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Spider-Man: Life Story Annual #1 is a tragic story in a grounded world that depicts the rise and fall of a major Spider-Man supporting character.
In 2019, Eisner-winning writer Chip Zdarsky and legendary Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley took the web slinger’s fans on a nostalgic ride, chronicling the complete history of Spider-Man. The work spanned from Spidey’s first days as a superhero to his final ones, with each issue setting up a decade of his life while incorporating major comic book milestones. Spider-Man: Life Story was Zdarsky’s love letter to the Spider-Man lore, presenting a more grounded world while making cynical observations about Peter Parker’s past. The creative team of Zdarsky and Bagley is back with a new annual, this time using the same trope to recount the history of a major supporting character to Spider-Man, who, like Peter, had their own ups and downs.
Spider-Man: Life Story Annual #1 opens with a distraught J. Jonah Jameson taking out his anger on his employees to mask the fact that his own mistake has led to the creation of the supervillain Scorpion. But, like any other obsession, he cannot let go of Spider-Man and continues to make the same mistakes over and over. However, that changes when Scorpion escapes from prison and attempts to assassinate Jameson as retribution. Spider-Man then saves him in the nick of time, which only angers Jameson even more. As Jameson racks his brain, seething in fury, Captain Stacy of the NYPD quietly takes him into custody.
Zdarsky has a knack for accurately depicting the human condition. Zdarsky uses raw and emotional reflections to find faults in his characters. Spider-Man: Life Story Annual #1 dives straight into the plot, placing the narrative focus on the Daily Bugle chief, J. Jonah Jameson. Zdarsky rewrites a significant chunk of his history. Using inner monologues, the character expresses his aspirations, emotions, and regrets as he reels from the effects of his obsession with Spidey. The story, however, meanders sluggishly in the middle before making considerable progress with the characterization of its world-weary inmate. Like the limited series, the annual keeps its world grounded in realism and cleverly depicts how actions always have consequences.
Mark Bagley has been drawing Spider-Man since the 90s and is a legend when it comes to penciling the wallcrawler. Although the annual issue is more about the human aspects of life than it is about masked escapades, Bagley’s art is more than up to that challenge and captures a wide range of facial expressions. From the dynamic layouts to the pensive close-ups, the artwork is effective in evoking an empathetic response. Inker Andrew Hennessy and colorist Matt Milia’s contributions to the artwork also take the issue to new heights. The variation in color gradients from panel to panel contributes to setting a fitting, somber mood.
Spider-Man: Life Story Annual #1 is at its heart a tale of finding one’s true north when facing unresolved psychological trauma. Despite spotlighting all of his flaws, the issue honors the legacy of J. Jonah Jameson, giving him a complete character arc. The one-shot can be treated as a companion read to Spidey’s limited series and as a self-contained biography.
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