Retro Review: "Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without A Face"

Back in 2016, I reviewed the miniseries that debuted Spider-Man Noir, a dark 1930's reimagining of the character and one of my favorites versions of the web-slinger. Since that review, Spidey Noir has gained some prominence again thanks to the "Spider-Verse" movie where he was voiced by Nicolas Cage. In the comics, Noir remained part of the Web Warriors team through the book's cancellation. He would then appear in the Spider-Verse sequel event, "Spider-Geddon"...where he was killed by Morlun. Yeah, you can imagine that didn't sit well with me. However, the character has been announced to be making his return in the current Spider-Verse miniseries before getting a new one of his own. How he's coming back is yet to be explained, but I'm not complaining. The upcoming miniseries will be the character's first in ten years since the subject of today's review: "Eyes Without a Face", the direct sequel to the original Spider-Man Noir book from the same creative team. I wanted to look back on this story, see how it holds up and how it compares to its predecessor. So let's dive in.

Issue one begins outside the Manhattan office of the FBI, where a speeding car drops a body in front of the building. Said body has had his tongue cut out, money stuffed in his mouth and a sign around his neck that says "Squealer". As the agents investigate, one of them named Jean De Wolfe recognizes the man and the money, as De Wolfe's informant. From a nearby rooftop, Spider-Man watches, recounting how his defeat of the Goblin eight months earlier had left a power vacuum and now someone has filled the void, with the body serving as message to both sides of the law. Sometime later, Spider-Man goes to a warehouse where he pumps two goons for information about "the Crime Master."
In the main continuity, the Crime Master has been a minor Spidey villain through the years with multiple people taking on the role. The original Crime Master first appeared in a two parter where he waged a gang war against the Green Goblin; I'd like to think that the Crime Master filling the Goblin's void in this continuity is a nod to that story.
Anyway, after knocking one of the thugs out, Spidey puts the fear of god into the other. The thug says "Do you know what he does to stool pigeons?" Spidey smashes the wall next to the thug's head and responds "I've seen what he does. Thing is...he isn't here. I AM." It's a badass moment highlighted by the thug's scared look reflected in Spidey's lenses.
We then cut to four hours earlier in the Crime Master's office where the masked mob boss is laying down his terms with one of New York's dons named Moretti. Moretti refuses and spits in Crime Master's face. In response, Crime Master has his enforcer Flint Marko, nicknamed "Sandman", put the don "to sleep", crushing his head. I see this as a clever reinterpretation of Sandman; Flint still has the green striped shirt, but they use the Sandman name having to do with sleep rather than an elemental villain.
Back in the present, the goon's information leads Spider-Man to an abandoned theater, where he discovers "the stench of a slaughterhouse" with the chairs filled with the dead bodies of New York's crime bosses. Spidey later meets up with Felicia Hardy to see if she can keep an ear open at her Black Cat speakeasy for any information about Crime Master. She refuses since the Black Cat is supposed to be neutral ground. Peter reminds her how she helped with the Goblin, but she in turn reminds him that was a personal matter. Felicia asks why else Peter came to see her. He says "no other reason", to which Felicia calls him a liar and drops her robe, revealing her underwear and kisses Peter, who spends the night. The next morning, Peter thinks there's something serious between them, only to get the boot from Felicia. She jokes about him bringing her home to Aunt May before telling him to find a nice girl, saying to come see her if he wants a little excitement on the side. Considering even the main continuity makes a point that Peter and Felicia can't have a serious or normal relationship, it makes sense that the Noir version follows suit.
This story introduces more Noir versions of Spider-Man characters, including Mary Jane, who works at the welfare center that Aunt May runs. More prominently, we have a younger version of Joseph "Robbie" Robertson and his father Carver, family friends of the Parkers. Robbie is a reporter like his mainstream counterpart, in this version working for the Negro World newspaper. Robbie has been investigating a story involving Dr. Otto Octavius, but after getting nowhere for an interview, Robbie asks Peter if he could do a story for the Daily Bugle (still working there as a reporter so he can save up for college) so he can tag along as well. The two later go to Octavius' government funded lab on Ellis Island, first meeting with Dr. Connors, who brings them to Octavius himself.

This version of Octavius has legs that have been useless since birth and has outfitted his wheelchair with mechanical arms that allow him to use tools for his work. He apologizes for the smell of blood and formaldehyde since he's in the middle of an experiment where we see a live monkey with its brain exposed and electrodes inserted into it. It's a pretty gruesome sight, with the monkey even having tears in its eyes. Otto says a monkey is the closest they can get to a human brain, as he hopes to use his experiments to gain a new understanding of the human mind and psychology.
While Peter sees the benefits of Octavius' work, Robbie only sees cruelty on display. Peter senses Robbie's not telling him something; Robbie believes there's something bigger going on and that he'll tell Peter about it once he's put everything together.
Robbie's suspicions are correct as the first issue ends with Connors meeting with Sandman, who has come to Ellis Island to bring a new batch of test subjects, in the form of kidnapped African Americans.

Issue two begins with De Wolfe and other FBI agents at the theater full of bodies from before processing the scene. They also take a look outside and find some of Spider-Man's webs, figuring he's the one who called in the tip. While De Wolfe doesn't believe Spider-Man is working with Crime Master, he doesn't endorse his vigilante behavior.
Speaking of, we then see Spider-Man heading toward a club in Harlem called Seventh Heaven. It used to be run by Moretti, but since his death, Spidey believes it to be under new management. He busts in the door, incapacitating the two guards and taking their respective tommy gun and pistol. With all eyes in the club on him, Spider-Man makes his proclamation:

"The truth is this den of filth is built on crime and corruption, and from this night I consider every one of you as guilty as the scum who take your money. You are guilty by association. Guilty of narcotics, trafficking, theft, extortion, blackmail, torture, rape, and murder […] You will never set foot in here again. Now I'd like you all to leave."

Another badass moment that reminds me very much of Batman's "You have eaten well" speech from Frank Miller's "Year One" story. This is followed up by Spider-Man using the two guns he procured to shoot up the ceiling and get the people moving out. I think it's worth noting that this is the only instance we see Spider-Man using a gun in this story; he's using them as a threat but is not aiming to kill anyone. I think Aunt May's chastisement from the previous story really stuck with Peter, and that's some nice development.
Spidey then singles out Fat Larry, the man who managed the club for Goblin, Moretti, and now Crime Master. Spidey has Larry give him tour of the place hoping to find some clues about Crime Master. We see the usual vices like prostitution and drugs, but Spidey is especially sickened when they find what appears to be a torture chamber, with multiple locks and soundproofing. Larry just says this is for people into BDSM. Feeling dirty just being there, Spidey leaves after giving Larry one last warning to close the club down.
Afterwards, Spidey swings by Felicia's penthouse only to see she has a man with her. The next morning, Peter comes into the welfare center, cutting off MJ as she tries to say "Hi, Pete", excited to show Aunt May that the Bugle printed his story on Octavius. It's worth noting that as MJ tried to talk to Peter, she pushed some of her hair behind her ear, which I believe is supposed to be an indication she's interested in him. Peter's ignorance of this could be either his excitement over the paper, his own hang-ups over Felicia, or possibly both.
Carver and Robbie's girlfriend Gloria come into the center and tell everyone that Robbie's gone missing. They reveal that he's been investigating white supremacist activity, particularly the Friends of New Germany, and the disappearance of dozens of black men from Harlem. The police have been no help in finding Robbie or any of the missing men for obvious reasons. Peter, thinking back to what Robbie said about a bigger story and the torture chamber at the club, rushes out determined to find his friend.
Back at Ellis Island, Octavius and Connors are looking through their prisoners (where Robbie is indeed being held), and picks out a young female to be brought to the lab. At this point it's revealed that both Octavius and Crime Master are working for the Friends of New Germany. Octavius recounts his childhood living in German southwest Africa where his father ran a copper mine and the native house servants that were under his employ. Otto saw them as "always problematic. Troublesome, lazy...and degenerate." The panel where he refers to them as degenerate shows Otto looking through his window as two of the workers are having sex; that's a little hypocritical Otto you little peeper. Anyway, Otto made it his lifework to turn "inferior races" into obedient servants, with no hint of free will or rebellion.
We cut back to Seventh Heaven where Spider-Man, wanting more information, finds Fat Larry drinking alone. However, it's a trap with Crime Master, Sandman, and a whole bunch of goons entering the room. Crime Master's men are armed with crowbars, as he wants Spider-Man kept alive so he can spill his guts on the floor himself. Spidey's ready for a fight, and said fight only lasts three panels on one page. Easy, quick, lazy, however you want to look at it, considering I counted about a dozen guys, it's just surprising how short the fight was. After that, Spidey is face to face with Sandman. Spidey punches him in the cheek, which feels like hitting granite to him. Sandman pushes Spidey back with what seems like a powerful shove. With Spidey disoriented on the ground, issue two ends with Crime Master holding our hero with a knife to his face.

Issue three shows Sandman holding Spider-Man down as Crime Master is about to make his move, only for Spidey to web Sandman's face and break a couple of Crime Master's fingers. Spidey's second wind is short lived though as Sandman just begins punching and pounding on Spidey repeatedly. Said beatdown is seen from Spidey's point of view and is highlighted with the color of the panels turning more red, blood splatter and shattered lenses. Suddenly, De Wolfe and other agents bust into the club acting on a lead about Crime Master and Sandman. Everyone freezes except Sandman, who continues his assault on Spider-Man. De Wolfe shoots Sandman, who is still standing. He stops beating Spider-Man and turns his attention to De Wolfe and the other agents, who unload their guns into him. Sandman remains standing only briefly until he drops dead. Again, it seems a little easy considering how strong we saw Sandman to be, but it at least keeps with the realism of this world that he's not totally invincible. Crime Master and some of his thugs use the opportunity to make their escape, with Crime Master ditching his mask to mix in with those on the street.
De Wolfe checks on Spider-Man, who informs the agent about the situation. Spidey thinks about how Sandman smelled like formaldehyde and his mind goes to Octavius. Spidey asks De Wolfe what he knows about Octavius, and while De Wolfe suspects some wrongdoing, the bureau is unable to touch him. Spidey has no restrictions. De Wolfe gives Spidey his name as he leaves in case he needs to get a hold of him.
Peter realizes he's in no shape to find Robbie and needs to rest up. He ultimately goes to Felicia's where she finds him passed out on her balcony. But before that, Peter thinks to himself "Can't go home either. Aunt May must be worried sick. If she sees me covered in bruises...if Sandman had killed me..." Something I didn't touch upon in the previous Spider-Man Noir story was a moment where Peter realized he had been shot in the arm and how it could have been his head. In these two moments, Peter realizes his mortality and it helps him come down from any thought he may have about being invincible. This is something I'll get into more a little later, but this instance also has Peter thinking about those he cares about and the effect his life and possibly death as Spider-Man could have on them.
Peter fills Felicia in on the situation and rests up before getting the boot from her again, especially since her new man is at the door. The man's name is Sammy, and the guy talks a big game about how he'll be as big as Norman Osborn; just to get this out of the way, he's Crime Master. After the two have sex, Felicia asks him with his connections that if he knows anything about the black men disappearing from Harlem, to which Sammy responds to telling her to stay out of his business. Sammy takes a shower and searches for a towel, finding a bloody one in the hamper. After finding a bloody handprint on the ledge of Felicia's balcony, he's able to figure out that Felicia is involved with Spider-Man. He slams Felicia against her mirror, shattering it, and puts on his mask. When Felicia refuses to tell him anything, he takes a mirror shard to her and leaves her for dead.
Later on, Spider-Man is able to sneak his way into Octavius' lab on Ellis Island, where we see that the young woman the doctor selected from the prisoners has been lobotomized and made into a mindless slave. Spider-Man works his way down to the cells, releases all of Octavius' prisoners and finds Robbie. A brief flashback shows Octavius talking about a simplified procedure compared to the electrodes used before with "a simple hole drilled directly into the frontal lobe". Issue three ends with the first subject to undergo this procedure revealed to be Robbie, as we see him with a bandage on his forehead, a dead stare, and saliva dripping from his mouth.

Issue four picks right up with Spider-Man realizing what's happened to Robbie. One of the other prisoners tells him that everyone comes back like that after Octavius is done with them; Robbie can't talk but will do what anyone tells him. Spider-Man plans to lead Robbie and the others out only to discover Crime Master's goons are present. Crime Master is in the facility and informing Octavius that because of Spider-Man's interference, the higher-ups have ordered every shred of evidence to be incinerated, including the prisoners. Octavius is furious since this is his life's work, but Crime Master makes a point by slashing the lobotomized woman's throat. Octavius calls him an animal; again, quite hypocritical. Crime Master sends his goons to kill the prisoners in the cells, only to be ambushed by them and Spider-Man. During the commotion, Crime Master sneaks in and takes Robbie hostage, holding a knife to his throat and saying that he'll kill him like he did Felicia. One of the goons informs Crime Master that the FBI have arrived outside the lab. Crime Master orders his men to hold them off, until Spidey points out that Crime Master's the only one who killed anyone there and that they'd be on death row along with their boss if they fought back. Crime Master's men decide to bail, which makes them smarter than they look. Soon after, Octavius arrives and proceeds to stab Crime Master in the back with knifes he has attached to his mechanical arms. Crime Master looses his grip on Robbie and Spider-Man has the prisoners take him to escape and find the agents. Octavius continues to stab Crime Master repeatedly until he dies.
Octavius then turns to Spider-Man, asking if he'll put in a good word for him at his trial after killing Crime Master. An angry Spidey claims there won't be a trial and starts to break away the mechanical arms. Otto tries to fight back with his remaining arms, but they're obviously not as dangerous as other versions...which honestly makes the covers to issue four a little misleading.

Spider-Man seems ready to kill Octavius right then and there until De Wolfe and the agents arrive. De Wolfe reveals that Felicia had called him, and Spidey releases his grip on Octavius realizing she's alive. As Spidey and De Wolfe get the prisoners and criminals back to the mainland, Spidey heads toward Felicia's penthouse to check on her, being met by her bodyguard Lippy. Lippy tells him she's at the private clinic and that she'll recover, but that she doesn't want to see Peter, as she blames him for what happened to her.
A month passes by and good news is in short supply. Robbie is physically fine but nothing can be done to repair the damage to his brain. To make matters worse, Octavius isn't standing trial, since that could potentially expose state secrets. Instead, he's deported to Germany. Peter blames himself for what happened, and Mary Jane's attempts to comfort him don't do much. Peter says "I'm losing everyone, Mary Jane. All the people I care about." Peter's definitely in a dark spot when you look at both stories. He lost mentor figures in both Uncle Ben and Ben Urich, Robbie was lobotomized, and Felicia wants nothing to do with him. He became Spider-Man to help people, and yet what he's doing doesn't seem to be enough.
We then cut to Octavius arriving at the airport in Berlin to be met by members of the Nazi party, who immediately shun him for his condition, believing an inferior body means an inferior mind. With all his talk about superiority, you could say Otto got at least some comeuppance.
The last two pages focus on Felicia, with Peter narrating that she doesn't leave her apartment or take visitors. He plans to respect her wishes to stay away, but still checks on her from afar like he has before. Peter says that while her bones and organs have healed, "only the scars remain" with the final splash page showing Felicia wearing a cat like mask, implying that her face had been scarred by Crime Master.

This comic is good but not as good as its predecessor. The writing, art, aesthetic, coloring, and character reimaginings are still on point from the first story. My main problem is that Crime Master isn't as imposing as the Goblin, and that's probably due to Crime Master merely a puppet of higher powers while Osborn was his own man. Octavius was definitely more compelling and probably should have gotten more focus, along with more menacing arms.
The ending is pretty bitter sweet, which can be disappointing, but also probably the point. Spider-Man won, but the villain wasn't dealt a significant punishment and those hurt by him would continue to suffer. I think this ending is meant to challenge Peter's belief at the end of the last story that "good guys always win". Obviously that's not always the case. It honestly feels that the creative team had an idea for a third story but were unable to produce it with the Noir line becoming defunct. There's also what Peter says at the end with MJ: "There's something coming. Something so bad all the decent people will be crushed like insects...". This could be referring to World War II looming years later, but it could have also been build up to Peter's next challenge. Still, the original series has the benefit of being able to be read on its own with a proper, satisfying conclusion.
I also found the story to be surprisingly relevant when it comes to racial and political issues. Considering how things are today, with certain races being treated as less than people and the flames of intolerance being spread by those in positions of power, it's kind of sad to think we still have to deal with that crap almost a whole century later from when this story was set.
Overall, "Eyes Without a Face" is worth a read even with its flaws, especially for fans of Spider-Man Noir in general.

Movie Review: JOKER - Put on a Happy Face

When the Joker movie came out last October, I had a lot of friends asking me what I thought about it, leading them to be surprised when I told them I hadn't seen it yet. I just hadn't made it a priority. To be honest though, I wasn't a fan of this movie being made. Even though it was intended to be one-off film not connected to the DC Extended Universe, I thought it was a disservice to Jared Leto, who had played the character in 2016's "Suicide Squad." I'm of the camp that feel Leto didn't get a real chance to prove himself, especially when so much of his performance was left on the cutting room floor. Said camp is the minority though as it's appearing more and more unlikely that Leto will return to the role. My opinion on Leto's Joker aside, the trailers for this Joker film and the snippets of Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal showed a lot of promise. Now that I have finally seen the film, I found it to be quite the reinterpretation.

The film is weird mix of being inspired by the comics while also creating something unique. From the comic influences, I noticed quite a lot from "The Killing Joke" and a little bit from "The Dark Knight Returns" for the talk show scene. At the same time though, director and writer Todd Phillips does a brilliant job at creating the character of Arthur Fleck, the world around him, and his journey into madness. The trailers gave me the feel that maybe they were making a Joker movie where he's an anti-hero standing up to a corrupt system that's pushed him over the edge and inspiring others. While the film does make you sympathetic to him, he may be our protagonist, but he is no hero. Hell, there are no real heroes in this movie. It's just people and Arthur makes it clear that all he wants is attention, which does fit with what people usually expect from the Joker.

Between the writing and cinematography, the film does a great job at creating a world that feels as realistic as ours, while also bringing a surreal feel to it. While part of it has to do with recreating an early 1980's landscape, there's also the fact that most of the film is from Arthur's point of view. He's not right in the head and after a certain point in the film, you'll begin to question what, if anything, actually happened as we saw it or if it was just in Arthur's head. It'll be something you'd probably think about during repeat viewings. Also, there are a lot of well done shots in the movie. Some of it is due to the lighting, the camera staying on Arthur for an extended period of time (making you wonder what he's thinking in that moment), as well as symbolism that helps create parallels between scenes as we follow Arthur's journey.

Then you have the man himself, Joaquin Phoenix. Like Heath Ledger and Jared Leto before him, Phoenix put himself through the wringer in preparation for the role. The fact that he got so skinny for the role is proof. For the multiple scenes he's shirtless in the film, the level of concern actually rose for me the more I stared at him; part of me thought "jeez, get this guy a burger." There's also a level of unpredictability in his performance; you're not sure what he's going to do and it can keep you on edge. From the behind the scenes featurette I saw, there was a lot of improvisation from Phoenix, which works in hand in hand with the unpredictable nature of the Joker's character. This lead to his first dancing scene which would become a major part of the film and works with Arthur's need to perform, as well as multiple takes of his talk show introduction. Finally there's the laugh. The trailers alone showed he had it down, but the reason for his laugh in the film is clever. Something else I noticed is that the moments he's laughing are when he has the most emotion and inflection in his voice, as if those are the moments where he feels truly alive.
As for where I'd rank Phoenix among the other Joker actors, it's kind of tough. Nicholson, Ledger, and Leto have all brought their own flair to the villainous Joker, with the former two being able to play off their respective Batman. In that regard, Ledger is still the clown prince of crime above all others. Phoenix's interpretation is so different that he's really in his own league while still bringing the insanity and scariness that we've seen before and expect from the character.

Overall, "Joker" is a unique and disturbing character study. Its' atmosphere, lack of a standard "good vs. evil" conflict, and reinterpretation of a franchise that's already had so many help it stand out in what seems to be a never-ending sea of comic books films (not that that's a bad thing).