages throughout this book. Dave And we get brief intros to Flash Thompson and Liz Allen also. The Peter Parker artwork is reminiscent of Steve Ditko’s original. There wasn't really an attempt to update the look of a teenage Peter to fit a 1989 style. The origin story is unfolding quickly here. There is a lot to tell, with both Pete and MJ’s origins, and it is covering this at breakneck speed, and as I said before, I like the artwork and the colouring in this. It’s nice to go back and have something so visually strong. Kev Yeh, I’ve always felt that Saviuk had a style that was from the John Romita Snr. school of Spider-Man comics. His stuff has that romantic look to it which, of course, makes it ideal for a love story such as this. He also does a good job of honouring Ditko with the origin story too though. Dave It is a tribute to the original origin story for sure. That's also a good panel of him crawling up the wall after the car nearly hits him. Kind-of similar to the Nicholas Hammond pilot movie in ‘77, where he gets chased (runs away) from the car in the alley and climbs up the wall. Kev I thought that as well, yeh. It's pure, classic, Spidey, isn't it? I also like that MJ liked Peter from an early age, despite him not really being the type of guy she would normally be seen dead with. It gives their relationship that proper Romeo and Juliet, star crossed lovers feel. And "Crusher" Hogan! No wonder Terry Bollea owed Marvel money for as long as he did. Dave Hulk Hogan was the biggest wrestler at that time. Interesting that in Sam Raimi’s 2002 film it was "The Macho Man" Randy Savage played this part. Kev Hogan was certainly the biggest star in wrestling in 1989, yeh. "Bonesaw!" And he was ready. The other half of the Mega Powers. I wonder if Hogan wouldn't agree to do it at the time, or was asking for too much money. Dave Also interesting that, on the page where Pete climbs the building, he very quickly learns to pull some quick, agile moves on the rooftop edge. Kev He's a natural. I was going to say that the origin story needed to be condensed, but the original was already decompressed to within an inch of its life. And Aunt May, always being a hypochondriac on Peter’s behalf, and thinking milk and cookies, or wheat cakes, were the answer to everything. You’ve got to love her. Dave That page of him entering the wrestling match and quickly gaining acclaim is done very well. It’s in keeping with the tone of the original Stan Lee and Steve Ditko comic book look. Even the Peter Parker quiff is kept in on the bottom of the page. Kev Yeah, I loved that Parker quiff. That “Here comes Spider-Man!!!” panel at the bottom of page 9 is fantastic. I remember those pocket paperback format collections of those early Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Spidey stories that Mike got from his brother. They were class too. Tiny though.  "Kept my secrets, hid my talents, in my head never under the mattress." Dave Yeah, those whole two pages culminating in, "Here comes Spider-Man" are class. That is a good homage to the original, but I also really like that Spidey panel with the webs sticking out the arm pits. That was always something we talked about; whether the arm pit webs worked or not, whether we like them or not, and if we drew a Spidey picture did we include the webbing? Kev Ha, ha! The great web-pits debate of the late '80's. Where do you stand on them now? Dave I think they work in this retelling of the origin story. They suit this part of the story. What about you? Kev I was never the biggest fan of them when we were younger. I thought they made the costume look a bit old fashioned. Nowadays though, I like the traditional look of them. I guess that's just getting older for you, eh? Dave Then we jump onto the next two pages, and back to MJ's own "superpower." It's interesting, that top panel on page 11, the composition and spacing of a bright and charismatic MJ being looked at by all, and how she commands her own space. It really puts her in the forefront, capturing the guys attention, and the other girl's envy. She is alone because the girls in their little huddles can't accept her. Kev Yeh, she's playing that role of "party animal" really well. I suppose she did go on to become an actress for a bit, after she made the transition from modelling. Dave And then that sad expression on the bottom panel of the page, the private MJ, is a stark contrast to the public MJ. Even in the panel of her walking back to the house, she is hunched over a bit. She's certainly not the carefree and fancy girl she projected earlier, she is more hunched over, not upright. Very clever use of the difference in her body language to illustrate her change in mood. She just cannot escape a toxic home environment. Kev Nope. She certainly can't. Yeh, I love that use of her body language on that page. It's a fantastic use of it for character building and storytelling purposes. Mary Jane didn’t half bounce around a lot as a kid. No wonder she found it difficult to put down roots and settle down. And, you're right, she’s had nothing but abusive men in her life, so it’d make sense that she’d be attracted to someone like Peter who is a good man. Plus, her seeing Timmy being frightened at his impending fatherhood shows you how smart and perceptive she is behind that carefree, party girl mask. Dave Coming from a background of abusive behaviour she would be very quick to be able to spot negative expressions and sudden changes of moods quickly. Essentially she has her own built-in Spidey senses.  "The walls in my house were paper thin, every squabble seemed to get deafening." Kev No doubt. She is clearly hyper aware of any situation, and her environment, as a self-preservation and defence mechanism. Dave What I find interesting so far, is that this 1989 version of Peter and MJ's story is still addressing the issues of personal tragedies, abusive households, and personal demons, but it is keeping the tone upbeat at times as well, making the world colourful looking, despite all the problems that are going on behind the scenes. Had these subjects been tackled today, it would be really bleak and heavy going to highlight the issues of abuse and toxic behaviour, and even the colouring would be far more muted. It would not look so vibrant and colourful. Kev That's a great point about the colouring, Sir. You're right, the palette would be so muted today, to compliment the heavier themes of the story, that it wouldn't look like a breezy comic book story aping the Silver Age. Dave Also, there would probably likely be large internal monologues that go on for too long, whereas here, whilst his stuff may be fundamental to the plot, the story is still snappy and nicely paced. Kudos to the '80s for swift and efficient storytelling. Kev Ha, ha! There certainly would've been a lot of internal monolguing if it was written by J.M. DeMatteis in his 'Kraven's Last Hunt' style, that's for sure. Dave And MJ looks a bit besotted by Spidey, and him being on the TV. Interesting how Spidey is slowly getting introduced to the public as a current celebrity figure. Kev Yeh, but “It was everything I’d ever wanted, and more. I was a hit, a star.” “Yeah, what a deal. For the first time in my life I felt as if I were someone special.” “I’m through being pushed around - - by anyone. From now on I just look out for number one. That means me.” “All those years of not being good enough…And now I was better than anyone. I loved it.” Peter’s insecurity, his ego, his hubris, is what results in his uncle Ben’s death, and therefore becomes the defining moment for Spider-Man as a character, and also Peter Parker as a man. Dave Absolutely. And with pride cometh a fall. Pete is starting to get a big head at this stage. Granted, it is probably the first time in his life he was starting to feel good about himself, but not interfering in the robber scene, which is so pivotal to his Spidey journey, costs him dearly. Page 14 is another excellent page, with small panels in contrast to the large one of Pete and Uncle Ben outside on the porch. The detail and colouring are excellent, and the wise words from a loving Uncle Ben....an overused one by me but, "wall art."  "Never thought that I was perfect. Always thought that I had a purpose. Used to wonder if I'd live to see my first kiss." Kev Yeh, that splash on page 14, of Ben and Peter talking on the porch, is absolutely beautiful. Props to Saviuk, Mushynsky, and also Bob Sharen on that one, ‘cause the colours are outstanding as well. Dave The light blue colouring perfectly captures the nightfall in that image. Kev It really does, doesn't it? And that panel, in the middle of the bottom tier on page 13, is exactly how I see my Spider-Man pre-McFarlane. I love it.  "It was self serving, just like this is." Dave It is the definitive Spider-Man for that time. Kev Absolutely. Dave Interesting cut to MJ outside while the party is on. Then, to avoid anyone digging into her emotional state, she quickly pulls on her mask, and becomes the life and soul of the party. Kev Definitely. She seems to be able to flip that switch at the drop of a hat, which isn't exactly the most healthy character trait. Dave Far from it. As I said, it is borderline narcissistic. Kev Absolutely. Certainly as a coping mechanism, yeh. How do you feel about the retcon that MJ knew about Peter being Spider-Man all along? I’ll be honest, I don’t mind it in the slightest. Dave Was that put in the Conway story then? It makes a change. I'm fine with that as well. Kev Apparently she first revealed he knowledge of this in Amazing Spider-Man #257. So not too long before this was published then,actually. I think it was earned, I think it was justified, and more importantly, I just think it just made sense for them as characters. Particularly considering they were to end-up getting married. Dave The page with Spidey in demand from the media is an excellently composed page. It's another example of this era producing high quality and colourful artwork. "CBS wanted me for a primetime Christmas special." I thought that was quite funny, especially as CBS made the Nicolas Hammond TV show. I don't know if that was intentional. I also like how they are using the media in this. I would make sense that he would be in high demand for any sort of media coverage. Especially on the television. Kev Ah, that's a good pull about CBS being the network that the Hammond show was broadcast on. Dave I'm going to give that page another "wall art" compliment. Kev We should turn that into a drinking game. Dave Yep, good point. Every time Dave mentions wall art, take a drink of your preferred brew. Kev I had to train myself not to continually use "cinematic" as an adjective to describe a certain style of storytelling. Dave This origin retelling is very quickly jumping to the key points, almost in a bullet point style way, but I like it, as it is not dragging anything out. We get straight to his uncles death now. And the darkness of the night compliments the darkness of the tone of what's happened. Another great panel is that one from an aerial view of Spidey climbing outside his house. It captures a great kinetic energy. I've got to say, in those bottom 3 panels of MJ, after she clicks that Pete is Spidey, her eyes look transfixed. It's like she has been hypnotised like a love struck teenager.  "The most difficult thing I ever did was recite my own words at a service, realizing the person I was addressing probably wasn't looking down from heaven." Kev Which is exactly what she was, I suppose. Yeh, that's a cracking panel, alright. Dave And that panel of Spidey swinging through the air is quite McFarlane-esque in pose, but it is great anyway. Kev I thought that too. I wonder if that was the McFarlane influence that I mentioned earlier starting to creep in. Dave Probably, as McFarlane was the face of Spidey at the time. Kev He was that. And here we get Doc Ock’s origin story as an interlude. That panel at the top of page 22, of Otto being caught in the radioactive explosion, is excellent. Dave That bottom panel on the next page, as a broken Peter stands on the rooftop sobbing, with the half and half of Pete and MJ as she is out partying, is great. Even the Doc Ock panels look like a tribute to the early Ock days, keeping it in the tone with the rest of the story. Also, he is deemed a loner and a weird one by all. His pent-up anger is inside, as we see after the result of his accident. I like the use of the yellow on Doc Ocks face on the close up on the bottom of the page. There is a lot of detail in many of these panels, which helps to highlight the close up panels. The last page of the first part is another well drawn page. And I like the explosion panel. It is so visceral and eye catching, and even the small one after that, with the contrast of the yellow colours and the darker ones, works well. In that last panel, Doc Ock does look mad, and I like the yellow colour use again in the background, with his face slightly shadowed out.  "I don't remember much from my youth, maybe my memory is repressed....." Kev Yeh, that panel pretty much sums up this entire first part, and probably the rest of this book as a whole, if I'm being honest. It’s ridiculously well composed, illustrating the differences in Peter and M.J.'s worlds, and the centerpiece, of their heads, back to back, divided by M.J.'s hair, with their contrasting facial expressions, says it all really. They're definitely sticking with the classic look of Doc Ock, for now. Ooooh, there's a bit of foreshadowing for you. Yeh, that panel at the top of page 22, of Otto being caught in the radioactive explosion is excellent. Bob Sharen's colour work is fantastic. I’m loving this all over again. “No notes,” as the kids would say. Although, it’s scary to think that there has been more time passed, and more added to the Spider-Man lore, SINCE this book was published, than there was from the character’s inception until then. There was 27 years of material until then, and there has been a further 36 since then. And, arguably, less has stuck too.  "Plus, it was set to self destruct. Whoever read it probably died laughing. I wonder if they lived long enough to realize what happened." Dave It's certainly been such a beloved story for so long, and it's stood the test of time. This first chapter is a recap of the origin, with a couple of extras added in. Also, it was quick and snappy and coupled with some great artwork. I like how the storytelling in this era tackles some heavy issues, but still keeps a bright and colourful visual look without ignoring the subject matter, whilst not overly dwelling on them. What do you make of this era of comic book storytelling? Kev You're right, it's certainly different to what it is like now. As it should be. We're talking over three and a half decades of change here. However, this is arguably my favourite era of comics. That's probably due to the fact that they were published during such a formative period of my life. However, I genuinely think that this may have been around the peak of Spider-Man comics, because not long after this, things started to get a bit funky, with the robot parents, the clone saga(s), the Byrne relaunch, and ultimately Brand New Day. Dave I think '89 is probably the year that we were really saturated in the world of comics. How many other stories have we reviewed on Ben-Day dots that have either overlapped into '89, or came out in '89? And as you said, '89 was the year of the Bat and Batmania. Plus, the Nicolas Hammond Spidey films were shown on TV again in our part of the world, so we loved that period of time. (D) & (K) Next: 'Encounters.' 
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