Peter Parker: Spider-Man – Issue 28 (in One Small Break TPB)
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Penciler: Mark Buckingham
Inkers: Green / Ramos / Buckingham 

I’m kind of disappointed in myself. I didn’t want to do this trade for two posts in a row, but I had very little time to read, the other book I wanted to do was an Annual, and since it was twice as long of a read, I selected this book instead. But don’t worry. I’ll have more time tomorrow and will get you a fresh and new series for Wednesday. Every weekend now and then includes absolutely no time to sit down and read or do anything enjoyably relaxing; that was this weekend for me. 

In other news, I am really happy that I did read this issue because it basically tossed up a philosophical issue that is exactly along the lines of why we are doing this mission. We wanted to prove that there is more to comics than meets the eye, and PP: Spider-Man proves that point through its use of Utilitarianism.

Now, don’t freak out and get all “Hot Fuzz” on me. This version is a little less satirical. A wonderful utilitarian example is presented in this issue as Spider-man is forced to choose between killing one man and saving thousands or letting him live, endangering thousands, but not having to worry about the fact that he killed someone. This is a question that is posed often in society. Well, not that specific one, but whether or not an individual or the greater good comes first? This is especially significant for Peter Parker because while he is a hero, Spider-man is also known for his mindset that killing never does any good and never kills anyone, but that’s the only way to be a hero in this scenario.

Of course, the decision may seem easy given the numbers of the two sides, but what makes it tricky is the speculation aspect of the decision. The key is that killing the one man (a certainty) could save thousands (a possibility). 1) We don’t know that the thousands will be saved, and perhaps more importantly 2) We don’t know that they would have died in the first place. Tricky, huh? 

In other news, another funny art choice occurs in this issue when Aunt May is given pink hair in her childhood flashback. Apparently that was popular for little kids in the mid-20th century. I wasn’t aware of this because I wasn’t alive, but if Aunt May’s flashbacks are any indication of the culture at that time, little girls liked having pink hair. Jennifer Garner’s character in “Alias” would be proud.

Let’s add this to the checklist:

Greasers
Pink hair
Mullets

As you can see, we’re a mullet away from covering the full hair spectrum. Good thing there are still four more issues in this trade!