Spider-man Noir volume 2: Dark City
I never thought the Bowery would become home to transplanted Australians and Metrosexuals paying $2800 for a studio nearby Whole Foods and 5 star upscale restaurants. Times have changed but it wasn’t too long ago that the Bowery had a different reputation. Welcome to 1930s New York City: Prohibition, the height of the Mafia power, the Great Depression, Segregation, whore houses, and corrupt politicians. Depending on who you ask, some called this era the good old days others say the bad days but one thing’s for sure, these are the days that still draw tourists to say, “If only these walls could speak.”
A new player in town arrives in the gritty Lower East Side of Manhattan and he’s hungry for power. A familiar faceless foe protected by a brute who can “put men to sleep” with his bare hands. The murders have attracted Peter Parker who frequents a speak easy club and fancies the club owner who rents her services out to our hero.
Meanwhile, something rotten is going on in the Deportation Department of Ellis Island. Dr. Octavius and Dr. Connors are in charge of a shady government program conducting experiments on the brain of monkeys. It’s a cover for African American test subjects dragged off the streets, shackled, and brought to Ellis Island almost re-capturing disturbing re-enactment of Colonialism.
While Spider-man remains our hero, Peter Parker isn’t the wholesome character that we remember him in the 616 Universe. He certainly fights the good fight. He’s still an idealist. However, his personal life is a bit sketchy. He pines for card shark and bootlegger Lady Felicity who gives Parker her bed but won’t let him in.
This is a tremendously dark gritty oppressive world and an interesting re-imaging of the Spider-man mythos.
Rating: Buy it.
