I've had "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" playing in my brain since Friday night. If you'd told me years ago that I'd associate Burt Bacharach with Spider-Man one day, I'd have said "huh." But I hadn't gambled on the fearless directing of Sam Raimi back then( well, until I saw Evil Dead 2). That song now means Spider-Man 2 to me instead of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Raimi and his talented writers and cast have crafted a movie that's entertaining, hilarious, and still respectful of the subject matter. When it was over I thought about how lucky I was to have done a piece of art that will be packaged with the DVD later this year:


Copyright Marvel Entertainment, of course...

While at the Cosmic Monkey signing Saturday, I was inspired to pick up Marvel's Essential Amazing Spider-Man Volume 3 and reread those classic stories. What a treat to breathe in page after page of John Romita Sr. art, in crisp black and white. The movie takes all the good stuff the 60's stories had to offer and makes it all relevant again, improving on a few things too. There was one bit of Aunt May dialogue that really didn't need to be in there, but I still look forward to watching this again on the large screen. The Marvel offices should have a large framed picture of Raimi on the wall like the DMV has of the governor-- he put them back in the black. Which reminds me of a bit I liked from the first movie... Norman Osborne gives a speech to Oscorp about the health of the company that's line for line from a scene Raimi co-wrote with the Coen Brothers in The Hudsucker Proxy. And of course, as in that film, everyone's hero Bruce Campbell makes an appearance. As someone who has had to hear "Peter" Parker jokes all my life, especially from comics editors who like to yell my last name in the manner of J. Jonah Jameson, I highly endorse this movie. Thwip.