Here Comes the (Spider-) Man in Black.

Non-comic book fans, familiar with Spider-man perhaps only from a movie, cartoon, or television series, might be surprised to learn that the hero, normally garbed in red-and-blue tights, once wore black. Comic book fans, passionate about the history of this character, would shudder in terror were I to pinpoint the first appearance of this costume as Transformers #3. However for me, that issue was my first introduction to Peter Parker's nefarious alien symbiote.

The Transformers began as a four-issue limited series but was so popular, they continued with a fifth issue. Six years later, the series' final issue would bear the phrase “#80 in a Four-issue Limited Series”, a testament to its popularity that took some of the sting away from its cancellation for die-hard fans. In the beginning, the stories took place in the mainstream Marvel continuity and, besides Spider-man, also included a significant visit to the Savage Land. As time went on, the publishers realized that it would be difficult to explain how two warring factions of giant alien robots were never noticed or mentioned in any of their other comic books, so they quietly forgot those early issues and began treating the stories as though set in an independent universe.

I had watched plenty of superhero cartoons, often when my parents weren't looking since they weren't fond of such shows, but I didn't really get into comic books until I was older. The Transformers was the first series I collected regularly, and sparked my interest in the two-dimensional exploits of a lot of my other favorite characters. The Spider-man presented in the now immortal third issue differed quite a bit from the one I knew. Not only was his costume black, but it responded to his mental commands. Ducking away from some soldiers investigating robot activity, Peter Parker concentrated and his civilian clothes turned fluid, covering him completely and becoming black with a large white spider emblem. Additionally, this costume made webbing from itself, and could regenerate what it lost. I didn't know when this development occurred at the time, but I would later learn from the packaging of a toy in my local Odd Lot that he acquired the suit on an alien world during the Secret Wars series. And of course during the eight years I seriously collected, I would acquire those issues as well as many others dealing with the suit.

By the time I was collecting Spider-man books, his black suit was just a regular suit. At some point the symbiote apparently tried to bond with him, and he managed to destroy it by exposing it to church bells, exploiting its vulnerability to sound. The suit survived, and when a reporter considering suicide visited that church seeking forgiveness for what he was about to do, the suit sensed that his despondency stemmed from being exposed as a fraud by Spider-man. The suit bonded with this man, Eddie Brock, and Venom was born. Possessing all of Spider-man's abilities, as well as knowledge of his secret identity from the time Peter wore the suit, Venom quickly became one of Spider-man's deadliest foes. I will never forget the cliffhanger at the end of Amazing Spider-man #299. Mary Jane, Spider-man's wife, comes home and sees him standing in the shadows. Only his eyes are visible. As she talks to him, thinking it's Peter, she wonders why he doesn't answer. At this point the mask grows a sinister toothy grin for the first time and taunts her: “Honey...I'm home.” Suffice to say, though Spidey defeated him in the following issue, his wife was so traumatized by this encounter he had to abandon his own black suit and return to the traditional one.

What, you may ask, brought on this sudden foray of geek information overload, moreso than usual? Everyone from Superherohype.com to Swimming in Champaign has been posting the Spider-man 3 teaser poster today, featuring a black costume. Does it mean that the symbiote will be in the movie? Is the speculation that Topher Grace will be playing Eddie Brock true? I don't know the answers to these questions yet, but I do know that May 2007 seems even further away to me now. I might have to go to a convention tomorrow to get this surge of youthful comic book enthusiasm out of my system. Who knows, if I'm lucky, maybe I can score a full-size version of that poster....