I found these comics to be especially enjoyable. Not necessarily because of the action or costumes, which our other readings had plenty of, but because of the witty banter that are prominent in the Spider-Man comics and in Fantastic Four, thanks to Johnny. This element in the text is probably why I am such a Whedon fan-- he is the expert at witty banter (totally my opinion).
Needless to say, I did enjoy the Fantastic 4 comics; their powers were cool, and it was nice to see something other than a caped vigilante run around instilling its own sense of justice. This time, there was a stretching man, a giant, smashing rock guy, a flaming torch and an invisible girl. All of these elements creating this fighting force was awesome to read through. The idea of a complete polar opposite group called the inhumans was cool too, and the reveal of the Black Bolt at the end of issue #45 added the cliffhanger effect that makes me want to read on. I also thought the dog, Lockjaw, was awesome. I also saw that he got his own comic (amongst other animals) that came out in 2009. It's cool to see that spinoffs can happen off of fun, seemingly less significant characters.
The Amazing Spider-Man readings had to be my favorite. I enjoyed the twist and turns of Fantastic Four, the action and creative characters and numerous villains, but it was the in depth character consciousness of Spiderman that captured my attention. Aside from being Spiderman, Peter Parker is also great at science, loves his Aunt May, misses his Uncle Ben, is struggling financially, etc. He is well rounded and in these comics he has such drive and motive to save his Aunt May. In the previous Batman and Superman comics, I was satisfied with the back story because I see what drove them to fight their battles. But these Spiderman issues showed me constantly why Peter fights his battles-- because, if not, his Aunt May will die. Because, if not, Dr. Octopus will prevail. Because, if not, his job is at stake.
There are so many things going on but Spiderman manages to handle all of them not with brawn but with cleverness and strategy. He gets his pictures for the Bugle, manipulates the situation so that the pictures are essential for his boss, utilizes his previous networks to get a serum to heal his aunt, and manages to think of nothing but saving her. Even the bombshell Gwen Stacy was all over him and he still had his family on his mind! This character is so relatable to me. He may have a cool loved-one-got-shot story like Batman, and awesome super powers like Superman, but I found this current adventure most interesting, because it is not just the past that drives him, but a desperate attempt to maintain his happiness in the present that drives him as well.